last updated 14th July 2012
last updated 14th July 2012
http://www.npr.org/2011/12/08/143060219/besan-laddu-chickpea-sweet
USA, December 8, 2011 (NPR, Amelia Jyotsna Tummalapalli of Memphis, Tenn.): We are Hindus. Our family celebrates Pancha Ganapati from December 21-25. This is a special time when we ask our relatives, friends and business associates to forgive us for anything we may have done wrong. We make and share sweets with all of these people, and the children get gifts for five days. We decorate our homes with lights and colorful handmade decorations. We listen to music, attend dances and go to temple during this time to pray to Ganapati (also called Ganesha). We enjoy besan laddu during this time because Ganapati loves sweets!
For a delicious Besan Laddu (Chickpea Sweet) recipe, click http://www.npr.org/2011/12/08/143060219/besan-laddu-chickpea-sweet
It's 2012, and Another Doomsday Hangs Upon Us
Religion News Service
USA, January 7, 2012: Last year saw two widely publicized, widely embarassing failed predictions for "the end of the world" by evenagelical pastor Harold Camping. But more may be coming: on December 21, 2012, the Mayan calendar reaches the end of its 5,126 epoch. That's a cause of consternation among some end-times adherents, and amusement among some descendants of the Maya.
Should you be inclined, you can use your smart phone to check how many days are remaining before a date that was carved into rock by a pre-Columbian civilization -- there are many apps for that. You cannot really blame -- or credit -- the Maya for the commotion. More likely, blame their New Age adherents.
The ancient Mayan calendar does technically end at Dec. 21, 2012. But Mayan experts say it's simply a case of one long Mayan epoch -- of 5,126 years -- coming to an end, in much the same way the 1900s came to an end.
Here's a prediction: 2013 will be the year when everyone finally stops talking about the Mayan calendar.
courtesy of Hinduism Today http://www.hinduismtoday.com
Religion News Service
LONDON, February 25, 2012 (RNS): A controversial Oxford University professor billed by many as the world's "most famous atheist" now says he is not 100 percent sure that God doesn't exist -- but just barely.
In a 100-minute debate with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams on Thursday (Feb. 23), Richard Dawkins surprised his online and theater audiences by conceding a personal chink of doubt about his conviction that there is no such thing as a creator. But, to the amusement of the archbishop and others, the evolutionary biologist swiftly added that he was "6.9 out of seven" certain of his long-standing atheist beliefs. Replying to moderator Anthony Kenny, a noted English philosopher, Dawkins said, "I think the probability of a supernatural creator existing (is) very, very low."
Dawkins, author of "The God Delusion" and other best-sellers, is a leader of the "New Atheist" movement that aggressively challenges belief in God and criticizes harm done in the name of religion.
"What I can't understand is why you can't see (that life started from nothing and) is such a staggering, elegant, beautiful thing, why would you want to clutter it up with something so messy as a God," Dawkins told Williams, according to The Daily Telegraph account.
The archbishop, who heads both the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion, replied that he "entirely agreed" with the "beauty" part of Dawkins' statement -- but said "I'm not talking about God as an extra who you can shoehorn onto that."
courtesy of Hinduism Today http://www.hinduismtoday.com
http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/religion/article3019615.ece?homepage=true#.T2l_4-9Sxzc.gmail
A Russian court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking a ban on a translated version of Bhagwad Gita for being “extremist”, bringing cheers to followers across the world.
“The court in the Siberian city of Tomsk has dismissed the plea,” Sadhu Priya Das of Moscow ISKCON told PTI soon after the verdict was announced.
State prosecutors in the Siberian city of Tomsk had filed an appeal against a lower court’s dismissal of their original plea seeking a ban on “Bhagavad Gita As It Is”, written by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
They claimed that the text was “extremist” literature full of hatred and insult to non-believers which promoted social discord.
The higher court in Tomsk “kept the verdict of the lower court intact,” a joyful Mr. Das said.
As the judge dismissed the plea, the followers in the packed courtroom burst into applause, he said.
“We are grateful to the Russian judicial system,” Mr. Das said.
Brajendra Nandan Das, Director ISKCON media communication in India, expressed happiness over the verdict. “We have won.
The petition seeking a ban on the book has been dismissed,” he said.
The case had drawn a flurry of criticism from Hindus across the world.
When the petition was dismissed by the lower court in Tomsk on December 28 last year, India had welcomed the verdict as a “sensible resolution of a sensitive issue“.
The original petition seeking a ban on the translated version of the Holy Scripture was filed in June 2011 and the trial prompted sharp reactions from across the world.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had asked the Russian government to help resolve the issue quickly.
Bhagavad Gita was first published in Russia in 1788 and since then it has been republished many times in various translations.
India welcomes verdict
Reacting to Wednesday’s verdict, Indian Ambassador to Russia, Ajai Malhotra, said he welcomed the decision of the court.
“I welcome the verdict of the Honourable District Court in Tomsk today, which has dismissed the appeal petition in the Bhagavad Gita case.
“It is good that the decision of the lower trial court in this matter has been reaffirmed. I trust that this issue is now conclusively behind us,” Mr. Malhotra said in a statement.
Last month, participants at conference on Bhagvad Gita had suggested creation of an independent board of scholars to evaluate various texts for signs of extremism.
“The conference has indicated the permanent historical acknowledgment of Bhagavd Gita, which carries on the commentatorial tradition of the religious authority, and has shown its spiritual influence on the cultural development not only in India, but also in other countries,” a resolution adopted at the conference said.
The participants also firmly believed that the notion of extremism cannot be applied to such a religious text as “Bhagavad Gita as it is“.
The scholars had also expressed “deep satisfaction in regards to Tomsk court’s decision to reject the prosecutors’ plea for recognising the ‘Bhagavad Gita As It Is’ as extremist literature.”
They had also expressed their concern with the “low level” of the general culture of officers of the law enforcement agencies and the state authorities.
“We would like to draw the government’s and society’s attention to the urgent problem of the enforcement practice of the Federal Statute ‘On counteraction against extremism activity’, which permits nowadays such abuse towards religious organisations”, the resolution, which was also submitted to the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Indian embassy in Moscow, had said.
http://www.dandavats.com/?p=10621
By Vidura Das
On 25th May 2012, Hari das and Vidura das from ISKCON Coventry along with theirspecial guest Pundarik Goswami of the Radharaman Temple in Vrindavan were invited to attend the Golden Jubilee (50th Anniversary) celebrations of Coventry Cathedral. Amongst the many distinguished guests were Princess Anne and The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Dr Rowan Williams.
The following day another event was organised by Coventry’s religious organisations and community groups where the Archbishop of Canterbury was the again the special guest. During the event Vidura das, Vice Temple President of ISKCON Coventry had the opportunity to speak on the relevance of Bhagavad Gita in the modern age and presented a copy of Srila Prabhupadas The Bhagavad Gita As It Is to the The Archbishop of Canterbury. It was very happily recieved.
http://www.dandavats.com/?p=10620
By Sankarshan Das
On Thursday 14 June 2012 ISKCON devotee, Bhakta Brian, dressed as a devotee, was out distributing books on a crowded sidewalk on Santa Monica Boulevard in Santa Monica, California when all of a sudden former US President Bill Clinton chose him out of the crowd, walked up to him, shook his hand, and gave him a warm hug.Listen now to an interview with Bhakta Brian how he gave the Bhagavad-gita to this world famous celebrity:
Bill Clinton, Champion Of The Plant-Based Diet, Goes Vegan
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/18/bill-clinton-vegan_n_930816.html
UNITED STATES, August 18, 2011: Bill Clinton is a vegan -- or is, at least, very close to being one. The former U.S. president doesn't eat any dairy, eggs or meat, and consumes very little oil. Clinton has turned to eating solely plants in order to keep weight off and his heart healthy. Since his diet change, Clinton has lost more than 20 pounds.
Clinton -- who used to be a huge fan of hamburgers, steaks and other foods of the like -- underwent the diet overhaul to reverse the heart disease he's been plagued with in the past. He underwent a quadruple bypass surgery in 2004 because blood flow was blocked to his heart, and just last year he had to have two stents put into his heart to "open up veins from his bypass surgery," according to CNN.
There have been numerous studies linking a veggie-heavy diet with good heart health. For example, research shows that fewer vegetarians than meat-eaters have metabolic syndrome, a condition where you possess three of five heart-risk factors, Everyday Health reported. The factors include high blood pressure, triglycerides and blood sugar, low "good" cholesterol and a large waist size. In addition, research shows that a nutrient-dense, vegetarian-based diet can lower levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol.
Clinton joins the company of other vegan politicians and celebrities.
courtesy of Hinduism Today http://www.hinduismtoday.com
Question to Radhanath Swami: We read in Gita: Krishna says that when there is a decline in religion and an up-rise in irreligion, he descends. Look at the world today; so much of irreligion, so many problems. There is tsunami of irreligion and problems crashing against practically every living entity in the whole planet- there’s an inundation. Where is God?
Radhanath Swami: Krishna has descended in this age in his name. And all the power of all the incarnations is within the name, because Krishna is non-different from his names. We simply have to chant with proper consciousness and reciprocate with his love that has descended in his name. When Krishna physically appeared five thousand years ago, very few people recognized him. So many people considered that he was just a powerful person. Similarly, when Krishna appears in his namewithout association of Krishna’s loving devoteeswe cannot understand, appreciate or reciprocate with the mercy of the name.
When we chant the name of the Lord sincerely, from within the heart, Radha and Krishna reveal their eternal, unlimited, and beautiful forms of the spiritual world. They reveal it in their name. We understand that the name doesn’t represent Krishna, the name is Krishna. The name reveals the qualities of the Lord, and the loving kindness of the Lord. The name reveals the abode of the Lord; within the two syllables -‘Krs’, ’na’-, within the two syllables –‘Ha’,‘re’- is the entire spiritual world. And all the pastimes of the Lord are within the name, and are revealed through the name. There is nothing else required. Through the chanting of the names, the names actually brings us right into the pastimes and reveals our constitutional identity, our eternal personality in the spiritual world; that is the power of the name.
HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE,
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE
http://tovp.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=264&Itemid=188
Over the years, the crew at the ToVP has been working diligently to build the super structure. Artists, architects and engineers have poured over designs while others have been charged with important decision-making to ensure the progress of this project. It is indeed a labor of love. The latest photo of the front view of the construction exquisitely captures the grandeur of the temple. It showcases the development of the main dome as it takes shape and rises from ground level. As you can see, by Lord Caitanya's mercy the dream of this temple is becoming a reality.
New Website To Help Visitors of Mayapur
http://news.iskcon.com/node/3733/2011-06-30/new_website_to_help_visitors_of_mayapur#ixzz1QqB3HZwT
By Gopijana Vallabha Das for ISKCON News on 30 Jun 2011
ISKCON Mayapur has launched the new Mayapur Tourism website http://www.VisitMayapur.com .
The new website is geared toward all people whether they are practicing devotees or not. The site will be able to provide general information regarding Mayapur's places to visit, festival information and calendar, tour packages, accommodations, and transportation options. There is online booking available for tour packages, cars, and accommodations. There are still more pages that will are being added to the site.
http://news.iskcon.com/node/3733/2011-06-30/new_website_to_help_visitors_of_mayapur#ixzz1QqBH77cp
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16746656?print=true%20BUSINESS
TIRUMALA, ANDRA PRADESH, INDIA, January 30, 2012 (BBC): Tirumala Surrounded by seven hills, high above lush green forests is the temple town of Tirumala. The crown jewel is the dazzling gold-plated temple of Lord Venkateshwara. Located in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, this is not just one of Hinduism's holiest shrines, but also one of the richest. It has an annual income of $340m - mostly from donations. Between 50-100,000 people visit this temple every day. This puts enormous pressure on water, electricity and other energy resources. Now the temple is using its religious influence and economic might to change the way energy is used here. Sustainable sources Developing reserve forests around the temple to act as carbon sinks, the management has transformed the environment. They are promoting the use of sustainable technologies and hope to influence public opinion.
LV Subramanyam is the executive officer of the temple trust. "While we currently use a mix of conventional and non-conventional energy sources, our aim is make the place more reliant on sustainable sources of energy," he says "Most of our devotees are progressive. In a religious place like Tirumala, we can set the example by going green. Probably the impact will be much more than normal government advertisements or publicity." Inside the temple complex, a large multi-storey building is dedicated to just one thing - cooking free meals for pilgrims. Several cooks work in tandem stirring large pots of rice, curry and vegetables. Nearly 50,000 kilos of rice along with lentils are cooked here every day. Open all day, this community kitchen is the biggest green project for the temple. Located on the roof of this building are rows of solar dishes that automatically move with the angle of the sun, capturing the strong sunlight. Then the energy is used to convert water into high pressure steam, which cooks the food in the kitchen below. Generating over 4,000kgs of steam a day at 180o C, this makes the cooking faster and cheaper. As a result, an average of 500 litres of diesel fuel is saved each day.
courtesy of Hinduism Today http://www.hinduismtoday.com
http://rbth.ru/articles/2012/01/03/preschool_children_adjust_to_vegetarianism_14000.html
RUSSIA, January 3, 2012 (by Natalya Radulova): Only a few years ago, Tina-Sad vegetarian preschool founder and director Tina Trusova worked at a Moscow publishing house and was bringing up her three children on typical meals like borsch and roast beef. Today she is a devout vegetarian.
Private preschools are becoming more and more common in modern Russia. They usually begin like this: A woman rents a three-room apartment and recruits students from among her neighbors either because there are no places available at the local public preschool or because the private school promotes particular values that parents find appealing. Many vegetarian parents would rather take their kids on the metro to Tina-Sad rather than allow their children attend a local preschool that serves meatballs for lunch.
"A vegetarian kindergarten is not such a lucrative enterprise," said Trusova. "It would be easier if I took a more relaxed attitude to the menu. But, first, I cannot change my ways, because I hate cooking meat; I detest it. And second, I feel that I am implementing a good project. I am teaching kids good nutrition habits, they are never sick and, in general, a cold is something unknown to us here."
Sharaf Maksumov is a lacto-vegetarian who eats milk and honey. His pregnant wife shares his principles. But they are already wondering what kindergarten to choose for their future child. "From the experience of our vegetarian friends, we know that no teacher at a state-run preschool would cook food specially for him," Maksumov said, adding that he doesn't really expect such things. "Problems arise not because somebody tries to force our children to eat meat. Simply no one at meal times watches the kids to see that they are given the food that their parents brought and the children are too young to remind the nurses."
courtesy of Hinduism Today http://www.hinduismtoday.com
NEW DELHI, INDIA, October 18, 2011 (dna India): Hindu God Krishna's name is not the exclusive property of any company, the Delhi High Court has said, while rejecting a trademark-related plea of a milk food company which wanted a rival to be barred from using the Deity's name on its products.
A division bench of Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Sunil Gaur Monday heard an appeal filed by Delhi-based firm Bhole Baba against the court's earlier order declining its claim of exclusive right over the use of word 'Krishna' for dairy products.
Refusing the prayer of Bhole Baba Milk Food Industries to stop Parul Food Specialities from using the word "Krishna", the court said: "The distinctiveness to which the appellant can lay a claim is to what it has got registered as a whole and such registration cannot possibly give an exclusive statutory right to the appellant qua a particular word of common origin."
courtesy of Hinduism Today http://www.hinduismtoday.com
Read more on Chanting Hare Krishna HERE:
WASHINGTON, DC, USA, October 25, 2011 (rediff.com): United States President
Barack Obama celebrated Diwali at the White House by lighting the traditional
diya and hosting a reception for eminent Indian Americans and officials
in his administration. "Diwali is a special holiday for millions across
the country", Obama said in his address to the gathering of Hindu Americans
in Washington on Saturday night.
"Michelle and I greatly enjoy the occasion and the celebration in India
last year," Obama said recollecting the dancing of the First Lady at the
Diwali festival in Mumbai last year, which he too joined. "Diwali is the
time to celebrate victory of light over darkness, hope over despair. Hindus,
Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists consider the day sacred. The message of this
day is truly universal," Obama said at the event that was closed for the
press.
Among those present on the occasion were the Indian Ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao [ Images ]; Neera Tandaon, the new president of the Center for American Progress, eminent Hindu American Anju Bhargava, USAID Administrator Raj Shah, the US Ambassador to Belize Vinai Thummalapally, Hindu chaplain Pratima Dhar and a Sikh delegation from the Golden Temple [ Images ].
In his remarks, Obama acknowledged the contributions of the Indian American community in every field of the country from New York Taxi drivers to the teenager, who won the Google science fair this year.
Two years ago, Obama became the first US president to celebrated Diwali at the White House. On that day, he established the President's Advisory Committee on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, which is headed by Kiran Ahuja, who according to the president is doing an outstanding work.
Speaking on the occasion, Anju Bhargava of Hindu American Seva Charities emphasized the need to light the lamp of service.
"Today we can proudly state that Diwali lights community building in our county and beyond," she said. In just two years Obama and his White House have been instrumental in helping Hindu Americans energize Dharmic Seva: Impacting Change in America and Abroad, New Jersey-based Bhargava said.
"In the first Hindu seva conference held at the White House this summer, they helped recognize us as Hindu-Americans, an identity created in the spirit of the American tradition. This historic event highlighted the needs of the community, and offered the potential for vast service opportunities for Hindus to engage in all across America," she said. "It also highlighted the importance of interfaith cooperation in today's America," she added.
courtesy of Hinduism Today http://www.hinduismtoday.com
http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120102-0000051/Its-not-our-parents-vegetarianism-any-more
SINGAPORE, January 2, 2012 (by George Martin Jacobs): Singapore has more than 500 vegetarian outlets, and many non-veggie eateries offer a growing variety of veggie options. Unfortunately, stereotypes discourage people from enjoying veggie food.
Two of these stereotypes: Only people of certain religions eat veggie food and being vegetarian is an either/or situation.
One idea gaining favour worldwide, arising from the understanding that people of any religion can eat vegetarian, is to eat plant-based food one day a week. In Singapore, we call it Veggie Thursday.
This addresses the second stereotype that vegetarianism is an either/or situation. Indeed, maybe it is better not to think of people as vegetarian or not vegetarian but instead to think of meals as vegetarian or not vegetarian. Maybe vegetarianism is better seen as a continuum, with people choosing to be anywhere along that continuum or to change where they are as they make choices about what to eat.
Three secular reasons for eating veggie are to boost our health, protect the environment and show kindness to animals. Health seems to have been the first secular reason to reach public consciousness.
In the past year, three students from the local universities have interned with the Vegetarian Society (Singapore) (VSS). For each, even the intern who was not (and still is not) a vegetarian, the kindness reason was paramount.
courtesy of Hinduism Today http://www.hinduismtoday.com
http://krishnayoga.info/2012/01/food-habits-influence-our-consciousness/
What is the lifestyle conducive for Hare Krishna yoga?
A lifestyle centred on a vegetarian diet, preferably food that is offered to God first and then accepted as His mercy, facilitates good chanting.
Initially when one practises the Hare Krishna meditation, he or she is encouraged to just chant and not worry too much about the various rules. It’s like a person who is unhealthy and is advised by the doctor to jog daily. As the person starts jogging, he isn’t particularly worried about his dress and shoes. However as he gets better in his exercise and discovers a taste for jogging and athletics, he is more particular about his shoes, shorts, and the viscosity and lightness of the sweat bands. Similarly as we begin chanting we are encouraged to somehow connect to the Lord through the Holy Names of Krishna; there are no hard and fast rules for our chanting. However as we progress and desire to improve the quality of our chanting it helps to adjust our lifestyles. One important element of our lifestyle is the diet.
The ancient scripture Bhagavad Gita has scientifically analyzed the various types of consciousness and the book soundly reasons which type of consciousness is most conducive for practising meditation and achieving a peaceful state for the mind. There are three modes in nature which combine to influence us always in various ways; goodness, passion and ignorance. The mode of goodness is most conducive for practising any kind of meditation, particularly the Hare Krishna meditation.
The mode of goodness is characterized by peacefulness, self control, purity, austerity and wisdom. The Supreme Lord Krishna discusses in the Bhagavad Gita that the diet that best helps develop this consciousness is juicy, wholesome, and pleasing to the heart. This type of food purifies one’s existence, and gives strength, health, happiness and satisfaction. As Hare Krishna chanters it helps us be in mode of goodness to help tune in internally to the divine sound vibrations of the Holy Names.
Radhanath Swami explains that we can tell a person’s consciousness by what they eat and how they eat. There are people in mode of ignorance who like to eat stale food or food that’s product of bloodshed, murder and horrible suffering. Then there is food in the mode of passion, which is very hot and stimulating to the senses and the mind. The vegetarian food is in the mode of goodness because it minimizes violence as far as possible. “But even if you eat vegetarian food, it’s still sinful because the plants and vegetables are the property of God, and there is some violence involved”, says Radhanath Swami. Violence in a vegetarian diet is far less compared to eating fish, meat, or eggs but it’s still sinful because it’s not completely free from violence. Therefore the best food, Radhanath Swami says is a vegetarian food cooked and offered with love and devotion to God; that makes it free of all bad karma.
You can try an experiment for a month; give up the consumption of meat and increase your chanting. See the difference in your consciousness; you’ll certainly feel more peaceful and satisfied within. The combination of a ‘goodness’ diet and the medicine of Hare Krishna meditation works wonders in the life of a Bhakti Yogi.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17113214
UNITED KINGDOM, February 2012 (BBC News): The world could get its first lab-grown burger this year, with scientists using stem cells to create strips of beef. Scientists in the Netherlands hoping to create a more efficient alternative to rearing animals have grown small pieces of beef muscle in a laboratory. These strips will be mixed with blood and artificially grown fat to produce a hamburger by the autumn.
[Hinduism Today wants to know your opinion on this subject. Could a vegetarian eat "test tube meat," which involves no killing? Even if ethically acceptable, is it desirable from different points of view such as health, culinary and religion? Please contact us at letters@hindu.org ]
The stem cells in this particular experiment were harvested from by-products of slaughtered animals but in the future, scientists say, they could be taken from a live animal through biopsy.
One usually assumes the main motivation for vegetarianism - aside from those who practise for religious reasons - is about the welfare of animals. The typical vegetarian forswears meat because animals are killed to get it. So if the meat does not come from dead animals would there be an ethical problem in eating it if it one day lands on supermarket shelves?
It's not as simple an equation as that, says Prof. Andrew Linzey, director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. "Synthetic meat could be a great moral advance. It won't be suitable for vegetarians because it still originates in meat by-products, but bearing in mind that millions of animals are slaughtered for food every day, it is a step forward to a less violent world," he says.
But to Justin Kerswell Vegetarians International Voices for Animals (Viva) spokesman, the research seems unnecessary, particularly as many vegetarians believe a diet excluding meat is more healthy.The research on artificial meat has been prompted by concerns that current methods of meat production are unsustainable in the long term. "Why grow it in a Petri dish or eat the meat from a slaughtered animal when plant sources of protein and meat replacements are ever more commonly available and are better for our health?"
More at source http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17113214
courtesy of Hinduism Today http://www.hinduismtoday.com
UNITED STATES, March 13, 2012 (NY Times): Eating red meat is associated with a sharply increased risk of death from cancer and heart disease, according to a new study, and the more of it you eat, the greater the risk.
The analysis, published online Monday in Archives of Internal Medicine, used data from two studies that involved 121,342 men and women who filled out questionnaires about health and diet from 1980 through 2006. There were 23,926 deaths in the group, including 5,910 from cardiovascular disease and 9,464 from cancer.
Each daily increase of three ounces of red meat was associated with a 12 percent greater risk of dying over all, including a 16 percent greater risk of cardiovascular death and a 10 percent greater risk of cancer death. Previous studies have linked red meat consumption and mortality, but the new results suggest a surprisingly strong link. "When you have these numbers in front of you, it's pretty staggering," said the study's lead author, Dr. Frank B. Hu, a professor of medicine at Harvard.
courtesy of Hinduism Today http://www.hinduismtoday.com
Many news about prehistoric founds and their possible meaning reached
the world in the last decades. One of them, found in South Germany, puts
scientist around the world in amazement. The centerpiece is the “lion man”,
an idol that is made from the tusk of a mammoth in the form of a human
body with a lion head. Amazingly it is dated back 32,000 years from now.
This discovery brought a lot of attention in the archaeological circles
in Europe. In Excavations around 1930-35 at the Lonetal area near Ulm,
German scientist already found an immense cave system with lots of prehistoric
artifacts in it.
First, only representations of birds, horses, turtles and even single
lions where found but not a morphological combination of men and animal.
Naturally the “lion man” was quite outstanding and unique. It became also
clear during the later examinations that the “lion-men” was used for ritual
purposes, unlike the other items which seemed to have accompanied the dead
and so on.
The Idol was found exactly at the place in the cave where day and night
meet, about 20 meters away from the entrance and buried 1,20 meter deep
under the ground. Many parts of the figure were broken and where found
a little away in this area. Therefore it took some time to finish the work
of completing and reconstructing the figure and to see it as a whole.
Idol of Lord Narsimha
From the viewpoint of Vedic culture of ancient India, Lord Vishnu appeared
in a divine human form with a lion face to protect his devotee and to stop
religiousness. A description of a standing idol form of this lord is found
in the agama silpa shastra and is called “kevala narasimha”. In India still
many ancient temples exist, where deities of Sri Narasimha Bhagavan are
worshiped, often at special locations like on high mountain peaks or in
caves.
Many ancient, highly developed cultures had some kind of idols or pictures
of lions with a human face or torso. A purely ritualistic Relic, like for
example the Sphinx of gizeh or the Egyptian goddess of war sekhmetm, with
a lion head, or Mithra, the Sun god of Persia, with a lion face, the Assyrian
Gate Guardians of Babylon or the Etruscan lion with wings at the entrance
of the Temple mountainat Troy are well known examples for this.
An now this amazing discovery in Lonetal in a deep cave which is directed
to north east towards the little river lone. Extraordinary is also the
exact position of the found of the lion-man. It immediately reminded me
of the ancient story from the Puranas, known to all devotees of LordVishnu,
where Hiranyakashipu, the great demon, achieved nearly immortality by the
blessings of Brahma. This demon asked for the boon that he could not be
killed by a beast or man, nor in the sky or on earth, not inside or outside
a house, not in the day or in the night, not with weapons or by hand and
so on. Lord Vishnu then appeared out of a column to kill this demon. But
to fulfill the boon Brahma gave, he appeared at dusk and killed him on
the doorsteps of his palace with his sharp nails.
It is off course difficult or maybe impossible to finally judge if
this idol was a part of a global Vedic civilization but nonetheless our
visit of the exhibition, where one can see the figure in a cave like hall,
and our later trip to the original place of discovery where very breathtaking
and mystical and made us meditate deeply about our predecessors and ancient
times long ago where god was present directly on earth, or later in his
idol form in many temples all around the world.
MOSCOW: An ancient Vishnu idol has been found during excavation in an old village in Russia’s Volga region, raising questions about the prevalent view on the origin of ancient Russia. The idol found in Staraya (old) Mainavillage dates back to VII-X century AD. Staraya Mainavillage in Ulyanovsk region was a highly populated city 1700 years ago, much older than Kiev, so far believed to be the mother of all Russian cities.
“We may consider it incredible, but we have ground to assert that Middle-Volga region was the original land of Ancient Rus. This is a hypothesis, but a hypothesis, which requires thorough research,” Reader of Ulyanovsk State University’s archaeology department Dr Alexander Kozhevin told state-run television Vesti .
Dr Kozhevin, who has been conducting excavation in Staraya Maina for last seven years, said that every single square metre of the surroundings of the ancient town situated on the banks of Samara, a tributary of Volga, is studded with antiques.
Prior to unearthing of the Vishnu idol, Dr Kozhevin has already found ancient coins, pendants, rings and fragments of weapons.
He believes that today’s Staraya Maina, a town of eight thousand, was ten times more populated in the ancient times. It is from here that people started moving to the Don and Dneiper rivers around the time ancient Russy built the city of Kiev, now the capital of Ukraine. An international conference is being organised later this year to study the legacy of the ancient village, which can radically change the history of ancient Russia.
Some Conclusions by others:
The discovery of an ancient Vishnu idol in an excavation in Russia only confirms certain ideas I have always had about the Vedic ancient and glorious land and culture.
The report says that the area in which the idol was found is called
Staraya Maina. In the Rig Veda, there is a passage that goes, Itham ascati
pasyat syantham, ekam starayath mainaa-kaalam. This translates into Staraya
Maina is the name of the land of the 45 rivers (on whose banks the noble
Rishis conducted the famous Horse Sacrifices), where the sun god descends
into one fifty two forty seven. While the first line identifies a location,
the second line talks about the exact latitude and longitude at which the
solar spectrum produces interference lines at one, fifty two, and forty
seven.
The extreme precision of the calculations show the advanced science
of the Vedic period, and also a thorough knowledge of SI units (it has
been conclusively proven that French scientists stole the system from the
Indians.
The discovery of the idol confirms the location in Russia, identified in the Rig Veda as rus soviath sapthamahanagaratham (the ancient and holy land of the 722 flying vehicles). The ancient connections between the Russians and the Indians has been unequivocally confirmed. In Russian orthodox Christianity, worship is conducted very much like in Vishnu temples. The Russians refer to the feast of Vizhnyir Ekoratsya Vikhunh, directly corresponding with Vaikhunda Ekhadasi.
The Russian language also owes a lot to Sanskrit, whose origins 50,000 years ago roughly correspond with the language of the people of the Smritzyi archaeological site, along the banks of the now-dried up Vernstokhlin (Varnasatyakhalini) river system.
It is common knowledge in the archaeological community that the Parashurama Sutra, the basis of all government policy in the erstwhile Kerala kingdom of Vaazhappazhaa, contains the lines Sthulyam Kaamyunishancha kalanam brighahaha. The links between the ancient Russians and Indians almost certainly aided by the 60,00 odd scholars of the University of Vexalate (Sk. Vekhshalatha, Ru. Vekholotsla), in modern-day Central Afghanistan, in the 17th Century BCE, is said to have transferred political ideas through the land of the Vanga (Ru. Vangnya) in modern-day West Bengal.
The Vishnu idol is depicted with a hammer in one left hand while the deconglated seventh arm on the right side holds a reticulated sickle. This hammer and sickle imagery is also found in the Parashurama Sutra, conclusively placing the origin of great and popular Russian political ideology in Vedic India.
The Bringdunthaladeena Upanishad also mentions Kaamyunishcham in its list of land sacrifices, where under the directions of the King, all the land in the country was donated to the performance of sacrifices where Brahmins continuously tickled horny silk-rats (Gandharvamooshicam) until they collapsed in orgiastic exhaustion. The text also clearly identifies a group of scholars referred to as the Paalita Buryam, who oversaw the functioning of the King.
For years, western historical study dominated by Greco-Capitalists, has sought to undermine the Vedic Indian contributions to what came to be 19th and 20th Century world politics. The Greco-Capitalists also attributed the ideology of Communism to the work done by Karl Marx, one of their own. It has been well documented that Marx indeed visited Kerala and West Bengal, and had thorough understanding of the Parashurama Sutra, a copy of which he picked up in the old-book-stall near the Cochin airport. Later on, as part of the larger Greco-centric Capitalist conspiracy, Marx took all the credit himself.
In 1952 in Soviet Russia, an archaeologist, Prof. Varely Smirzkoff of Odessa University found artefacts near the ancient Belarussian town of Kozhikodz. He was the first to speculate that the ruling political ideology of his country could well have had its origins in Vedic India rather than Modern Europe. Stalin funded Smirzkoff’s research until Smirrzkoff was suddenly found to have stolen over 500,000 paper clips from work over the course of his tenure at Odessa University. He was sent to Siberia, and with him went almost all academic proof that would have certainly brought Russia and India closer together.
This recent discovery should resurrect the pioneering work started by Prof. Varely Smirzkoff, who died of Contracted Poloniumitis of the nose, in 1964.
Ancient Vishnu Found During Excavation In An Old Village In Russia
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, January 2012 (Global Hinduism .com): An ancient Vishnu statue has been found during an excavation in an old village in Russia's Volga region, raising questions about the prevalent view on the origin of ancient Russia. The statue found in Staraya (old) Maina village dates back to VII-X century AD. Staraya Maina village in Ulyanovsk region was a highly populated city 1700 years ago, much older than Kiev, so far believed to be the mother of all Russian cities.
"We may consider it incredible, but we have ground to assert that Middle-Volga region was the original land of Ancient Rus. This is a hypothesis, but a hypothesis, which requires thorough research," Reader of Ulyanovsk State University's archaeology department Dr. Alexander Kozhevin told state-run television Vesti . An international conference is being organised later this year to study the legacy of the ancient village, which can radically change the history of ancient Russia.
The Vishnu statue is depicted with a hammer in one left hand while the seventh arm on the right side holds a reticulated sickle. This hammer and sickle imagery is also found in the Parashurama Sutra, conclusively placing the origin of great and popular Russian political ideology in Vedic India. The discovery of the statue confirms certain ideas that others have had about the Vedic ancient and glorious land and culture.
courtesy of Hinduism Today http://www.hinduismtoday.com
Vedic World Heritage links:
See our pages supporting these views HERE:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/VWH.html (Vedik World
Heritage)
Western Indologists been exposed page:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/WesternIndologists-page.htm
How British Misguided the World on Vedic History
http://www.hknet.org.nz/MotiveBritishRajMissionaries.html
Commentary - No Surprise: Meat Is Bad for You
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/no-surprise-meat-is-bad-for-you/?pagewanted=all
NEW YORK, March 16, 2012 (by Mark Bittman, NY Times): A new study reported finding that too much meat can kill you. The headlines screamed, of course. The Los Angeles Times: "All Red Meat Is Bad for You." NY Times: "More Red Meat, More Mortality." The BBC: Red Meat Increases Death, Cancer and Heart Risk."
Well, duh.
Do we eat too much meat? Undoubtedly. That our level of consumption causes health problems that may lead to death is not news. For a time it was thought that those problems were because of high cholesterol levels, but no: cholesterol is a marker. Then saturated fat was believed to be the culprit but now, well, we're not so sure.
It could be one or more of many things. It could be, for example, that the sheer quantity of our overindulgence overwhelms something in our immune systems. It could be too much protein, too little exercise, too few vegetables. It could even be the way the animals are raised or killed or the drugs they're fed. It could be all of the above.
Our animal production and consumption situation is a great steamship of a mess, one that's going to take us years to begin to turn around and a generation or more to "fix." The meat industry is deeply involved in abominable cruelty and questionable practices.
We shouldn't ignore work that found that "Eating meat is associated with increased risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and certain cancers," and "Higher intake of red meat was associated with a significantly elevated risk of total, CVD and cancer mortality." But this is like throwing a twig on an inferno, or what should be an inferno. High meat consumption has already been exhaustively proven to be bad for you, and bad for the environment.
It's also worth quoting Dean Ornish, who wrote the journal's commentary on the study: "What is personally sustainable is globally sustainable. What is good for you is good for our planet." Which about sums it up.
courtesy of Hinduism Today http://www.hinduismtoday.com
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=meat-and-environment
UNITED STATES, December 28, 2011 (Scientific American): Our meat consumption habits take a serious toll on the environment. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the production, processing and distribution of meat requires huge outlays of pesticides, fertilizer, fuel, feed and water while releasing greenhouse gases, manure and a range of toxic chemicals into our air and water.
Livestock are typically fed corn, soybean meal and other grains which have to first be grown using large amounts of fertilizer, fuel, pesticides, water and land. EWG estimates that growing livestock feed in the U.S. alone requires 167 million pounds of pesticides and 17 billion pounds of nitrogen fertilizer each year across some 149 million acres of cropland. The process generates copious amounts of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide, while the output of methane--another potent greenhouse gas--from cattle is estimated to generate some 20 percent of overall U.S. methane emissions.
"If all the grain currently fed to livestock in the United States were consumed directly by people, the number of people who could be fed would be nearly 800 million," reports ecologist David Pimentel of Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He adds that the seven billion livestock in the U.S. consume five times as much grain as is consumed directly by the entire U.S. population.
Our meat consumption habits also cause other environmental problems. Four-fifths of the deforestation across the Amazon rainforest can be linked to cattle ranching. And the water pollution from factory farms can produce as much sewage waste as a small city, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Further, the widespread use of antibiotics to keep livestock healthy on those overcrowded CAFOs has led to the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria that threaten human health and the environment in their own right.
Eating too much meat is no good for our health, with overindulgence linked to increasing rates of heart disease, cancer and obesity. Worldwide, between 1971 and 2010, production of meat tripled to around 600 billion pounds while global population grew by 81 percent, meaning that we are eating a lot more meat than our grandparents. Researchers extrapolate that global meat production will double by 2050 to about 1.2 trillion pounds a year, putting further pressure on the environment and human health.
courtesy of Hinduism Today http://www.hinduismtoday.com
See similar articles at Vegetarianism & Beyond:
http://turn.to/Vegetarianism
A simple village man once wanted to serve the greatest person. He approached the mayor of his town and asked to be given some work. While serving the mayor, the village man noticed the mayor giving tax money to a visitor. He asked who the visitor was, and the mayor told him that he was a representative of the governor. "Is the governor greater than you?" "Oh yes, he is greater than me," the mayor said. "Then I want to serve him," said the village man. The appreciated the man's honesty and recommended him to the mayor. The village man served the governor for some time. Then one day a visitor arrived accompanied by some horsemen. The governor welcomed the visitor graciously and treated him with all respect. When he had a chance, the village man asked the governor who the visitor was. "He is the king's viceroy," said the governor. "And who is the king?" the man asked. "He is the ruler of the whole land," said the governor. "He is very great." "Is he greater than you?" the man asked. "Oh yes, I am just his servant." "Then I would like to serve him." The village man was talented and so, to please the king, the governor sent the village man to him. The man served the king for some months, and then one day the king told him to ready the chariot. A great sage had arrived in the kingdom and the king wanted the sage's advice on how to rule. The village man watched as the king approached the saintly person and offered respect. The king then sat and listened to the sage discourse for some time. Then, as the king was preparing to return to his palace, the village man approached the sage and asked if he were the greatest person. The sage said, no, he was only a menial servant. "So please tell me, who is the greatest person?" "To find the greatest person, you must go to the temple of Narayana," the sage told him. Without a moments delay, the man set off walking. It was evening when he arrived, and the temple doors were closed. The man knocked on the door for a long time. Finally a temple priest came and told him to go home and return the next day. Not having any place to go, the man lay down by the gate and went to sleep. Before sunrise, some brahmanas from a nearby village passed the temple and saw the man sleeping. They noticed that covering the man's body was one of the Deity's chadars. "He is a thief!" they said. In anger they woke the man and asked them where he got the chadar. The man was mystified and told them he did not know where the chadar had come from. The brahmanas then tried to open the temple door and discovered it was locked. They then realized that Lord Narayana Himself had placed the chadar over his servant to keep him warm while he slept. The brahmanas asked the man where he came from, and he told them his story. The man was then accepted into the temple and trained to serve the Deity. In this way the man came to serve the greatest person.
MORAL: We should understand what we are doing in this Krsna consciousness movement, and that this is the culmination of all work and endeavour, devotional service to Lord Krsna.
See similar inspirational snippets HERE:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/parables.htm
The phaomnneil pweor of the hmuan mnid: Aoccdrnig to a
rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the
ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat
ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can
sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not
raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig!
Mybae the I can sotp slpel ckchenig?
Abortion - http://www.hknet.org.nz/index-abortion.htm
Genetic Engineering ( GE or GM ) - http://www.hknet.org.nz/GE.html
Environment - http://www.hknet.org.nz/Environment.htm
Encroachment - http://www.hknet.org.nz/WE-Day2004.html
Cloning - http://www.hknet.org.nz/cloning.htm
Science - http://www.hknet.org.nz/science2KC.html
Cow Protection - http://www.hknet.org.nz/Cow-protection.htm
The Four Regulative Principles of Freedom - http://www.hknet.org.nz/Regs-4page.htm
seX-files - http://www.hknet.org.nz/seX-files.htm
Mundane Knowledge - http://www.hknet.org.nz/mundaneknowledge.html
Death (Yamaduttas - Terminal Restlessness etc)- http://www.hknet.org.nz/death.html
Near Death Experience - http://www.hknet.org.nz/NDE.htm
Ghosts - http://www.hknet.org.nz/ghosts.htm
Reincarnation again here - http://www.hknet.org.nz/Reincarnation-page.htm
Gain some insights in the TV culture - http://www.hknet.org.nz/television.html
The aweful Truth about softdrinks - http://www.hknet.org.nz/theREALthing.html
Changing the face of the Earth - http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/1390/index.html
UFOs - http://www.hknet.org.nz/UFOs.html
Vegetarianism & Beyond - http://turn.to/Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism in the major Religions - All manner of religions
Articles for newcomers to Krishna consciousness - http://www.krishna.com/newsite/main.php?id=87
Self Help and Motivational pages - Deals and Affiliate programs: - http://www.hknet.org.nz/index-selfhelp.html
Myth of the Aryan invasion by Dr. David Frawley: - http://www.hknet.org.nz/Aryan-invasion-mythDF.htmlThe Peace Formula - (By HDG Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada) http://www.hknet.org.nz/PeaceFormula.html
.........many other articles - http://www.hknet.org.nz/index-articles.htm
and from there go to the Main Index http://www.hknet.org.nz/index.htm
Iskcon News Articles now available - many topical insights
http://www.iskcon.com/new/index.html
See more on Darwin and Evolution HERE:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Darwin-out-page.htm
Articles from Back to Godhead Magazine:
http://krishna.org/?related=Back%20to%20Godhead%20Magazine
Article on Mayapur Floods September 2006
Ganga comes for Darshan
by Bhaktisiddhanta Swami
A selection of interesting Krishna conscious articles
from New Panihati - Atlanta temple USA:
http://newpanihati.tripod.com/NewsGroup/KCNectar/KCNectarMain.htm
The Peace Formula
http://www.hknet.org.nz/PeaceFormula.html
The Real Peace Formula
http://www.hknet.org.nz/PeaceRealF.html
See more on Yoga and Meditation HERE:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/index-yoga.html
World Vegetarian Day October
1st yearly &
World Vegetarian Awareness Month
of October yearly
...please
visit our links and see what you can do to help
World Smoke Free Day
31st
May Every Year
http://www.be-free.org/b-media/market-bfree03/cinema.php
yeah kick the
butt
...and remember from 10th December 2004 no more smoking in public places
in New Zealand by law
