designing a Sadhana?

[Guest guest]

I am not a Hindu, but I have come to believe that the religion of my

ancient European ancestors was the same as the religion of the Vedas.

 

My ancestors, the Celts and the Norse, worshiped the Sun as their

principle Deity.

 

I believe that Shankra named Surya as one of the Ishta Devatas that

one chould chose to make the center of your devotion and worship.

 

Is there some way that I could get instruction on exactly how to

design a Vedantic Sadhana centered on devotion to Surya and the

teachings of Shankara?

 

Thank you for your kind and patient help.

 

Kenneth Shaw

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Namaste Sri Kenneth:

 

Let me first welcome you to the list and I hope that you to

participate in the list discussions with your thoughtful insights.

The names and forms of religions may appear different but with deep

contemplation, we can recognize the unity in the diversity.

 

Vedic rituals such as the worship of Surya (Sun God) follow strict

rules (Puja Viti) and they are well stated in Vedas. You are quite

correct that Surya is one of the Ishta Devatas worshiped with great

devotion. The details of Surya worship are described in greater

details at the Web Site:

http://www.asanet.com/htcs/surya.htm

 

One of the most popular worship of Surya is by the recitation of

Aditya Hridayam - English Transliteration and orginal Sanskrit verses

in PDF file is available at the Web Site:

http://www.dattapeetham.com/bookshop/stotrams/ahenglish.pdf

 

Here is an interesting site describes a place in Chennai (Madras)

dedicated to Sun Worship.

http://www.chennaionline.com/toursntravel/placesofworship/sungod.asp

 

In many cultures Sun is perceived as pratyaksha devata (direct vision

of the divinity by looking). One of the well known Vedic Karma is

Sandhya Vandanam and it is practiced by all those who have been

initiated with the recitation of Gayatri Mantra. Sandhya Vandana is

the repetition of the Gayatri-mantra with contemplation of its meaning

and by following the Vedic rules. Pranayama (disciplined control of

breathing) is an integral part of Sandhya Vandana and the main deity

of the worship is Surya.

 

I suggest that you visit one of the Hindu temples located in Texas

(for example the Meenakshi temple at Houstan) and request the temple

authorities for helping you to get necessary books/tapes on Surya

worship. The temple priest should be able to help you to accomplish

the task that you mentioned in this email.

 

Warmest regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

advaitin, "kenneth shaw" <kenneth.d.shaw@w...> wrote:

> I am not a Hindu, but I have come to believe that the religion of my

> ancient European ancestors was the same as the religion of the

Vedas.

>

> My ancestors, the Celts and the Norse, worshiped the Sun as their

> principle Deity.