Source Desire is a very dangerous thing. Sometimes we think we have killed all selfish desire, but somewhere in our mind there lingers some remnant; and as from a spark left in the corner of the hearth may come again a big fire, so out of that small remnant may spring a huge fire of desire.— Swami Ramakrishnananda (1863-1911), disciple…
Source NEW DELHI, INDIA, March 10, 2016 (Times of India): Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has decided to say “no” to an environmental fine and “yes” to jail. No, he won’t pony up the US$747,000 fine imposed on him yesterday to pay for the environmental damage that has been and will be done to the venue of…
Source NEW DELHI, INDIA, March 10, 2016 (Religion News): Indian environmentalists are aghast that a huge cultural festival is to be held on the flood plain of Delhi’s main river, warning that the event, and the 3.5 million visitors expected, will devastate the area’s biodiversity. The “World Culture Festival,” organized by one of India’s best-known spiritual gurus, Sri Sri Ravi…
Source INDIA, March 11, 2016 (Press Information Bureau): The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today addressed the inaugural ceremony of the World Culture Festival in New Delhi. The festival has been organized by the Art of Living Foundation, to commemorate 35 years of the organization’s service to mankind. Welcoming people from across the world who have gathered in Delhi for…
Source GEORGETOWN, GUYANA, March 7, 2016 (Ministry of the Presidency): President David Granger, today, joined with the Hindu community at the Guyana Sevashram Sangha at Cove and John, East Coast Demerara for Maha Shivaratri observances. Though not a calendar holiday, Maha Shivaratri or Night of Shiva is a very significant festival for Hindus in Guyana. It is marked by fasting,…
Source INDIA, March 9, 2016 (Hindustan Times): Police detained a group of 40 women planning to break a centuries-old prohibition on the entry of female devotees into the sanctum sanctorum of the Trimbakeshwar temple in Mahrashtra’s Nashik district on Monday. The temple is located some 18 miles from Nashik and is a major Lord Shiva shrine, containing one of the…
Source Everything changes, everything passes; things appearing, things disappearing. But when all is over–being and extinction both transcended–still, the basic emptiness and silence abide, and that is blissful peace.— Mystical song from a Hindu story
Source BANGLADESH, March 7, 2016 (Christian Today): Amid a spate of attacks by Muslim extremists on people belonging to minority groups, Bangladesh is reportedly considering abandoning Islam as its official religion. A report by the Daily Mail said the country’s Supreme Court has started hearing arguments that challenge Islam’s status as the official religion of Bangladesh. The move comes amid…
Source HARIDWAR, INDIA , March 9, 2016 (Tribune News Service): Nearly two million pilgrims took a holy bath in the Ganga on the occasion of Shivratri and fifth festive bath of Ardh Kumbh here today. Pilgrims in large numbers thronged the sanctum-sanctorum of Braham Kund, Har-ki-Pauri and adjacent Ganga ghats from early morning hours. The huge attendance is a result…
Source KATHMANDU, NEPAL, March 8, 2016 (Himalayan Times): Half-a-million devotees from different parts of the country as well as from India, Malayasia and other countries visited Pashupatinath temple today to worship Lord Shiva. It is believed to be the day Shiva was born to save the universe by drinking haalaahala, the poison that emerged from the churning of the ocean…