Source DEHRADUN, INDIA, April 9, 2014 (Times Of India): Only eight pilgrims have registered for road travel towards Kedarnath this year. Nearly 1.3 million had visited Kedarnath and Badrinath last year, during the Char Dham Yatra (pilgrimage to four holy sites). Rattled by last year’s devastation in which floods killed 6,000 and stranded 100,000, only 77 devotees have opted for…
Source Just as the Earth bears those who dig into her, it is best to bear with those who despise us.— Tirukkural
Source LIVERMORE, CALIFORNIA, April 4, 2014 (Independent News): The Shiva Vishnu Temple’s soaring white gopura, the ornate tower at the temple’s entrance, is awe-inspiring against Livermore’s deep blue sky, but the people gathered within are beyond warm and welcoming. “Our motto is, ‘Serving God through serving mankind,'” said Kruthi Shah, emcee of the Hindu Community and Cultural Center (HCCC)’s annual…
Source Go beyond science, into the region of metaphysics. Real religion is beyond argument. It can only be lived, both inwardly and outwardly.— Swami Sivananda (1887-1963), founder of Divine Life Society
Source SRINAGAR,INDIA, Apr 8, 2014 (Rising Kashmir, by Sumaiya Yousuf): Ram Navami, the birth anniversary of Lord Rama, was celebrated in Summer Capital with religious fervor and gaiety on Tuesday ending their nine-day-long fast of Chaitra Navratri. Hundreds of devotees thronged the temples since morning to pay obeisance. Havans, sankirtans and preeti bhoj were conducted. The local pujaris (priests) had…
Source LONDON: April 5, 2014(Times of India): In a first-of-its-kind case, a Hindu prisoner being held in a British jail has won the right to perform the last rites at his father’s funeral following a major legal battle. Joginder Paul Kashyap, serving a default prison sentence over non-payment of a confiscation order at Oakwood prison near the West Midlands city…
Source Like a tortoise withdrawing five limbs into its shell, those who restrain the five senses in one life will find safe shelter for seven.— Tirukkural 126
Source NEW YORK, April 5, 2014 (New York Times, by Barbara Ehrenreich): My atheism is hard-core, rooted in family tradition rather than adolescent rebellion. According to family legend, one of my 19th-century ancestors, a dirt-poor Irish-American woman in Montana, expressed her disgust with the church by vehemently refusing last rites when she lay dying in childbirth. From then on, we…
Source KYODO, JAPAN, November 27, 2013 (Japan Times): There is a “natural” convergence among yoga practitioners in Japan: Those who have practiced it primarily for slimming or health are becoming more interested in its spiritual aspects, while those who have approached it as a philosophy are more actively engaging in physical exercise, according to an experienced yoga instructor. “When you…
Source Do not be proud of wealth, people, relations and friends, or youth. All these are snatched by time in the blink of an eye. Giving up this illusory world, know and attain the Supreme.— Adi Shankara, 9th century Indian philosopher and saint