RNS USA, November 16, 2011 (RNS): Got the blues? Go to worship. A new study in the Journal of Religion and Health suggests that — at least for some women of a certain age — there’s a link between optimism and attendance at religious services. “We looked at the religious practices of nearly 100,000 women and — like it or…
Source LONDON, UK, November 17, 2011 (metro.co.uk): Amma, the HIndu saint, spreads her arms to embrace all colors, faiths and creeds. For 30 years, the spiritual leader, real name Mata Amritanandamayi, has been offering strangers darshan – her unique brand of spiritual embrace – and is said to have doled out more than 30million hugs worldwide. ‘There’s a universal message…
Source INDIA, November 2011 (The Hindu): Jayendra Saraswati, guru and chief of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, has urged the people to be aware of the oneness of existence, which has neither birth nor death, and avoid divisive thoughts. He was speaking to a gathering of representatives of several Hindu groups, brought together by the Hindu Aikya Vedi in connection with…
Source MALAYSIA, November 2, 2011 (NST): The Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Ministry will help legalize about 70 illegal Hindu temples in the city by 2013. Deputy Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk M. Saravanan said the temples, which are mainly in residential areas, have been vetted by ministry officials to comply with the criteria for legalization. The temples…
Source Knowing others is wisdom; knowing the Self is enlightenment. Mastering others requires force; mastering the Self needs strength.— Lao-Tsu (ca 600 bce), Chinese philosopher who inspired Taoism
Source MUMBAI, INDIA, October 29, 2011 (The Hindu): The country has seen over a quarter of a million farmers’ suicides between 1995 and 2010. The National Crime Records Bureau’s latest report on ‘Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India’ places the number for 2010 at 15,964. That brings the cumulative 16-year total from 1995 — when the NCRB started recording farm…
Source UNITED STATES, November 12, 2011 (by Aziz Haniffa for Rediff.com): Reacting to a report funded by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom that textbooks in Pakistan foster hatred and intolerance of minorities, especially Hindus and their faith, the head of the influential Hindu American Foundation Suhag Shukla, said, “It’s about time!” The study conducted by the International Center…
Source HARIDWAR, INDIA, November 3, 2011 (ians live): They come here from Russia, Malaysia, Belarus, South Korea and the U.S., lured by Hinduism which they say answers questions that have plagued them for years. Foreigners flocking to Haridwar, one of the holiest Hindu holy spots, are mostly the educated, both men and women, from all parts of the globe, and…
Source Eternal, pure, groundless, death-and-birth free, pervasive, ever immaculate, distant, near, enveloping effulgence of void, the support of all, the fullness of bliss, the consciousness-form beyond thought and speech, That which thus stood, the expanse vast that generates bliss, let us contemplate.— Tayumanavar (1706-1744), South Indian devotional poet
Source LONDON, UK, October 21, 2011 (by Sally Adee): In the basement of a building in South London people shell out GBP 45 (US$72) to spend an hour in a sensory deprivation tank. The shiny white pod is about the size of a SmartCar. Inside, the total-immersion bathtub is flooded with an unearthly blue light and a quietly swishing mass…