Source INDIA, April 4, 2018 (BBC): A big myth is that India is a largely vegetarian country. But that’s not the case at all. Past “non-serious” estimates have suggested that more than a third of Indians ate vegetarian food. If you go by three large-scale government surveys, 23%-37% of Indians are estimated to be vegetarian. By itself this is nothing…
Source PURI, INDIA, April 3, 2018 (NDTV): This dark room laden with treasure has remained shut since 1984. Someone entering it now will need an oxygen cylinder. For 34 years, the door of the ratna bhandar or treasury of the 12th century Jagannath temple in Puri, has not seen light. But tomorrow, 10 people will unlock the room and step…
Source After death, the soul goes to the next world bearing in mind the subtle impressions of its deeds, and after reaping their harvest returns again to this world of action. Thus, he who has desires continues subject to rebirth.— Shukla Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.6
Source INDIA, April 2, 2018 (New Indian Express, by Michel Danino): In a previous article (The Great Secular Confusion, March 19), I challenged the secular definition of the Indian nation: there is, in fact, no such definition, nor are the nation’s institutions and Constitution genuinely secular, since they discriminate among the followers of different religions. At the core of the…
Source JAMMU AND KASHMIR, INDIA, April 2, 2018 (NDTV): The Vaishno Devi yatra has been temporarily suspended due to overcrowding last evening. “The pilgrimage to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine has been suspended from the Katra base camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district due to an unprecedented rush of pilgrims,” an official of the cave shrine said. The official…
Source In Sanatana Dharma, there is no single life, no single judgment, or eternal punishment. There is more than one life and, of course, there is no single judgment. In fact, there is no judgment at all as such, for the idea is to help and not to judge and condemn. The inner dynamics of incarnation is not reward or…
Source CHENNAI, INDIA, March 27, 2018 (Indian Express): The Madras High Court has held that centuries-old religious customs and practises cannot be stopped by government machinery by citing administrative inconvenience or anticipated trouble, unless such events become unlawful in present times. The court was disposing a petition by an executive trustee of Sri Kamatchi Amman temple in Cuddalore district, assailing…
Source The real change must happen within us. For only when conflict and negativity are removed from within can we play a truly constructive role in establishing peace. — Mata Amritanandamayi Ma, India’s Kerala-based hugging saint
Source DEHRADUN, INDIA, March 26, 20178 (Indian Express): In a grand ceremony organized at the VIP ghat of Haridwar’s Hari Ki Pauri on Sunday, Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev gave diksha for sanyas, or renunciation, to his 92 disciples — the first batch of the 1,000 sanyasis that Ramdev wants to “give the country to make it a spiritual superpower by…
Source INDIA, March 6, 2018 (Opindia): The Indian Council of Historical Research organized a 3-day conference commencing on Monday on the need to clear distortions in Indian history. The event was organized by Indologist and guest professor at IIT Gandhinagar, Dr. Michel Danino and Rajaneesh Kumar Shukla, member secretary of ICHR. “This is a very important conference of ICHR –…