How to properly mount your deity (San Francisco Chronicle / SF Gate)
Mark Morford's 5,000-year-old god arrived in an enormous, heavy-duty cardboard box... Unlike other forms of worship, with icons like this, you do not bow down in shriveled meekness. You are meant to meet the deity at eye level... There is no separation. No duality. As with any of the Hindu gods, it's all aspects of the self. You are looking at you...
A Hindu America? (America Magazine)
I recently came across a column in the 'On Faith' section of the Washington Post by Loriliai Biernacki. A friend of mine, she is a professor of Indian religions at the University of Colorado, Boulder... She suggests that Hinduism today is flourishing in many parts of the US, both among Americans of Indian ancestry, but also among many converts to Hinduism.
Debi Chaudhurani: Book Review by Chandrahas Choudhury (Mint)
The contemporary Indian novel in English is usually reluctant to engage with Hinduism, restricting its representation to the odd puja, decadent Brahmin, or saffron-clad right-wing leader. But the glories and dilemmas of "the Hindu way of life" are vividly explored in this fascinating work 'Debi Chaudhurani' by the first great Indian novelist - Bankim Chandra Chaterji.
A Pilgrim's Progress: Book Review by Vir Sanghvi (Hindustan Times)
At level one, Hinduism is the philosophy of the Vedas and the Upanishads -- the great religion that fascinates philosophers all over the world. At level two is temple-and-festival Hinduism, the religion as it is followed by ordinary people. But it is level three Hinduism that's most worrisome. This is the Hinduism that seems to be about "superstition, spurious rites...
Japanese Hindu devotees pray for rains (Sify News)
A group of Japanese who have developed immense faith in Hinduism joined the locals at Jodhpur, Rajashthan state and offered prayers to Hindu divinities for good rains in the desert state. They prayed for monsoon at Manak Chowk Hanuman Temple and performed the ritual of Rudrabhisheka at the Pataleswar Mahadev Temple in the city.
Practicing non-violence or 'ahimsa' in college laboratories (The Hindu)
Several universities across India are in the process of banning dissection of animals in laboratories for experiments. The University of Rajasthan in Jaipur and the Ajmer-based MDS University will become dissection-free. They have introduced 'multimedia computer-based humane alternatives' and will incorporate these in the curriculum.
Malaysia's Hindu-Buddhist civilization spread over 1,000 sq km (Sify News)
Excavation at a Hindu-Buddhist civilization site in Malaysia that dates back to the fifth century indicates that it was spread over 1,000 sq km and not 400 sq km as thought earlier. A team of Malaysian archaeologists discovered ancient furnaces for iron smelting in Jiniang, Kedah, 30 km from the Bujang Valley site near Merbok, Kedah state.
Tamil Nadu temples get ISO certificate (Times of India)
The Kapaleeswarar temple in Mylapore, Tamil Nadu, was awarded ISO 9001:2008 certification. The other two city temples -- the Parthasarathy temple in Triplicane and the Dhandayudhapani temple in Vadapalani -- have also got ISO certification, according to official sources. Early this year, the three temples had applied for ISO certification.
Swami Bua Passes Away After Over a Century of Yoga (Hinduism Today)
Sri Swami Bua Maharaj, one of the world's greatest yogis, passed away last week in Bengaluru. Swami Bua was a legendary hatha yogi, and his close associates place the date of his birth between 1889 or 1890. Hindu scriptures say that 120 years is the ideal lifespan of an uncorrupted human body.
today was a strange day in the life of a yogi,i was given2 sets of antibiotics in the last 3 weeksand the last one was taken today.so far my simple operation has not turned septic.the terrible feeling of early morning has given way to aquietness.such is the life of this yogi.
a plane crash in pakistan killed.a fact.is the isi of pakistan training the taliban as they did in kashmir.
You misrepresent the Tathagata.
You said that the Tathagata is, what the Tathagata is not: the refiner of Hinduism.
This is not the truth. The truth is:
“The Tathagata, Bhikkhus, who, being the Perfect Arhat is fully enlightened, He it is who doth cause a way to arise which had not arisen before; who doth bring about a way not brought about before; who doth proclaim a way not proclaimed before; who is the knower of a way, who understandeth a way, who is skilled in a way.
And now, Bhikkhus, His disciples are wayfarers who follow after Him. That, Bhikkhus, is the distinction, the specific feature which distinguishes the Tathagata who, being the Perfect Arhat, is Fully Enlightened, from the Bhikkhu who is freed by insight.” [S.N. iii, 66].