Source PATHUM THANI, THAILAND, December 20, 2016 (New York Times): HPI Note: This article worth reading for the shear scale and showmanship of the temple’s gatherings as shown in the article’s opening photograph. It is a temple for a changing Thailand: clean, unadorned, high-tech and unashamed of praying for wealth. “Sit here and get rich,” read small medallions embedded in…
Source CHENNAI, INDIA, December 21, 2016 (Times of India): The Madras high court on Wednesday threatened to abolish the Hindu religious and charitable endowments (HR&CE) department of the Tamil Nadu government and even abrogate the HR&CE Act. The court summoned the HR&CE department commissioner to remain personally present before the first bench on Thursday. The department wields administrative control over…
Source Awareness is ever there. It need not be realized. Open the shutter of the mind, and it will be flooded with light. — Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897‚Äì1981), Hindu sage
Source INDIA, December 20, 2016 (by Liz Mathews, India Express News): For the first time in its history, the Indian Catholic Church has officially accepted that Dalit Christians face untouchability and discrimination, and that “their participation in the level of leadership… at the higher levels is almost nil.” These admissions are contained in a policy document prepared and released Monday…
Source CAMBODIA, December 20, 2016 (by Hanna Hawkins, Cambodia Daily): Chhom Kunthea became Cambodia’s first Sanskritist on Friday after receiving a doctorate for her research on the impact the ancient Indian language- on the Khmer language. It is widely accepted that the country’s primary language could not have developed effectively without interacting with Sanskrit, which is believed to have arrived…
Source Everyone wishes to be loved. Only a blessed few wish to love. — Dada Vaswani, leader of the Sadhu Vaswani Mission
Source UNITED KINGDOM, December 17, 2016 (by Genevieve Roberts, iNEWS): A controversy is raging in the world of yoga – and many people are getting their yoga pants in a twist over it. The British Wheel of Yoga, appointed by Sports England as the governing group for mind-body workouts, is setting out to offer a minimum benchmark of competence and…
Source KAUAI, HAWAII, December 18, 2016: Hinduism Today’s January/February/March 2017 issue has gone to press and is now available online free of charge at source above. You can also download our free Hinduism Today app and get the full magazine on your mobile device at bit.ly/HT-APP. Our feature story by Rajiv Malik this issue takes you to the holy city…
Source INDIA, December 17, 2016 (BBC): In the mid-1990s, millions of Hindus around the world were gripped by reports in New Delhi of sacred statues “drinking” milk. In the early morning of September 21, 1995, rumors of the elephant-headed deity Ganesha sipping milk from a spoon spread across the country. Offering food and drink like milk to the gods is…
Source WASHINGTON, December 17, 2016 (by Carol Zimmerman, CNS): A new study showing the disparity of education levels among religious groups ranks Jews as the faith group with the most formal education and Muslims and Hindus with the least years of formal schooling. Christians are the second-highest educated religious group in the world, followed by the religiously unaffiliated and Buddhists,…