July 1999

Digital Dharma

Asia eZine
Enter monsoon, the on-line magazine of South Asian literature and culture, an at-home creation of Shikha Malaviya, correspondent for Hinduism Today. Her aim for the site, www.monsoonmag.com, is to bring together the many voices of South Asia through poetry, prose, visual images and other creative forms of expression, opening a dialogue on issues that affect South Asia and the world. Her first issue was mostly poetry. Here's a sample entitled "Grandmother," by Ahila Sambamoorthy:
"When the evening star appears and the oil-lamp is fed with ghee, my grandmother offers silver plates of betel leaves and areca nut to the white-tusked God.
"Wrapped in hypnotic spirals of rose incense, chanting esotericism from a cloth-bound Bhagavad-Gita, I can hear her thick golden bangles jingling to the rhythm of mantras."

HEALTH
Go Veggies!
Log onto one of the largest vegetarian websites on the internet: www.veg.org. There you will find all the information you need to be a good vegetarian, or just find out why it's the cool thing to do. Pages at this site include recipes, a huge list of animal derivatives to avoid and how to earn your vegan bragging rights and live to tell about it. Online is an exerpt from John Robbin's Diet for a New America, "Realities 1989". If you're having a hard time living up to the ideals of vegetarianism, read his compelling piece to reinforce your resolve to "eat nothing with eyes."

CD-ROM
Tihar's Transformation
She walked into her job as the head of one of the largest prisons in the world, Tihar Jail. Shocked but not discouraged at what she saw, Kiran Bedi led a revolution that proved that one person can make a difference. Her book and CD, "It's Always Possible," tells the story of how she did it. It's full of techniques she used to make the prison a place of reform, including programs to teach inmates meditation, reading, writing and much more. To buy the book and/or CD write: Sterling Publishers,
L-10, Green Park Extension, New Delhi 110016
E-mail: sterlin.gpvb@axcess.net.in

ASHRAM
Sivananda
Grab the "shockwave" plug-in, then click on "Shockwave Chakras" at: www.sivananda.org. It's a kinetic multimedia chakra tutorial with the pronunciations, colors, sounds and positions for each chakra. This is part of the "Om" page for Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers, founded by the late Swami Vishnu-devananda, boasting 80 locations and 9,850 certified yoga teachers. The web site provides access to everything yogic--books by and on both Sivananda and Swami Vishnu-devananda, yoga lessons, yoga teacher, training pictures, "kids' camp," "yoga vacation" programs designed to
rejuvenate your body and mind, as well as periodic online discussions.