MARVELS
You Better Believe It!
Surgery. atoms. Relativity. Herbal medicine. Extraction of sugar. Distillation of perfumes. Making dyes. Principle of magnetism used to make a mariner's compass. Weaving cotton cloth. Smelting of metals. Chess. Karate. All originally discovered in India? You bet. And thousands of years ago, at that. India's history is known to the world mostly as one of spiritual development. Spirituality is definitely India's greatest gift to the world, but Sudheer Birodkar's website (http://India.CoolAtlanta.com/GreatPages/sudheer/) reveals that other advancements materialized in the subcontinent. Sudheer's on-line book, India's Contribution to World Culture, takes pride in ancient India's growth. It's divided into chapters like mechanical engineering, shipbuilding and navigation, architecture and civil engineering, mathematics, astronomy, physics and chemistry, medicine, fine arts, sports and games, and philosophy. So, while your child is playing the game "Snakes and Ladders" or studying algebra, remember that these were invented 2,000 years ago in India!
RESOURCES
Start Here
The web has so many disparate sites on Hinduism, it's tough to know where all the parts link into a whole. "The World's Religions Made Easy" (http://members.aol.com/jfetteroll/Hinduism.html) website does just that. Besides a succinct summary of basic beliefs, practices and scriptures, it utilizes Amazon.com's vast inventory to give you links to hundreds of books on names, vegetarianism, yoga, home altars, life in India and ahimsa. The section on kids' books is quite thorough, with a wide range of fiction and nonfiction titles for each age group.
CD-ROM
Musings of a Mystic
Karma expresses itself through events which may seem to be accidents. But they are so only on the surface." That's profound. And it's just a piece of brilliant writer Paul Brunton's 7,000 pages of wisdom now available on "The Notebooks of Paul Brunton" CD-ROM. Explore unique dimensions of human character and spiritual potential, with topics like "Reincarnation and the Overself" and "Disease has hidden causes." View rare photos of Brunton (1898?1981) and the mystics he sat with in India, where he immersed himself in Hindu thought. US$79.95. Write: Larson Publications, 4936 NYS Route 414, Burdett, New York 14818 USA. E-mail: larson@lightlink.com.
REBIRTH
They Lived Before
When carol bowman's kids were cured of phobias after recalling their past lives, she was eager to know what had happened. She found that young kids worldwide remember past lives–spontaneously, without hypnosis or prompting. Carol's new book, Children's Past Lives, offers true stories; several are found on the book's website at wwwchildpastlives.org. Learn about Swarnlata and Shanta Devi, two girls in India who rediscovered their still-living family from their past life. Four signs are given that distinguish true past life memories from fantasy, and there's an on-line forum to discuss questions about your childrens' recollections.