Source DENPASAR, BALI, March 22, 2016 (The Guardian): The battle over a controversial land reclamation project in Bali is reaching crisis point, with an official decision due any day on an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that would pave the way for the project to break ground. On Sunday, tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered at a major roundabout close to…
KAUAI, HAWAII, March 27, 2016: Hinduism Today magazine is preparing a story on the 19th and early 20th century saint, Shirdi Sai Baba. We are in particular interesting in the relatively recent upsurge of his worship in temples both in India and the US. We also plan to send a photographer to Shirdi and would appreciate a contact name there…
Source INDIA, March 18, 2016 (Times of India): Mangalsutra, the wedding chain worn by Hindu women, is usually chosen according to the customs of the groom’s family, with gold being the common element in all. It is equivalent to the ring worn in Western wedding tradition. Every region has its own beautiful interpretation of the marital cord though. Maharashtrians wear…
Source SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, March 27, 2016 (Hindu Education Foundation): After protests from students and parents, the California Board of Education’s Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) has rejected suggestions by a group of professors to replace the word “India” with “South Asia” in California textbooks. A group of professors including Sheldon Pollock, Robert Goldman, Lawrence Cohen and Kamala Visweswaran, under the name…
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 UNITED STATES, March 19, 2016 (New York Times by David Gelles): The other morning, I woke up and brewed a cup of Mindful Lotus tea ($6 for 20 bags). On the subway, I loaded the Headspace app on my iPhone and followed a guided mindfulness exercise ($13 a month for premium content). Later in the day, I dropped by…
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 HARIDWAR, INDIA, March 16, 2016 (Economic Times): At Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved’s manufacturing facility in Haridwar, there is brisk activity as cartons of freshly made products are being loaded onto trucks to be dispatched to stores across India. With the financial year nearing a close, an official pointed explained, all hands are on the deck to help the company…
Source INDIA, February 13, 2015 (FT Magazine by Victor Mallet): Gaumukh, nearly 13,000 ft up in the foothills of the Himalayas, the source of the River Ganges, is one of the most sacred places in Hinduism. But in truth the entire river, flowing for more than 1,550 miles across north India from the mountainous haunts of the snow leopard to…
Source It is easy to tame the rogue elephant. It is easy to tie the mouth of a bear. It is easy to mount the back of a lion. It is easy to charm poisonous snakes. It is easy to conquer the celestial and the noncelestial realms. It is easy to trek the worlds invisible. It is easy to command…