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Source Let your mind cognize itself by turning itself back on itself. Become consciously conscious. All you have to do is to watch your mind think.— Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of Hinduism Today

Religion News Service UNITED STATES, December 2011 (RNS by Kimberly Winston): A new study finds that atheists are among society’s most distrusted group. Psychologists at the University of British Columbia and the University of Oregon say that their study demonstrates that anti-atheist prejudice stems from moral distrust, not dislike, of nonbelievers. “It’s pretty remarkable,” said Azim Shariff, an assistant professor…

Source WEST LOMBOK, INDONESIA, December 26, 2011: At Pura Lingsar, a historic temple in Lingsar village, West Lombok, hundreds of people of all ages, one in the yard of Pura Gaduh, a Hindu prayer house, and the other in the yard of Kemaliq, a sacred place for the ethnic Sasak Muslim community. As soon as they heard a command to…

Press Release: jaydeep@gita-society.com FREMONT, CALIFORNIA, December 28, 2011 (Press Release): The International Gita Society (IGS) opened a school for poor Hindu Children named ” Vishwa Niketan” on December 21, 2011 in Subidhat Village of Dinajpur District. The function was started with reciting the Bhagavad Gita slokas. The occasion was graced by the IGS, Bangladesh President Mr. Bishwanath Roy and other…

Source Parents need to fill a child’s bucket of self-esteem and respect so high that the rest of the world can’t poke enough holes to make it dry.— Alvin Price, American teacher

Source NEW DELHI, INDIA, December 28, 2011 (Hindustan Times): Ahead of the Punjab Assembly polls, the Centre has decided to accede to the long-standing demand of the Sikh community for enacting a separate Anand Marriage Act, giving legal sanctity to the marriages under Sikh religion, official sources said. Prior to Independence, marriages among Sikhs were held under the Anand Marriage…

Source US, December 24, 2011 (caring.com): “A few hours before she died, my mother said, ‘Are you the gentleman who’s come to meet me?’ She was not addressing anyone in the room.” — Michele, a North Carolina mother of four These “deathbed visions,” as British neuropsychiatrist Peter Fenwick, a specialist in near-death experiences, calls them, almost always take place when…

Source US, November 20, 2011 (First Post): Balasaraswati and her famous contemporary Rukmini Devi Arundale, both extraordinary dancers, disagreed on many things. Eventually, those differences played out on a national stage in a legendary 1945 concert that is one of the subject of a new book about Balasaraswati. Bala’s outspoken criticism of carnality in Sringara rasa as presented by some…

Source Kumar: Mom, remember how you always worried that I’d break your best teacups if I played with them? Amma: Yes, I remember. Kumar: Well, your worries are over.

Source USA, December 8, 2011 (NPR): [HPI note: It’s probably not too late for a recipe of Besan Laddu to celebrate the new year. Of cultural significance is that this very Indian recipe was published not in a specialized site, but in National Public Radio, a non-profit media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900…