Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, December 5, 2009: The famously pain-resistant Vikings might have approved of the latest fad sweeping Sweden. Nail beds are becoming popular with health-conscious consumers convinced that lying on rubber pads embedded with sharp, plastic pins is good for them. Hindu ascetics of legend favor a wooden bed bristling with metal nails, but the spiky foam version…
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk UNITED KINGDOM, November 11, 2009: Less than half the population believes that human activity is to blame for global warming, according to an exclusive poll for The Times. The revelation that ministers have failed in their campaign to persuade the public that the greenhouse effect is a serious threat requiring urgent action will make uncomfortable reading for the…
Source: www.hinduismtoday.com The learned have prescribed penance for the murderer of a pious man, a drunkard, a thief or for one who has violated a solemn vow. But there is no pardon for the ungrateful. The Panchatantra
Source: Press Release MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, December 10, 2009: After seven magnificent days, the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions has officially closed, with a moving ceremony at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Thousands of people from more than 80 cultures and faiths attended more than 650 programs, with over 1300 world-class speakers and performers, living the mantra Make a…
Source: Asiantribune.com CHENNAI, INDIA, December 2, 2009: The holy deepam was lighted atop the hill of Thiruvannamalai on Tuesday evening. Devotees gathered within and around the precincts of the temple, along with the residents of the town to catch sight of the flame atop the Annamalai hill, cherishing the age old belief that it is a representation of Shiva himself,…
Source: www.hinduismtoday.com Over the last few years, American universities have had to adjust their cafeteria menus to reflect the fact that ten to fifteen percent of their incoming students are vegetarians. Now the US federal prison system is doing the same, perhaps a dubious distinction for the advocates of vegetarianism. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals see an up…
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com CHENNAI, INDIA, November 20, 2009: For Abhishek, a software engineer, this year’s birthday was very special. Sitting in his apartment in Texas, he felt quite at home as he watched a special archana’ being performed in his name at Chennai’s famous Vadapalani Murugan temple, which he has frequented as a boy. It was a “virtual” divine experience for…
Source: blogs.reuters.com December 8, 2009: (By Paul Knitter, Professor of Theology, World Religions and Culture at Union Theological Seminary in New York and Matthew Weiner, Program Director at the Interfaith Center of New York.) In 1893, the Chicago Parliament of World Religions was convened to gather the world’s faiths together for the first time. The organizers had a subversive message…
Source: news.bbc.co.uk MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, December 8, 2009: What happens when an imam, a priest and a rabbi get into a lift together? It may sound like a joke, but it is an everyday occurrence at the world’s largest inter-faith gathering – and such unexpected encounters are positively encouraged. The Parliament of the World’s Religions has brought together representatives from 80…
Source: www.hinduismtoday.com MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, December 9, 2009: The Hindu Declaration on Climate Change adopted yesterday at the Parliament of the World’s Religions is available in PDF form at the link above (also repeated below as a text file). The Declaration is of particular relevance at this moment as the world’s leaders gather for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in…