Source BALI, INDONESIA, MARCH 7, 2019 ( Daily Mail): Bali’s airport will close for 24 hours, the Internet will be turned off and streets emptied as the predominantly Hindu island in Indonesia observes its New Year with an annual day of silence.The Day of Silence, Nyepi to the Balinese, is a day of reflection and TV and radio broadcasts also…
Source INDIA, February 28, 2019 (First Post by Dhananjay Joshi): A combing operation is conducted to weed out unwanted elements from an area. In our digital age, when narratives are built from keystrokes causing a dissonance between what we hear and what we see, let us comb the Kumbh and separate the unwanted elements from the much-tangled hair of humanity.…
Source Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless when facing them.— Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
Source SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, February 28, 2019 (courthousenews.com): California’s State Board of Education Thursday defeated a lawsuit claiming it treats Hinduism unfavorably compared to Western religions in its educational standards and curriculum. “A reasonable observer would not view the standards and framework as primarily denigrating Hinduism,” U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer wrote in his 33-page ruling. (click to download: http://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/hindu-education-ruling.pdf).…
Source Hinduism is such a joyous religion, freed of all the mental encumbrances that are prevalent in the various Western faiths. It is freed of the notion of a vengeful God. It is freed of the notion of eternal suffering. It is freed from the notion of original sin. It is freed from the notion of a single spiritual path,…
Source PRAYAGRAJ, INDIA, February 28, 2019 (NDTV): By rolling out a fleet of 500 buses at the ongoing Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, the Uttar Pradesh government is eyeing to break an existing Guinness World Record. The record of largest parade of buses is currently held by Abu Dhabi of 390 buses. A 3.6 mile-long convoy of 390 buses had travelled…
Source RAMESWARAM, INDIA, February 27, 2019 (Deccan Chronicle): Several hundred thousand pilgrims from different parts of India are expected to congregate in Rameswaram for the coming Shivarathri festival on March 4 this year, as it is a rare occasion with astronomical significance reappearing after 54 years. The Shivarathri Punyakaalam this year is accompanied by the transits of the planets of…
Source The major way a family person makes spiritual progress is by fulfilling all duties–duties to spouse, duties to children, duties to parents, duties to community. When we fulfill our duties as best we can, we make spiritual progress. We don’ have to go anywhere else. We don’t have to give up our duties and spend time in a cave.…
Source INDIA, February 24, 2019 (opindia.com): Hinduism and its reach are noticeable in the immediate neighborhood, with a deep influence on Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan & even Burma. However, in South East Asian countries such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Mauritius, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam; the influence of Hinduism is even more obvious. Hinduism has also spread to other corners of…
Source The tragedy of human history is that there is decreasing happiness in the midst of increasing comforts. — Swami Chinamayananda, (1916-1993)