(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)
KARNATAKA, INDIA, June 15, 2014 (New Indian Express): Come summer, the
banks of Cauvery teem with known Carnatic musicians, connoisseurs, budding
artists and ordinary village folk converging on the remote village of
Rudrapatna in Hassan, Karnataka. However, for most visitors, it is also an
occasion to visit Rudrapatna's unique temple dedicated to music and the
great Carnatic composers.
The Saptaswara Temple is exquisitely sculpted in the form of a tanpura.
It's an allegory of ragas, since the tanpura only supports and sustains
music by providing resonance based on the basic or key note. Hence, at
Saptaswara Temple, the pooja, sevas and offerings are performed as per
different ragas.
Seven stone Deities adorn this unique complex: the Goddess of knowledge and
the six great Carnatic music composers--Purandara dasa, Thyagraja,
Muthuswamy Dikshitar, Shyama Sastry, Vadiraja and Kanakdasa. These
represent the concept of Saptaswara of Indian classical music, denoting
seven swaras : Nadadevate-Sharada (Sa), Purandaradasa (Ri), Vadiraja (Ga),
Kanakadasa (Ma), Thyagaraja (Pa), Muttuswamy Dikshitar (Da) and Shyama
Sastry (Ni).
As one enters the temple, the notes of the tanpura greet the visitor as
worshippers pay obeisance. As you stand in front of each statue, which is
equipped with a sensor, it starts narrating the life and musical
contribution of each composer for three minutes in Kannada.
SINGAPORE, June 6, 2014 (NDTV): A 179-year-old Hindu temple in Singapore,
which is among the 75 heritage buildings proposed for conservation, will reopen
this month after a US$5.6 million makeover. The Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple
was built as a small shrine in 1835 by early Tamil immigrants.
A dozen craftsmen from Tamil Nadu have been doing restoration work to the
temple's 640 statues and deities, depicting scenes from Hindu mythology.
The craftsmen have also restored and painted the temple's eight domes and
decorative cement fixtures on its ceilings and facade. "Some of these
feature gold foil embellishments and colorful stones," said the temple's
59-year-old secretary Selvakumar R.
The temple was proposed for conservation under the Draft Master Plan 2013
which was gazetted today. "The temple also served as a place for
refuge for devotees during Japanese Occupation of Singapore," a
spokesperson at Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said. The
URA spokesperson said the temple was both historically and socially
significant. It is one of the 15 places of worship listed for conservation.
The temple is popular among Singapore's Tamil community and migrant workers
from South India who spend their weekend and day off in Little India.
MUMBAI, INDIA, November 1, 2010 (de zeen Magazine): Edmund Sumner has
photographed a temple by Mumbai studio Sameep Padora and Associates. Called
Shiv Temple, the project involved simplifying a traditional temple design
by removing the usual decoration but maintaining symbolic elements. A
wood-clad frame wraps around one corner making the entrance while the
interior is illuminated by skylight. The temple was constructed by the
villagers using local stone from a quarry near the site.
The practice of yoga is not for ourselves alone, but for the Divine; its
aim is to work out the will of the Divine in the world, to effect a
spiritual transformation and to bring down a divine nature into the life of
humanity. It is not personal ananda, but the bringing down of the divine
ananda, the Satya Yuga, upon the Earth.
-- Sri Aurobindo, (1872-1950), Indian philosopher and reformer
WASHINGTON, DC, June 21, 2014 (indiablooms.com): Rajan Zed, first Hindu to
offer the opening prayer in the US Senate, delivered the third opening
Hindu prayer in the House of Representatives on June 19.
Starting and concluding with "Om," Zed read the Gayatri Mantra
followed by excerpts from the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita--all in
English. He sprinkled a few drops of Ganga water on the House podium. He
presented a copy of Bhagavad-Gita to Congressman Michael Honda, who
introduced and thanked Zed. He was presented with certificate of
appreciation by House Speaker John Boehner, and spoke with Honda,
Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards from Maryland, Congresswoman Janice Hahn
from California and House Chaplain Fr. Patrick J. Conroy.
The first Hindu leader to give the opening prayer in Congress was
Venkatachalapathi Samuldrala, priest of the Shiva Hindu Temple in Parma,
Ohio, in 2000, on the day that the Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari
Vajpayee, addressed a joint session of Congress. The second for the House
was Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami of Kauai Aadheenam in 2013 at the
invitation of Representative Ed Royce of California and Rep. Tulsi Gabbar
of Hawaii (the first Hindu representative in Congress).
Zed was famously heckled as he began his prayer in the Senate in 2007, an
astonishing and shocking breach of protocol in that dignified chamber. The
Christian protestors were arrested.
KATHMANDU, NEPAL, June 18, 2014 (My Repbulica): Pashupati Area Development
Trust (PADT) has issued permits to only 330 priests to carry out rituals on
the premises of the famous Hindu shrine. The PADT selected the 330 priests
on the basis of their academic qualification. From now onward, priests
other than the ones approved by the PADT won't be allowed to perform
rituals near the temple.
Before making the selection, the PADT had issued an open notice for all the
interested priests to submit their bio data, academic qualification and
other important documents by June 10. Govind Tandon, member-secretary at
the PADT, said that the trust officials felt the need to vet the priests as
most of them lacked even basic knowledge about rituals they have been
performing. They have been doing it just to earn money.
According to him, the trust will distribute identity cards to the 330
priests and assign them spots outside the premises of the temple. Tandan
also informed that the authorized priests will have to pay some amount to
the PADT office as rent. The PADT office has also asked the priests, who
have been performing rituals inside (near west gate of the temple), the premises
of the temple, to submit their academic qualification and other documents.
The PADT will fix the number of priests for that place as well.
WASHINGTON, June 19, 2014 (Indian Express): India-born plant scientist
Sanjaya Rajaram has been named the winner of the US$250,000 World Food
Prize for his breakthrough achievement in increasing global wheat
production by more than 200 million tonnes following the Green Revolution.
Rajaram's contributions in successfully cross-breeding winter and spring
wheat varieties, which were distinct gene pools and had been isolated from
one another for hundreds of years, led to him developing plants that have
higher yields and a broad genetic base. More than 480 high-yielding wheat
varieties bred by Rajaram have been released in 51 countries on six
continents and have been widely adopted by small- and large-scale farmers
alike.
"Rajaram's work serves as an inspiration to us all to do more, whether
in the private or public sector," said US Secretary of State John
Kerry at an event where he delivered the keynote address. "When you do
the math, when our planet needs to support two billion more people in the
next three decades, it's not hard to figure out: This is the time for a
second green revolution," Kerry said. Rajaram followed Nobel Peace
Prize Laureate Norman E Borlaug at the International Maize and Wheat
Improvement Center, CIMMYT, leading its Wheat Program from 1976 to 2001.
He is the Supreme Brahman, the Self of all, the chief foundation of this
world, subtler than the subtle, eternal. That thou art; thou art That.
-- Atharva Veda, Kaivalya Upanishad
FIJI, June 14, 2014 (The Jet): The Government of India via its Indian
Council for Cultural Relations continues to assist people of Fiji with
donations of musical instruments and educational scholarships. Director
Indian Cultural Centre in Fiji, Kishan Lal Kanojia said,
"The musical Instruments sent from Indian Council for Cultural
Relations were gifted by His Excellency the High Commissioner Shri Vinod
Kumar on June 7, 2014 in the Northern Division." He said various
academic and cultural organizations were gifted musical Instruments and
religious texts.
The Indian Cultural Centre in Fiji was the first ever to be established by
the Indian government outside the subcontinent and has to date provided
thousands of scholarships for students to study in India over its 41-years
of existence in Fiji. "We will continue to promote culture and
education to the best of our ability," Mr Kanojia said.
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA, June 14, 2014 (Daytona Beach News-Journal): Wearing
saris and carrying offerings of flowers and coconuts, women and girls
processed from North Beach Street to the Hindu Cultural Association
building on Madison Avenue east of Mulberry Street in Daytona Beach. The
procession on June 7 marked the beginning of a weeklong series of
observances and rituals that would consecrate the Hindu Cultural
Association building into a religious temple or "mandir," the
first Hindu temple for Volusia County, members said.
The Hindu Cultural Association purchased the 1.2-acre site at 150 Madison
Ave. in 2006, according to the Volusia County Property Appraiser. After a
fundraising campaign, the 6,110-square-foot building was completed last
year with a value of $377,093. It opened in late 2013 for cultural events
and meetings but the building would not gain its religious status until
this week, members said.
On Monday, in a nine-hour ceremony from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., statues were
imbued with religious significance as believers "put the soul to the
statues," believing them to be living representations of Deities.
BALI, INDONESIA, June 16, 2014 (Bali Daily): The Bali chapter of the
Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) has called on all broadcast media
to play an active role in preserving Balinese culture by airing cultural
activities regularly. The commission head Anak Agung Gede Rai Sahadewa said
on Saturday that the richness and uniqueness of Balinese culture needed to
be introduced at a deeper level and not in entertainment-oriented programs
only.
"The broadcasts can also help preserve the culture, which is known by
people all around the world. Broadcast media have an ability to do
this," Sahadewa said after the signing ceremony of a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) on the broadcasting of cultural and religious programs.
The MoU marked the commitment of local television and radio stations across
Bali to regularly broadcast cultural and religious content in their daily
programming.
Sahadewa said the MoU would be an initial step in increasing the awareness
of all broadcast media in Bali of the role of cultural preservation.
"One of the main roles and functions of the broadcast media as
stipulated in national law is the preservation of national and local
culture. The broadcast media is also obliged to uphold morality and
religious values, including Balinese culture, which is imbued with the
spirit of Hinduism," Sahadewa said.
Those from a religious background who believe that "There is only one
life and when it's over, it's over " generally cry and have a very
unhappy time over the departure of a loved one. This is very disturbing to
the loved one from where they are in the inner world wondering, "Why
the grief?" Because they are fine. They are happy, and they are free
of a lot of karmas, a lot of worries, a lot of conflict, ready to start a
new life. Those with a pure Asian religious background, who understand
reincarnation, dharma, karma and the existence of God everywhere, will
smile contentedly and say to themselves, "What a wonderful life the
departed had!" and be joyous in the new world that the departed loved
one is now experiencing.
-- Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of Hinduism Today
SAN LEANDRO, CALIFORNIA, June 27, 2014 (India West): A new app just
released for iOS lists more than 2,000 Hindu temples in some 50 countries.
The "World's Best Hindu Temples Directory," available on iTunes,
was conceived by Hari Iyer, an aviation engineer in Melbourne, Australia. A
team of dedicated volunteers around the world have been working for months
to compile and confirm the information, said Iyer.
"The iOS app is a priced at $1.99, which will help fund further
development of the site and mapping of all the large temples in
India," Iyer said in a statement. "Future plans also include an
Android App which is in the making, and a massive update to the database
with over 2,000 Hindu temples in Malaysia to be added soon."
Optimized for the iPhone 5, the app requires iOS 7.0 or later and is
compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The information is also
available at AllHinduTemples.com, a site he said was mobile-responsive and
designed to geolocate to the user's closest temples.
Visitors can register to upload photos and comments to the temple listings,
or upload religious events on a calendar in wiki format. Temple managers
can claim the ownership of the temple listing and update it with whatever
details they choose, said Iyer.
HANOVER, BADENSTEDT, June 7, 2014 (Haz): The largest Hindu Temple In
Northern Germany is in a warehouse in Badenstedt. Now the community has a
full-time priest. The 40-year-old Indian has only been in Hanover since
February of this year. The Tamil Hindu Cultural Society has brought him for
full-time care of the Gods and the worship in the temple in Badenstedt.
The priest, Sivasri Saravana Sivachchariyar, comes from the South Indian
state of Tamil Nadu. On this Friday evening, he holds the ceremony, which
is dedicated to the Goddess Sri Muthumariamman.
From the outside, one would never guess what is going on inside the building.
For the Hindu temple is located in the commercial area of Badenstedt. To
the left and right of it are warehouses and the temple seems hardly
different from the neighboring buildings. Five years ago, the Hindu
community has established the one-floor, white-painted hall - -it is now
considered the largest Hindu temple in northern Germany. "Here, the
temple does not interfere with local residents, we've located it here to
avoid conflict," says our Hindu hostess, Rajiny Kumaraiah. The US$410,000
cost of the temple is being financed entirely by donations from supporters
and community members.
Enquire: 'Who am I?' and you will find the answer. Look at a tree: from one
seed arises a huge tree; from it comes numerous seeds, each one of which in
its turn grows into a tree. No two fruits are alike. Yet it is one life
that throbs in every particle of the tree. So, it is the same atman
everywhere.
-- Sri Anandamayi Ma (1896-1982), Bengali mystic
FIJI, June 24, 2014 (Fiji Times): About 2,300 Hindu devotees gathered at
the Lovu Sangam Temple on the outskirts of Lautoka early on Sunday morning
for the annual firewalking ceremony.
Temple committee president Daniel Raju said preparations for the event
began with the procession of a statue of the Goddess Mariamman to devotees'
homes in the five days leading up to the firewalking ceremony. The Deity is
revered as the Goddess of rain and is closely associated with the Goddess
of time, change and destruction, Kali.
"The youngest person who walked across the hot coals was four years
old and the eldest was 92-year-old Permal Poojari." Mr. Raju said the
temple had been holding firewalking rituals since 1920 and 32 people
participated in the firewalking ceremony this year.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, June 23, 2014 (Medical Daily): Thousands of
sun-worshipping yogis lined their mats up in the middle of Times Square to
celebrate the summer solstice on Saturday. More than 11,000 people followed
the Athleta sponsored events "Solstice in Times Square: Athleta Mind
Over Madness Yoga" as they gradually moved from pose to pose in their
bare feet.
The summer solstice occurs when the sun aligns directly over the Tropic of
Cancer, which is the moment the earth's tilt toward the sun is at a
maximum, on June 21. This is the only day of the year that the sun is at
its highest point in the sky, making it the longest day of the calendar
year, according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.
Solstice means "standing on the sun" and marks the midsummer
point when the earth returns back into the dark half of the year. The sun
is an important aspect of yoga. In fact, one of the most familiar stances
is Surya Namaskar, which means "sun salutation" and represents a
symbolic movement of the human reliance on the sun. For thousands of years
Hindus, who are one of the original creators of yoga, have revered the sun
they call Surya because they believe it is the creator of all life. The sun
salutation pose stems from the word namas, which means to bow or adore the
sun and is used as a reminder of our place in the world.
UNITED KINGDOM, June 26, 2014 (New Scientist): As much as a quarter of our
greenhouse gas emissions come from food production. But it's not clear how
much would really be saved if people swapped their beef steaks for tofu
burgers. On some estimates, going vegetarian could cut out 25 per cent of
your diet-related emissions. But it all depends on what you eat instead of
the meat. With some substitutions, emissions could even rise.
So Peter Scarborough and his colleagues at the University of Oxford took
data on the real diets of more than 50,000 people in the UK, and calculated
their diet-related carbon footprints. "This is the first paper to
confirm and quantify the difference," says Scarborough.
They found that the benefits could be huge. If those eating more than 100
grams of meat a day went vegan, their food-related carbon footprint would
shrink by 60 per cent, saving the equivalent of 1.5 tonnes of carbon
dioxide a year. Perhaps more realistically, if someone eating more than 100
grams of meat a day simply cut down to less than 50 grams a day, their
food-related emissions would fall by a third. That would save almost a
tonne of CO2 each year, about as much as an economy return flight between
London and New York.
"This research presents a strong case for the greenhouse gas benefits
of a low-meat diet," says Christopher Jones of the University of
California, Berkeley. In 2011, Jones compared all the ways US households
can cut their emissions. Although food was not the biggest source of
emissions, it was where people could make the biggest and most
cost-effective savings, by wasting less food and eating less meat. Jones
calculated that saving each tonne of CO2 emissions would also save the
household $600 to $700 (Environmental Science & Technology, DOI: 10.1021/es102221h).
Many people are afraid of silence. They have to be doing something all the
time. Many people also are afraid of being alone. But actually no one ever
is alone. He's always with his great divine Self. Every person has a great,
divine Self within him, an absolutely perfect, shining, sublime being of
light. The voice of this being is a loud silence. The voice of your soul is
a loud silence. Many people have said that the voice of God is a deep,
profound silence.
-- Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of Hinduism Today
JAMMU, INDIA, June 27, 2014 (India Today): The first batch of Shri Amaranth
pilgrims will leave Jammu Yatri Niwas, the base camp for the yatra, on June
27 and these pilgrims, who will go through the Baltal route, are expected
to have first darshan on June 28.
Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Shantmanu said Shri Amarnath Yatra will be
allowed only through the short Baltal route and no pilgrims will be allowed
via the longer Pahalgam route. About 1500 to 2000 pilgrims will leave on
Friday morning. He said those yatris who have been registered to go via
Phalgam will have the option to go for darshan via Baltla too if they want
to go with these batches.
He added that following a heavy snowfall on the Phalgam route, it will not
be possible to allow yatra through this route and any decision regarding
this will be taken only after a go-ahead from the security agencies.
MUMBAI, INDIA, June 20, 2014 (Times Of India): Exactly 6,099 years from
today, when future inhabitants of planet earth crack open a time capsule in
an American university, they'll find four books on yoga -- in the form of
microfilms -- published by a Santa Cruz institute. These publications found
their way into the Crypt of Civilization in 1940, when researchers from Georgia's
Oglethorpe University, hunting for the best documentation on yoga, arrived
at The Yoga Institute in Mumbai.
Today, this 96-year-old institute -- possibly the world's oldest yoga
centre -- celebrates World Yoga Day with a camp for police officers. In the
1990s, they also trained 600 textile workers. Currently, 1,000 students
visit daily.
The institute was founded by Manibhai Haribhai Desai (later known as Shri
Yogendra) in 1918 after he completed his training at Malsar ashram. The
institute has several firsts to its credit. In 1920, Shri Yogendra opened
an outpost in New York State and in 1937, his wife penned the first book on
yoga for women. It is one of the four publications included in the Crypt of
Civilization.
Kaivalyadhama Lonavla, started in 1924, is also one of the world's oldest
yoga centres together with The Yoga Institute.
UNITED KINGDOM, June 24, 2014 (Daily Mail): Married couples are in decline,
fuelled by changes in social attitudes and the arrival of families from
abroad. The proportion of families with a couple who have tied the knot
fell from 70 per cent in 2001 to 65 per cent in 2011, the Office for
National Statistics (ONS) said. However, there are wide variations between
the nationalities of families, with 85 per cent of Indian couples getting
married compared to just 35 per cent of those from Somalia.
New research based on the 2011 Census shows that there were 15.8 million
households living in England and Wales, with 9 in 10 of them comprising of
a single family. While almost two-thirds (65 per cent) were married, the
proportion with cohabiting couples and lone parent families rose in the
decade from 2011. Some 85 per cent of families were headed by someone born
in the UK.
But a breakdown based on the nationality of the "family reference
person" shows how rates of marriage, cohabiting and living alone vary
depending on where in the world one comes from. Marriage rates were highest
among families headed by someone born in India (85 per cent, followed by
Sri Lanka (84 per cent) and Afghanistan (83 per cent). The ONS said:
"High proportions of married couples may reflect cultural attitudes
towards family structures and marriage in the population."
Stop all your attachments to false values. In an ever-changing world there
is nothing worthwhile for us to desire or weep for. Joys and sorrows are
bound to come in human life; they are just two sides of the same coin.
-- Swami Chinmayananda (1916-1992), founder of the Chinmaya Mission
INDIA, June 23, 2014 (Press Information Bureau): The President of India,
Shri Pranab Mukherjee, received a copy of the Encyclopedia of Hinduism at a
function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Auditorium. Speaking on the occasion,
the President complimented Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji of the Parmarth
Niketan, who is the founder chairman of India Heritage Research Foundation,
for undertaking the massive effort of bringing out the Encyclopedia of Hinduism.
The President said that Hindu religious philosophy identifies Dharma,
Artha, Kama, and Moksh, as the foremost objectives of a human being.
Striking a balance in human behavior in working towards these objectives
has been prescribed as a key aim of human existence.
The President stated that the basic tenet of Hinduism is happiness, health
and enlightenment for everyone and suffering, pain and agony for none. He
quoted Mahatma Gandhi and said "If I were asked to define the Hindu
creed, I should simply say: Search after truth through non-violent means. A
man may not believe in God and still call himself a Hindu. Hinduism is a
relentless pursuit after truth... Hinduism is the religion of truth. Truth
is God. Denial of God we have known. Denial of truth we have not
known."
USA, June 24, 2014 (NBC): HPI Note: The system of "Confucius
Institutes" set up by the Government of China in 2004 to promote
Chinese culture and language at established universities and colleges is
now a network of hundreds in dozens of countries, mostly the US, Japan and
South Korea. It has been mentioned -- before the reaction described below
occured -- as a possible model for India to follow.
University professors in the United States have joined their Canadian
counterparts in urging universities to cut ties with Confucius Institutes
unless the agreements that bring them to campus are re-worked to guarantee
academic freedom.
A report by the American Association of University Professors said
universities "have sacrificed the integrity of the university and its
academic staff" by allowing the Chinese government to supervise
curriculum and staff at the institutes it has established on more than 100
North American campuses to promote Chinese culture and language.
"Allowing any third-party control of academic matters is inconsistent
with principles of academic freedom, shared governance, and the
institutional autonomy of colleges and universities," the report by
the association's Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure said.
With more than 400 already now spread across more than 100 regions and
countries, China expects to have 500 Confucius Institutes by next year,
program officials have said, along with 1,000 Confucius classrooms in
primary and secondary schools.
The syllable gu means shadows. The syllable ru, he who disperses them.
Because of the power to disperse darkness, the guru is thus named.
-- Advayataraka Upanishad
HELSINKI, FINLAND, June 10, 2014 (New York Daily News): Passengers
departing Helsinki can now reduce the stress of travel by participating in
pre-flight yoga and Pilates classes being offered through the airport's
TravelLab, which aims to improve the experience of flying. As part of a
testing phase, a limited selection of Om sessions are available to all
passengers, regardless of which airline and class of service they selected.
Classes are held in the newly opened "Kainuu" relaxation space
near gate 30, designed by TravelLab with a great outdoors theme. During the
test phase, classes, which are 20 minutes long, have been few and far
between, meaning passengers looking to pop into a session may have a hard
time finding one that corresponds with their flight schedule. The Kainuu
relaxation space is open 24 hours per day, however, so passengers looking
to practice independently may do so at any time. (A final yoga class was
scheduled for June 10).
Helsinki Airport is the latest of several to add a yoga program: others
include San Francisco, Dallas Fort Worth and Chicago O'Hare.
UNITED STATES, July 2, 2014 (The Atlantic by Tanya Basu): In early June, I
visited my hometown of Glendale Heights, about 25 miles west of Chicago.
Making my way through the old avenues that had marked my childhood, I
noticed something curious: The churches that had dominated the street
corners of my suburban youth--from magnificent stone structures with ornate
stained glass windows to homey, unmarked brick buildings--were either
getting demolished or being sold to become Hindu temples.
As strange as it may be to see "Gayatri Gyan Mandir" on the
outside of a building that could be next to the dictionary entry for
"church," it's part of a larger story of the changing
demographics of American society. It's not just in Chicago, and it's not a
unidirectional trend. Synagogues are becoming mosques, Baptists are
changing hands with Korean congregations, pagodas are moving into office
buildings.
The handover in houses of worship across the country is not a
straightforward case of an increase in non-Christian immigrants in the
United States. In fact, many church sales can be attributed to shifts among
Christian denominations.Roman Catholic weekly service attendance has slid
from 75 percent in 1955 to 45 percent in the mid-2000s, while Southern
Baptist and Evangelical churches have seen big drops in attendance.
Beyond the Christian faith, immigration is shaping the religious landscape
of America and influencing the church purchasing process. A recent map from
the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies of the second
most popular religions in states across the country showed that Islam,
Judaism, and Buddhism were represented strongly across the country. Though
Christianity remains the overwhelmingly dominant religion of choice in the
U.S., other faiths are quickly growing, such as Hinduism in Arizona and
Delaware and the Baha'i faith in South Carolina.
In my silence, I experience one vast garden, spread out through the
universe. All plants, all human beings, all higher devas are about it in
various ways and each has his own uniqueness and beauty. Their presence and
variety give me great delight. Every one of you adds in a special way to
the glory of this garden."
-- Sri Anandamayi Ma, (1896-1982), Bengali mystic
KUNJARGIRI, INDIA, June 20, 2014 (The Hindu): Vishwapriya Tirtha Swami of
Admar Math on Thursday anointed a junior seer of the math, which is one of
the eight monastery or Ashta Maths of Udupi. Ishapriya Tirtha Swami (29)
was anointed after he accepted sannyas diksha or intitiation as a sannyasin
monk. He is the 33rd seer in the lineage or guru parampara of Admar Math.
Various rituals, including Pattabhishekha, were conducted amidst chanting
of mantras at Sri Durgadevi temple, which is located atop a hill here. All
the rituals took place under the guidance of Vishvapriya Tirtha Swami.
Vidyadheesha Tirtha Swami of Palimar Math was also present. Ishapriya
Tirtha will study shastras under his guidance.
A large number of devotees had come to witness the event. A BE degree
holder in Mechanical Engineering, Ishapriya Tirtha Swami is the first
highly academically qualified seer at the Ashta Maths. Herga Vedavyasa
Bhat, priest at Sri Krishna Math, Udupi, told press persons that before
giving sannyas initiation to a person, his inclination towards spirituality
was checked. His horoscope was also consulted.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, July 3, 2014 (Houston Chronicle): With their brightly
colored mats spread along a sidewalk, Tameka Lawson's yoga students try to
follow her instructions: concentrate on their breathing and focus on the
beauty of their surroundings. But this is Englewood, one of Chicago's most
dangerous neighborhoods, where streets are dotted with boarded-up houses
and overgrown lots, and residents are as familiar with the crackle of
gunfire as the chime of an ice cream truck. So while the students stretch
their arms to the sky, a man the size of a refrigerator stands guard over
the class.
It seems odd, all these slow movements, deep breathing and talk about being
centered in a neighborhood ruled by drug-dealing gangs. It's simply the
latest attempt to curb violence in a city where the number of homicides and
guns seized leads the nation. The hope is that yoga's meditative focus will
help cooler heads prevail the next time violence or vengeance looms.
The students "live in an environment where everything's rushed,
everything's pressured. So if you breathe through certain things, you are
able to see clearer. You really are," said Lawson, executive director
of a nonprofit group called I Grow Chicago. "Then they can act rather
than react."
The idea has even caught the attention of police. At least one officer has
made Lawson's class part of an anti-violence program for at-risk youths.
With yoga training, "when they get in a tense situation, they can
breathe and relax and make the right decision instead of jumping out at
someone and hitting them," officer Daliah Goree said.
BALI, INDONESIA, July 5, 2014 (YouTube): Ashok Thakkar has produced a
informative documentary on the Hindu art of Bali. In this 15-minute film,
he takes the viewer on a tour of temples and public sculptures, both
ancient and modern found across the island.
To enter into the spiritual life is a rare blessedness, it is a great good:
to take it seriously and engage in active spiritual Sadhana is a second
blessedness and a still greater good: but to persevere in the spiritual
life, to be ever progressive and ceaseless in one's spiritual life, is the
greatest good, the crowning blessedness.
-- Swami Chidananda (1916-2008), President of Divine Life Society
PURI, INDIA, June 29, 2014 (The Telegraph): In a break from tradition, Puri
Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati did not turn up to offer prayers
to the Deities on their chariots during the rath yatra today. Back channel
negotiations to persuade the seer failed as he stuck to his decision of not
taking part in the yatra, the first such instance, sources said.
The tussle began around 3pm yesterday when the temple administration
communicated to him that he could visit the chariots with three of his
followers. But two hours later, it dispatched another letter to him
requesting him to come alone in keeping with a recent Orissa High Court
verdict that had actually upheld the opinion of the Shankaracharya that
none except those associated with the rituals of the Deities should be
allowed to climb the chariots.
The seer, however, took the letter as a personal affront and declared that
he won't take part in the yatra as he was being humiliated. "I will
not go to participate in the car festival. The government has humiliated
me. Some people have used objectionable words against me. The state
government has no guts to take any action against me. If it takes any
action, it would face the consequences from tomorrow," the seer told
reporters here.
While Shankarcharya kept away, the scion of the Puri royal family Gajapati
Dibyasingha Deb came to sweep the chariot decks with a handful of
supporters. In tune with the court's order, he climbed the chariots alone
to perform the customary ritual.
BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, July 1, 2014 (Asian Age): The Gajapati king of Puri, Dibyasingha
Deb, on Monday expressed his deep shock and anguish over the
non-participation of the Shankaracharya of Goverdhan Peeth Swami
Nischalananda Saraswati in the Rath Yatra festival on Sunday as the
government put restrictions on the seer's right to climb the chariots and
perform puja.
"I'm pained that Jagadguru Sankaracharya could not perform his
traditional rituals on the chariots. He is the religious guru of the
Hindus. The letter issued by the state government putting restriction on
his rights to perform puja atop the chariots is unjust. Neither the state
government nor the Sri Jagannath Temple administration has got any
authority to infringe upon his religious rights," the king, who is
regarded as the first servitor of Lord Jagannath, said.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, July 2014 (Press Release): The Shri Navagraha
Devasthanam of North America, are proud, yet humbled, to announce the
opening of the very first Sri Saneeswara (Lord of Saturn) Temple to ever be
erected outside of India. The new Temple is officially known as the Sri
Saneeswara Temple and Community Center of New York which will serve as both
a combined temple and community center to enhance spiritual and arts based
educational opportunities in New York City.
The visionaries of this project, Mrs. Rupa Sridhar and the Board members of
Shri Navagraha Devasthanam of NA together have embarked on establishing the
Shri Navagraha Devasthanam and, furthermore, have undertaken an ambitious
mission to open 9 separate Navagraha temples in 9 US cities to foster Vedic
culture and spirituality in North America, each of which will emphasize a
different Deity of the Navagraha. (Navagrahas refer to the nine celestial
bodies in the Cosmos that are said to influence the life of people on
earth. They are respectively Ravi (Sun), Chandra (Moon), Angharakha (Mars),
Budha (Mercury), Guru (Jupiter), Sukra (Venus), Sani (Shri Saneeswara (Lord
of Saturn)), Rahu and Ketu.
The temple was inaugurated on March 23rd, 2014, Prana pratishta and Kumbha
Abhishekam were completed and simultaneous maha homam and japam were
performed by vedic pundits and scholars in India for the benefit of this
temple and for global harmony.
Why does a vijnani (enlightened person) keep an attitude of love toward
God? The answer is that 'I-conciousness' persists. It disappears in the
state of samadhi, no doubt, but it comes back. In the case of ordinary
people the 'I' never disappears. You may cut down the ashwattha tree, but
the next day sprouts shoot up.
-- Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa (1836-1886), guru of Swami Vivekananda
NEW DELHI, June 29, 2014 (Indian Television): Texas-based Global Hindu
Heritage Foundation (GHHF) has called for short films on preservation of
old temples in India as part of its "Save Temples Organisation."
The Board of Directors of GHHF and its brand ambassador and well-known
Ghazal singer Ghazal Srinivas told a press meet in Texas earlier this week
that the aim of the Save Temples International Short Film Festival is to
protect, preserve and promote the great temples located all over the world.
The first Save Temple International Short and Documentary Film Festival
will be conducted at Prasad Labs in Hyderabad from 22 to 24 August. The 40
short films and documentaries short-listed in this festival would be
screened in film festivals to be conducted all over the world. The best
film will win a prize money of US$1,650, while the second and third best
film will receive $1,250 and $832 respectively. 10 other films will also be
selected to receive Jury Awards.
The short films should reveal the facets of some ancient truths, the
traditional heritage to the knowledge of future generations. They should
not criticize other religions and life styles. They can tell the richness
of ancient dharma, present the moral and dharmic values of Hindu religion
and should be intended to explain the great practices of Hindu dharma to
all the mankind through this short films and documentaries. The viewers of
these movies should be motivated to work for the protection of temples.
LONDON, ENGLAND, July 2, 2014 (Asian Lite): BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir,
London hosted an three-day international academic conference from June 24th
to 26th on the theme of "Realising Global Peace: The Role and Impact
of Hindu Teachings." The conference at the Neasden temple was aimed to
elucidate the role of peace within Hinduism and how Hindu teachings can
positively contribute to not just academic scholarship but to humanity at
large. It was jointly organized by the All-India Philosophy Association,
BAPS Swaminarayan Research Institute, and the Indo-Hellenic Society for
Culture and Development, Greece.
Over 80 delegates and guests attended the conference. They included eminent
scholars and students from India, England, Ireland, America, Canada, and
Australia, as well as local civic leaders and Hindu and other faith
representatives. The keynote address in the inaugural session was delivered
by Prof. Jatashankar, esteemed professor of philosophy at Allahabad
University, India and President of the All-India Philosophy Association.
Kirit Wadia, local secretary of the event, shared: "Hindu teachings
have a lot to contribute to the quest for peace, especially as modern
technology increases human connectivity and decreases distances between
peoples and nations, making the need for peace even more pronounced for
individuals and societies. We are very grateful to His Holiness Pramukh
Swami Maharaj for providing this theme and to all the delegates for
contributing such rich discussions over the three days."
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Om Tat Sat (Continued...)
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