Daily Inspiration
Source Hindu Dharma is like a boundless ocean teeming with priceless gems. The deeper you dive, the more treasures you find.— Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)
India Cracks Down on Toxic Sindoor
Source NEW DELHI, INDIA, October 15, 2011 (indiatimes.com): The Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) has decided to regulate the sale and quality of sindoor (vermilion), the sacred symbol of married Hindu women which is also used in Hindu shrines. Sindoor is being brought under Schedule-S of the Drugs and Cosmetics rules, making it a “cosmetic” and therefore subject to safety…
Historians Protest Exclusion of Ramayana Essay From Syllabus
Source DELHI, INDIA, October 15, 2011 (thehindu.com): Delhi University’s history department is outraged at the Academic Council’s decision to drop from the history syllabus a celebrated essay on the Ramayana by the late scholar and linguist A. K. Ramanujan. The essay, “Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five examples and three thoughts on translations,” had angered people who believe it sacrilegious to acknowledge…
Daily Inspiration
Source For the Self, all that is seen is but mirage; it lasts but for a moment. Whatever is seen, we know it is not the real “I. ” Who could call real this personal self that changes every moment?— Adi Shankara, 9th century Indian philosopher and saint
In U.S. Schools, Yoga Without The Spiritual
Source NEW YORK, U.S., October 9, 2011: To “om” or not to “om”: For those who teach yoga in schools, that is a question that arises with regularity. The little syllable, often intoned by yoga students at the beginning and end of class, signifies different things to different people. But with its spiritual connotations, it is a potential tripwire for…
Sanskrit Daily on the Brink of Extinction
Source BANGALORE, INDIA, October 9, 2011 (dailypioneer.com): The world’s only Sanskrit newspaper, published from Mysore, is struggling to survive for want of financial support. “Sudharma” editor KV Sampath Kumar told The Pioneer he was on the verge of closing the unique daily due to a great financial crunch. “We need more than Rs. 60,000 (US$ 1,200) per month to run…
Supreme Court: Hindu Women Have Equal Inheritance Rights
Source NEW DELHI, INDIA, October 14, 2011 (bellevision.com): A Hindu woman or girl now has equal property rights along with other male relatives for any partition made in intestate succession after September 2005, the Supreme Court has ruled. Overturning a decision by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, a bench of justices stated that under the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005,…
New Hindu Temple In Thimphu, Bhutan
Source BHUTAN, October 11, 2011 (by Sudarshan Subedi): Work to construct the first Hindu temple in Thimphu will begin after a ground breaking or Sa-Lang ceremony was conducted yesterday. The temple will be constructed on a 2.53-acre government land at Kuenselphodrang on the way to the Buddha statue. “Establishment of this temple will enrich the spiritual heritage of our country,”…
Daily Inspiration
Source Be careful of your thoughts; they may become words at any moment.— Anonymous
When Parents See Young Love As Mental Sickness
Source MUMBAI, INDIA, October 9, 2011 (Times of India by Anahita Mukherji): Falling in love outside one’s community does not figure anywhere in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Yet, a growing number of parents are sending their children-both adults and adolescents-to psychiatrists in a bid to “cure” them of this “affliction”. Antagonism towards mixed marriages cuts across…