Source UNITED STATES, July 2, 2014 (The Atlantic by Tanya Basu): In early June, I visited my hometown of Glendale Heights, about 25 miles west of Chicago. Making my way through the old avenues that had marked my childhood, I noticed something curious: The churches that had dominated the street corners of my suburban youth–from magnificent stone structures with ornate…
Source HELSINKI, FINLAND, June 10, 2014 (New York Daily News): Passengers departing Helsinki can now reduce the stress of travel by participating in pre-flight yoga and Pilates classes being offered through the airport’s TravelLab, which aims to improve the experience of flying. As part of a testing phase, a limited selection of Om sessions are available to all passengers, regardless…
Source To enter into the spiritual life is a rare blessedness, it is a great good: to take it seriously and engage in active spiritual Sadhana is a second blessedness and a still greater good: but to persevere in the spiritual life, to be ever progressive and ceaseless in one’s spiritual life, is the greatest good, the crowning blessedness.— Swami…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKuOe9OlxHc BALI, INDONESIA, July 5, 2014 (YouTube): Ashok Thakkar has produced a informative documentary on the Hindu art of Bali. In this 15-minute film, he takes the viewer on a tour of temples and public sculptures, both ancient and modern found across the island.
Source CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, July 3, 2014 (Houston Chronicle): With their brightly colored mats spread along a sidewalk, Tameka Lawson’s yoga students try to follow her instructions: concentrate on their breathing and focus on the beauty of their surroundings. But this is Englewood, one of Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods, where streets are dotted with boarded-up houses and overgrown lots, and residents…
Source KUNJARGIRI, INDIA, June 20, 2014 (The Hindu): Vishwapriya Tirtha Swami of Admar Math on Thursday anointed a junior seer of the math, which is one of the eight monastery or Ashta Maths of Udupi. Ishapriya Tirtha Swami (29) was anointed after he accepted sannyas diksha or intitiation as a sannyasin monk. He is the 33rd seer in the lineage…
Source NEW YORK, NEW YORK, July 2014 (Press Release): The Shri Navagraha Devasthanam of North America, are proud, yet humbled, to announce the opening of the very first Sri Saneeswara (Lord of Saturn) Temple to ever be erected outside of India. The new Temple is officially known as the Sri Saneeswara Temple and Community Center of New York which will…
Source BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, July 1, 2014 (Asian Age): The Gajapati king of Puri, Dibyasingha Deb, on Monday expressed his deep shock and anguish over the non-participation of the Shankaracharya of Goverdhan Peeth Swami Nischalananda Saraswati in the Rath Yatra festival on Sunday as the government put restrictions on the seer’s right to climb the chariots and perform puja. “I’m pained…
Source PURI, INDIA, June 29, 2014 (The Telegraph): In a break from tradition, Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati did not turn up to offer prayers to the Deities on their chariots during the rath yatra today. Back channel negotiations to persuade the seer failed as he stuck to his decision of not taking part in the yatra, the first such…
Source Why does a vijnani (enlightened person) keep an attitude of love toward God? The answer is that ‘I-conciousness’ persists. It disappears in the state of samadhi, no doubt, but it comes back. In the case of ordinary people the ‘I’ never disappears. You may cut down the ashwattha tree, but the next day sprouts shoot up.— Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa…