News from Hindu Press International
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Posted on
2012/3/28 17:23:20 ( 1214 reads )
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Fresh herbs, succulent greens, and tasty fruits can be found growing near
civic buildings, college campuses, supermarket parking lots, and various
other places. Small garden plots, raised planting beds, and even small soil
strips in these areas can be found brimming with fresh produce, all of
which are free to anyone who want it, and at any time.
It is all part of a program called Incredible Edible, which was founded by
Mary Clear, a local grandmother of ten, and Pam Warhurst, former owner of a
local restaurant in town known as Bear Cafe. The duo had a shared goal of
making Todmorden the first town in the UK to become completely
self-sufficient in food -- and their endeavors have been successful, at
least as far as keeping up with demand for produce from locals who want it.
The program so far utilizes 70 large planting beds located all around the
town. Not only did locals quickly catch on and begin taking the produce,
but they also generally respect the system and do not take advantage of it.
"If you take a grass verge that was used as a litter bin and a dog
toilet and turn it into a place full of herbs and fruit trees, people won't
vandalize it. I think we are hard-wired not to damage food," said Warhurst,
concerning the notion that offering free fruit and vegetables might lead to
abuse or other crimes. She noted, in fact, that quite the opposite has
occurred -- the Incredible Edible program has improved community relations,
and reduced crime by an incrementally higher amount every single year since
it first started.
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Posted on
2012/3/28 17:23:14 ( 1180 reads )
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UNITED STATES, March 13, 2012 (Mark Bittman-NY Times): Until a couple of
years ago I believed that the primary reasons to eat less meat were
environment- and health-related, and there's no question that those are
valid reasons. But animal welfare has since become a large part of my
thinking as well.
If we want a not-too-damaged planet to live on, and we want to live here in
a way that's also not too damaged, we're better off eating less meat. But
if we also want a not-too-damaged psyche, we have to look at how we treat
animals and begin to change it.
We can start by owning up to the fact that our system is industrialized.
And as horrible as that word -- "industrialized" -- seems when
applied to what was once called animal husbandry, it is precisely the
correct term. Those who haven't seen this, or believe it to be a myth
perpetrated by PETA, might consider reading "Every Twelve Seconds:
Industrialized Slaughter and the Politics of Sight," recently
published by Timothy Pachirat. 12 seconds is the frequency with which the
Omaha slaughterhouse where Pachirat worked for five months killed cattle, a
total of around 2,500 per day (We process more than nine billion animals
each year--hundreds per second).
Pachirat, whom I interviewed by phone earlier this week, took the job not
as an animal rights activist but as a doctoral candidate in political
science seeking to understand the normalization of violence. Like others,
he concluded that our isolation from killing allows us to tolerate
unimaginably cruel practices simply because we don't see them. But Pachirat
emphasizes that it's not only we -- consumers -- who are isolated from the
killing, but workers: at his plant only seven people out of 800 were
directly involved with live cattle, and only four with killing.
"The sheer volume, scale and rate of killing," Pachirat told me,
"the way the animals form a continuous stream rather than individual
creatures, makes it clear the animals are seen as raw material. The cattle
are called 'beef' even while they're alive -- and that not only protects
people from acknowledging what they're doing and that they're doing it to
sentient beings, it's also accurate, a reflection of the process
itself."
The allure -- and habit! -- of meat-eating may be too strong for most of us
to give it up, but recognizing its consequences is a move toward a middle
ground: a place where we continue to eat animals but exchange that
privilege (that's what it is) for a system in which we eat less and treat
them better, one that allows our children to make more humane decisions.
Because once we accept that farm animals are capable of suffering (80
percent of Americans believe this to be true), we might well wonder what
they've done to deserve such punishment.
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Posted on
2012/3/27 17:24:23 ( 1144 reads )
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CHENNAI, INDIA, March 19, 2012 (Deccan Chronicle): In a judgment with
far-reaching consequences, the Madras High Court (HC) has held that a
decree for dissolution of a marriage by a foreign court is not binding in
India if a wedding is solemnised in the country under the Hindu Marriage
Act.
A division bench comprising justices R. Banumathi and S. Vimala gave the
ruling while dismissing an appeal by Sunder against an order of a family
court in Chennai declaring a decree of divorce by Superior Court of
California not binding on his wife Shyamala.
The couple tied the knot in Vellore district in 1999, but Sunder went to
the US within a year and did not communicate with Shyamala after that. In
2000, she received summons from Superior Court of California, which
subsequently granted Sunder divorce despite her defense statement.
HC said Superior Court of California was not a court of competent
jurisdiction to decide the matrimonial dispute of the appellant/husband
married under the Hindu Marriage Act in India.
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Posted on
2012/3/27 17:24:17 ( 1101 reads )
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SHIMLA, INDIA, March 18, 2012 (zeenews): Two prominent Hindu shrines in
Himachal Pradesh will offer online prayers and other services to devotees
starting this week. From the Chaitra Navratri festival, beginning March 23,
the Chamunda Devi and Brajeshwari Devi temples in Kangra district will be
available with just a click of a mouse, Deputy Commissioner R.S. Gupta
said.
Devotees can participate in the daily 'arti' - both in the morning and
evening - and offer online offerings. Two other prominent Hindus shrines -
Naina Devi and Jwalaji - have already gone online.
"The Brajeshwari Devi temple site will not only offer pooja but
devotees can also book accommodation and get information on forthcoming
events and festivals," said Pawan Badyal, a temple official. During
Chaitra Navratri festival over 50,000 devotees are expected to reach the
temple every day, he added. The festival will conclude on April 2.
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Posted on
2012/4/10 17:21:53 ( 965 reads )
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JAMMU, INDIA, April 9, 2012 (Ibn Live): To ensure the smooth and orderly
movement of pilgrims during the forthcoming Amarnath Yatra, the Jammu and
Kashmir Police will deploy security personnel all along the yatra route and
places of stay for the pilgrims.
DGP Kuldeep Khoda made the announcement while addressing the police
officers meeting here today. The meeting was convened to review the crime
scenario in Jammu Division and was attended by Inspector General of Police
Jammu Zone, besides range Deputy Inspectors General of Police and District
Superintendents of Police of the Zone.
The DGP said that intelligence gathering will also be strengthened to check
the activities of anti-national elements. Amarnath yatra will commence from
June 25 this year and will conclude on August 2.
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Posted on
2012/4/10 17:21:38 ( 1051 reads )
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JAMMU, INDIA, April 9, 2012 (Outlook India): A Hindu outfit in Jammu and
Kashmir today demanded the formulation of an Act to look after all the
temples in the state. "We demand formulation of Akhil Bhartiya Hindu
Temple Act, which will look after all the temples in the state," Shiv
Sena Hindustan president Pawan Gupta said.
"A Board, on the lines of SGPC and Waqf Board, must also be set up to
oversee Hindus religious affairs in the state as the decisions taken by the
Amarnath Shrine Board had failed to satisfy the Hindu saffron
parties," he added.
[HPI note: State control of Hindu temples in South India is nearly total,
with mixed results. Surprisingly for a secular country, the government will
not interfere with the houses of worship of any other religion other than
Hinduism.]
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Posted on
2012/4/10 17:21:32 ( 895 reads )
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INDIA, April 8, 2012 (npr.org): India's once-a-decade census has turned up
some striking numbers: The population grew this past decade by 181 million
-- that's the total population of Brazil. India now has more than 1.2
billion people and is on track to overtake China as the world's most
populous nation in 2030.
India's rapid economic growth -- and its long-standing poverty -- are also
reflected in the census. More than half of all Indian households now have
cellphones, but fewer than half have toilets.
The fact that a mobile phone is easier to get than a toilet is a telling
one, says Partha Mukhopadhyay, an economist at the Center for Policy
Research, a think-tank in New Delhi. To him it shows that while individuals
in India are striving, the Indian government hasn't been able to keep up.
"The government is trailing people a little bit in the sense that ...
in order to provide public goods like sanitation, like water ... what you
need is for the state to be organized, to be able to transform this
increase in incomes into an increase in state revenues, which can then be
used to provide these kinds of public goods," Mukhopadhyay says.
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Posted on
2012/4/10 17:21:26 ( 902 reads )
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How can one realize that which alone is real? All we need to do is to give
up our habit of regarding as real that which is unreal. Reality alone will
remain, and we will be That.
-- Sri Ramana Maharishi (1879-1950), South Indian mystic
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Posted on
2012/4/9 19:39:16 ( 1028 reads )
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TIRUPATI, INDIA March 26, 2012 (India Times): It's an arduous 21-hour wait
in the queue for a darshan of God which lasts no more than a fraction of a
second. Even as the scorching sun beats down on them, pilgrims patiently
await their turn for a darshan of Lord Venkateswara at the hill shrine of
Tirumala.
As reward for this grueling exercise, squeezed in like sardines into rows,
pilgrims get a darshan of 0.80 milliseconds to 1.5 seconds. That too,
amidst a lot of shoving and pushing by temple guards and Srivari
volunteers. Those in the know of temple affairs say that three seconds with
the Lord inside the sanctum sanctorum can be billed as a 'satisfactory'
darshan. With an average of 65,000 pilgrims flocking the temple every day
(the rush hits a high of 80,000 on Saturdays and Sundays and over 100,000
during festivals), the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is finding it
increasingly difficult to arrange for a proper darshan.
Lord Venkateswara is a popular Hindu God and, over the years, the
popularity of Tirumala has risen enormously. As the rush of pilgrims kept
multiplying, providing a satisfactory darshan and pruning the waiting
period has become an onerous task for TTD. In a time motion study done by
experts, it was found that 2,000-2,200 pilgrims are barely able to `finish'
the darshan of the Moola Virat (main Deity) in one hour when they are
pushed around. If temple volunteers exercise restraint, the numbers come
down to 1,400-1,600 and further down to 1,000-1,200 if they only holler `move
move' inside the garbha griha.
With Arjitha sevas, naivedyam, shuddi and other rituals taking away 8 hours
and VIP pilgrims allowed darshan for 3-4 hours, common pilgrims have 10-12
hours.
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Posted on 2012/4/9
19:39:11 ( 1109 reads )
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GEORGIA, U.S., April 5, 2012 (News Bharati): Swadesh Katoch, a prominent
face of Indians in Georgia who owns an IT company, has been awarded with a
humanitarian award by the Georgia Association of Physicians of Indian
Heritage (GAPI) for his outstanding work for the resettlement of Bhutanese
Hindu refugees.
This award was given to Swadesh at the GAPI's annual function along with
$1,000. Swadesh Katoch announced to use the prize for an eye health project
for Bhutanese and to help Hindu widows in Pakistan.
Since the late 1980s, conflict between ethnic groups in the country of
Bhutan resulted in a mass exodus of southern Bhutanese. As reported by
Hinduism Today here, from 1991 until their departure to western
countries for resettlement, around 110,000 Bhutanese citizens lived in U.N.
refugee camps in Nepal. In 2006, the United States volunteered to shelter
60,000 of the Bhutanese refugees. Since 2007, hundreds of these refugees
have arrived in the U.S. This was the largest influx of refugees in recent
History of the United States.
A majority of these refugees (mainly Nepali speaking Hindus) had limited
literacy and were not exposed on urban or western life style. These
refugees were only given a few months of support by the US government.
Swadesh Katoch recognized the problem of these Hindu refugees and started
helping them with his unique organizational skills. Eventually, his efforts
became a movement uniting Hindu communities, temples, and other Hindu faith
based organizations across the United States for the resettlement of 60,000
Bhutanese refugees.
Swadesh Katoch is a volunteer of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since his
childhood. He is Sewa Pramukh and Sah-karyawah of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh's
Shri Sakti Sakha of Atlanta. He has dedicated this award to thousands of
Sewa and Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh karyakartas who are working relentlessly
for the society around them.
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Posted on
2012/4/9 19:39:05 ( 1020 reads )
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USA, Apirl 7, 2012 (Press Release from LES Casting): A Major Cable Network
is producing a documentary on modern day arranged marriages. We are looking
to follow the lives of several dynamic couples during all of the
excitement, elation, joy and stress that comes with starting your new
married life!
An "arranged marriage" or "focused courtship" is a
practice in which someone other than the couple getting married is involved
in the selection of your spouse. This is a fun and exciting show that will
feature the bride, groom and families to highlight their culture.
If you or someone you know is:
- Recently engaged
- In the early stages of planning
- Between the ages of 21 to 55
- Getting married in April, May, June or July
Please email Nicole Ford at LES Casting, 646-723-0673, lovearrangedmarriage@gmail.com
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Posted on 2012/4/9
19:38:59 ( 887 reads )
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If numbers on the calendar were that significant, somewhere in the
mid-morning of March 14, 2015, we would all become cosmically aware of pi
(3.14.15, 9:26:54 am).
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Posted on
2012/4/8 17:33:26 ( 1002 reads )
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NEW YORK, U.S., April 2, 2012 (Fox NY): The New York Department of Taxation
and Finance decided that yoga studios fall into a category of businesses --
specifically weight control or health salons -- that must pay the city's
levy, officials said. The state -- which collects the city's sales tax --
already began auditing yoga studios, presenting them in some cases with
bills for back sales taxes for the past three years.
"We do see this as a fairness issue," according to Edward Walsh,
a spokesman for the Department of Taxation and Finance, noting that Pilates
studios have to pay sales tax. "Businesses that provide similar
services should be subject to the same taxes in the city." The new tax
policy was met with cries of protest from the yoga business community. For
years, studios budgeted without the expectation of a sales-tax hit.
According to Alison West, executive director of Yoga for New York, a
lobbying group, the new tax policy could not have come at a worse time,
with the industry just beginning to get back on its feet after the economic
downturn, or what she termed "the yoga crisis." Like most
businesses, yoga studios likely would pass the sales tax on to the customer,
forcing prices up.
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Posted on
2012/4/8 17:33:20 ( 824 reads )
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NEW DELHI, INDIA, April 2, 2012 (HindustanTimes): Taking a small step to
prevent the Yamuna from getting more polluted, volunteers of a non
government organisation stopped people from throwing puja items into the
river on Sunday. According to Gopi Dutt Aakash, founder member and
president of Youth Fraternity Foundation (YFF), an NGO working to save the
Yamuna from pollution, hundreds of tonnes of plastic and other pollution
material find their way into the river during the festival season.
"During last Navratras in October 2011, an estimated 600,000 kilograms
(about 1.3 million lbs.) of puja items were thrown into River Yamuna in
Delhi alone. We want to create a system where the sacred waste is collected
directly and disposed of and recycled properly without causing any
pollution in the river," Aakash said.
Under the project 'Pushpanjali Pravah', the volunteers of YFF collected two
truckloads of sacred waste from Yamuna Bridge on Vikas Marg on Saturday.
The NGO put up banners on the iron grille along the bridge, requesting
people not to throw any waste in the river.
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Posted on
2012/4/8 17:33:15 ( 1051 reads )
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NEW YORK, April 4, 2012 (Courthouse News): - Federal prosecutors have filed
suit to help Cambodia reclaim a 10th century sandstone statue from the
Sotheby's auction house. The Duryodhana was stolen from the Prasat Chen
temple at Koh Ker in Cambodia as war raged in the neighboring Vietnam and
the Khmer Rouge took power in 1975, according to the complaint.
"The Koh Ker site is of great significance from a religious,
historical, and artistic perspective," according to the complaint,
which explains that the city was an ancient capital that was once home to
"a vast complex of sacred monuments." Prasat Chen, a sandstone
temple at Koh Ker dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, was looted in the
1960s or 1970s, prosecutors say. Among the temple's lost artifacts are two
large sandstone statues, the Duryopdhana and the Bhima.
"The Duryodhana is of extraordinary value as a piece of the cultural
heritage of the Cambodian people," the complaint states. "A
spectacular piece and unique in so many ways, it is a triumph of creativity
and innovation. It represents a unique moment in the religious and artistic
history of ancient Cambodia, when the great themes of the Indian epic
texts, such as the 'The Bhagavad Gita,' became integrated into the temple
space, and were represented not simply in bas-relief, but rather in full
round. Shown precisely at the moment where he leaps into the air, the
Duryodhana is a testament to the skill of the ancient sculptors, who took
an extraordinary risk in giving the illusion of a being in movement and suspension."
Prosecutors say they traced the statue to Sotheby's, which was consigned to
auction the piece for a Flemish collector in 2010. The collector allegedly
bought the statute from a British auction house in 1975. After Sotheby's
imported the Duryodhana into the United States, it pulled the statue from
its auction on request by the Cambodian government but never released
possession of it.
Sotheby's denies the government's allegations and says it is
"disappointing" that litigation will interrupt efforts to resolve
the matter "amicably." "This sculpture, which had been in
the possession of a good faith owner who obtained good title almost forty
years ago, was legally imported into the United States and all relevant
facts were openly declared," the auction house said in a statement.
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Posted on
2012/4/8 17:33:09 ( 1144 reads )
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[HPI note: Indian immigrants who wonder if they should encourage their
children to learn their parent's native language could find interesting
points in this article.]
NEW YORK, U.S. MARCH 18, 2012 (NY Times): Speaking two languages rather
than just one has obvious practical benefits in an increasingly globalized
world. But in recent years, scientists have begun to show that the
advantages of bilingualism are even more fundamental than being able to
converse with a wider range of people. Being bilingual, it turns out, makes
you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving
cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against
dementia in old age.
This view of bilingualism is remarkably different from the understanding of
bilingualism through much of the 20th century. Researchers, educators and
policy makers long considered a second language to be an interference,
cognitively speaking, that hindered a child's academic and intellectual
development. But this interference, researchers are finding out, isn't so
much a handicap as a blessing in disguise. It forces the brain to resolve
internal conflict, giving the mind a workout that strengthens its cognitive
muscles.
The collective evidence from a number of studies suggests that the
bilingual experience improves the brain's so-called executive function -- a
command system that directs the attention processes that we use for planning,
solving problems and performing various other mentally demanding tasks.
These processes include ignoring distractions to stay focused, switching
attention willfully from one thing to another and holding information in
mind -- like remembering a sequence of directions while driving.
The key difference between bilinguals and monolinguals may be a heightened
ability to monitor the environment. "Bilinguals have to switch
languages quite often -- you may talk to your father in one language and to
your mother in another language," says Albert Costa, a researcher at
the University of Pompeu Fabra in Spain. "It requires keeping track of
changes around you in the same way that we monitor our surroundings when
driving." In a study comparing German-Italian bilinguals with Italian
monolinguals on monitoring tasks, Mr. Costa and his colleagues found that
the bilingual subjects not only performed better, but they also did so with
less activity in parts of the brain involved in monitoring, indicating that
they were more efficient at it.
More at source.
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Posted on
2012/4/8 17:33:03 ( 911 reads )
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Life is a pilgrimage. The wise man does not rest by the roadside inns. He
marches direct to the illimitable domain of eternal bliss, his ultimate
destination.
-- Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh (1887-1963), founder of Divine Life
Society
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Posted on
2012/4/3 21:29:27 ( 1111 reads )
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ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN, March 30, 2012 (ibnlive): Pakistani government is
trying to assuage fears, saying it is committed to protecting shrines
belonging to minorities, Minister-in-charge for National Harmony Paul
Bhatti said on Sunday, following a protest by Hindus over illegal
occupation of a temple in Punjab.
More than 30 Hindus from Zafarwal in Narowal district protested in front of
the National Press Club to seek an end to the occupation of the temple.
Bhatti said no one should be allowed to occupy places of worship of the
minorities, and ordered authorities to resolve the issue at the earliest.
"Inter-faith harmony can only be achieved through inter-faith
relationship. We should have interactions to understand each other's point
of views," he said.
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Posted on
2012/4/16 19:49:00 ( 1300 reads )
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Sources in the government told The Hindu that the government passed the
order to take over the administration of the temple on April 13 on the
charge of maladministration.
The government said that there were serious irregularities in the
administration and hence, it was necessary to take over the administration
in the interest of devotees.
On Sunday morning, senior officials from the Muzrai Department as well as
Bangalore Urban district administration symbolically took over the control
of the temple by locking the Hundi and the temple administration office.
The process, however, invited protests from the members of the managing
committee of the temple, who termed the action unjustified. They claimed
that the entire administration was being carried out in a transparent
manner. The members, who launched an agitation against the taking-over
process on Saturday, continued it on Sunday.
They claimed that the government action has affected the sentiments of
thousands of devotees who visit the temple everyday.
Terming the taking-over of the temple as anti-religious, the trust members
demanded immediate revocation of the order and handing over of the temple
administration to the managing committee.
[HPI note: Indian state governments, who freely intervene in Hindu temples,
will not meddle with the houses of worship of any other religion, treating
Hinduism with more severe rules in what is supposed to be a religiously
neutral secular state.]
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Posted on
2012/4/16 19:48:54 ( 993 reads )
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JAMMU, INDIA, April 15, 2012: Demanding passage of J&K temples and
religious properties bill, a group of displaced Kashmiri Pandits today took
out a protest rally in the city. They alleged the Jammu and Kashmir
government has failed to get the bill passed, meant for protecting and
managing the Hindu temples and shrines in the state.
The Pandits have been agitating for last over one year for enacting a law
to set up a body to protect and manage Hindu religious property in Kashmir,
on the pattern of AQAF board managing Muslim religious places and Gurudwara
Prabandhak Committee for managing Sikh Gurudhwaras and shrines.
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Posted on
2012/4/16 19:48:48 ( 1046 reads )
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For our cause I too am prepared to die, but for no cause, my friend, will I
be prepared to kill.
-- Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948), Indian spiritual leader
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Posted on
2012/4/15 17:27:36 ( 1193 reads )
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TIRUPATI, INDIA, April 2, 2012: One of India's richest Hindu temples has
collected 57.3m rupees (US$1.2m) in donations on one day - the most ever in
its history. This was in spite of turnout being lower than usual for
Sunday's festival of Ramnavami because of school exams.
The coffers of Venkateswara Temple in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh
were boosted by a single donation of 20m rupees (US$390,000) said temple
officials.
The Hindu shrine has an annual income of $340m - most of it from donations.
Between 50-100,000 pilgrims visit the temple on a daily basis with the
numbers rising on the more auspicious Hindu festival days.
"This is the highest collection ever in Tirumala Tirupati
Devasthanams's history," Bommireddy Sharada, a collector at the
temple, told The Times of India newspaper. Offerings made by the 70,000
devotees to the temple on Sunday included cash, jewelry, silver and gold.
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Posted on
2012/4/15 17:27:30 ( 1017 reads )
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TIRUMALA, INDIA, April 4, 2012 (India Times): Facing flak from various
quarters, the executive board of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD)
has decided to cancel the categorization of VIP darshan tickets. In a major
relief for common pilgrims, the TTD board scrapped the three categories -
top priority, priority and ordinary - for VIP darshan. The decision was
effective starting April 4.
The board meeting chaired by chairman Kanumuri Bapiraju and executive
officer L.V. Subramanyam was held at Annamaiah Bhavan on Tuesday. No
decision was taken on opening a separate cell for issuing VIP passes in the
state assembly. The board, however, decided to wash its hands of the
controversial Anantha Swarnamayam (gold plating) project and, instead,
entrusted the responsibility of taking any decision to the EO.
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Posted on
2012/4/15 17:27:24 ( 1242 reads )
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UNITED STATES, April 12, 2012 (vegfamily.com): Most vegans know there is
something non-vegan about sugar, but not everyone knows what that is. Bone
char, made from the bones of cows, is at times used to whiten sugar. Some
sugar companies use it in filters to decolorize their sugar. Other types of
filters involve granular carbon or an ion exchange system rather than bone
char.
Brown sugar is generally made by adding molasses to refined sugar, so sugar
companies that use bone char in the production of their regular sugar will
also use it in the production of their brown sugar. Confectioner's sugar
(refined sugar mixed with cornstarch) made by such companies also involves
the use of bone char. Fructose may, but does not typically involve a
bone-char filter.
If you want to avoid all refined sugars, we recommend alternatives such as
Sucanat and turbinado sugar. Neither of these sweeteners are ever filtered
with bone char. Additionally, beet sugar--though normally refined--never
involves the use of bone char.
For a list of sugar companies that do or do not use bone-char filters see
source above.
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Posted on
2012/4/15 17:27:18 ( 1300 reads )
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NEW YORK, April 15, 2012 (The New York Times): Cohabitation in the United
States has increased by more than 1,500 percent in the past half century.
In 1960, about 450,000 unmarried couples lived together. Now the number is
more than 7.5 million. The majority of young adults in their 20s will live
with a romantic partner at least once, and more than half of all marriages
will be preceded by cohabitation. This shift has been attributed to the
sexual revolution and the availability of birth control, and in our current
economy, sharing the bills makes cohabiting appealing. But when you talk to
people in their 20s, you also hear about something else: cohabitation as
prophylaxis.
In a nationwide survey conducted in 2001 by the National Marriage Project,
then at Rutgers and now at the University of Virginia, nearly half of
20-somethings agreed with the statement, "You would only marry someone
if he or she agreed to live together with you first, so that you could find
out whether you really get along." About two-thirds said they believed
that moving in together before marriage was a good way to avoid divorce.
But that belief is contradicted by experience. Couples who cohabit before marriage
(and especially before an engagement or an otherwise clear commitment) tend
to be less satisfied with their marriages -- and more likely to divorce --
than couples who do not. These negative outcomes are called the
cohabitation effect.
Researchers originally attributed the cohabitation effect to selection, or
the idea that cohabitors were less conventional about marriage and thus
more open to divorce.
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Posted on
2012/4/15 17:27:12 ( 849 reads )
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You must not let your life run in the ordinary way; do something that
nobody else has done, something that will dazzle the world. Show that God's
creative principle works in you.
-- Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952), founder of Self Realization
Fellowship
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Posted on
2012/4/14 17:26:49 ( 1054 reads )
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PALANPUR, MARCH 13, 2012 (Times Of India): The recently opened Bochasanvasi
BAPS Mandir in Leicester UK has been conferred the 'Good Lighting Award' by
the British Astronomical Association (BAA) for its judicious use of
responsible, efficient and sky-friendly night-time lighting.
"The use of modern technology in the traditional Hindu temple
replicates and blends the modern technology that create both function and
beauty," said BAA officials Bob Mizon MBE and Martin Morgan Taylor,
who is also the vice-president of International Dark Sky Association. The
officials also admired the lighting of shikhars (spires) and domes of the
temple which highlighted their intricate form without overspill into the
night sky.
The temple has used low-voltage lighting arrangement and energy-saving
motion sensor switches around in the complex. Highlighting the objective of
award, Mizon said, "The campaign for 'Dark Skies' aims to preserve and
restore the beauty of night sky by working against overly bright and poorly
directed lighting that shines where it is not wanted or needed."
Kirit Patel, who received the award on behalf of the organization, said,
"Environmental issues are very important to us as Hindus and citizens
of the earth. I am delighted to be receiving this award on behalf of
everyone associated with BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Leicester."
"This is the first time the award was presented to a place of worship
anywhere in the UK," claimed Patel.
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2012/4/14 17:26:42 ( 1115 reads )
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UNITED STATES, April 7, 2012 (psychcentral.com): When caregivers of people
with Alzheimer's use yoga to engage in very brief, easy daily meditations,
they lower levels of depression, improve cognitive functioning and reduce
stress-induced cellular aging, says a new UCLA study.
Currently, at least five million Americans care for someone with dementia.
Over the next two decades, the frequency of dementia and the number of
family caregivers who provide support to these loved ones will increase
dramatically. The extreme burden on caregivers can be severe.
"We know that chronic stress places caregivers at a higher risk for
developing depression. On average, the incidence and prevalence of clinical
depression in family dementia caregivers approaches 50 percent. Caregivers
are also twice as likely to report high levels of emotional distress,"
said Dr. Helen Lavretsky, professor of psychiatry at the UCLA Semel
Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.
For the study, researchers recruited 49 caregivers who were taking care of
a relative with dementia. Of them, 36 were adult children and 13 were
spouses, with ages ranging from 45 to 91 years old.
The volunteers were randomly placed in one of two groups. The meditation
group engaged in a brief, 12-minute yogic chanting meditation called Kirtan
Kriya. This was performed every day at the same time for eight weeks. The
other group relaxed in a quiet place by closing their eyes and listening to
instrumental music on a relaxation CD, also for 12 minutes every day at the
same time for eight weeks.
At the end of the eight weeks, the meditation group had significantly lower
levels of depressive symptoms and greater improvement in mental health and
cognitive functioning, compared with the relaxation group.
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2012/4/14 17:26:36 ( 1661 reads )
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HPI
NEW DELHI, April 14, 2012 (By Rajiv Malik, HPI Correspondent): A
confederation of Indian gurus gathered for the second Guru Sangamam, held
in New Delhi's tastefully decorated auditorium of Thyagraj Sports Complex
on Thursday April 12th, 2012. It was a great spectacle to watch hundreds of
small earthen diyas lighted near the main stage. The program began with the
chanting of vedic mantras and bhajans.
Guru Sangamam was formed last year with a view to "nurture, promote
and celebrate the wealth of indigenous spirituality in the country. Its
chief objective was to evolve 'a non religious, apolitical platform' that
represented the variety and exuberance of all Indian spiritual movements
devoted to the 'liberation of the individual', affirming diversity as a
strength rather than a limitation. In a single year , the event has
expanded from a meeting of 17 spiritual figures to include over a hundred
voices of support from like minded gurus spanning a spectrum of traditions,
from Hindu to Jain, Sikh to Buddhist."
The event brought together several leaders of eminence , such as Sadhguru
Vasudev (who was the event's mastermind), Jagadguru Sri Shivarathri
Deshikendra Mahaswamiji head of the Suttur Math, Karnataka, Swami
Chidananda Saraswati [Muni Ji] of Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh, Dr. Lokesh
Muniji of Ahimsa Vishwa Bharti, Jathedar Gyani Gurbachan Singh of Akal
Takht, the Gyalwang Drukpaji of the Drukpa Order, Ladakh, among others.
The august gathering of spiritual masters besides resolving to come up with
an upgraded web portal [see it here, to be upgraded shortly] also passed four other
resolutions which included striving to make India a spiritual capital and
gateway of the world, setting up chairs for teaching Indian spirituality
both at the prestigious universities in India and abroad, making efforts of
better dialogue and interconnection among the Indian spiritual masters and
also promote the occasion of Guru Poornima as a celebration of national
significance.
Speaking at the 'Sangamam' Jagadguru Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra
Mahaswamiji said, " The Individual greed which has reached an all time
high has left mother nature with depleted resources and uninhabitable
conditions. This crisis has enveloped the world faster than expected. We
all fondly hope that this second conference would revive and strengthen our
social, cultural and spiritual identity, bypassing parochialism. He went on
to say, "The spiritual potential of India has to be fully recognized
and acknowledged internally and then in the world. The leaders of spiritual
traditions have an onerous responsibility as the torch-bearers of these
indigenous movements that have evolved in this land for thousands of years.
Addressing the gathering, Swami Chidananda Saraswati [Muni Ji] of Parmarth
Niketan and general secretary of 'Guru Sangamam' said, "We have always
believed in the famous Sanskrit words 'Ekam sat, vipra bahuda vadanti'
which meant the truth is one but the sages and wise men call it and
perceive it by various names. Therefore our mat [paths] can be different
but our man [heart] has to be one. The beauty of Indian spirituality is
that it makes a person so evolved that even though one goes through so many
ups and downs in life, one never loses his or her inner strength and
composure. It is through our traditions of sadhana [penance] and samarpan
[surrender] that we can show the correct path to the world in today's
times."
He added," Today our youth is getting shiksha [education] but they are
not getting diksha [initiation], they are aiming to become bhavya [big and
prosperous] but are not striving to become divya [divine]." According
to Muni Ji, though the youth of today was getting connected to internet at
the same time there was a need to connect to his inner net, that is his own
self for evolution and self realization.
Hinduism Today was perhaps the only media organization which was invited to
participate and cover the event which began at 11 am and went upto 4 pm.
Many eminent gurus expressed their views in a few minutes time that had been
allocated to each speaker due to limitations of time. To ensure that the
spiritual masters did not exceed their allotted time, the moderator of the
conference came up with a unique technique which worked very successfully
as well as gracefully. As soon as a speaker exceeded his time limit, the
moderator would just say 'aum' and this was a signal to end the speech and
the speaker immediately responded by saying 'aum' and ending his remarks.
The event featured the release of five new books on Indian spirituality and
culture in the august presence of the assembled gurus.
At a press conference held after the event, the media persons was informed
about the deliberations of the "Guru Sangamam" by some of the top
office bearers of the organization. This correspondent pointedly raised a
question as to why the organizers had not chosen to use 'Hinduism" or
sanatan dharma and why they were shy of using these words and terms during
their deliberations and in their literature. Responding to this Sadhguru
Jaggi Vasudev at first said that they did not consider Hinduism as a ism.
He also said that 'sanatan dharma' meant a universal set of rules or laws
and therefore it was also not an appropriate term to use. When this
correspondent persisted and asked again that when all the resources and
philosophy they were using came from what was commonly perceived as
'Hinduism' why should they be shy of using this term, the organizers who by
this time were already at the fag end of the press meet, wound up the press
conference saying that they would take up this question for answering
sometime in the future.
An announcement was made that the next Guru Sangamam will be held on April
4th, 2013 to "renew the dialogue and to continue the tradition of
congregating in a spirit of accord and celebration, free of sectarian
consideration or factionalism." The time and venue for the next event
would be conveyed sometime later.
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Posted on
2012/4/14 17:26:30 ( 896 reads )
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God is subtle.
-- Albert Einstein
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Posted on
2012/4/11 17:20:30 ( 1116 reads )
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JODHPUR, INDIA, April 6, 2012(Press Information Bureau): The inauguration
of the first Spices Park in Rajasthan for processing seed spices like
cumin, coriander and fennel will be commissioned on Saturday, April 7, 2012
in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The Park will be inaugurated by the Union Commerce
and Industry Minister, Mr. Anand Sharma in the presence of the Chief
Minister of Rajasthan, Mr. Ashok Gehlot.
The Park is set up in an area of 60.07 acres of land provided by the
Rajasthan Government free of cost in the Rampura Bhatia Village of Ozian
Tehsil, near Jodhpur. The Spice Park has common infrastructure and
processing facilities for seed spices, especially for cumin and coriander
which are widely grown in the State. The machinery in the Park is also
capable of processing fennel and fenugreek, which are quite ample in this
region.
A full line processing facility with a capacity to turn out two tons per
hour has in-built facilities for pre-cleaning, grading, color sorting,
grinding and packing of spices. The facilities available at Spice Park are
at par with the international standards.
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2012/4/11 17:20:24 ( 965 reads )
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KATMANDU, NEPAL, April 10, 2012 (Hindustan Times): Authorities at
Pashupatinath Temple, Nepal's most revered Hindu shrine, have started revealing
its income from donations. Details of donations made by devotees had
remained a mystery to outsiders and used to be shared by priests and
storekeepers at the Lord Shiva shrine visited by millions annually.
On Sunday, the first day when counting of donations and offerings for
special prayers in the temple began, Pashupati Area Development Trust
authorities collected NRs 185,000 (US$2,250). At this rate, the temple is
expected to generate around NRs 40 million (US$485,700) every year.
Significantly, collections see a surge on Saturdays, Mondays and important
festivals.
"We have set an example by implementing this long-cherished plan. This
will contribute greatly to overall development of the temple," The
Kathmandu Post quoted culture minister Gopal Kirati. He is of the view that
the development at Pashupati will send a positive message to important
temples in Nepal and abroad and make them disclose income generated from
donations.
From now priests and storekeepers of the temple will get monthly salaries.
Nearly NRs 20 (US$243,000) will be spent on wages annually and the rest
used to develop the UNESCO world heritage site which is located in
Kathmandu on the banks of the Bagmati. Pashupatinath is believed to be
around 1500 years old.
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Posted on
2012/4/11 17:20:18 ( 1338 reads )
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UNITED STATES, April 4, 2012 (Huffington Post by Saumya Haass): When I sat
down to write about Hindu women who inspire me, I first thought of my
cultural ancestors: women whose lives shine through the avalanche of
male-oriented history, who not only overcame trials in their lifetime, but
the challenge of being remembered centuries later. While heritage is
important, I also included Hindu women that I encounter through the news,
my community and daily life. My contemporaries: women who live and strive
in the world in which I live and strive, but do it with assertiveness,
verve and grace to which I can only aspire.
(See source article for these women heroes: Gargi, Akka, Rani of Jhansi,
Phoolan Devi, Kiran Bedi, Vandana Shiva, Anuradha Koirala, Anju Bhargava,
Lalita Arya and an anonymous Ganga bather.)
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2012/4/22 20:45:41 ( 1023 reads )
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PATNA, INDIA, April 15, 2012 (Deccan Herald): The much-revered Mahavir
Mandir in Patna added another feather to its cap when it became the second
highest earner among all the temples in North India. The Vaishno Devi
temple is at the top.
According to Mahavir Mandir Trust, which runs the temple, the Mandir earned
more than US$1.15 million in the last fiscal year. The biggest revenue was
generated through the offerings by the general public, while the sale of
Naivedyam laddoos too contributed substantially, Kishore Kunal, chairman of
the Mahavir Mandir Trust Committee, told Deccan Herald here on Sunday.
Kunal, a retired IPS officer, said that since the Trust had an expenditure
of only US$171,000, the remaining amount will be spent on Mahavir Cancer
Sansthan, Mahavir Arogya Sansthan, Mahavir Netralaya and Vatsalya Hospital.
All these hospitals are looked after by the Mahavir Mandir Trust.
The Trust has also decided to construct a replica of Angkor Wat temple
(Cambodia) in Bihar's Vaishali district. The proposed temple will come up
on the sprawling campus of 15 acres of land on Hajipur-Biddupur Road.
Angkor Wat temple was built in the 12th century during the reign of
Cambodian King Suryavarman-II. As of today, this temple has the highest
shikhar (pinnacle) in the world.
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Posted on
2012/4/22 20:45:35 ( 1104 reads )
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BHOPAL, INDIA, April 20, 2012 (Indian Express): The Madhya Pradesh BJP
government on Thursday announced that it would pay for the pilgrimage of at
least one hundred thousand senior citizens every year (for several religions).
Under the scheme, called Mukhyamantri Teertha-Darshan Yojana, the senior
citizens will be allowed to take attendants, whose expenses will be covered
as well.
Madhya Pradesh is the only state that subsidises travel to holy places in
Pakistan (Nankana Saheb shrine and Hinglaj Mata temple), China
(Mansarovar), Cambodia (Angkor Vat) and Sri Lanka (Sita Mandir and Ashok
Vatika).
Though the subsidy options for the shrines located in other countries have
been around for some time, few have benefited from them, partly due to lack
of publicity but mainly because the potential beneficiaries have to bear
half the expense.
The latest subsidy will cover holy places within the country. Besides
several Hindu temples, it will cover one place each associated with Islam,
Jainism, Sikhism, Christianity and Buddhism.
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Posted on
2012/4/22 20:45:27 ( 872 reads )
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Try to treat with equal love all the people with whom you have relations.
Thus the abyss between 'myself' and 'yourself' will be filled in, which is
the goal of all religious worship.
-- Anandamayi Ma (1896-1982), God-intoxicated yogini and mystic
Bengali saint
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Posted on
2012/4/19 19:53:09 ( 1153 reads )
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RANCHI, INDIA, April 5, 2012 (India Times): An ancient Shiva temple, better
known as Pahari Mandir because of its location atop a hill in the capital,
will be the first temple here to seek online donations. The new system will
be operational from the end of this month and devotees can offer prayers,
prasad and donations to Pahari Baba online. Flowers and wood apple leaves
(belpatra), offered to Lord Shiva, which was earlier thrown away, will now
be collected and converted into bio-fertilizer.
The development trust has plans to introduce various facilities for devotees
before the beginning of the monsoon season. Hari Jalan, treasurer of the
mandir trust, said, "Saawan will start from July 4 when a large number
of devotees will come to the temple to offer prayers. The committee has
decided to start various facilities for the convenience of devotees,
including installing a lift, making separate stairs for entry and exit,
creating a shoe stand and installing an LCD screen at the entrance."
Apart from being modernized, the temple will also be made environment
friendly. The development trust has spoken to the forest department for
greening the premises. A water tank with a capacity of 200,000 liters will
be installed to water the trees that will be planted.
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Posted on
2012/4/19 19:53:03 ( 1091 reads )
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INDIA, April 15, 2012 (The Hindu): The annual Hindu festival of luck,
Vishu, was celebrated with traditional fervor and ritualistic splendor at
Sabarimala Sannidhanam on Saturday.
Hundreds of devotees from different parts of the State as well as from the
neighbouring States of Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, thronged
the holy hillock to have the auspicious 'Vishukkani' darshan at the Ayyappa
shrine on Saturday morning.
Many of the devotees were camping at the Sannidanaam since Friday afternoon
for the auspicious 'Vishukkani' darshan which, they believed, would bring
them good luck and prosperity through out the year.
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Posted on
2012/4/19 19:52:57 ( 1170 reads )
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UK, April 16, 2012 (by Mark Bittman): Colin Spencer, whom Germaine Greer
once called "the greatest living food writer," turns 80 next
year, and shows no signs of slowing down. "What I tried to do right
from the beginning," he told me, "was to make my food column
political." With that, he meant taking a stance not on matters of the
government, but on food and the people who enjoy it.
Cooking, as it happens, took up almost none of our conversation, which
quickly turned to "heretical" eating -- which is how Spencer
referred to vegetarianism in his history "The Heretic's Feast."
Although the right to eat in any style one likes has not been a
much-discussed issue, at least in huge public forums, vegetarians -- along
with people whose eating styles differed from the norm for religious
reasons -- were long treated as a minority in the West, especially, notes
Spencer, since the advent of Christianity.
But it is not just about ethics or animal rights, he reiterated, it's also
the cost to the environment and indeed humanity. There is the issue of
sustainability, he reminded me (by some estimates, it takes 30 times as
much land to raise animals industrially as it does to raise vegetables),
compounded by the fact that we'll soon need to grow more food for ourselves
rather than feeding it to animals. And, he said, "The thought of the
developing world and malnutrition and hunger -- it's a hard call that we
use that food for animals. Certainly, by the end of this century,
industrial livestock will be a thing of the past."
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Posted on
2012/4/19 19:52:51 ( 1068 reads )
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Rely on the teachings to evaluate a guru: Do not have blind faith, but also
no blind criticism.
-- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tibetan spiritual-political leader
in exile
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Posted on
2012/4/19 9:21:31 ( 1558 reads )
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ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN, March 28, 2012 (Asia News): "In Pakistan there is
justice only for Muslims, justice is denied Hindus. Kill me here, now, in
court. But do not send me back to the Darul-Aman [Koranic school] ... kill
me". This is the desperate, heartbreaking outburst of Rinkel Kumari, a
Hindu girl aged 19, who has entrusted her heartfelt appeal to the judges of
the Supreme Court in Islamabad. Her story is similar to that of many other
young women and girls belonging to religious minorities - Christians,
Hindus, Sikhs, Ahmadis - kidnapped by extremist groups or individuals, most
of the time lords or local mafia, which convert them by force and then
marry them . And that is what the girl said on 26 March, before the judges
of the capital's court.
The drama of Rinkel Kumari, a student of Mirpur Mathelo, a small village in
the province of Sindh, began the evening of February 24: A handful of men
seized her and delivered her a few hours later into the hands of a wealthy
Muslim scholar, the man then called her parents, warning them that their
daughter "wants to convert to Islam."
Nand Lal, the girl's father, a teacher of an elementary school, accused
Naveed Shah, an influential Muslim, of kidnapping his daughter. The man has
the "political cover" provided by Mian Mittho, an elected
National Assembly Member, suspected of aiding and abetting. After
identifying the perpetrators of the kidnapping of his daughter, he was
forced to leave the area of origin to escape the threats of people
affiliated with the local mafia. The father found refuge and welcome in
Gurdwara in Lahore, in Punjab province, with the rest of his family.
As often happens in these cases, even the judiciary is complicit: a local
judge ordered that the girl should be given to the Muslims, because her
conversion is "the result of a spontaneous decision" and also
stated the marriage was above board. A claim that was repeated on February
27, at the hearing before the court, after which the girl was
"renamed" Faryal Shah.
Every month between 25 and 30 young people suffer similar abuses, for a
yearly total of about 300 conversions and forced marriages. Hindu girls -
but also Christian - who are torn from their family. Speaking to AsiaNews
Fr. Anwar Patras, the Diocese of Rawalpindi, condemned "with
force" the kidnapping and forced conversion. "The Hindus in Sindh
- adds the priest - live a hard life. The reality is getting harder for
them, they are forced to migrate because the state is unable to protect
them and their property.
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Posted on
2012/4/19 9:21:22 ( 1447 reads )
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MONTREAL, CANADA, April 16, 2012 (press release): The eighth annual
Sanskrit conference will meet on Friday, the 18th of May, 2012, in the
Faculty of Religious Studies at McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
The aim of this conference is to promote daily as well as scholarly use of
Sanskrit. Participants are therefore invited to make a presentation in
Sanskrit on any topic of their choice. Past presentations have included
poems, skits, stories and political commentary, along with scholarly
papers. Those interested in scholarly presentations may focus on any aspect
of Indian religion and culture.
Presentations should not exceed twenty minutes; scholarly presentations
will be followed by a 10 minute question-answer session.
The conference was inaugurated on 4 May 2005 with the aim of promoting the
use of Sanskrit as a living language. It is intended to serve as a forum in
which various aspects of Indian religious and cultural traditions can be
discussed in what has been the primary language of internal communication
within the multi-lingual Hindu community until very recent times, and
provide an intellectual atmosphere in which modern and traditional
scholarship may be studied.
For more information, contact Arvind Sharma at source.
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Posted on
2012/4/19 9:21:14 ( 1050 reads )
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UNITED STATES, April 8, 2012 (Scientific American): New research indicates that
people have developed a mental tool to help us cope with the realities of
our carnivorous nature: denial.
In a study that excluded vegetarians, psychologist Brock Bastian of the
University of Queensland in Australia and his colleagues first asked participants
to commit to eating either meat slices or apple wedges. Before eating,
everyone wrote an essay describing the full life cycle of a butchered
animal and then rated the mental faculties of a cow or a sheep.
Participants who knew that they would have to eat meat later in the study
made much more conservative assessments of the animal mind, on average,
denying that it could think and feel enough to suffer. The study was
published last October in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
"People engage in the denial of mind in animals to allow them to
engage in the behavior of eating animals with less negative effect,"
Bastian says. The researchers argue that although humans have the ability
to imagine themselves in someone else's shoes--or hooves--doing so is not
always helpful. People living in carnivorous cultures may have developed
this strategy of denial to better align their morals with their traditions
so they may continue to consume meat without being consumed by guilt.
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Posted on
2012/4/19 9:21:05 ( 855 reads )
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Oh, if you only knew yourselves! You are souls; you are Gods. If ever I
feel like blaspheming, it is when I call you man.
-- Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)
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Posted on
2012/4/17 19:27:18 ( 1041 reads )
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INDIA, April 5, 2012 (The Hindu): For the benefit of Amarnath pilgrims this
year, helicopter fares have been reduced by over 40 per cent on the
Baltal-Panjtarni route and by over 35 per cent on the Pahalgam-Panjtarni
route.
"At a time when air fares are going up all over the world, there is
some extremely good news for the devotees who wish to undertake Amarnathji
Yatra in 2012," an official spokesman of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine
Board said on Wednesday.
One-way helicopter fare from Baltal to Panjtarni has been reduced from Rs.
2,425 (US$47) a passenger in 2011 to Rs. 1,445 US$28) a passenger for the
coming yatra, he has said. And the fare from Pahalgam to Panjtarni has been
reduced from Rs. 3,495 (US$68) in 2011 to Rs. 2,355 (US$46) per passenger
for the 2012 yatra.
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Posted on
2012/4/17 19:27:12 ( 1152 reads )
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK, April 7, 2012 (NY Times): Mr. Rashid, a Muslim, said he
had long believed that practicing yoga was tantamount to "denouncing
my religion." But after moving to New York in 1997 from Bahrain, he
slowly began to rethink his stance. Now Mr. Rashid, 56, has come full
circle: not only has he adopted yoga into his daily routine, but he has
also encouraged other Muslims to do so -- putting himself squarely against
those who consider yoga a sin against Islam.
When Mr. Rashid, who also tutors children, had his students learn yoga to
help improve their concentration, three Muslim students quit after a few
yoga sessions, he said, in part, he believed, because of their families'
stance toward the practice. "I am putting them in something extra that
is not in the Muslim religion," he said. "The parents did not
accept it."
Four years ago, a council of Malaysian Muslim clerics issued a fatwa against
yoga, declaring it haram, or forbidden by Islamic law. The ruling followed
similar edicts in Egypt and Singapore, where one of the earliest bans was
issued in the early 1980s.
The fatwas typically cited the Sanskrit chants that often flowed through
yoga sessions and which are considered Hindu prayer by some Muslims.
According to "Yoga in the Hindu Scriptures" by H. Kumar Kaul,
yogic principles were first described in the Vedas, the Sanskrit scriptures
that form the backbone of Hinduism, and are considered to be over 10,000
years old.
It did not go unnoticed when Mohd A. Qayyoom, an imam who runs the
Muhammadi Community Center of Jackson Heights, joined a yoga demonstration
at an interfaith festival in Jackson Heights last summer. But Imam Qayyoom
said he had come to believe that Islam and yoga could be compatible -- if
the Sanskrit benedictions are left out, he said, and women's skin-tight
yoga gear is traded for more conservative garments. "Reformed, it will
be more popular" among Muslims, he said. "It will not contradict
with Islamic religion."
When Mr. Rashid finally took up yoga, he said there were more similarities
with his faith than contradictions. In salat, the five-times daily Muslim
prayers, which entail a meditation-like centering of focus and several
kneeling bows, he felt there were echoes of yogic poses.
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Posted on
2012/4/17 19:27:06 ( 1056 reads )
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Press Release
NEW YORK (Press release by Vishnu Dutt): Some 450 Arya Samajists from eight
Arya Samaj organizations in the tri states of New York, New Jersey and
Connecticut culminated an entire week of celebrations to mark the 137th
anniversary of the worldwide Arya Samaj movement with an open air multi
kunda havan services in Richmond Hill, Queens, New York city last Sunday.
The New York City celebrants who were overwhelmingly from Guyana, Trinidad
and Surinam also had participation from four other Indian originated Arya
Samaj groups. It was coordinated by the Tri State Arya Samaj Foundation
executive Sati Gurdial. India's vigilant independence movement to remove
the British motivated the Arya Pratinidi Sabha as the Arya Samaj umbrella
organization to enhance worldwide fortification of Vedic Hindu values. They
actively dispatched Vedic missionaries overseas to the Caribbean, South
Africa, East Africa and Fiji but after Indian independence the practice was
discontinued.
Professor Bhaskaranad had the most significant impact on the growth of Arya
Samaj in Guyana and the Caribbean. His converts carried Vedic values and
practices whenever they moved to England, Canada, Holland and the USA. Many
Arya Samaj Pandits later became active public figures in fighting for
independence of British Guiana. They included Pandit Sama Persaud, Pandit
Budhram Mahadeo, Pandit Ramnath Dwarka,Pandit Ramlall and Pandit Ragobeer.
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Posted on
2012/4/17 19:27:00 ( 1002 reads )
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It is a gift of God to see ourselves as others see us.
-- Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of Hinduism
Today
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Posted on
2012/4/30 17:37:22 ( 965 reads )
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Press Release
WASHINGTON DC, April 22, 2012: On April 20, 2012, Hindu American Seva
Charities (HASC) again made history, co-hosting with The White House Office
of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Agencies and the White House
Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships an historic conference,
Community Building in the 21st Century with Strengthened Dharmic
Faith-Based Institutions for the Dharmic (defined as ,Buddhist, Hindu,
Jain, Sikh) Religious Leaders. HASC partnered with many organizations,
including the Council of Hindu Temples, Federation of Jain Associations of
North America, Soka Gakkai International-USA Buddhist Association and
others to create a coalition that can reach deliver collaborative solutions
and services to benefit the communities around us while promoting better
understanding of our beliefs, cultures and values.
In his opening remarks, Paul Monteiro, Associate Director, White House
Office of Public Engagement observed that the Dharmic-American community is
interested in all the same issues that everyone is interested in -
healthcare, security, education, etc.
"In America, our collective faith infrastructures (temples, ashrams,
and meditation and yoga studios) are in early stages of development. The
Dharmic Americans, mostly post 1964 immigrants, are just becoming part of
the mosaic of the pluralistic landscape of America. ...As we see it, in
America, the seva movement is a tool for social justice, a way to deal with
community issues. The eastern Dharmic traditions share many commonalities
and have infrastructure gaps. We are trying to understand how can we engage
with each other collectively, what are our issues? How can more of us
engage with the administration?" said Anju Bhargava of HASC, lead
organizer of the event.
For more information contact: Dr. Ved Chaudary, ved@hinduamericanseva.org or Dr. Siva Subramanian, siva@hinduamericanserva.org
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Posted on
2012/4/30 17:37:16 ( 673 reads )
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India has come to preserve spiritual traditions which many ancient cultures
and countries have lost. Today Hinduism represents not only India but the
ancient wisdom of humanity. In Hinduism many ancient countries can still
rediscover their religious past, their old Gods and their old spiritual
traditions.
-- Ram Swarup (1920-1998), Indian writer and scholar
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Posted on
2012/4/27 21:32:10 ( 1321 reads )
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HPI and Press
Release
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANI, USA, April 27, 2012: The 1st Hindu Mandir priests'
Conference 2012 (HMPC 2012) started today in Pittsburgh, USA, and will go
on until April 28. The conference objective is sustainability and the
advancement of Sanatana Dharma by making the modes of worship meaningful
and relevant for the younger generation of Hindus within the United States
and Canada. The purohits (priests) play an essential role in the spiritual
and cultural welfare of North American Hindu society. The conference will
explore ways to make the priests' roles more effective in meeting the ever
changing needs of North American Hindus.
Some of the detailed discussions will be around the following: * Connecting
with Children and Young Adults * Personal Growth and Continuing Education *
Shared responsibilities * Samskaras & Festivals * Worship practices:
Beyond rituals * Internships, Sabbaticals, Exchange Programs * Challenges
of multiple languages, disparate customs * Managing devotees demands *
Environmental Considerations * Employment & Benefits * Hindu Chaplaincy
Program It is the hope of the organizers that priests may take several new
concepts from this conference and implement in advancing the growth of the
respective temples.
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Posted on
2012/4/27 21:32:04 ( 955 reads )
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Source
INDIA, April 2012 (DNA India): Vidyamrut Varishini Pathshala is a
101-year-old institution in Valsad which offers free education to pundits
teaching them Hindu religion and puja rituals. As the number of students
has decreased over the years, the school is trying its best to maintain
age-old traditions.
The school teaches karma-kand and other Hindu puja rituals which are not
taught at any other place in India other than Varanasi. The students can
come to the pathshala at a time that suits them.
"The school's foundation was laid by Naran Joshi, a noted Gandhian and
staunch follower of Hinduism. With the foundation of this pathshala, Joshi
wanted the youth to adopt Gandhian principles. To build the school, Joshi
collected donations from people coming from all walks of life." said
Naran Bhatt, administrator of the school. Gandhiji himself visited the
school several times and praised Joshi for his efforts.
While the school has a glorious past, today, a mere 15 students are
studying karma-kand and other rituals at the school. Since education is
free, teachers also don't ask for salaries. They consider teaching as doing
a service for their religion.
However, Bhatt is now planning to renovate the school. He is planning to
get affiliation from the Somnath Sanskrit University and provide degree
courses to students. "If the school gets the affiliation, it will
benefit students. The school will also reap the fruits. Degree courses in
Sanskrit and other subjects will bring recognition to the school as well as
the students. We are also planning to develop the library and restore valuable
books. Efforts are on to find the funds," said Bhatt.
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Posted on
2012/4/27 21:31:58 ( 825 reads )
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God Siva is Immanent Love and Transcendent Reality.
-- Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of Hinduism
Today
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Posted on
2012/4/25 20:47:15 ( 1278 reads )
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HPI
MALOLO, FIJI, April 2012 (by Shalendra Prasad): Bad weather could not stop
Hindu devotees from witnessing the opening of their new temple within the
Malolo Sangam Temple premises on Monday, April 16.
The brand new temple is devoted to Goddess 'Karumari Amman' who is believed
to bring good luck and fulfill the good wishes of every devotee. The
$250,000 temple is the second one to be constructed at the property and
sits adjacent to a Lord Vishnu temple constructed recently.
According to Malolo Sangam Temple president Karna Waddi Raju, a week-long
celebration was observed to mark the opening of the new temple which was
purely constructed by local builders and decorated by local painters and
sculptors.
Mr. Raju said the temple committee and people of Malolo, a highly populated
settlement in the tourism town of Nadi, are overwhelmed with the generosity
of various donors which enabled the committee to complete the works as
expected.
"People have braved bad weather and hardships of the recent floods to
be part of the week-long celebrations and we pray to God to help us during
such hard times."
The temple which hosts various religious and cultural activities throughout
the year is well known for its fire walking ceremony.
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Posted on
2012/4/25 20:47:09 ( 1138 reads )
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INDIA, April 19, 2012 (The Hindu, By Pradeep Chakravarthy): This is the
part of a story on temple rituals, shodasha upacharas, and the meanings of
the sacred objects used. Here, the deepa is explained.
Deepa or waving a lamp lit is an integral part of the upachara, for two
reasons - it was the only means of light in the past; and its symbolism is
of removing ignorance. As a consequence several types of lamps evolved -
those that were stationary, those that were suspended from the ceiling and
those held in the hand. Those held in the hand had the lamp in the front,
the horizontal 'S' that served as two base pedestals. The space behind the
lamp and the rear base had separate icons cast and fixed. Icons included a
five-headed cobra, then called the nagadeepa. The cobra has been a symbol
of fertility whose worship in the lesser Hindu traditions was absorbed in
the Sanskrit tradition.
It could be an elephant, the gaja deepa, where the elephant symbolises
royalty; the horse, a symbol of speed and valour, became the ashwa deepa.
Siva temples had the rishaba, Siva's mount. They also had the Purushamriga,
an animal with the head of a man/sage. There is a minor reference to this
ardent devotee of Lord Siva in the Mahabharata. In some temples, these
icons were a similar pedestal without the lamp, in which case they were
ritually shown to the deity much like a King would inspect his army and
check if they were all in the best of condition.
Vishnu temples had a unique Kurma deepa, where the tortoise had in its rear
a handle. The carapace of the tortoise had five small holes through which
the wick was inserted. Against the belief that tortoise signifies ill omen,
it is considered a symbol of stability and even today in Kerala, wooden
seats are made in the same shape for use in Vedic rituals. Such rare lamps
may have also been the whim of an aesthetic devotee and a master craftsman.
There is no a specific textual reference that insists on a temple having
this lamp.
Most of these lamps have been gone - auctioned off by temples or removed by
unscrupulous collectors. What remains is the adukkudeepam, where each
platter has several wicks in a circle and then there are smaller levels of
platters, always of an odd number.
(See the source for more, and very interesting, information)
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Posted on
2012/4/25 20:47:01 ( 906 reads )
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Source
Time is more precious than money; it is the most valuable thing in the
world. Time is life. Use it profitably in spiritual pursuits.
-- Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh (1887-1963), founder of Divine Life
Society
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Posted on
2012/4/24 16:49:33 ( 948 reads )
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Source
MADURAI, INDIA, April 21, 2012 (The Hindu): Power authorities are
considering exempting from night time power cuts the procession routes of
Deities during the upcoming Chithirai festival of the Meenakshi
Sundareswarar Temple. Thousands congregate along the routes of the
processions, which are mostly during the evenings and nights, to have
darshan.
Sources from Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDC),
Madurai Region, said that exemptions could be granted to the places where
devotees congregate in large numbers such as the Chithirai and Masi Streets
from power cuts.
The 12-day annual Chithirai Brahmotsavam of Meenakshi Temple would begin
with the traditional flag hoisting on April 23rd. The car festival would be
held on May 3rd with the Chithirai festival concluding the next day.
While TANGEDCO (the Tamil Nadu electric co.) received several requests for
exempting the entire district from power cuts, officials said that it was
not feasible given the present power situation. However, in May the wind
season is expected to set in and the wind mills are expected to contribute
at least 2,500 MW to the State. Once this set its, residents could expect
the night time power cuts to be halted with further relief even during the
day time likely.
Further several new power plants were expected to be commissioned in the
next two to three months. The power crisis in the State, officials said,
would ease considerably.
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Posted on
2012/4/24 16:49:27 ( 1110 reads )
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Source
CANADA, April 17, 2012 (National Post): On the morning of April 3, an
Oakville Museum employee arrived at work to find a 500-pound marble statue
of the Hindu God Ganesh in his parking spot, Halton police said. Since
then, investigators have been trying to determine its origin.
"We have good information, given the size of it, it would be taken
from a temple area as opposed to a home," Sergeant Dave Cross said
Tuesday after police issued a news release requesting the public's
assistance in tracking down the statue's owner. After arriving on scene,
police had to enlist the assistance of Oakville's road and works department
to move the heavy statue, which was eventually transported to the Halton
police property bureau.
The three-foot-tall statue of the elephantine God is missing its top two
arms, which appear to have broken off. That makes it unlikely the statue
was intended as a donation to the museum, police suggested. Police say
there have been no reports of Ganesh thefts in the area. Investigators have
spoken with various Hindu groups, who were attempting to help determine the
statue's rightful owner.
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Posted on
2012/4/24 16:49:21 ( 1033 reads )
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Source
UNITED KINGDOM, March 27, 2012 (Guardian): Ryan Giggs, 38, is the most
decorated player in English football history. He was appointed an OBE in
the Queen's 2007 Birthday Honours List and was inducted into the English
Football Hall of Fame in 2005, for his services to English Football. His
career is unusually long-lived, thanks in part to hatha yoga.
Ryan said that practicing yoga has kept him in the game for so long and
added that he would still love to play another 100 games for Manchester United.
The Welshman, who is chasing his 13th Premier League title, said that he
has had to change the way he thinks on the pitch but that he is still
"living the dream". "The yoga has helped me train every day
because it gives me the flexibility and the strength not only to play the
game but to train as well," he explained.
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Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My humble salutations to Sadguru Sri Sivaya Subramuniyaswami ji,
Satguru Bodhianatha Velayanswami ji, Hinduism
Today dot com for the collection)
(The Blog is reverently for all the seekers of truth,
lovers of wisdom and to share the Hindu Dharma with others on the
spiritual path and also this is purely a non-commercial blog)
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