Category: Friends

Tirth Yatra: A pilgrimage of Leicester Temples – Sponsored Walk

Posted on April 11, 2023April 11, 2023 by user

Tirth Yatra: A pilgrimage of Leicester Temples

Gallery from previous walk

Friends Talk April 2023

Posted on March 11, 2023April 11, 2023 by user

Are We the Divine Dancers?

Friends of the Oxford Centre For Hindu Studies presents

A talk by Sharvi Maheshvari
DPhil candidate at Theology and Religion at Oxford University

Saturday 1st April 2023 at 5.30pm GMT

Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre
Rothley Street Leicester LE4 6LF

Friends talk in Leicester November 4th. “Festivals: Cleverly designed to make us think and feel”.

Posted on November 4, 2022November 4, 2022 by user

Festivals: Cleverly designed to make us think and feel

Friends of the Oxford Centre For Hindu Studies presents

A talk by Shaunaka Rishi Das
Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies

Hindu festivals are famous for their delightful colours, scents,
cuisines, and sounds. A riot of activity, crowds, and smiles.
After the annual Diwali celebrations, and in the auspicious
month of Damodar, we will consider another aspect of
festivals, their purpose in inspiring us to think differently,
(or maybe even to think), and how they enthuse us to feel
about things spiritual and material.

Saturday 4th November 2022 at 5.30pm

Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre
Rothley Street Leicester LE4 6LF

lf@ochs.org.uk

Friends Sponsored walk 2021

Posted on September 3, 2021September 3, 2021 by user

8.15am registration, 9.00am Start
Hindu Mandir, 34 St Barnabas Road, Leicester LE5 4BD

The annual event that participants can enjoy with friends, family and the community at large

Everyone is welcome and there are no age limits. Children under the age of Sixteen will need to be accompanied by an adult. The walk is at a gentle pace and suitable for most people.

The walk is a great way to explore some of the varied places of worship, mainly of Hinduism. It takes in the various community places of worship. At each place of worship, one is free to do Darshan of the deities and spend some time in interacting with the priests and support workers.

The planned route for the 10th anniversary walk is as follows:

Starting at Hindu Mandir, Sanatan Mandir, BAPS, Shirdi Sai/Ganesh Chaturti, durshan, Hanuman Temple, Durga Mata Temple Shri Swaminarayan Temple (I.S.S.O.), Ram Mandir, Murugun Temple.

This is a sponsored walk and we request all Yatris to raise funds for the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies to the best of their abilities. A minimum contribution of £25.00 is kindly requested from each participant. This can be made up of sponsorship from friends, work colleagues and family members or a personal contribution by the Yatri.

Registration is essential to comply with the Health and Safety requirements.

Registration:
leicesterfriends@ochs.org.uk or
0116 268 0306 or 07845 286057

Please note
All Yatris attending the sponsored walk are advised to be double vaccinated or do a lateral flow test the day before, mask wearing is advised and at the Yatris discretion.
Attendance is at own risk, no liabilities accepted. Please be extra careful crossing roads, wear non-slip footwear, appropriate clothing for the weather, and look out for traffic and other hazards.
Please do not race ahead of the walk leader as you could easily go off track and lose the group.
Photographs from the events may be used for social media promotion, and publicity.
You are responsible for ensuring you are correctly dressed for walking, that you are bringing any water and refreshments you require and that you feel fit and healthy enough to take part. We cannot foresee and prevent all hazards. By signing up you agree you are taking part at your own risk and agree to our terms and conditions.

OCHS Friends Talk August 2021

Posted on August 1, 2021August 1, 2021 by user

The Yogic Body of Haṭhapradīpikā

Friends of the Oxford Centre For Hindu Studies presents

A talk by Gitte Poulsen
of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies

The pre-modern yogic body is an intriguing and challenging concept that has been shaped over several millennia and it has also gained importance in some modern yoga- and meditation traditions and practices.
But what is this “yogic body” actually made up off? The pre-modern yogic body was not an empirical or biological body, but a more subtle and rather complex body consisting of various energy centers and channels in which substances and energy could be caused to move around and the natural flow of the body reversed. The idea of something moving around in this body is persistent in all systems of yogic bodies but what this something is differs from system to system and from technique to technique.
In this lecture, I will present an introduction to understanding the yogic body as it is presented in the medieval text Haṭhapradīpikā (1450) which has become the classic text of both pre-modern, and to some extent, modern haṭhayoga. Haṭhapradīpikā is however not a representation of one single system or tradition, but rather a compilation that combines many different yoga systems, traditions and techniques here labeled as haṭhayoga by the author Svātmārāma.

Saturday 7th August 2021 at 4.00pm GMT

Join us on our Online talk via YouTube or Zoom. For Zoom details please contact us on lc@ochs.org.uk or via Facebook Messenger.

Friends talk July 17th 2021

Posted on July 15, 2021July 15, 2021 by user

How to obey a Guru: Saints and Cheats

Friends of the Oxford Centre For Hindu Studies presents

A talk by Shaunaka Rishi Das
of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies

The word guru has entered the English language to refer to an expert of some. From its source the word has a few meanings but it’s most basic is teacher – any kind of teacher. In an Indian context we often think of a guru as a person advanced in spiritual practice, detached from the worldly life, and able to guide us. Yet we also find examples of rouges, cheating their disciples for gain. When we want to bring greater understanding to our lives, as with any subject, we need a teacher. How do we discern who is qualified and how to approach them?

Saturday 17th July 2021 at 4.00pm GMT

Join us on our Online talk via YouTube or Zoom. For Zoom details please contact us on lc@ochs.org.uk or via Facebook Messenger.

Friends Talk 10 April 2021

Posted on April 9, 2021April 9, 2021 by user

The Portraits of Perfection in the Bhagavad Gita

Friends of the Oxford Centre For Hindu Studies presents

A talk by Dr Rameshbhai Pattni
of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies

What is perfection according to the Bhagavad Gita?
And what is its relation to the path of spiritual development as revealed by Krsna?
We explore the pictures of perfection in the paths of Karma, Bhakti and Jnana in across the chapters of the Gita.
We look at some the practical implications of these ideas of perfection in human life.

Saturday 10th April 2021 at 4.00pm GMT

Join us on our Online talk via YouTube or Zoom. For Zoom details please contact us on lc@ochs.org.uk or via Facebook Messenger.

Making a Good Atman: Yoga as an Art of the Soul

Posted on March 18, 2021March 18, 2021 by user

Leicester Friends Talk 20th March 2021 Making a Good Atman: Yoga as an Art of the Soul

Dear Friends,
Leicester Friends would like to invite you to our talk this Saturday.

Making a Good Atman: Yoga as an Art of the Soul

A talk by Dr Jessica Frazier
of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies

Yoga is everything to everyone – it calms you, makes you fitter, makes you mindful, and unites you with god. How can it be such a magical key to every door, and is this what the original yogis who lived in the time of the Upanisads, the Mahabharata, and the Yoga Sutras had in mind? Is there a ‘right’ use of yoga?

A journey into the many yogas of ancient India shows how many goals there could be. And if we go deeper into the neurology of the mind, we see how yoga harnessed a power for India that few other cultures ever discovered. Yoga offers a way to Craft Yourself, shaping the soul like an artist sculpting the perfect artwork.

Saturday 20th March 2021
At 4pm GMT

Warm regards,
LeicesterFriends of the OCHS
Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
E: lf@ochs.org.uk
W: www.ochs.org.uk

Zoom meeting details
Time: Mar 20, 2021 04:00 PM London

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88005672869?pwd=eUZTQnQvcUQ2c01hdWp1UVJwYzlrUT09

Meeting ID: 880 0567 2869
Passcode: 171303

To phone in: Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdsjIgwNYI

Saturday 20th March 2021
At 4pm GMT

Warm regards,
LeicesterFriends of the OCHS
Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
E: lf@ochs.org.uk
W: www.ochs.org.uk

Zoom meeting details
Time: Mar 20, 2021 04:00 PM London

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88005672869?pwd=eUZTQnQvcUQ2c01hdWp1UVJwYzlrUT09

Meeting ID: 880 0567 2869
Passcode: 171303

To phone in: Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdsjIgwNYI

Donate for Free on Amazon
Set up your Amazon account so that it directly donates free to OCHS every time you make a purchase, Amazon will donate a small per cent to a charity of your choice, on Amazon Smile select OCHS as your chosen charity and you will be supporting the Centre for free

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/1074458-0

Hindu Lockdown Stories

Posted on January 7, 2021January 7, 2021 by user

Hindu Lockdown Stories

Dear Friends,

Wishing you all a happy new year, hope you are all well and safe.

The Leicester Friends group would like to invite you to our next talk, and we have the pleasure of Shaunakaji, director of the OCHS talking about Lockdown and our scriptures.

Hindu Lockdown Stories

A talk by Shaunaka Rishi Das
of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies

As we begin a new year, a new strain of virus, and a new lockdown, some of us may think 2020 was not so bad after all. What is clear is the fact that isolation and social distancing are a new reality we can’t avoid.

We know that sages and sadhus have made a virtue of social distancing, often abandoning society altogether to meditate in the Himalayas. But that seems not to be an easy option for mere mortals – especially as we can’t even travel there.

Happily, there are many ways to meditate, and hearing stories of dharma, avatars, and sadhus – katha – is a most popular form. Meditating on these stories can touch our lives with their spirit and lift us from our own isolation and social difficulty.

This talk draws from the Ramayana and the Bhagavata Purana to explore a Princess’s year long isolation; the lockdown of an entire community, and the spreading of disease that threatened to destroy the environment.

Saturday 16^th Janurary 2021
At 4pm GMT

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87071275191

Or join by phone:
Meeting ID: 870 7127 5191
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdPHscZczx

These talks are open to all; please share links with friends and family.

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/1074458-0

Warm regards,
LeicesterFriends of the OCHS
Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
E: lf@ochs.org.uk
W: www.ochs.org.uk

Lockdown and the darkness ahead: Coping through Meaning and Means

Posted on January 1, 2021January 6, 2021 by user

Lockdown and the darkness ahead: Coping through Meaning and Means

A talk by Dr. Ramesh Pattni DPhil (Oxford)

OBE of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies

We are going through unprecedented times not experienced in recent history where suffering and death is a persisting existential reality. Human beings have tried to make meaning of suffering and death and solutions have been formulated by religious traditions through millennia. Vedanta and Yoga offer tools and techniques for dealing with suffering in the moment and liberation ultimately from all suffering. The Sanskrit term Sādhanā literally means “that by which something is performed” or more precisely “means to an end.” In the sphere of religion, it is always used to indicate the essential discipline that leads to the attainment of the liberation and release from suffering. Find out what are the Sādhanā-s and Siddhi-s in the traditions of Vedanta and Yoga and how these can help us not only to move towards the final goal of liberation but give us the benefit of mental wellbeing in these times of the lockdown and the coming winter. There will be a guided meditation to demonstrate the effects of the practice of dhyāna.