With Cremations Up, a Quiet Oregon Cemetery Seeks to Cash In

Religion News Service PORTLAND, OREGON, August 9, 2007: If you wanted to be crass about it, you might explain River View Cemetery’s dilemma this way: People just aren’t dying to get in there anymore. They’re still dying, of course. But more and more, particularly on the West Coast, consumers are choosing cremation over burial. That slow, steady change in the…

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Baby Einsteins: Not So Smart After All?

www.time.com UNITED STATES, August 7, 2007: The claim always seemed too good to be true: park your infant in front of a video and, in no time, he or she will be talking and getting smarter than the neighbor’s kid. In the latest study on the effects of popular videos such as the “Baby Einstein” and “Brainy Baby” series, researchers…

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Fifty Million Pilgrims Expected In Sabarimala

www.hinduonnet.com TIRUVANANTHAPURAM, INDIA, August 5, 2007: A record 50 million people are expected to visit the Sabarimala temple during the three-month pilgrimage season starting in mid-November, Kerala’s Devaswom Minister G. Sudhakaran said. Addressing a meeting of heads of departments to discuss arrangements for the pilgrimage Sudhakaran said detailed plans should be worked out well in advance for its smooth conduct.…

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Hindu American Foundation Expresses Shock at Attack on Trinidad Hindu Temple

www.HAFsite.org WASHINGTON, D.C., August 7, 2007: On August 5, 2007, the landmark Siewdass Sadhu Shiva Mandir, also known as the Temple-in-the-Sea for its dramatic location just off the coast of the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, was the site of a break-in, vandalism and attempted arson. The Hindu temple is internationally renowned, and recognized as the spiritual center for…

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Karl Marx on India

www.marxists.org USA, August 7, 2007: (HPI note: Following is the beginning of an article by Karl Marx published in the August 8, 1853, issue of the New York Daily Tribune, for which he was their London correspondent. The Marxist critique of India continues to have influence today.) How came it that English supremacy was established in India? The paramount power…

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Muktabodha – Indological Research Institute Unveils Digital Library of South Indian Religious Texts

muktalib.org PONDICHERRY, INDIA, August 9, 2007: An amazing resource to the world scholarly community through a collaborative agreement between the Muktabodha Indological Research Institute, the French Institute of Pondicherry and the Ecole Francaise d’Extreme-Orient (French School of Asian Studies) is now made available on the Internet. These 1144 recent paper Devanagari transcripts (containing over 2000 mostly Shaiva texts and over…

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China Tells Living Buddhas They Must Obtain Permission Before Reincarnating

www.timesonline.co.uk BEIJING, CHINA, August 4, 2007: Tibet’s living Buddhas have been banned from reincarnation without permission from China’s atheist leaders. The ban is included in new rules intended to assert Beijing’s authority over Tibet’s restive and deeply Buddhist people. “The so-called reincarnated living Buddha without government approval is illegal and invalid,” according to the order, which comes into effect on…

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Ganesha Goes Green for Khairatabad

www.hindu.com HYDERABAD, INDIA, August 5, 2007: The Khairatabad Ganesha this year is all set to blaze a new trail going in for an eco-friendly makeover. The district administration that has been campaigning for a shift to eco-friendly natural dyes for the Murthis, hopes that more Murthi makers and festival organizers would follow suit. “We have yielded to the Government’s request…

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Advertising’s Disturbing Influence on Children’s Food Choices

www.news-medical.net STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA, August 7, 2007: A study with pre-school children has revealed just how potent and effective the power of advertising is. In what many parents will find very depressing news, new research has revealed that as far as tots are concerned food wrapped in McDonald’s packaging tastes up to six times better than the same food in…

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Most Reincarnation Claims are True, Says Dr. S.K. Pasricha

hindustantimes.com NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 5, 2007: Dr. Satwant K. Pasricha, a NIMHANS Professor of Clinical Psychology and a leading national authority on reincarnations, has been using rigorous scientific methods to investigate reincarnation claims since 1974. Here are excerpts from an interview with Neha Tara Mehta: “It is important to first understand what we mean by reincarnation. For the purpose…

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