How much is your Religion Worth?

Most Hindus visit their neighborhood temple on a regular basis. Puja is done by the temple priest who uses the offerings brought by the devotee. Things like fruits, a coconut, insence sticks, flowers etc. The puja typically ends by the priest bringing out the aratii with the burning camphor for the devotees who after blessing themselves from the flames, put their offerings in the plate. This money typically goes to the priest and helps suplement their often meagre income.

How much do you give? How much is the priest's services worth to you?

I normally see small denomination coins in the thalli. With the odd 10 rupee note thrown in. I don't remember ever seeing anything higher than that. The hundies of the larger temples typically attract the 100 rupee notes. I don't know if any of the hundi money benefits the poor priests. I think not. It typically goes to the temple committee.

So, what is it worth to you?

The Temple on New Year's Day

We visited the local temple today and the did the usual puja. The place was crowded. I was stuck by a thought. Why am I here today? We go the temple fairly regularly but why on the first of January? Then I realised that I do not know the new year day as per the Hindu calendar! That was a sobering thought. I am a practicing Hindu but I lack fundamental knowledge about my religion. A sad state of affairs I must rectify as soon as I can.

Ram Setu: Advani questions Center on affidavit (video from IndiaTimes)

A video from the IndiaTimes web site showing a Times Now News about L. K. Advani, the leader of Opposition speaking about the Ram Setu issue and the Lord Ram.

Original video web page. Copyright resides with original copyright owners.

Indian Central Government Says No Proof Of Ram's Existence

The Indian Central Government in New Delhi claims that there is no historical proof of the existence of Lord Ram, the King of Ayodhya and of the hearts of all Hindus the world over. The beloved God of a billion Hindus never was. The shining beacon of Truth & Dharma is a mere hero in a fairy tale. He was not of this earth. He did not walk the land, with his brother and wife, fighting Ravana, He Who makes The Universe Scream, and his demon hordes that threatened the very existence of life on earth.

He did not exist!

He did not show the world how to live a life of Dharma. He did not show how compassion, truth & love conquer all. He did not show how even the Gods suffer from human frailties when they walk the earth among us as men and women. He did not show what it means to stand & fight shoulder to shoulder with the forces of Dharma & Good regardless of the nature of the being fighting alongside him. He did not show that humans alone do not own this world. That Vanars and all other beings also have a place and a right to live a life of Dharma.

He did not exist! 

 

Rise ye, all you Hindus! Rise! This is blasphemy! An attempt to subvert the very faith that our lives are based on. A blow to every Hindu. Rise now and bring them down! Throw out these people that dare to say that our Lord Ram did not exist! Rise now before it is too late!

Shree Shree Jaganath Ratha Yatra 2007 - Photo Gallery

Puri Online has a photo gallery of this year's Ratha Yatra.

Also a video gallery with videos of the Snana, Hati Besha & The Yatra.

Great work Bulu & team!

Islamic Atrocities Against Innocent Hindus - 14 Year Old Child Burnt Alive

Samrat Mondal, a 14 year old class 8 student lives with his family in a village in the 24 Parganas (South) district of West Bengal. On the evening of May 24, 2007, he was cornered by a gang of 20 muslims lead by a local muslim criminal and burnt alive.

While other muslims stood by and laughed.

Samrat is a Hindu. His family fled muslim atrocities in Bangladesh and now live in India, a Hindu majority nation and the birthplace of Hinduism.

The police have not done anything. Yet. And somehow I don't think they will take any action. The Communist parties of West Bengal are all pro muslim. As is the Congress that runs the central government in New Delhi.

So what has India given Samrat and his family? A nation that they fled to. A Nation that they hoped would protect and nurture them.

Samrat is the latest victim of the divide and rule politics that our politicians learnt from the british. He will bear these scars for life.

I request everybody who reads this to write about it. Don't let the world forget Samrat. It is the least we Indians can do for him.

Brahmin Priests Thrown Out Of Temple Land!

The Srinagar Colony temple complex is on the top of a small hill. The temple priests had small houses just outside the main compound wall of the Balaji temple. They have lived there for quit some time. I have been visiting this temple complex for about a decade now.

Last week I visited the temple to get a new scared thread for myself. I spoke to one of the priests cleaning the temple and he asked me to wait for a while while he finished sweeping the temple. I was walking around when I noticed that the houses on the other side of the wall had been demolished!



I turned to the priest in a state of shock and asked him what had happened. The poor guy sighed and said "What to do? The temple authorities have decided to build a new marriage mandapam in that space!".

The shock must have shown on my face for he continued "All the priests are now staying in different places. Indranagar, Yousufguda, Motinagar etc. They have to pay heavy rent. God knows what will happen to us!"



Money! The temple authorities have thrown out the temple priests to make way for a commercial complex!

What is this country coming to? Is this how we treat our priests?

Indian elixir for the world as 'saffron evil' in India - Article from gurumurthy.net

This post is an extract from Gurumurthy.net. The original article is available here.

Does monotheism -- belief in a single, omniscient God - impede globalism? If it does what other kind of religion or God will be compatible with globalism? Here is likely an interesting debate.

For over a decade the world has been debating about clashes among civilisations powered by religions. Samuel Huntington triggered this debate in the year 1993 foreseeing clashes emerging between orthodox Islam and modern West.

For many in the West the Islamist attack on the World Trade Centre was validation of Huntington eight years later.

The West viewed 'illiberal' Islam as incompatible with 'liberal' West. And this incompatibility was seen as the source of the emerging civilisational clashes.

Since the 9/11 terror, this debate, premised on Islam as the bad boy and the West as its victim has dominated the world, particularly the West.

But this debate now seems to be moving up, logically, to another level. Slowly some in the West seem to feel that the debate should not be limited to merely examining the clash between the 'liberal' West and the 'illiberal' Islam.

Says Jean-Pierre Lehmann, the advisor to Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi, the previous head of the World Trade Organisation, that organised, monotheistic religions as a class - that is not just Islam but also Christianity - are incompatible with globalism.

Presently Professor of International Political Economy at the International Institute of Management Development in Switzerland, Lehmann heads the Evan Group, a global think-tank composed of government, industry and opinion leaders from Asia, Europe and the US.

Asserting that there is link between monotheistic religions and violence and intolerance, Lehmann points out that 'monotheistic religions have caused so much turmoil throughout history - and continue to do so even now'. He sees 'a new global ethical and spiritual model' as today's need.

He sees - what will shock, even shame, the seculars here at home - India as the best candidate to supply that model to the world!

In a provocative article in 'the Globalist', a daily on-line magazine, he makes some profound points on globalisation and religions.

He says that both Christianity and Islam, the fountainhead of monotheism, have been hijacked by fundamentalists.

He argues that for progress of human civilisation all organised religions have to be eradicated by persuasive secular humanism, but admits that people cannot live without God or religions.

His suggestion is 'rather than eradicating religion per se, 'we should instead eradicate monotheistic religion in favour of polytheistic religion'.

Why prefer polytheism - the worship of many Gods - over monotheism?

He answers: 'If you have only one god, and you believe that god is all powerful and omniscient and you come across someone who does not agree, then you may feel it is your duty to kill him.

If, on the other hand, you believe there are hundreds, indeed thousands of Gods, and that none can be totally almighty or omniscient, then you are likely to be far more tolerant'.

Precisely for this, Lehmann looks to the only surviving polytheistic society in India as the hope for the world.

For him India because of 'its remarkable ability to have managed multiculturalism to such a brilliant extent' is a living illustration of how globalisation can work.

What has made this possible is obvious. Hindus have millions of Gods to worship. Divergent Gods are inadequate rather than wrong or objectionable.

Hindu Gods are related by marriage and other relations. Such vast range of inter-related Gods to worship itself has ruled out clashes among the followers in the name of the only God without a second.

Lehmann admits that 'India is not a Utopia' and has its own problems of inequality part of which, he says, is sanctioned by religion.

Yet asserts that the 'global environment is desperate for ideas, philosophy and religion'.

'India is the most prolific birthplace of all three' due to 'the great synergy of democracy and diversity' and greater degree of 'self-confidence' in Indians now'. He adds 'Indians and members of the enormous Indian Diaspora are thought leaders in economics, business, philosophy, political science, religion and literature'.

He asserts that 'the Indian religious and philosophical traditions can provide' the 'sense of moral order, spirituality and an ethical compass' which the world desperately needs.

Recalling his conversation with an Indian religious guru Lehmann says, 'I could adhere to his religious tenets' and still 'maintain my secular convictions', which, he says, 'no imam or priest would allow'.

For him Indian philosophic traditions are secularism-compatible and monotheism is not.

Lehmann asserts that the planet needs an alternative geographical force to the American Christian fundamentalist thinking that drives the Bush establishment. Who could be that alternative?

Europe being 'spent force' and China 'dictatorship', he rules them out as alternatives. He disqualifies the Islamic world as it is going through, putting it mildly, an 'awkward moment'.

That is how he zeroes in on 'the important role India must play both because of its innate qualities and also because there no other serious contender'.

He hopes that 'the 21st century better becomes the century inspired by the virtues of Indian polytheism'.

Else, he warns, 'We are headed for disaster'. This is precisely what Arnold Toynbee, the famous historian, said decades back.

But, ironically, as Lehmann looks to Indian polytheism to save the world, the 'seculars' here condemn it as 'saffron poison'.

Thus what according to Lehmann is the elixir for the survival of the world is evil for India and the world according to our seculars! How positive he is and how perverse they are.

(Posted via Thinga Web)

Holi Haii !!!

Holi, the festival of colors is a time to have a lot of fun. I will write more about Holi in a later post. For now, here are a few pictures of my daughter playing holi with some of her friends.

Holi Haii...

Niki, with Durgesh nandini in the background, filling her color spray gun...

Afshan, another friend of Durgesh Nandini.




Durgesh Nandini with her color spray gun...

©By Gautam Satpathy. All rights reserved