A Lotus In The Mud hosts devotional Yoga Day event cherished by 200 guests on Long Island

A devotional celebration of the International Day of Yoga on June 14 was cherished by 200 people. ALotusInTheMud.com organized the program in the Pandit Jasraj Auditorium of the Vedic Heritage Hanuman Temple in Hempstead, NY, It was like modern satsang: meditation, movement, music, dance, dialogue, and community engagement. Padma Bhushan Dr Dattatreyudu Nori was the Chief Guest. The Indian Consulate, New York, was represented by Mahesh Yadav, Consul.

Esteemed panel discusses the path of devotion

The centerpiece of the program curated by Lotus Founder and Editor Parveen Chopra was a panel discussion with the theme, ‘Devotion as a Superhighway to Spiritual Evolution.’ As moderator, he said that according to Indian philosophy, there are four paths to self-realization: Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Gyan Yoga, and Raja Yoga. The path of bhakti is the sweetest and accessible to all.

The four esteemed panelists were ordained Buddhist nun Lama Aria Drolma, author and banker Yakub Mathew, finance executive and artist Nayan Kisnadwala, and yoga teacher Sharon Epstein. They agreed that devotion is both a gift to be received and a discipline to be cultivated. And that personal effort walks hand in hand with divine grace.

Padma Bhushan Dr Nori’s advice for equanimity

Padma Bhushan 2026 awardee and internationally renowned oncologist Dr Dattatreyudu Nori, who has founded three Shirdi Sai Baba temples in the NY-NJ area, reflected on the deeper dimensions of yoga and meditation in his address as chief guest.

“Being the witness keeps you away from all the problems,” he said, emphasizing the yogic practice of observing thoughts and emotions without identifying with them.

He also recommended cultivating equanimity, noting that “dualities of life are apparently contradictory but inherently complementary.”

Shri Mahesh Yadav, Consul at the Indian Consulate, described yoga as “one of India’s most profound gifts to humanity” and said devotion strengthens the yogic journey by nurturing “humility, compassion, surrender, and a deep connection with the divine.” He commended A Lotus in the Mud for sharing such spiritual messages with a growing global readership. 

The best of the panel discussion

Excerpts from the 4 panelists’ deep dive into devotion as a superhighway to spiritual evolution.

~ Yakub Mathew
Banker and Author

Remove God from our mind and put it into our heart 

It’s a very sensitive, difficult question. Who is God, and how do you explain it? Well, you can’t explain God, you’ve got to experience it. And in that experience, you’ve to remove all boundaries, or divisions. God is something like the infinite. When you follow God through a religion, that religion should be a living religion.

And when you say a living religion, it should be something which works for others beyond yourself. For example, I really respect Sikhism because it’s all about seva. Seva is godliness, and godliness is seva. I used to ask Mother Teresa, who was like a family member of ours, “Where is God, Mother?” She said, “God is in the eyes of the poorest of the poor.” So, God is love, love is God. In the end, the question is not God, it’s our mind.

Our mind is divisive. When we remove God from our mind and put it into our heart, then you will discover the God in you. So who is God? The God you want to know which made man, then you’ve got to remove the man-made God. Once you understand that, you understand God is what binds us all together. It’s humanity. It’s love. We are all one.

Ek Omkar Satnam. That means oneness is God.

Nine forms of devotion in Hinduism

The essence of Sanatan Dharma or Hinduism is that we have the freedom to worship God in any form. In fact, we say that God is within us. So you start with loving yourself before you can love God. But, yes, there are nine ways of bhakti called Navadha Bhakti, according to the Ramayan, and then re-emphasized in Srimad Bhagavatam.

1. The first of the nine forms is Shravan. Shravan means  listening to stories about God, whether you go for Pravachans or these days you look at Spotify. 
2. Kirtan – Chanting God’s name and glory. 
3. Simaran – Remembering God. A simple thank you when you go to sleep is enough of a prayer. Think of God and thank Him for all the blessings He has given you. 
4. Pada Sevana – Serving His Lotus Feet, which means you are surrendering yourself at the Lord’s feet. 
5. Archana is the most common all around India. We all go to temples and perform rituals. We also perform rituals at home.
6. Vandana means offering prayers and prostrations. And this is probably true in all cultures, all religions across the world. 
7. Dasya – Serving God as a servant. That is also surrendering yourself to God. 
8. Sakhya. This is a philosophical way of getting close to God as a friend.
9. Atma Nivedana –  Offering oneself to God in utter humility.  

~ Nayan Kisnadwala
Finance executive and artist

~ Lama Aria Drolma
Buddhist Nun

Why the Buddha remained silent on the God question

When asked, the Buddha neither affirmed nor denied the existence of God. He considered the question less important than understanding suffering, cultivating wisdom, and attaining enlightenment. Rather than focusing on a creator, he taught that all things arise through “causes and conditions.” The  “dependent-origination” (pratītyasamutpāda): all phenomena arise due to causes and conditions.

The Buddha often redirected such questions away from speculation and toward direct experience. His focus was not on proving or disproving God, but on awakening to the nature of reality and ending suffering through direct realization. He encouraged people to ask, “What causes suffering, and how can it end?” For the Buddha, liberation was found not through belief, but through wisdom, meditation, and direct  realization.

How Jews express their love of God

In Judaism, to love God with your whole heart is not simply a feeling, it is a way of living. Love becomes tangible through our actions and choices each day. We express that love through:

• Tefillah– prayer, opening the heart in gratitude, praise, and connection.
• Teshuvah – returning to our truest selves and repairing what has gone astray.
• Tzedakah – sharing our resources with generosity and justice.
• Tikkun Olam – helping to heal and repair a broken world.

~ Sharon Epstein
Jewish Yoga Teacher

Continuing the Indian tradition, the evening began with a ceremonial lamp-lighting attended by panelists and presenters as well as community leaders including Ravi Bhooplapur, Anil and Renu Jain, Kamlesh Mehta, Prof. Indrajit Singh Saluja, and Abhishek Mishra. Ashok Vyas recited Vedic mantras.

A treat for the eyes, ears and the mind

Lama Aria led a loving-kindness meditation for world peace, while cultural performances included devotional singing by Budh Prakash Jasuja and his daughter Nanki and Radha-Krishna-themed dance items by Preya Patel and students of her Vivarta Arts. Anne Moffatt (Aanya Prarthana) engaged participants with chair yoga and a ribbon dance session.

Prominent people in the audience included Dr Unni Mooppan, Animesh Goenka, Jasbir Jai Singh, Gobind Munjal, Indu Jaiswal, Nilima Madan, Rashmin Master, Sharanjit Singh Thind, Varinder Bhalla, Jyoti Gupta, Bina Sabapathy, Sushma Kotahwala, and Paresh Raval. 

Parveen acknowledged monetary contributions by Mukund Padmanabhan, Abhishek Mishra, and the India Association of Long Island. He thanked Vedic Heritage Inc. for letting him host the event in their premises, For media support, thanked The South Asian Times, The Indian Panorama, South Asian Insider, The Indian Eye, Hum Hindustani, Bollywood Insider, and Preetnama.   

The event concluded with a charity auction of artworks by Nayan Kisnadwala conducted by Renu Jain, with the proceeds intended for Lotus magazine and Vedic Heritage Inc. Piya Jyoti Kachroo served as master of ceremonies. Kripa Ranjan Prasad was media incharge. All enjoyed a healthy, vegetarian meal outdoors.

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