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Source For seven lives in seven bodies the grateful will remember friends who relieved their anguish and affliction.— Saint Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural, verse 107

Source NEW YORK, NEW YORK, August 10, 2017 (New York Times): Now, for the first time, more Americans are being cremated than having traditional burials, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. The cremation rate in 2016 achieved a milestone, edging past 50 percent to 50.2 percent, up from 48.5 percent in 2015, according to a report issued recently by…

Source KUNDAIM, INDIA, August 8, 2017 (Times of India): Shree Kshetra Tapobhoomi, Kundaim, the headquarters of the Padmanabh Shishya Sampradaya, at its Shravani Vidya event held on Monday, played host to 61-year-old Italian national, Proietti Flavio, a yoga exponent, who heads Surya Chandra Yoga Ashram in Rome. Flavio, who embraced Hinduism decades ago, is now referred to as the Mahamandaleshwar,…

Life is a pilgrimage. The wise man does not rest by the roadside inns. He marches direct to the illimitable domain of eternal bliss, his ultimate destination. Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh (1887-1963), founder of Divine Life Society

Source FRANCE, August 7, 2017 (The guardian): Atheists are more easily suspected of evil deeds than Christians, Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists — even by fellow atheists, according to the authors of a new study. The finding suggests that in an increasingly secular world, many — including some atheists — still hold the view that people will do bad things unless…

Source There are three kinds of devotees. The inferior devotee says, “God is out there” and thinks God is different from His creation. The mediocre devotee says, “God is antaryami, the inner guide who dwells in everyone’s heart;” thus the mediocre devotee sees God within. But the superior devotee sees that God alone is everything, for He has become the…

Source INDIA, June 6, 2017 (Lokvani, by K. Arvind): Thirukkural is a renowned literary work in Tamil composed by the Sage Thiruvalluvar over two millennia ago. Thirukkural has been translated into a multitude of world languages including Hindi, Urdu, Latin, French, German and American English. The German translation of Thirukkural influenced Russian writer Tolstoy’s thinking on non-violence, Tolstoy’s Letter to…

Source LONDON, U.K., August 4, 2017 (Bloomberg): The London Bullion Market Association this week lifted the veil on how much gold is stored in vaults in the city, which instantly joined a list of the world’s biggest hoards. Their estimated 596,000 bars weigh 7,449 tons, far short of the holdings of “Indian Households,” estimated over 22 metric tons. And Fort…

Source INDIA, August 5, 2017 (Government Press Release): More than a century ago, when Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa, he had not seen a spinning wheel- charkha- but during the Swadeshi movement, he meticulously spun khadi into the national life style. Now, khadi is in vogue again. Presenting statistics of khadi products sales, during last three years,…

Source The sages, being filled with universal love for all beings, did not want to keep their enlightenment to themselves. They declared to all: “O mortals, striving and struggling upon this Earth plane, weeping, wailing, buffeted by the vicissitudes of life: we have come upon a great discovery. There is something beyond these appearances, these vanishing names and forms that…