What is the meaning of some of the Hindu names or terms we hear at Kashi?
• Baba is an affectionate name for Ma Jayas guru, Neem Karoli Baba, a Hindu saint who taught his students to Feed everyone, love everyone and serve everyone. • Swami Nityananda is Ma Jayas teacher and is known for his teachings of the Chidakash, the space of the detached but loving and compassionate heart. • Chela is Sanskrit for a student on a spiritual path. • Kirtan refers to sacred songs or chants, used for meditation or to create a deeper space in which to feel God within. • Chakra is a Sanskrit word, which literally means wheel. There are seven principal chakras, or energy centers, which distribute spiritual energy throughout the body. • A Swami is a renunciate who has been initiated into a path of dedicated service to humanity. Swamis are the keepers of the Kashi spiritual lineage. • Yoga means union. It is a term that includes many spiritual disciplines practiced in the East as ways to attain higher consciousness. • Seva is selfless service performed as a spiritual practice. •
