Source KOLKATA, INDIA, October 22, 2020 (The Guardian): Every autumn the streets of Kolkata come alive with the sounds of Durga Puja. The Hindu festival, which celebrates the triumph of good over evil, is marked in West Bengal and neighboring states as a time for dancing, drumming, eating and worship. Yet the festival’s most defining feature is the pandal —…
Source Look at the man who walks on a tight rope. He is performing various tricks, but his mind is only on the rope. So also, we may be doing various things, but our minds must be on God.” –Sri Sri Sri Sivaratnapuri Tiruchi Mahaswamigal (“Trichyswami”) founder of Kailasa Ashram, Bangalore
Source KABUL, AFGHANISTAN, September 26, 2020 (AP News): Afghanistan’s dwindling community of Sikhs and Hindus is shrinking to its lowest levels. With growing threats from the local Islamic State affiliate, many are choosing to leave the country of their birth to escape the insecurity and a once-thriving community of as many as 250,000 members now counts fewer than 700. The…
Source What extracts from the Vedas I have read fall on me like the light of a higher and purer luminary, which describes a loftier course through purer stratum. It rises on me like the full moon after the stars have come out, wading through some far stratum in the sky.— Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), American author, poet and philosopher
Source UNITED KINGDOM, October 20, 2020 (Medical Xpress): Electromagnetic energy in the brain enables brain matter to create our consciousness and our ability to be aware and think, according to a new theory developed by Professor Johnjoe McFadden from the University of Surrey. Publishing his theory in the journal Neuroscience of Consciousness, Professor McFadden posits that consciousness is in fact…
Source NEW YORK, NEW YORK, October 9, 2020 (ncronline.org, by Brian Roewe):Faith for Earth: A Call for Action was released Thursday by the U.N. Environment Programme and the Parliament of the World’s Religions during the Faith for Nature Global Conference, held in Skalhol, Iceland. The 57-page book, available online and in print, describes how many religions view the natural world…
Source Parents must teach children to appreciate those who are different, those who believe differently; teach them the openness that they need to live in a pluralistic world where others have their unique ways, their life and culture; teach them the value of human diversity and the narrow-mindedness of a provincial outlook; give them the tools to live in a…
HPI PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD/TOBAGO, October 20, 2020 (HPI by Paras Ramoutar): Amid the dreaded Covid-19 Pandemic, Hindus in Trinidad and Tobago, as indeed, the world over, are observing the Hindu religious of observance of Navaratri, Saturday Oct 17 to October 24. indoors or in their homes. Navaratri holds deep spiritual and cultural significance to Hindus. Hindus always pray for their fellowmen…
Source IRELAND, October 18, 2020 (Religion Watch): Ireland does not look like the country that one would spontaneously associate with Hinduism. But the number of Hindus had grown to more than 14,000 by the time of the 2016 census, and representatives of the Hindu community estimate that the number is now somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 due to immigration. On…