Source UNITED STATES, January 27, 2014 (The Hindu): The Iowa-based institutions of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi have confirmed that at least 130 Indian religious scholars known as Vedic pandits have gone missing in recent years, after arriving in the U.S. to pursue programs of religious learning, even as one of the institutions’ officials described some media reports alleging ill-treatment as “replete…
Source CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, January 26, 2014 (NDTV): In a shocking revelation, as many as 163 Indians, most of them brought to the US as teenagers from villages in northern India to be trained into Vedic Pandits by two institutions set up by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi of transcendental meditation fame, appear to have gone missing over the last 12 months. Of…
Source Hinduism has made marvelous discoveries in things of religion, of the spirit, of the soul. We have no eye for these great and fine discoveries. We are dazzled by the material progress that Western science has made. Ancient India has survived because Hinduism was not developed along material but spiritual lines.— Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)
Source Only the guru is father, mother and brother. He is also friend, well-wisher and the only wealth. Thus everything should be surrendered to him. The disciple, fully surrendered to the guru, sees him as God, and then becomes God himself.— Chandra Jnana Agama, 2.68
Source UNITED KINGDOM, January 20, 2014 (BBC): Once veganism was widely associated with animal rights activists, the health conscious and the religious. But now more and more people are dabbling with a vegan diet, albeit temporarily. A growing trend for giving up all animal products doesn’t involve going vegan forever. Nor does it even require being morally opposed to eating…
Source January 22, 2014 (Huffington Post): Elaborately decorated Hindu temples sing praise to the glory of God with their breathtaking architecture. Hinduism is called the world’s oldest religion and many of these structures are full of history. Slideshow at source–click the second photo to launch the slideshow.
Source BANGLADESH, January 22, 2014 (The Daily Star): Hindu temples and houses came under attack in at least five districts across the country on Monday. Unidentified criminals attacked a temple and vandalized four statues in a temple in Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj as they were allegedly barred from taking part in a dancing program on Monday night. Witnesses said, a…
Source The more we are conscious of God’s presence in daily life, the more intense is the fullness of the joy we experience. God means infinitely more to our existence than the light of the sun means to the plants and trees.— Swami Omkarananda, (1930-2000), founder of Omkarananda Ashram
Source PENANG, MALAYSIA, January 6, 2014 (Penang Channel): This is a short video of the annual Thai Pusam festival in Penang where devotees smash thousands of coconuts in honor of Lord Murugan. Note the large number of Chinese people taking part in the Hindu festival. It doesn’t equal the feat described above, but is more of a community affair.
Source KERALA, INDIA, January 12, 2014 (New India Express): It is the beginning of the year and Namboothiri families in Kerala are getting ready to conduct Vettakkoru Makan Pattu (the song to worship Lord Vettakkoru Makan) or pantheerayiram. It is a popular but challenging ritual in which the chief priest has to break 12,000 coconuts continuously in one sitting. Manoj…