Source INDIA, September 19, 2019 (BBC Travel): Located roughly 62 miles from the Arabian Sea in the western state of Gujarat, a vast expanse of snow-white salt cakes a barren desert, creating a surreal series of saline mud flats that stretch north to India’s border with Pakistan. Known as the Rann of Kutch, this tortoise-shaped landmass is divided in 2…
Source KAUAI, HAWAII, September 11, 2019 (Hinduism Today, by Panshula Ganeshan): On behalf of cows everywhere, an activist offers ways we can improve the care of these gentle creatures, and be models for their protection. Many thousands of Hindus every day will stop by a grocery store and buy commercial milk for offering to a Deity–a type of sacrifice and…
Source Every belief creates certain attitudes. Attitudes govern our actions. Our actions can thus be traced to our inmost beliefs about ourself and the world around us. — Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of Hinduism Today
Source KAUAI, HAWAII, September 10, 2019 (Hinduism Today): Divine Life Society Malaysia offers young Hindus an infusion of fun and philosophy, empowering them with their religion for the rest of their lives. A generation of teenage Hindus in Malaysia is discovering Hinduism at creative camps, crafted by the Divine Life Society at Batu Caves. The live-in experience is designed to…
Source BALI, INDONESIA, September 19, 2019 (Jakarta Post): At 63 years old, Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati has dedicated his life to Balinese arts and culture. The prominent member of the Ubud royal family and the Bali deputy governor, popularly called Cok Ace, actively performs the sacred dances of Calonarang and Topeng Sidakarya in religious ceremonies at temples across Bali.…
Source The key to unusual success lies in one’s ability to be sensitive to opportunities as they arise, and more so, in one’s courage and willpower to actually act on them. These moments pass quickly and if not seized will often not come again. We are in a flow and must willfully act at the appropriate times to be successful.…
Source KAUAI, HAWAII, September 9, 2019 (Hinduism Today): A recent Google search on “What is Hinduism?” yielded some 223,000 answers. Many are from outsiders offering their best take; many are from antagonists taking their best shot. Too few are knowledgeable; fewer still are authentic. Rare is the answer that goes beyond parochial sectarian understandings; scarcely any encompasses the huge gamut…
Source INDIA, September 18, 2019 (India Post): Indo-Dutch contacts go back to more than 400 years. Official relations with independent India, established in 1947, have been cordial and friendly. India’s economic growth, its large market, its pool of knowledge workers are of interest to the Netherlands. The two countries also share common ideals of democracy, pluralism and the rule of…
Source A million times they are born and die; In a million follies they forget this. In the darkness of mala they are enveloped. When at last the hidden grace of Siva bursts forth and chases away the night, then comes the moment for the soul to renounce, and it then becomes a radiant light. — Tirumantiram 1615
Source KAUAI, HAWAII, September 8, 2019 (Hinduism Today by Naina Lepes): Kerala is home to an ancient dance form featuring deliriously elaborate costume design and choreography–all offered to God as a form of worship. A Theyyam performance exudes the primordial sense of eternity ongoing. This dance-drama form of art and worship, loosely stylized in open nature, supports the open heart.…