Source

UNITED KINGDOM, April 1, 2013 (Huffington Post by Pratik Dattani): As a young, modern British Hindu, I'm one of a confused bunch of people. Our Sanatan Dharma represents the oldest religion in the world. Our Vedic texts introduced philosophy to the world. That's our heritage. But almost every young Hindu I know plans to marry in lavish multi-day long ceremonies not because it's so Hindu, but because it's so Bollywood. And most of us won't know the meanings of any of those ceremonial wedding rituals. So most of us will be Hindu in name only, at major festivals and weddings.

A research report by the Henry Jackson Society (HJS), a cross-partisan British think-tank, said earlier this year that Hindus were under-represented in the media in Britain. Out of 3,945 articles they surveyed over 10 years, the HJS found almost all of the Hindu representation in mainstream media were to do with three issues: opposition to the slaughter of a cow in Wales in 2007; asking Royal Mail to remove Christmas stamps featuring Hindu deities in 2005; and finally a case against Newcastle City Council asking for land to be dedicated for open air pyres.

While these may have been important issues, there were almost no Hindu opinions expressed in the media with relation to foreign policy, international aid, community cohesion, discrimination, defense, environment, justice, anti-terrorism, economic policy, employment, family, immigration and abortion. According to report author Hannah Stuart, "Hindu claims were often more specific, and not about wider society and contributions to public policy."

Hindu community leadership in Britain is at a crossroads. Young British Hindus care about many of the same issues as other young Britons -- pop music, the credit crunch, Bollywood, the environment, inflation, cultural identity and football. When community leaders do not speak the same language as the next generation, they begin to lose relevance. Many second and third generation Hindus, whose parents are from East Africa or India, have already begun to see their linguistic and cultural heritage dilute over time.

This month gave a sneak peek into what the future may hold. The British government passed legislation to specifically ban "caste" discrimination as part of the Equalities Act 2010, something that was likely to happen since the Act originally came into force on 1 October 2010. Hindus condemned any discrimination based on caste (obviously), but many had serious concerns about the consequences and practicality of such legislation, and the impact it may have on entrenching the outdated notion of caste-based discrimination in Britain.

In saying the notion was outdated, community leaders were likely in sync with what most, especially young, Hindus thought. MPs and community leaders alike, speaking in hushed tones, said it was the first time they could ever remember the Hindu community coming together in such a united voice.

More at 'source.'

HPI

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, May 2, 2013: Swami Guhabaktananda, head of the Divine Life Society here at Batu Caves, passed away yesterday. Swamiji had been very ill, and did not survive a third heart attack. He previously had bypass surgery. Swamiji was the first Malaysian-born monk to lead the local DLS mission. He was a close friend of Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, his successor Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami and all those associated with Hinduism Today and HPI. He will be missed.

According to the DLS website: "Our patron and spiritual adviser is His Holiness Sri Swami Guhabhaktananda Saraswati Maharaj. Swami Guhabhaktananda was born on 27th Oct, 1943, and was initiated in 1985 by His Holiness Sri Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj. He is the head of the Peetam and leads the Divine Life Society of Malaysia, headquartered at Batu Caves over 15 years. Full of energy in listening to people and full of praises for others work, Swamiji's optimism in all good efforts endears him to everybody. Swamiji's favorite words are 'Have God in your heart and do your work. How insurmountable it may be, it will come to fruition.' "

Source

According as one acts, so does he become. One becomes virtuous by virtuous action, bad by bad action.
-- Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.5

Source

MINNESOTA, USA, May 2, 2013 (Farmington Independent): If things work out the way Satya would like them to, Farmington may soon be a center of Hindu culture in Minnesota. Satya Balroop is the treasurer of a group called Minnesota Hindu Milan Mandir, which has been in the city for nearly a year now, housed in a building that for many years was home to Farmington Lutheran Church. Balroop helped found Minnesota Hindu Milan Mandir, a local branch of an international organization founded in India in 1917, when she moved to the state in 2002. Minnesota Hindu Milan Mandir hosts regular services on Sundays. But it is also a kind of cultural center, hosting both religious services and community events. On May 4, there will be a fundraising concert featuring local and national Indian musicians, food and information. The public is invited to attend. "We're hoping to get the word out to Hindus to come forward," Balroop said. "You'd be amazed to see how many caucasians are really embracing this type of lifestyle and wanting to know more about it and even practice it in their daily lives. Especially yoga and meditation."Balroop hopes to start making changes soon.She would like to bring in two monks to serve the community from the building, and she would like to make Minnesota Hindu Milan Mandir much more a part of Farmington. Changes will come, Balroop said, as time and money allow.

Source

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, April 30, 2013 (New York Daily News): Public School 244 in Flushing is the first public school in the nation to serve all-vegetarian meals for breakfast and lunch, according to city education officials. Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott says the all-vegetarian food system should be replicated at schools across the city and nation.

Chefs at the Active Learning Elementary School have swapped chicken, turkey and ham for black beans, tofu and falafel, and kids are digging in with delight. On the menu is black bean and cheddar quesadillas with salsa and roasted potatoes. The kids are digging into the vegetarian fare with gusto. "This is so good!" squealed 9-year-old Marian Satti. The students are pioneers in a citywide effort to make healthy food a staple of every child's day.

A-rated PS 244 partnered with nonprofit New York Coalition for Healthy School Food to design recipes for appetizing plant-based grub. "We believe that, if we taught kids to make healthy choices, it would help them to grow as students and well-rounded children," said Principal Robert Groff, who helped found the school in 2008.

City public schools have undergone a "revolution" in cafeteria fare since Mayor Bloomberg took office, according to Eric Goldstein, chief executive of the Office of School Support Services for the city Education Department. The ongoing evolution of cafeteria grub has led schools to serve only whole-grain breads and pastas. Salad bars have been installed in 1,000 schools, and they'll be a fixture at all 1,800 facilities by the end of the next academic year.

HPI Note: They don't mention it in the article, but serving vegetarian food also solves issues about halal or kosher diets, as vegetarian food is acceptable in both systems.

Source

The whole path is a total surrendering. All four sects of Hinduism meet in surrender, prapatti, to the Divine.
-- Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of Hinduism Today

Source

PUNE, INDIA, April 28, 2013 (Times of India): Close to 40,000 manuscripts from the period 1600 to 1900 AD have been digitized in the city, while around 145,000 have been documented in the state, recent data from the National Mission for Manuscripts has revealed. With a budget of US$1.75 million this year, the mission also plans to start a national digital library in the country, which would contain all Indian manuscripts in a digital format.

Dipti Tripathi, director of the mission, who was in Pune recently, told TOI that the mission is planning to increase the number of manuscript resource centers (MRC) and manuscript conservation centers (MCC) in Maharashtra, especially in remote areas.

"Languages other than Sanskrit and Marathi will also be given emphasis here. The mission already has manuscript resource centres in Maharashtra, including two in Pune, one in Kolhapur and another in Nagpur. There is one manuscript conservation centre at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (Bori) in Pune. Increasing the number of centres will depend upon the financial situation as well as local needs," said Tripathi.

The MRCs include well-established Indological institutes, museums, libraries, universities and non-governmental organizations, which act as the mission's coordinating agencies in their respective regions. They are responsible for survey and documentation of every manuscript in their area. The MCCs undertake manuscript conservation, among other things.

Source

NEW DELHI, INDIA, April 30, 2013 (Ministry of Home Affairs): Shri Sushil Kumar Shinde, Union Home Minister released the Primary Census Abstract-Data Highlights of Census 2011 in a function organized by the Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India here today.

Shri Shinde also expressed his happiness that the growth rate of population has come down during the last decade and literacy has increased significantly, particularly the female literacy. He further said that all this information would go a long way in assessing the ongoing schemes and planning appropriate interventions in rural and urban areas.

Some of the salient features of the data released are as below:-

Total population of the country is 1.21 billion showing an increase of 181.96 million persons in absolute numbers of population in India during the decade 2001-2011. During this decade, population of India grew by 17.7% as against 21.5% in the previous decade.

As per Census 2011, 833.5 million persons live in rural areas and 377.1 million persons lives in urban areas. Thus, more than 2/3rd of total population of India lives in rural areas.

Child population in the age group 0-6 years in 2011 Census is 164.5 million as against 163.8 million showing an increase of 0.4% in the last decade.

Sex ratio in Census 2011 is 943 females per 1000 males as against 933 in 2001 Census.

Population of Scheduled Castes in this Census is 201.4 million as against 166.6 million in 2001 registering an increase of 20.8% whereas Scheduled Tribes population increased to 104.3 million in 2011 from 84.3 million in 2001.

As per Census 2011, number of literates is 763.5 million as against 560.7 million in 2001.

KAUAI, HAWAII, April 30, 2013: The leadership of HMEC, one of America's most effectual and collaborative Hindu institutions, plans a special event called "Threads: Sutra." The gathering will take place, most likely, in the Spring of 2014 in Boston, Massachusetts. It is to be akin to the TED Talks events, but with an emphasis on dharma. Their action statement explains:

"The goal of Threads: Sutra is to provide a platform to those who have achieved excellence, who adhere to the principles of dharma. The series will synthesize ideas from East and West and weave together trends and cultural/intellectual forces to inspire and guide humanity for generations to come."

The emphasis is on achievement and impact in the Americas, North and South. The organizers will invite a few dozen of the leading Hindus who have made a difference, impacted the American culture, in a wide spectrum of fields: science, medicine, entertainment/media, business, high-tech, politics, literature and invention. The gathering will showcase the important contributions of dharma-minded leaders in these fields and invite them to share their cutting-edge work.

Hinduism Today has been invited to assemble a preliminary list of these key innovators and trailblazers. We seek input from our HPI readers as we build the list, and invite you to send the names of candidates you deem worthy. Please include information about their achievements, if known.

Send candidates' names to: sadasivanathaswami@hindu.org

Source

Devout Hindus meet a satguru and in seeing him, draw the darshan vibration from him, absorbing it into themselves. When we say someone is holy or saintly we are feeling the radiations of that divine energy flooding through him and out into the whole world.
-- Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of Hinduism Today

Source

MUMBAI, April 27 2013 (DNA India): The Siddhivinayak Temple trust has decided to set up a state-of-the-art dialysis centre close to the Prabhadevi temple, where patients can have a dialysis done at just US$4.61 per cycle (compared to an average cost in the United States of $500/treatment). At present, patients have to shell out $22 to $28 for each cycle of dialysis. The temple has tied up with an NGO, Shri Veera Desai Jain Sangh, which runs a similar dialysis centre in Andheri, to get its 22-bed centre put together.The NGO, which has a budget of $553,000, will also appoint the health experts needed to run the centre. "We will charge patients the minimum fee. The rest of the expenses will be borne by the temple and us," explains Chetan Vora, trustee of the NGO. The Sangh and the temple administration have signed a memorandum of understanding to have the centre up and running by July. Mangesh Shinde, CEO of the temple administration, says the decision was spurred by the realization to have a sub-centre within Mumbai for conducting dialysis procedures.

Source

VARANASI, INDIA, april 18, 2013 (Times Of India): Banks are in vogue. They always were and will be. Almost all of them transact in worldly currencies but some are exceptions. The Ram Ramapati Bank situated in Dashashwmedh area is one of those rare exceptions. Here the owner of the bank lends not money but paper, pen and ink that are used by its customers to inscribe "Ram." These papers are then deposited in their respective accounts in the bank.

The bank celebrates its 86th annual function on the occasion of Ram Navami on Friday. It has a deposition of over 19 billion Ram naam scripted on papers. Counting is done in January every year. The bank, started by Das Channulal Ji, in 1926 as a family and friends business now has an international presence, many of the account-holders are NRIs.

Like all banks, Ram Ramapati Bank also has rules for its transactions. Anybody, irrespective of caste, gender, religion and even nationality, can be its member. The only prerequisite is that the person should have a firm belief in Lord Ram. "It doesn't matter who you are and where you come from, you can be a member of this bank if you have faith in Ram and are ready to follow conditions laid by the bank," said Das Krishna Chand, manager of the Ram Ramapati Bank.

Conditions include the first phase deposition of 150,000 Ram naam in eight months during which no alcohol and nonvegetarian food is allowed. It is interesting to know that though most of the account-holders are devout Hindus and followers of Lord Ram, but there are a few members of other religions too who have deposited their scripts in the bank.

Source

COIMBATORE, TAMIL NADU, April 28, 2013 (News Track India): To overcome a chronic power shortage, a Ganesha Temple at Coimbatore has set up solar panels to generate its own power. A priest at the temple, Shivasri Vagesha, said they decided to use solar energy for sustaining the regular activities in the temple. "The electricity generated is useful for all parts of the temple and used for all the appliances such as tube lights, focus lights and fans. This is the first temple that runs on solar energy," said Vagesha.

The entire state of Tamil Nadu faces an acute shortage of electricity throughout the year and this has affected the day-to-day activities of people and the functioning of the industries. Coimbatore is one of the worst affected cities due to the power cuts and reportedly, this industrial city faces unscheduled power cuts to the extent of 16 hours every day.

On account of the power shortage, the temple used to remain closed in the evenings and deprive the devotees of offering prayers and worship. These trends prompted the temple authorities to tap new means of a constant power supply and opted for setting up solar panels.

Rathina Vinayagar Koil is a 75-year-old temple situated in the heart of the city where thousands of devotees visit it almost daily. However, in the wake of severe power crisis, the number of devotees visiting the temple for early morning prayers also had drastically dropped prior to the setting up of solar panels.

Source

OMAHA, NEBRASKA, APRIL 29, 2013 (press release): The two-day Sanatana Dharma Conference will be a historic gathering of dedicated devotees of the Sanatana Dharma religious tradition with the purpose of laying out the future of the Vedic spiritual tradition for the 21st century and beyond. This conference is designed to greatly further our understanding of the Vedic path, to deepen our own personal spiritual experience, and to share with the entire world the life- changing teachings of Vedic spirituality. This unique Vedic conference will bring together the spiritual, aesthetic, health, social-political and sadhana (practice) aspects of Dharmic culture in a very practical and immediate manner.

Join for two days of profound spiritual practice and experience, inspiring discourses by advanced Dharma teachers, meditation and Yoga sessions, puja and yajna (sacred fire ritual) ceremonies, an initiation (diksha) ceremony, as well as spiritual workshops and activities designed to help bring about the new Golden Age. For more information, click source above.

Source

Like a tortoise withdrawing five limbs into its shell, those who restrain the five senses in one life will find safe shelter for seven.
-- Tirukkural 126