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Dharamkira
Seen from above, a woman lights a ring of small lamps set around a rangoli of leaves and petals

The seven-day path

Seven lessons, each with a five-minute practice. Do one a day; the order matters a little, the daily habit matters more.

Photo: AjoyDutta1997 (edit: Aristeas)CC BY-SA 4.0CC BY-SA 4.0

The seven lamps of the path

0 of 7 days done

Begin day 1 →
  1. Silhouettes of people with raised arms facing a low sun over the river at dawn
    Day 1 of 75 minWhere you are standingFive ideas that make sense of everything else.
  2. Gilded festival images of Durga on her lion flanked by Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartikeya inside a pandal
    Day 2 of 75 minThe gods, and why there are manyOne reality, many faces — and how to choose one to start with.
  3. A towering golden Ganesha idol seated under a canopy, garlanded, during the Ganesh festival in Mumbai
    Day 3 of 75 minSound: Om and your first mantraWhat a mantra is, how japa is counted, and eleven repetitions to begin.
  4. A single clay lamp with five flames glowing in the dark
    Day 4 of 75 minLight: the lamp and the aartiWhy every puja ends with a flame, and how to do the simplest one.
  5. Snow peaks of Chaukhamba reflected in a still mountain pond on a high meadow
    Day 5 of 75 minStillness: breath and meditationMeditation is older than the word 'yoga' in the West — and it starts with the breath.
  6. A carved stone chariot wheel with eight spokes on the wall of the Konark Sun Temple
    Day 6 of 75 minTime: the calendar and the festivalsWhy the dates move, and how to find the next festival and what it asks of you.
  7. A small stone shrine beside a frangipani tree on a rocky hilltop with hills beyond
    Day 7 of 75 minMaking it yoursA five-minute daily practice, the five restraints, and the rule that the family's way is the right way.

In the tradition's words

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

Oṁ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ

Peace, peace, peace — said three times, for the three kinds of trouble: from within, from others, from beyond our control.