How Playing The Trombone Taught Me The Importance of Harmony — The Best Instrument I might be biased, but the best musical instrument is the trombone! The trombone is quite a versatile instrument. It is a Western instrument that is a member of the brass family. I used to play the tenor trombone, which has no true valves and only a single slide to…

Navigating Through the First-Year of University — This article is also available as a podcast on Apple, Google, or Spotify. As we finished taking all of my boxes up to my dorm room, I hugged my parent's goodbye as I began a new chapter in my life. Tears welled up in my mom’s eyes. Tears that were…

Over the next few months, we will be looking at how mandirs — or Hindu temples — inspire and foster universal values to inspire our lives. This article will focus on the value of a community that a mandir provides. Anuradha Savaliya had finished her bachelor’s degree in India in…

The story behind Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s Smruti Mandir —

The Value of Forgiveness — This article is also available as a podcast on Apple, Google, or Spotify. “Forgive Others Not Because They Deserve Forgiveness but Because You Deserve Peace.” — Jonathan Lockwood Huie. Defining Forgiveness Merriam-Webster defines forgiveness as, “to cease to feel resentment against (an offender).” There are many instances in our daily life where…

Prathanatrayi Series #1 — The Prasthānatrayī are three scriptures that are foundational in Vedanta philosophy of Hinduism — the Upanishads, Brahmasutras and Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. Today, we will look at the Akshar-Purushottam Darshan, one of the seven Vedanta darshan, through the words of Shri Krishna Bhagwan in the Bhagavad Gita. The Shrimad Bhagavad Gita…

“What is that symbol on your forehead?” — As I was leaving Follinger Auditorium — a large auditorium at the University of Illinois — I head someone yell from the crowd of students. “Hey! Wait up!” I turned around to see a student catch up to me. “Jay Swaminarayan,” he said. “umm… Jay Swaminarayan,” I replied, not knowing…

History in the Making — The below introduction is based on the Foreword of the Satsang Dikshã. Please refer to the Foreword for more information and details. All key names, concepts, etc. are linked. Imagine having a 315-sentence book that encompasses all the main practices and principles that you believe in very simple language. This…

Million-Dollar Question: How do you channelize creativity? — My generation (1999–2000) grew up in a unique era. When I look at my generation, we all grew up in elementary school being introduced to new technology — the Elmo, Smartboard, the cart with mini-laptops… But along with being guinea pigs to new technology, many of my teachers encouraged creativity…