Promote Indian Culture

[acharya]

http://www.pluralism.org/events/neh/letter.php



NEH Summer Seminar for School Teachers:
"World Religions in America"

Dear Colleague Letter
Dear Colleague,

Thank you for expressing an interest in my summer seminar on World Religions in America, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. I look forward to bringing teachers from across the United States and from diverse disciplines and subject areas to explore together the new religious diversity of the United States.

In the past thirty years, the religious landscape of the United States has changed significantly, in part because of the 1965 immigration act and the new population of immigrants who have come to the U.S. from all over the world. Today there are Islamic centers and mosques, Hindu and Buddhist temples and meditation centers, and Sikh gurdwaras in virtually every major American city. And today the encounter between people of different religious and cultural traditions takes place not only in the international arena, but in our own cities and neighborhoods, schools and city councils.

School teachers, as you well know, are at the forefront of grappling with this new world of religious diversity. There is no place where the impact of America's new religious reality is felt more forcefully than in America's schools. In the Dallas Independent School District, for example, there are Muslims and Jews, Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, Vietnamese and Laotian Buddhists, and Christians of dozens of denominations. Both the community and the classroom are multireligious, so the study of comparative religion is not simply the study of "other" ways of life in some other part the world. It is germane to the understanding of the communities of which we are a part.

Those who teach social studies, world history, American history, or American regional studies increasingly seek to incorporate the history and influence of religious traditions and communities into the curriculum. This seminar is especially intended to benefit school teachers for whom the study of the world's religions in the American context will provide the intellectual grounding and stimulus for curricular growth in their own teaching.

My own work as a scholar of the religious traditions of India has taken a turn toward America during the past ten years. It began because of the changing demography of Harvard University and the challenges this posed to me as a scholar and teacher. In the early 1990s, the arrival of the children of the new post-1965 immigration in our colleges and universities signaled the emergence in America of a new cultural and religious reality about which I knew next to nothing. At that point I had plenty of research experience in India, but I had never been to an American mosque, I had never visited a Sikh community in my own country, and I had no idea how a Hindu community might go about building a temple in Albany or Nashville. I felt the very ground under my feet as a teacher and a scholar begin to shift. My researcher's eye began to refocus --from Banaras to Boston, from Delhi to Detroit.

It became clear to me that the very shape of our traditional fields of study in the Humanities was inadequate to the study of this new world. In the field of religious studies, those of us who study Buddhism, Islam, or Hinduism traditionally earned our academic stripes in some other part of the world doing language studies, textual editions and translations, and fieldwork. Now it became clear that to teach a course on Hinduism, I would also have to know something about Hinduism in America. To teach a course on World Religions, I would also have to know something about World Religions in America.

In 1991, I developed the research seminar "World Religions in New England" and shortly thereafter, launched the Pluralism Project. We set out to study and document the new religious reality of America, beginning right here in Boston. From the initial research of the seminar, we published the book World Religions in Boston; in 1997, we published the CD-ROM, "On Common Ground: World Religions in America." Over the years, the Pluralism Project has involved over eighty students in summer research throughout the United States; in addition, some thirty affiliated research projects in colleges and universities are currently participating in this work.

This six week seminar provides an opportunity for secondary school teachers to study the world's religions in the American context and to benefit from the wealth of religious communities here in Boston. It enables seminar participants to make use of the resources of the Pluralism Project, to explore the full range of materials in the CD-ROM On Common Ground: World Religions in America, to have first-hand experience of the religious communities of Boston through weekly field visits, and to undertake a specific research project on a subject closest to their own academic or teaching interests. There will also be informal barbecues and gatherings at the residence of the Project Director, after which seminarians will share their field reports.

Our first goal in this seminar is to review America's immigration history through the lens of our many religions. Historians tell us that America has always been a land of many religions. There was a vast, textured pluralism already here in the multiple life-ways of the Native Peoples --even before the European settlers came to these shores. Those who came across the Atlantic had diverse religious traditions --Spanish and French Catholics, British Anglicans and Quakers, Sephardic Jews, and Dutch Reform Christians. As we will see, this diversity broadened over the course of three hundred years of settlement. Many of the Africans brought to America with the slave trade were Muslims. The Chinese and Japanese who came to seek their fortune in the mines and farms of the West had Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian traditions. Eastern European Jews, and Irish and Italian Catholics also arrived in force in the nineteenth century, and both Christian and Muslim immigrants came from the Middle East. Punjabis from Northwest India came in the first decade of the twentieth century with Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim traditions. The stories of all these peoples are an important part of America's immigration history.

The immigrants of last three decades, however, have expanded the diversity of our religious life dramatically, indeed exponentially. Buddhists have come from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, and Korea; Hindus from India, East Africa, and Trinidad; Muslims from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Middle East, and Nigeria; Sikhs and Jains have also come from India, and Zoroastrians from both India and Iran. New Jewish immigrants have come from Russia and the Ukraine, and the face of American Christianity has also changed with large Latino, Filipino, and Vietnamese Catholic communities, Chinese and Brazilian Pentecostal communities, Korean Presbyterians, Indian Mar Thomas, and Egyptian Copts. This new post-1965 phase of American immigration has made the United States the most religiously diverse nation on earth. It is this new diversity that is the special focus of our study.

A second goal of the summer seminar will be to enable participants to learn substantively about the history and contemporary reality of three religious traditions in the American context: Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. A week will be devoted to each of these traditions, tracing its history in the U.S. and paying special attention to the new challenges and changes that have come with the dynamic post-1965 immigration.

Religious traditions are dynamic not static, changing not fixed, more like rivers of faith than buildings or religious establishments. The history of religion is not over, something of the past, but is an ongoing, dynamic process. America today is an exciting place to study the ongoing history of these rivers of faith --as Buddhism becomes a truly "American" religion, as Islam develops the organizational infrastructure to participate in political and civil society, as Hindus from all over India renegotiate the meaning of Hinduism on American soil, and as Christians and Jews articulate their own faith anew in the light of their encounter with other faiths. Even humanists, secularists, and atheists have to rethink what their worldviews mean in the context of a more complex religious reality.

A third goal of the summer seminar will be to ask persistently the question of American "identity" in the face of expanding religious diversity. What will the idea and vision of America become as we embrace all this diversity? The questions that emerge from the new encounter of religions in the United States today go to the very heart of who we see ourselves to be as a people. They are not trivial questions, for they force us to ask in one way or another: Who do we mean when we invoke the first words of our Constitution, "We the people of the United States of America?" Who do we mean when we say "we?" This is a challenge of citizenship, to be sure, for it has to do with the imagined community of which we consider ourselves a part. It is also an intellectual challenge requiring ongoing study.

Just as our religious traditions are dynamic, so is whatever we mean by America. What is "American" is not finished, not embedded in history alone, but is still underway. The motto of the Republic, E Pluribus Unum, "From Many, One," is not an accomplished fact, but an ideal that Americans must continue to claim. The story of America's many peoples and the creation of one nation is still an unfinished story in which the ideals articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are continually being brought into being, in ways that must be the subject of critical study and analysis.

WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION

The Religious Dimensions of America's Multiculturalism; Immigration and Pluralism. Field visits to a number of Boston Centers such as the Islamic Center of New England, the Thousand Buddha Temple, the Sri Lakshmi Temple, the Jain Center of Greater Boston, and the Guru Ram Das Ashram.

WEEK 2: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, CHRISTIAN AMERICA, AND THE TRIPLE MELTING POT

Questions of Religious Freedom; America as a "Three Religion Country" -- Protestant, Catholic, Jew. Independent field visits and field reports.

WEEK 3: BUDDHISM IN AMERICA

A History of Asian Buddhism in America; Reshaping Buddhism in America. Screening of "Becoming the Buddha in L.A." Field visits to Buddhist Boston.

WEEK 4: THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA IN AMERICA

A History of Hinduism in America; Reshaping Hinduism in America. Field visits to Hindu sites and second session of field reports.

WEEK 5: ISLAM IN AMERICA

A History of Islam in America; Reshaping Islam in America. Field visits to Muslim sites.

WEEK 6: PERSPECTIVES ON MULTIRELIGIOUS AMERICA

Pluralism in America; Forum on Religion in Multicultural America; Seminar Wrap-up.

The extended syllabus for the seminar is available on-line at www.pluralism.org/events/neh/syllabus.php.


The seminar will meet for three hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week, 1.5 hours in the morning and 1.5 hours in the afternoon.

It is expected that participants be regularly prepared for class discussion, using On Common Ground, its anthology of documents, and outside reading. There will be weekly field visits to Boston area religious centers, including a mosque, a Buddhist temple, a Hindu temple, a Sikh gurdwara, and one of the historic churches or synagogues. Seminar participants will keep a descriptive and reflective journal of these field visits. Informal Sunday evening gatherings will offer an opportunity for discussion of these field visits.

Each participant will be expected to undertake his or her own research project during the seminar. The project might be historical or contemporary research on a particular religious tradition (For example: African American Islam in the 1930s, Vipassana Retreat Centers, Buddhist women teachers, or Hindu Temple architecture); field research on a community in the Boston area (For example: the Cambridge Zen Center community, Boston's Vedanta Society, the Cambodian Buddhist temple of Lowell), or the study of a topic of special relevance to the participant's locale (For example: Hindu communities in Ohio, Islamic history in South Carolina, Sikh history of California). Individual appointments will be available with me and with the Project Coordinator Ellie Pierce, during the course of the seminar to discuss the individual research projects.

Participants in this seminar will be granted "Officer" status at Harvard University, with access to a wealth of resources. The seminar meetings will be held in the Barker Humanities Center, located very close to Harvard Yard, and home to the Committee on the Study of Religion. Seminarians may choose to have a carrel in Widener Library, or to avail themselves of Harvard's vast library system. Email accounts, and access to computer labs, will be available. For the small cost of an athletic sticker, Seminarians will enjoy access to excellent athletic facilities. The university also offers an array of free or low-cost cultural opportunities, including fine arts, film, and music programs.

The resources of the Pluralism Project office will prove invaluable to participants, with archives and a resource room that include a selection of publications, primary materials and literature from religious centers across the United States, photographic images, news clippings, and student research papers.

Off-campus, the greater Boston area offers wonderful recreational and cultural opportunities in the summer. But beyond the cafes and restaurants, the winding paths along the Charles, the museums and performance centers, Boston offers incredible religious diversity. Our classroom will extend far beyond the halls of Harvard to the greater Boston area: to the temples, mosques, gurdwaras, and other religious centers that form the new religious landscape of America, and that inform this NEH summer seminar.

Housing will be available on the Harvard campus at a cost of $1600 for the six-week period. For those preferring to live off-campus, we will assist you in your search, which can be facilitated through the Harvard Housing Office.

Participants in this seminar will receive a stipend of $3,700. A check for the first half of the stipend will be waiting for you at the first meeting of the seminar. The second check will be ready for you two-three weeks after the first.

Application materials, including the guidelines and application form, are (enclosed/) available on-line at www.pluralism.org/events/neh/index.php. Once you have completed the application, please make two copies, so that you can send me three complete. This will be very helpful in expediting the selection process, and your cooperation will be much appreciated. Your completed application should be postmarked no later than March 1, 2000, and should be addressed as follows:

The Pluralism Project
Harvard University
201 Vanserg Building
25 Francis Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
Attn: Ellie Pierce

Perhaps the most important part of the seminar application is the three-page application essay. This essay should include any personal and academic information that is relevant; reasons for applying to the seminar; your interest, both intellectual and personal, in the topic; qualifications to do the work of the seminar and make a contribution to it; what you hope to accomplish by participation; and the relation of the study to your teaching.

If you have any questions about the seminar or the application process feel free to call the Seminar Coordinator, Ellie Pierce, at (617) 496-2481 or email her at epierce@fas.harvard.edu.

Again, thank you for your interest in the upcoming NEH Summer Seminar, "World Religions in America." I look forward to learning more about your interests and background, and look forward to the opportunity to engage and explore this subject with a group of educators next summer.

All the best,

Diana L. Eck
Professor of Comparative Religion, Harvard University
Director, The Pluralism Project

[acharya]

North America - Hinduism
http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=24004&sec=51&cont=6

"Western faiths begin to connect with yoga"

by Anita Wadhwani ("Tennessean," January 21, 2007)

Nashville, USA - Twenty men and women bent over the yoga mats scattered on the synagogue's floor.

"Now, lift your leg up in the air, extend your right arm and reach around and grab your left foot," said Jewish Yoga instructor Jimmy Lewis.

"The blessing is not in the final pose," he said as some struggled to connect one limb to another. "The blessing is in the practice."

Yoga is an ancient spiritual practice with roots in Hinduism that is designed to connect body, mind and spirit — in sometimes unusually contorted poses.

But a growing number of churches and synagogues are offering yoga as a way to connect with their own faith.

"We're trying to bring yoga a little bit more alive through Judaism, and Judaism alive through yoga," said Rabbi Alexis Berk of The Temple in West Nashville, who co-taught this weekend's "Yoga Shabbaton" class.

Yoga opens to faith

The Jewish Yoga class — believed to be the first in Nashville — is the latest in a series of adaptations of Eastern spiritual practices to reflect Western religious faiths. There also is Christian Yoga, as well as Karate for Christ, which puts a Christian spin on the martial art influenced by Buddhism.

Some instructors say that the classes draw people who are more comfortable coming to a yoga or karate class that reflects their faith, while offering the same physical, mental and spiritual benefits.

Karate for Christ instructor Jim Bowen said that the emphasis on meditation — or emptying one's mind — can feel alien to people more used to spirituality that emphasizes filling one's self up with the spirit of God.

"Meditation prepares people to be taught," said Columbia, Tenn.-based Bowen. "But a lot of people are uncomfortable with it, so we tell them to meditate on God."

But such adaptations are not embraced by all.

In 1989, for example, the Vatican singled out yoga in a warning to Catholics of "dangers and errors " from "non-Christian forms of meditation" — a message reiterated in a 2003 report.

"The Hindu concept of absorbing of the human self into the divine self is never possible, not even in the highest states of grace," wrote then-Cardinal Ratzinger — now Pope Benedict XVI.

And in a 2006 Hinduism Today article headlined "Yoga renamed is still Hindu," writer Subhas Tiwari compared Christian and Jewish adaptations of yoga to "colonization," saying "such efforts point to a concerted, long-term plan to deny yoga its origin. This effort to extricate yoga from its Hindu mold and cast it under another name is far from innocent."

Yoga catches on in South

But for local practitioners like Rabbi Berk, the marriage of yoga and Judaism is a natural one.

Yoga's emphasis on meditation and breathing is similar to some schools of Jewish thought that equate God's name with breath, she said.

"There's a notion in yoga that breath moves the life force through the body," Berk said. "The proper name for God in Judaism can't really be pronounced and theologians say the name of God is not pronounceable because it sounds like breath."

In the past three years or so, there's been a huge interest in all types of yoga classes in the Midstate, said longtime Christian Yoga instructor Leighanne Buchanan.

As yoga has shed its New Age reputation and become popular in health clubs and community centers offering a wide variety of very secular-sounding yoga classes — yoga for mothers and babies, yoga-Pilates combinations and yoga for seniors, among others — people have looked for yoga classes tailor-made for their own interests, she said.

"Yoga is definitely more accepted in the South," Buchanan said. "It used to be a big stumbling block because many people thought to go to yoga they would be practicing Hinduism. "

In Buchanan's classes, she sometimes ends with a prayer. She is open about her belief in Jesus. And she is careful to stick to breathing and poses, rather than chanting or using a lot of Sanskrit terms, to make it more benign to those who might worry it's a Hindu practice, she said.

"In my classes, since I'm a Christian, any references to God is to the Christian God, the one and only true God," she said. "That's the main difference between my classes and Hindu classes. I don't pray to other gods during class."

Yoga origins spiritual

Moreover, she said that yoga has never been a religion. "It's a spiritual practice. I think the misconception is that yoga is a religion."

But Chaitram Talele, a Columbia State College economic professor who began teaching yoga in the area in the late 1960s, said he's concerned that people are denying the Hindu origins of yoga.

"People should realize that its origins lie in Hinduism," he said. "If people want to take yoga and blend it with Christianity or Judaism, that's OK, but they should also say that this is a Hindu system that we are borrowing and to be truthful and honest about it."

Vanderbilt Divinity School theology professor John Thatamanil said that religions have a long history of borrowing from one another. Rosary beads have variations in Hinduism, Christianity and Islam, he said. And the idea of nonviolent resistance was borrowed by Mahatma Gandhi and then reborrowed by Christian leaders in the civil rights movement, he said. So yoga variations are not new.

"Religious practices have been floating across religious boundaries for a long, long time," he said.

[acharya]

North America - Hinduism

"A Textbook Debate Over Hinduism"

by Teresa Watanabe ("LA Times," February 27, 2006)

Los Angeles, USA - When Abhijit Kurup began learning about Hinduism at his Claremont middle school, he could barely recognize his own religion.

Textbooks portrayed the 6,000-year-old tradition as a religion of monkey and elephant gods, rigid caste discrimination and oppression of women, he said.

"It degraded my religion," said Kurup, now a UC Riverside freshman. "I felt a mixture of anger, embarrassment and humiliation."

Kurup has joined other Hindus in a campaign urging the state Board of Education to correct those portrayals in new sixth-grade history textbooks, which will come under review by a board committee today. They have requested changes involving passages on women's rights, the caste system, the origins of Hinduism and the nature of the divine, among other things.

One requested change, for instance, would say women had "different" rights than men, not fewer.

But their efforts have sparked a heated counter-campaign by scholars and others who accuse the groups of trying to fabricate history and gloss over the treatment of women and minorities in India, where Hinduism is the dominant religion. Some also contend that the requested textbook changes are so similar to those imposed by Hindu nationalist groups in India that California should not put its stamp of approval on them.

As a result, what began as a quiet academic exercise has exploded into a vitriolic debate stretching across the globe, with partisans exchanging charges of religious bigotry and promoting right-wing political agendas.

Harvard University professor Michael Witzel, for instance, has warned that the California school board will set off an "international educational scandal" if it approves the requested changes. "It would install mythology as history and get a right-wing point of view" into the textbooks, said Witzel, a professor of Sanskrit.

Such comments outrage many Hindu community members. They say they are merely seeking a fair and accurate portrayal of their religion and culture, which many believe has been maligned in the West ever since British colonialists invaded India more than two centuries ago.

"This is the first time Hindu groups are trying to protest against 300 years of prejudice," said Madhulika Singh, a Bay Area computer networking specialist. She says her son told her he didn't want to be Hindu anymore after studying ancient India and Hinduism in sixth grade.

Indeed, the issue is seen on both continents as the first major test of Hindu political clout in the United States and showcases the growing influence and political savvy of Indian Americans, now one of the nation's fastest-growing ethnic groups. Led by the California-based Hindu Education Foundation and the Vedic Foundation in Texas, a broad-based group of temples, educators and community organizations has mobilized on the issue, drawing extensive news coverage in the Indian media here and abroad.

On the other side, opponents of the proposed changes include more than 100 South Asian scholars and the Friends of South Asia, a Bay Area peace group.

Glee Johnson, state Board of Education president, said the issue drew more than 1,500 letters and e-mails from the Hindu community last week alone, the highest volume of comment she has received on any issue in her two years on the board.

She said that of all subject areas, the board's reviews of history textbooks tend to stoke the most fervent community passions. In the past, she said, the board had been pressed to include in textbooks Ireland's potato famine, the internment of some Italian nationals in the U.S. during World War II and the genocide against Armenians by the Turks during World War I, an event the Turkish government disputes.

In the current round of review, Hindu groups are not the only ones asking for change. According to board materials, Jewish groups have asked for deletion of references to any Jewish role in the crucifixion of Jesus, King Solomon's use of forced labor and the lack of archeological evidence that the Exodus ever occurred, among other things.

"To many people, it gets very emotional," Johnson said. "This is not just about academics, but is tied in to people's view of themselves and their history. What we really need to do is try to be as fair as we can."

The state board reviews sixth-grade history textbooks, which explore ancient civilizations through the fall of Rome in the 5th century, every six years. Johnson said state-appointed experts had nearly completed their review of newly revised editions last summer when Hindu groups stepped in with a long list of requested changes. To review those requests for accuracy, the board appointed Shiva Bajpai, a Cal State Northridge professor of ancient Indian history.

Bajpai approved many of the changes requested. But in November, shortly before the proposals were headed for final approval, Witzel urged the board to reject them in what he called an "emergency letter." Witzel wrote that the groups pressing for change were Hindu nationalists who had rammed through similar textbook changes in India that the U.S. State Department had characterized as "extremist."

The proposed changes are "unscholarly, are politically and religiously motivated … and will lead without fail to an international educational scandal," Witzel wrote in a letter endorsed by four dozen international scholars.

The letter ignited a furor — which state education officials further fanned by asking Witzel and two others to weigh in on the proposed changes already reviewed by Bajpai. The Witzel panel challenged several of Bajpai's recommendations, setting up a showdown between scholars last month.

"It was a gladiator combat," Bajpai said. "I've never had such an acrimonious meeting in my 48 years of professional life."

Today, the board's five-member history-social science committee will review the competing claims and decide which to recommend to the full board for final action at its March 8 meeting.

The most heated debate centers on four areas. Aside from the women's issue, the Hindu Educational Foundation and its supporters argue that the rigid caste system that eventually developed in India was, during ancient times, simply a way to efficiently organize society and should be portrayed as such. Under this system, social classes were grouped by occupation.

They say textbooks should not portray Hinduism as a polytheistic faith but as one that sees its gods and goddesses simply as different representations of one supreme reality.

The most contentious issue involves the origins of Hinduism. The common historical view, included in all textbooks, is that Indo-Europeans from Central Asia, called Aryans, migrated to India and laid the faith's foundation. But Bajpai and the Hindu groups hotly dispute the idea of any Aryan migration, citing new DNA evidence for their view that Hinduism developed indigenously. They have asked that textbooks include both views.

Not all Hindus side with them. Vinay Lal, a UCLA professor of Indian history, calls most of their contentions "ridiculous." Like all religions, he said, Hinduism has its share of uncomfortable truths, and he would prefer that his two children learn to deal with them.

"They will be better able to understand that the essential story of humanity is the story of freedom from oppression," Lal said. "The onus is on us to do justice to our history."
Related Sections | Education

http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=20607&sec=51&cont=6

[acharya]

http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=25713&sec=51&cont=6



North America - Hinduism

"Camp Joins Summer Fun With Teaching Hindu Faith"

by Neela Banerjee ("NY Times," July 21, 2007)

Annandale, USA - The first hour at the Chinmaya Mission day camp unfolds as at any other camp. Children shriek through tag, while a few others play Uno.

But by 9 a.m., the grammar-school-age campers are sitting down, their attention focused on a long-haired Indian man in the front of the room, Swami Dheerananda, the mission’s Hindu teacher, or acharya. Together, they chant prayers in Sanskrit. Many recite passages they have memorized from the Bhagavad Gita, a holy Hindu text.

Like American Jews before them, Hindu parents, most of whom are recent immigrants to the United States, are turning to well-established institutions like summer camp and weekend school, and to decidedly more contemporary Internet sites, to teach their American-born children ancient religious traditions and help maintain their Indian identity.

“I would venture to say that it is children’s programming and education that has become a primary, if not the primary, focus of Hindu-American leaders and institutions,” Shana Sippy, a candidate for a doctoral degree in religion from Columbia University, wrote in a recent paper. “In California alone, over 10,000 children attend some sort of Hindu or Indian instruction on the weekend.”

But explaining Hinduism to Americans is another challenge, one that is leading to a homogenization of a faith that, in India, is characterized by the variety of local beliefs and worship practices, some scholars and Hindus say.

“It has to be homogenized at some level because if I ask my daughter, she doesn’t know the difference between the practice of Hinduism among South Indians and Bengalis,” said Sanjiev Chattopadhya, whose 8-year-old daughter, Maya Chatterjee, attends the Chinmaya camp here. “There has to be dilution at some level, because there hasn’t been a critical mass of us, though that may be starting to change.”

From 1.2 million to 2 million Hindus live in the United States, according to estimates cited by Harvard’s Pluralism Project on religious diversity, a tiny fraction of the approximately one billion Hindus worldwide. Hindus may be better understood now than a generation ago, partly because yoga has generated interest in Hinduism, said Suhag Shukla, legal counsel for the Hindu American Foundation, an advocacy group, but conflicts still occur.

On July 12, three Christian protesters shouting, “This is an abomination!” disrupted prayers offered by a Hindu priest at the start of a Senate session. Earlier, Christian conservatives had argued against a having the Hindu chaplain lead prayers in the Senate chamber because, as David Barton of the evangelical group Wallbuilders, explained, Hinduism “is not a religion that has produced great things in the world.”

Though the children at the Chinmaya camp have their summer booked with all sorts of other camps and activities, here they do not stick out. Elsewhere, “people always ask, ‘What language do you speak? What food do you eat? ’ ” Maya Chatterjee said. “Sometimes they see the food in my lunch box and think it’s gross.”

About 65 children attend the monthlong camp in Virginia, one of two in the Washington area run by the Chinmaya Mission, part of a worldwide Hindu movement. Hundreds more attend Sunday school classes during the school year. The children here spend the morning learning Sanskrit prayers and broad lessons from the Bhagavad Gita about “caring and sharing,” the main theme of this year’s camp term. Afternoons are devoted mostly to traditional songs and dances that mix Bollywood with religious tales.

Hindus in the United States have long bolstered their children’s cultural identity by having them take Indian dance and music classes. But over the last two decades, many Hindus’ anxiety about preserving their culture has translated into a drive to teach religion more explicitly, said Vijay Prashad, professor of South Asian history at Trinity College.

One morning recently, Veronica Hausman stood in front of 20 restless 8- and 9-year-olds, trying to get them to settle down. When that failed, she sat, closed her eyes and chanted a long “Om.” The chatter stopped immediately. Ms. Hausman asked the group why a person cares for others. Several youngsters said that it had to do with what the person might get in return. But Ms. Hausman explained that caring for others was embedded in the simplest acts of their faith.

“How do Hindus greet each other?” she asked, bringing her hands together before her chest in a namaste, which some Hindus believe has a religious meaning. “Look at my hands at the heart. What does it mean? It means the Lord in me bows to the Lord in you. If everyone saw the God in everyone else, wouldn’t we care? I see all of you are zoning out now, so just remember this.”

The children seemed engaged by the camp. Arthi Bala, 8, said she enjoyed doing “yagnas and stuff,” a reference to some worship rituals.

Hinduism has no founder, no single sacred text like the Bible, and no recitation of creeds that define a believer. The immigrant parents whose children attend camp became Hindu “through osmosis,” said Vasudha Narayanan, director of the Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions at the University of Florida.

In India, Hindus hear the epic Ramayana as a bedtime story, repeat the religious ceremonies of their households and celebrate festivals with the entire community. But in the United States, Hindus often must explain their faith to other people, including their children, which many are not prepared to do.

“Parents knew the rituals but not the significance behind them,” Swami Dheerananda said.

Yet some scholars contend that making the religion more accessible has eroded some of its diversity. In the United States, the sacred utterance “Om,” has become the symbol for Hinduism, Ms. Narayanan said. But in India, other symbols are widely used, like the letter “Sri,” which signifies Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity. Many Hindu groups here espouse a philosophy from the seventh century that “the Supreme Being and you are identical,” she said. But in areas of South India, people think of the divine as a mother and the individual as the child she protects.

“This is an essentializing of Hinduism,” Ms. Narayanan said, “and the diversity of Hinduism in India is lost here.”

Such homogenization may be inevitable, Ms. Sippy said.

“All traditions undergo transformation as a normal process of immigration,” she said, “and American religious leaders of all backgrounds have commonly simplified their traditions to transmit religious identity to children.”

Some campers finished reciting Chapter 4, Verse 33 of the Bhagavad Gita in Sanskrit and clamored for a translation. Swami Dheerananda shrugged off their request, explaining later that they were too young.

That did not sit well with about half the class, including Maya Chatterjee. “I’d feel better if someone explained it,” she said.

Roshni Yaradi, 7, said her parents sometimes explained. If they had that day, they would have told her that in that verse, Lord Krishna says to his disciple Arjuna, “The sacrifice of knowledge is greater than the sacrifice of material possessions.”

[acharya]

North America - Hinduism

"Yoga's growing popularity attracts cash"

by Deborah Cohen (Reuters, April 10, 2006)

Chicago, USA - Yoga, the ancient practice of postures, breathing and meditation, is gaining a lot of attention from the material world that its serious practitioners are trying to escape.

And no wonder. Americans who practice yoga are often well-educated, have higher-than-average household income, and are willing to spend a bit more on so-called "green" purchases seen as benefiting the environment or society.

"It's kind of growing out of the crunchy stage of yoga to the Starbucks stage," said Bill Harper, publisher of Yoga Journal. "From the videos and the clothes and the toe socks ... people are pursuing this market with a vengeance."

A glance through recent issues of his monthly magazine, whose readership has doubled in the past four years to 325,000, illustrates the point. There are four-color ads from the likes of Asics athletic shoes, Eileen Fisher apparel and Ford Motor Co. (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research). Yoga Journal is now licensing a Russian edition and preparing to expand in other international markets.

Americans spend some $2.95 billion a year on yoga classes, equipment, clothing, vacations, videos and more, according to a study commissioned by the magazine, fueled in part by aging baby boomers seeking less aggressive ways to stay fit.

Roughly 16.5 million people were practicing yoga in the United States early last year, either in studios, gyms or at home, up 43 percent from 2002, the study found.

FLOODING THE MARKET

Established sellers of yoga gear such as Hugger Mugger and Gaiam Inc. (GAIA.O: Quote, Profile, Research) have been flooded with competition in the market for yoga mats, incense, clothing and fancy accoutrements ranging from designer yoga bags to eye pillows.

Vancouver, British Columbia-based Lululemon Athletica, for one, has seen sales of its yoga apparel rise to $100 million since its Canadian entrepreneur Chip Wilson founded the company in 1998. Customers are snapping up its trendy pants and tops to wear to class, and increasingly, to the supermarket or out to dinner.

The company operates some 40 stores, predominantly in Canada. It counts Japan and Australia among its new markets, and has a newly tapped management team that includes Robert Meers, former CEO of athletic shoemaker Reebok, to help set up shop in the United States. This month, Lululemon's reach extended to the U.S. heartland, with the opening of a Chicago store.

"A lot of investors are being attracted to the trend," said Corey Mulloy, a 34-year-old general partner with Boston-based venture capital firm Highland Capital Partners. Highland has stakes in Lululemon and Yoga Works, a growing chain of studios that now boasts 14 locations in southern California and New York.

Corporate types have indeed latched on. Rob Wrubel and George Lichter, best known as the men behind the Internet site Ask Jeeves, in 2003 provided refinancing for Yoga Works, which was founded in the late '80s.

Philip Swain, a former executive with national health club operator the Sports Club Co., now heads the company, which puts an emphasis on high-quality instruction and has grown by consolidating existing studios.

Another expanding business, Exhale, markets itself as a "mindbodyspa," with tony locations in Los Angeles, New York and other urban areas that combine yoga classes with facials, massage and alternative treatments such as acupuncture.

It lists nationally recognized yoga instructor Shiva Rea as "creative yoga adviser" and has backing from private equity firm Brentwood Associates.

MARRYING PROFIT WITH PRACTICE

Some question how all the consumption is changing a discipline with a strong spiritual foundation.

"We've taken this ancient tradition, science, and art of yoga out of a culture and a religion and world view and we've tried to transplant to the other side of the planet," said Judith Hanson Lasater, a longtime yoga instructor and author who holds a doctorate in East West psychology. "I believe there's not a complete match up."

Even so, several entrepreneurs stressed that they are able to adhere to yoga's healing principles while also turning a profit.

"It's about beauty and ascetics, not about opulence," said Joan Barnes, the former CEO and founder of children's apparel chain Gymboree Corp. (GYMB.O: Quote, Profile, Research), who runs a small chain called Yoga Studio in Northern California.

For Cyndi Lee, 52, founder and owner of New York's City's popular Om yoga center, the business remains a labor of love. Lee said she has turned down numerous buyout offers through the years, worried a loss of control could erode the sense of community she has helped to create.

"It's not like McDonald's; it's not like popping out a hamburger," Lee said. "I don't want to have to commodify it."

http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=21114&sec=51&cont=6

[acharya]

North America - Hinduism

"For 'Dharma Indexes,' Firms' Conduct Matters"

By Daniel Burke ("Religion News Service", January 20, 2008)

Dow Jones has launched "dharma indexes" to track the stocks of companies that observe the values of dharma-based religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.

The Dow Jones Dharma Indexes are the first to measure dharma-compliant stocks and now track more than 3,400 companies globally, including about 1,000 in the United States, according to the company. In addition to the global index, Dow Jones has created dharma indexes for the United States, Britain, Japan and India.

Dharma Investments, a private faith-based Indian firm, partnered with Dow Jones to create the indexes.

"The principle of dharma contains precepts relevant to good conduct, but also the implicit requirement of mindfulness about the sources of wealth -- and therefore responsible investing," said Dharma Investments chief executive Nitesh Gor.

Advisory committees of religious leaders and scholars will screen and monitor companies' policies on the environment, corporate governance, labor relations and human rights, among other criteria. Companies from business sectors deemed un-dharmic, such as weapons manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, casinos and alcohol, are barred from the index.

Bhakti Charu Swami of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness said, "If one only considers the profit motive of an investment without recognizing how that profit was generated, one may unknowingly commit sinful activity. Every link in the entire chain of events is liable for the results."

Dow Jones says it pioneered faith-based indexes in 1999 with the Islamic Market Indexes, which monitor companies' compliance with sharia law. The company has no plans for a Christian index, said Dow Jones spokeswoman Naomi Kim.

Socially responsible investing now encompasses about 10 percent of the $24 trillion U.S. investment marketplace, according to the Washington-based Social Investment Forum.

http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=27541&sec=51&cont=6

[acharya]

North America - Hari Krishna

"Former Hare Krishna spiritual leader released from prison"

(AP, June 17, 2004)

The former leader of a Hare Krishna splinter group accused of using the murder of two dissidents to protect a multimillion-dollar business enterprise has been released from federal prison nearly four years early.

Swami Bhaktipada, who also is known as Kirtanananda Swami and was born Keith Ham in Peekskill, N.Y., was released Wednesday from the federal correctional facility in Butner, N.C., a spokesman at the facility confirmed. Details of his release were unavailable late Wednesday.

Bhaktipada, 66, was arrested in 1987, charged with racketeering and accused of ordering the murders of two devotees who had threatened his control of the New Vrindaban Krishna community in Marshall County.

He appealed his initial racketeering conviction, then pleaded guilty at a second trial in August 1996, and was sentenced to 20 years. A federal judge reduced the sentence to 12 years in 1997, citing Bhaktipada's failing health. Bhaktipada suffers from severe asthma and has complications from childhood polio.

Bhaktipada was accused of amassing more than $10 million through illegal fund-raising schemes, including the sale of caps and bumper stickers bearing copyrighted and trademarked logos.

Under the plea agreement, Bhaktipada pleaded guilty to the first count of an 11-count federal indictment. He admitted to mail fraud included in the racketeering count, but he did not admit any connection to the slayings of the two dissidents.

One of the dissidents, Charles St. Denis, was killed in 1983 at the New Vrindaban community. Another, Stephen Bryant, was killed three years later as he sat in his van in Los Angeles.

Bhaktipada maintains he was the subject of a vendetta by federal prosecutors, who were out to make a name for themselves by attacking a religion that is viewed as strange.

"Krishnas aren't very popular. This is the buckle of the Bible Belt, and alternative religion isn't favorably received," Bhaktipada said in 1996 when he pleaded guilty.

New Vrindaban, known to many as the Palace of Gold, was once some 700 members strong, the crown jewel of the Krishna movement in America. The community was expelled from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in 1987.

Disclaimer: WWRN does not endorse or adhere to views or opinions expressed in the articles posted. This is purely an information site, to inform interested parties of religious trends.

[Shambhu]

From 284:

On July 12, three Christian protesters shouting, “This is an abomination!” disrupted prayers offered by a Hindu priest at the start of a Senate session. Earlier, Christian conservatives had argued against a having the Hindu chaplain lead prayers in the Senate chamber because, as David Barton of the evangelical group Wallbuilders, explained, Hinduism “is not a religion that has produced great things in the world.”

----------------------------

Man, such sublime utterances should be recorded. So that when little kids all around the world learn the truth (maybe a century from now), that all western "ideas" are borrowed from Hindus, they can hear what people used to think in the early 2000's. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[dhu]

More on the Dow Jones Dharma Index:

List of Advisors
includes Francis X Clooney

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->http://www.theindianstar.com/index.php?uan=3075

The article in the link above raises some serious concerns about a recent announcement by Wall Street Journal, owned by Rupert Murdock a self-awowed born-again Christian evangelist.

I first became aware of such a project last year when one prominent Hindu swamis was approached to join their advisory board and he asked for my input. Unlike many other Hindu leaders approached, both religious and academic, this swami decided to do some serious due diligence before making a choice. He declined their inviation to become a part of the Dharma Index movement.

This Index is being promoted as a way to rate businesses worldwide as to how "dharmic" they are. But the control ultimately lies with the Wall Street Journal, both at the level of the criteria used as well as the individual ratings of various companies. There is no conflict resolution or complaint resolution public mechanism in place through which one may challenge these ratings. In the end its corporate financial might and media power that will prevail in passing sweeping judgments to legitimize/delegitimize corporate conduct.

One effect they hope is to get Indian businessmen sucking up to them, looking for favorable ratings, because that would help their share price in the eye of the naive Hindu investors. Conversely, a downgrading of "dharma rating" for a stock would be damaging. Naturally, many Indian businessmen would be tempted to fall in line.

Interestingly, Wall Street Journal has no Christian Index or Jewish Index that evaluates industries by biblical criteria. It is the dharmic traditions that need monitoring, and likewise there is an Islamic Index (run by Murdock's folks) that has been criticized by Muslim leaders.

While Islam has One Book with a canonized approach to right/wrong, the dhrmic traditions are far too diverse to be collapsed into a simple set of yes/no rules that someone sitting in the West could use to control the market. Which "authority" would the Dharma Index folks rely upon to pass judgment on a given company's practices of serving meat, exploiting the poor, exploiting the environment, using up non-renewable energy and mineral sources, polluting the earth, etc. Among the criteria listed by the Dharmic Index, I did not find vegetarianism or animal rights, nor the environment.

The Index serves to alleviate guilt among the exploiters, in the same manner as the British were civilizing the colonies for the upliftment of the poor.

Would Murdock's media support for misionaries who go and exploit poor "heathens" be a reason to give his companies a negative rating?

The scope for bias and misuse is too vast and blatant to be discussed in this very quick reaction that I am able to write at this time. What is striking is how many "Hindu voices" have got sucked into lending their names for such a dubious initiative, which is elitist by the very fact that there has not been a public debate in the dharmic tradition style to address the matter.

The dharma ratings of the acdemicians involved in paticular are questionable, because they have opted for prestige and potantially some high-class travel and other perks, while selling out so easily. The advisors roped in included many of the usual RISA suspects, both Indians and whites, some for lending their names to give the Index clout, and others aspiring to boost their personal brand name. Advisors include faculty members from Harvard University, the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, Britain's Oxford Center for Hindu Studies and the Oxford Center for Buddhist Studies, Yokohama University, Japan, Columbia University in the US, Thammasat University, Bangkok, and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Religious figures involved include such as the venerable monks Dr Ashin Nyanissara, chancellor of Sitagu International Buddhist Academy, Myanmar, and the venerable Sangharaja, the patriarch of Cambodia, chief spiritual advisor to the king of Cambodia.

The whole affair smacks of a lack of transparency, and big business style marketing and self-promotion.

Rajiv Malhotra<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<b>Eight Americans Welcomed into the Sanatana Dharma Tradition</b>

June 1, 2008
Omaha, NE, USA

In a historic religious event that occurred on Saturday, May 31, 2008,
eight Americans were formally welcomed into the ancient tradition of
Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) in a sacred initiation (diksha) ceremony at
the Hindu Temple of Nebraska.

The ceremony was overseen by Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya (Dr. Frank
Morales, Ph.D.), the Resident Acharya (Spiritual Preceptor) of the
temple, and Professor Alekha Dash, who conducted the traditional fire
ceremony (yagya) central to any authentic Hindu initiation rite.

Though Hinduism is not a religion that overtly seeks converts, many
Americans and Europeans have nonetheless enthusiastically embraced the
tradition in the past. This represents the first time in history,
however, that such a large number of Americans have been welcomed into
the tradition at one time.

In accepting Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya as their guru (spiritual
teacher), these newly committed American Hindus vowed to devote
themselves to living a Dharma lifestyle, to meditate upon God each
day, and to express compassion toward all they encounter.

Included among the new initiates were: two professors, a practicing
psychiatrist, a retired lawyer, and a nurse, among others.


First Non-Indian Women Awarded with Brahmana Thread

In a related historical development, Ms. Heather "Tulasi" Mortensen
was awarded brahmana initiation during the same ceremony, and awarded
with a sacred thread. Though traditionally Hindu women were known to
have been given sacred threads during Vedic times, this practice came
to a stop at some point in the history of Hinduism. Thus, this
thread-giving ceremony (known as upavita-samskara in Sanskrit)
represents the very first time in world history that a non-Indian
woman has been awarded such a sacred thread. Sri Acharyaji stated to
the large audience observing this event that "I know that this
historic precedent is only the beginning of the reclamation of an
ancient and important Vedic tradition. My hope is that this
represents only the first of many thousands of women who I will see
awarded the sacred thread in my lifetime."

The two hour event was followed by a celebration dinner in the
temple's auditorium.

For further information, please contact us at info@dharmacentral.com,
(402) 896-4294


http://www.dharmacentral.com

[Guest]

<b>Lakhs witness Lord's wedding</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Attired in their traditional best like they do for any marriage, the devotees even braved the downpour to catch a glimpse of Balaji's marriage to Bhoodevi and Sridevi at the first-ever Sri Srinivasa Kalyanotsava at Palace Grounds in Bangalore on Sunday evening...

It was the marriage of the gods. No wonder, mortals flocked to the venue in lakhs to witness the Lord himself exchange vows with the goddesses.

A sea of humanity witnessed the first-ever Sri Srinivasa Kalyanotsava at Palace Grounds in Bangalore on Sunday evening.

Attired in their traditional best like they do for any marriage, the devotees even braved the downpour to catch a glimpse of Balaji’s marriage to Bhoodevi and Sridevi.

<b>The City’s glitterati led by Governor Rameshwar Thakur, Chief Minister Yeddyurappa and Ministers Katta Subramanya Naidu, R Ashok, Janardhan Reddy and Ramachandra Gowda was in attendance for the Kalyanotsava, organised by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).</b>

<b>For those who could not get inside the pandal, large LCD screens erected across the grounds beamed the event live. With lakhs of devotees making a beeline to the Kalyanotsava, all roads leading to Palace Road were chock-a-block with bumper-to-bumper traffic for hours on end.</b>

At the venue too, it was sheer chaos. Arguments broke out between security guards and police officials and devotees as the crowds swelled. <b>Over 2.5 lakh passes were distributed by the TTD, but many more people made it to the venue</b>.

The three-hour ceremony was performed over an area of 10 acres. A replica of the Vivaha Mantapa at Tirupati was recreated. Chanting of vedas and cries of “Govinda Govinda” from devotees rent the air.

While Kalyanotsava takes place every day at Tirupati temple, this one in Bangalore was the 45th performed outside the hill shrine. <b>The TTD has been organising Kalyanotsavas outside Tirupati for three years now</b>
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[ramana]

From Deccan Chronicle about a Kannada kathak dancer!

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Dance Like a man
 


Murari Sharan Gupta, the only disciple of Pandit Birju Maharajji in Bengaluru, is a walking, talking exponent of the Lucknow gharana in the south. Murari attributes his perseverance and passion for this art form to his guru and believes his own evolution as a teacher is a reflection of this.

According to Murari, a lot of dedication is required for a young student to reach the rang pravesh stage as it takes close to 10 years to achieve. Training in kathak, he feels, is like building your house without boundaries. The entirety is important, not specifics. He has been in Bengaluru for three out of the 18 years of his dancing career.

The 26-year-old feels kathak is capable of depicting contemporary situations with ease despite its base being linked with the Krishna theme. He was part of Maharajji’s repertoire Romeo and Juliet, which was staged in the city recently. He has even attempted jugalbandi with other dance forms and he says the response has been positive.

"My tarana was very well appreciated and the final piece was in Kannada where all the dancers of different genres got together. So, we kind of broke the barrier that says Kathak is restricted to Brijbhasha and Hindi. Kathak lends itself to solo and group presentations and that’s the beauty of it."

The journey of a kathak dancer is very difficult, feels Murari. "If you are good, sikhane ke sath sath aapka sadhna bhi shuru hona chahiye. Once you think you are a guru, that’s where your growth as a dancer stops." There is also competition from other Western dances like salsa. Inspite of this, he feels this interest is like our penchant for fast food. It will soon die out. He feels there is so much scope in the classical form that there is no need to look elsewhere.

Sponsorships for cultural events is a huge struggle for any classical art form and Murari faces this every time he has a show. "Even Maharajji faces this. Dancers are not businessmen. There is no monetary return in this ki theek hai paisa dala aur fayda hoga. Mostly, it is with my own contacts."

There are many people who ask Murari to teach them Maharajji’s famed gath bhav. He tells them that Maharajji has been dancing for so many decades and because of his sadhna, he performs it so well. It cannot be learnt like an item number.

Murari admits that when he started out, he did not think he would last 18 years either. He feels he has achieved nothing as yet and wants to keep learning and expanding his repertoire as much as possible. He has started enjoying the seriousness and the beauty of kathak after all these years of hard work.

Murari ends by quoting Maharajji, "Guru ho aamil, sishya ho kaabil, aur bhagwan ho shamil." (The teacher should be competent, the student should be willing and God should bless them.)

<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[ramana]

my post...
This summer has been quite hectic culture/vulture wise in Northern California. We started out May 25th with a Kathak workshop by Pandit Briju Mahraj accomapanied by Sri Zakir Hussain in San Francisco, Palace of Fine Arts.

This weekend from June 20 thru 22nd the First Intl Kuchipudi Convention was held in Cupertino, California organised by Silicon Andhra, Poti Sriramulu Telugu Uty, AP Arts Akademies and the Andhra Pradesh govt. The all time greats from Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam to his shisyas who are now gurus themselves, great artists like Yamini Krishnamurthy, Uma Rama Rao, Raja and Radha Reddy, Shoba Naidu and innumerable artists (they are too numerous to be listed) representing at least five generations were all in one hall and one stage for two days. They had breakout sessions and seminars on the why and wherfore of Kuchipudi in the De Anza College conf rooms with talks by Dr Sunil Kothari and the gurus themselves. And all this with sumptous Andhra food (minimum 15 items) for all three meals on all two days plus Friday nite banquet. It was a gastronomic extravaganza along with high art. A true connosiuer's jannat. Man those dancers brought Indra's lok to Prithvi! Even Indra didnt have the number (~300) that was on stage those two days!

One could mingle with the greats and listen to them talk as ordinary folks of their thoughts and the challenges the immigrant parents go thru to support the art form through their children.

I truly express my appreciation for the Silicon Andhra folks for organizing the event and coordinating the extraordinary event.

For Hyd folks the next one is on Dec 15th 2010. Hopefully at the yet to be built Kalakshetram which should come up by that time.

News Stories about the evetn

Dancers to set Guiness record

And they did!

California to host Kuchipudi convention
and so on.

Check out eenadu's story. its in Telugu but the pictures are self explanatory!

Eenadu's story on Kuchipudi in California

[Guest]

ISKCON Inaugurates Motel Bhagavad-Gita Project

[HareKrishna]

<!--QuoteBegin-k.ram+May 31 2009, 08:13 AM-->QUOTE(k.ram @ May 31 2009, 08:13 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->ISKCON Inaugurates Motel Bhagavad-Gita Project
[right][snapback]98037[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
finally,an alternative to the bible in hotels
other hindus should follow this exemple.
the best defence is the attack

[acharya]

Vat Purnima Festival

vatpournima-image

Vatasavitri is a vowed religious observance performed by married women on the full moon day (pournima) of Jyeshtha to prolong their wifehood. Lord Brahma along with Savi­tri is the main deity while Satyavan, Savitri, Narad and Lord Yama are the subordinate deities this vowed relig­ious observance. Among the famous, chaste women (pativratas) in India, Savitri is considered the ideal. She is also considered the symbol of eternal wifehood.

When Lord Yama took away Satyavan’s (her husband’s) life Savitri debated about the scriptures with Him, for three days. Appeased with her, Lord Yama brought Satyavan back to life. The discussion took place below the banyan (vata) tree. Hence the banyan tree is associated with Savitri. Women began this vowed religious observ­ance for longevity of their husbands. The banyan (vad), fig (pimpal), holy fig (oudumbar) and shami trees are considered sacred and are used in sacrificial fires (yadnyas). Among all these trees the life of the banyan is the longest. Besides it spreads extensively by means of its aerial roots. Women ritualis­tically worship the deities Brahma and Savitri residing in the banyan tree and pray ‘Bestow health, longevity, wealth and proge­ny upon my husband and me. May the family grow and become pros­perous’

1. Tithi: Jyeshtha Pournima (Full moon day of the month of Jyeshtha)

2. Objective: This vrat was started by married women to prolong their married life, like Savitri did.

3. Importance of Savitri: Among the famous, chaste women in Bharat, Savitri is considered a role model. She is also considered the symbol of eternal married life.

4. Deity of the vrat: Lord Brahma, along with Savitri is the main Deity while Satyavan, Savitri, Narad and Lord Yama are the subordinate Deities in this vrat.

5. Importance of the banyan tree: When Lord Yama took away Satyavan’s life, his wife Savitri debated on the scriptures with Him for three days. Appeased with her, Lord Yama brought Satyavan back to life. The discussion took place below a banyan tree. Hence, the banyan tree is associated with Savitri.

A. ‘The banyan tree survives even the Dissolution of the Universe. It lives on with time.

B. During the Dissolution of the Universe, a child Mukunda slept on a banyan leaf.

C. In Prayag, Lord Ram, Lakshman and Sita rested under the everlasting banyan tree.

D. A banyan tree is the resting place for Lord Brahma,
Lord Vishnu, Lord Mahesh, Lord Narasimha and Lord Madhav.

E. The Banyan, Pipal (Bo tree), Audumbar (Cluster fig tree) and Shami (Indian Mesquite tree), are considered sacred andare used in sacrificial fires. Amongst these trees, the life of the banyan is the longest. Besides, it spreads extensively by means of its aerial roots.

F. Cataract is cured if the mixture of cotton crushed into gum of banyan tree is put into the eyes.

6. Method of performing the vrat

A. Sankalp: First, the married woman should make a sankalp thus – “May my husband and I have a healthy and long life.”

B. Worship: Shodashopchar-puja of the banyan tree should be performed. After the ritual of abhishek, a thread should be tied thrice in a clockwise direction around the trunk of the banyan tree. At the end of the puja, one should pray thus to Savitri and Lord Brahma, “Let me have a happy, uninterrupted and joyous married life, let me get the same husband in every birth, let there be prosperity with food and the family.”

C. Fasting: Women should fast the entire day.

(Members of the Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti consider ‘Vatpournima’ as a farce. How great is the Hindu Dharma, which considers that God exists in every particle of the Creation and teaches us to worship trees as Deities, and how petty are these so called intellectuals, heretics and communists, who consider the Hindu Dharma a farce! - Compiler)

Source: Sanatan Sanstha's publication Holy festivals, Religious festivals and Vowed religious observances, Compilers : Dr. Jayant Athavale and Dr. (Smt.) Kunda Jayant Athavale
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


<img src='http://www.hindujagruti.org/hinduism/festivals/vata-purnima/images/vatpournima_image.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

[acharya]

You know you are Indian when

* When you tell your parents you got 98%, and they ask you what happened to the other two percent.
* There is a sale on any item, you buy 100 of them.
* You make tea in a saucepan.
* You never buy bin bags, but use your saved grocery bags for it.
* You put your clothes in suitcases instead of wardrobes.
* You have a 'Singer Brother' sewing machine at home.
* Your mother has a minor disagreement with her sister and doesn't talk to her for ten years.
* You call an older person you've never met before "uncle".
* You hide everything from your parents.
* Your mother does everything for you if you are male.
* You do all the housework and cooking if you are female.
* Your relatives alone could populate a small city.
* Everyone is a family friend.
* Everyone always called you for help on homework.
* You study law, medicine or engineering at university.
* You were thick so you studied computer science or business instead.
* You know no one who has studied music.
* You went to a university as far away from home as possible.
* You still came back home to live with your parents after you had finished.
* Your best friend got married at the age of 18.
* You like the meat well done.
* You eat onions with everything.
* You use chilli sauce instead of tomato ketchup.
* You fight over who pays the dinner bill.
* You say you hate Indian films/songs but secretly watch/hear them
* You avoid public places when with a member of the opposite sex, especially if there is an acquaintance within a 250 miles radius.
* You always say "open the light" instead of "turn the light on".
*You call fluorescent lights "tube lights" and a flashlight "a torch".
* You secure your baggage with a rope.
* You're walking out of customs with your trolley at the airport and you see all twenty-five members of your family who have come to pick you up.
* You get very upset when airlines refuse to accept your luggage which is just 80 lbs. overweight.
* You go back to your parents' country and people treat you like a member of the royal family.
* You ask your dad a simple question and he tells you story of how he had to walk miles barefoot just to get to school.
*You always own a Camry or accord.
* You're rich so he drives a Mercedes.
* You are ALWAYS taking off and putting on your shoes wherever you go
* When you were little you always wondered why your English friends waited until after breakfast to brush their teeth when you did it first thing in the morning
* To your English friends, oil is used purely for cooking and not as a grooming aid
* Your parents have nicknames but only because people they work with just stop when trying to read their names
* You have annoying nicknames like Chotu or Chicku
* Your parents call all your friends "Beta" (son/daughter)
* Your mother measures wealth in gold and diamonds
* Your parents drink 3 cups of tea a day
* Your parents compare you to all of their friends' kids.
* At least once a week your mom says, "I want to go to India/Pakistan"
* No one ever seems to call ahead of time to say they are coming over for a visit.
* Your parents worry what other people will think if you're not going to be a doctor/ engineer.
* You're parent's always say while shopping abroad, "It's cheaper in India/Pakistan"
*(For females) Your parents would freak out if you wore a crop top baring your midriff but wearing a sari is perfectly acceptable.
*(For females) Your brother had no curfew while you had to be home at 11pm.
*A pungent odor of spices hits anyone who enters your house.
*Your parents compare you to all of their friends' kids AND they are always doing better than you
*No one ever seems to call ahead of time to say they are coming over for a visit.
*Your parents push the concept of an arranged marriage on you and try to demonstrate how well it works whenever they're not fighting.

[acharya]

Fake question running in Facebook


<b>
How Indian you are?
Since it is very difficult to define Indian because of different culture in North, South, East and West, equal no. of questions are provided for every region. Anybody can take this quiz.</b>



1.
1.Which one is true if you are in foreign country?
I do whatever I feel like doing and but I remain humble
I am generally stubborn and rude
I try to be perfect citizen but it's not possible all the time
I am perfect citizen when I am in foreign country and do not break any rule
2.
2.When there are elections, then -
I go in rallies but do what I feel is good
I go in rallies and blindly follow what politicians are saying
I do not follow any party and I dont like to vote also
I dont follow any party, I just decide on candidate basis
3.
3.What type of food do you like?
Moderate spicy and curry
I can have all type of food
No Spicy but curry
Spicy & lots of Curry
4.
4.What is your favourite food?
Kebab
Pizza
Dosa
Butter Chicken
5.
5.Which Sport do you like?
Soccer
Hockey
Cricket
Chess
6.
6.Which one is true for you when you are living in India?
You rarely break the rules
You do not break the rules
You break rules whenever you see nobody there to monitor
As far as possible, You break every rule
7.
7.What type of movies do you watch?
I rarely watch movie
Crazy about movies. Watch all Movies which have lots of senseless fighting and 'good' scenes
I watch movies when I have company of friends and I choose good movie
Crazy about movies and watch every week
8.
8.Whom you will follow?
I hear all I follow What my brain tells me
I just do what i feel like doing without giving much thinking to it
What a politician tells me to follow
What a movie actor/actress/cricketers tells me to follow
9.
9.What type of tea you like?
Tea with milk and lots of sugar
Tea with milk and less sugar
Black tea with little sugar
Black tea without milk and sugar
10.
10.While talking over mobile/phone-
You talk loud but go in a corner to avoid disturbance
You talk loud which can disturb people around you
You dont talk loud
You talk so loud that other side person can hear without mobile/phone also
11.
11.Do you care about cleanliness in public area when you are in India?
I do care when people are there around me
Never
I always care
Mostly No
12.
12.How do you pronounce Carton?
Carton
Oh C'mon. gimme break
Kaar-toon
Kartun
13.
13.What you do when you see something is wrong in the system?
I blame people
I blame politcians
What to do? It is all becoz of the government
I know whats wrong and what I should do so that I am not part of it

[shamu]

There is an attempt to control Yoga in US.

Efforts at Regulation Have Yoga Teachers Bent Out of Shape
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Virginia’s cumbersome licensing rules include a $2,500 sign-up fee — a big hit for modest studios that are often little more than one-room storefronts.
...
“It basically destroys the essence of yoga, to control and manipulate the whole situation,” said Jhon Tamayo of Atmananda Yoga Sequence in Manhattan, shortly after receiving one of the warning letters from the state. “No one can regulate yoga.”
...
Within days, Joseph P. Frey, an associate commissioner with the State Education Department, said in an interview that the department would suspend the licensing effort, allow the classes to continue and instead lobby to have legislation passed adding yoga to a list of activities that are exempt from regulation.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Has it got anything to do with anticipated higher need for yoga in US, as economic downturn worsens?

[shamu]

Sales of Ramayan rise in Kerala as harvest season takes off

Kochi: Beginning Friday, thousands of people in Kerala will be hunched over the Ramayan every evening for a month, the text set nicely on stands carved specifically to hold holy books. For many of these people, typically retirees or past middle age, it’s a holy monsoon tradition. For some, it’s just habit.

And then there are the local publishers of the Ramayan, the epic holy to Hindus, said to be written by sage Valmiki in about fourth century BC. For them, Karkidakam, the last of the Malayalam months, is the harvest season.

Sales of the epic reaches up to 150,000 copies—from pocket editions and larger versions with big fonts for the elderly to compact discs—ahead of and during the month, fetching a dozen local publishers of the Ramayan a combined Rs2 crore at least, according to some of them.

No one really knows how the tradition started. C. Radhakrishnan, writer and one-time publisher of a Ramayan edition, offers an explanation that fits just right in an agrarian society as Kerala.

Karkidakam arrives after the harvest at the peak of the monsoons, a lean season for farmers and their families as they wait to start cultivation in August-September.

The rains also bring with it illnesses that spread fast, forcing them to stay indoors for some rest and rejuvenation. The setting was right for some religious activity and it became a custom to read the Ramayan during the month, says Radhakrishnan.

The former publisher of the epic says he came out with his edition a decade ago as “there were several editions and there was a need for clarity on uniformity.” He published and sold 1,000 copies of the holy text in 1998, his first and last attempt at the business.

The formal publishers sell a lot more.

Ravi D.C., chief executive officer at publishing firm and book store chain DC Books, says his stores sold 40,000 copies around last year’s Karkidakam and he expects a 25-30% rise in sales this season.

DC Books stocks pocket editions, paperbacks, gift editions and even compact disk versions of the Adhyatma Ramayanam, the Malayalam translation of the epic by 16th century poet Thunchath Ezhuthachchan.

Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd, which has been selling the Ramayan for the past five years, has seen a steady rise in popularity, says assistant manager of its books division Shiju Philip. The firm sold 25,000 copies last year.

The growing demand for the Ramayan is quite noticeable, says K.C. Narayanan, literary critic and editor-in-charge of the books division of Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd, publisher of the Malayala Manorama daily paper and The Week magazine.
The company started publishing the epic three years ago. Narayanan declined to reveal the sales figures.

Janardhanan Nair, a government employee in the state government’s irrigation department, says it’s become a habit to read the Ramayan every evening for at least half an hour during Karkidakam.

Nair bought a new edition of the Ramayan on Wednesday from the Current Book Stall on Convent Road in Kochi to replace his earlier copy that he had got four years ago. The book stall is part of the DC Books chain. Radhamani Amma, a retired schoolteacher in her mid-60s, claims she’s not religious, but does not mind skipping television for an hour every evening during the month to read the epic.

It’s a sort of family tradition for Radhamani: Karkidakam evenings during her childhood meant family gatherings with one elder reading the holy text and others listening.