news.bbc.co.uk OKINAWA, JAPAN, March 23, 2008: Attendance at a Buddhist temple in Japan has increased since the temple’s pet, a two-year-old dog, has joined in the daily prayers. Conan, a Chihuahua, sits on his hind legs, raises his paws and puts them together at the tip of his nose. “He may be showing his thanks for treats and walks,” says…
www.dharmabindu.com PORTUGAL, March 23, 2008: Miguel Homem writes to HPI: “I created a Yoga and Dharma site for Portugal and Europe. It’s purpose is to promote Sanatana Dharma and Yoga study and practice among students and teachers. The site (URL above) is bilingual, we will accept texts both in Portuguese and in English, and also in Spanish and French. It…
www.hinduismtoday.com A poor devotee points to the sky and says, God is up there. An average devotee says, God dwells in the heart as the Inner Master. The best devotee says, God alone is and everything I perceive is a form of God. Ramakrishna
www.newindpress.com TIRUPATI, INDIA, March 19, 2008: In a novel initiative, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has launched a crash course for temple priests to help them hone their skills in performing the temple rituals. The five-day training program is being executed by TTDs Sri Venkateswara Employees Training Academy (SVETA), in a bold attempt to make the priests ward off the…
psenthilraja.wordpress.com CHIDAMBARAM, INDIA, March 20, 2008: For those interested in the background of the recent dispute at the famed Chidambaram Temple over singing of Tamil songs, the article at the URL above will be most informative. It explains the mostly political motivations behind what appeared to be a religious or linquistic issue.
www.edutopia.org USA, March 25, 2008: (The following article from 2004 will be of deep interest–essential, actually–to any Hindu in the US who has been involved in trying to change the teaching of Hindu and Indian history in American schools. It is an insiders view of the sometimes very strange process by which elementary and secondary textbooks are written and adopted.)…
www.theaustralian.news.com.au AUSTRALIA, March 11, 2008: South Australia’s largest cemetery commissioned a study into the environmental impacts of cremations and burials. The study found it was better for people to be cremated, compared with the long-term impact of burials, even though four times as much carbon dioxide was produced during the initial cremation process. “On the day that a cremation or…
www.hinduismtoday.com Nothing ever will be attempted, if all possible objections must first be overcome. Samuel Johnson
news.bbc.co.uk LONDON, ENGLAND, March 22, 2008: At the URL above is a color set of photos on the Holi festival as celebrated across India.
www.crosswalk.com SAUDI ARABIA, March 23, 2008: An Islamic initiative to establish an international convention against the “defamation” of religions ran into an unexpected hurdle this week in Saudi Arabia, where members of a government advisory body argued that the move could force Muslims to recognize pagan beliefs. The drive to outlaw offenses against religions and religious figures is being spearheaded…