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Showing posts from February 17, 2007


The Spelling of Shivaratri - Confusion - Making Search Engine Like Google Understand

What is the exact spelling for Shivaratri? There are nearly a dozen English spelling of Shivaratri in vogue on the internet and in print media. It is very difficult to make Search Engine like Google, Ask, Yahoo etct to understand that they all mean the same thing. Shivaratri Shivratri Sivaratri (this spelling has a macron on top of S) Mahashivaratri Mahashivratri Mahasivratri Maha Shivaratri Maha Shivratri Maha Sivratri Some more spelling variations are there but they are not relevant as they appear rarely in online newspapers and websites and are mostly typos. Many are the path that leads to Brahman. Similarly, all these spelling ultimately lead to information on Shivaratri. Update - Today the different spellings are understood by search engines and they all will take you to Shivratri. Earlier it was not the case. Spellings were a big problem for Hindu religion writers as they had to use different types of spellings to make the search engines unde

On Sex in Hindu Way of Life

Sudhir Kakar, a psychoanalyst and writer from Goa , discusses sex in Hindu way of life in his short article in On Faith of Washington Post. Some excerpts: ..many wonder that if the sexual act in Hindu religious tradition does not lie outside but within the holiness of life, then why are contemporary Indians so embarrassed by Khajuraho’s sculptures and feel the need to explain them away in convoluted religious metaphors and symbols or to dismiss them as a product of a ‘degenerate’ era?  The answer is that since centuries Hinduism has also set a high value on the ascetic ideal and the virtues of celibacy. There is a whole mythology around semen, shared by Hindu saint and sinner alike, which sees its emission as enervating, a debilitating waste of vitality and essential energy. In the Hindu theory of sublimation, if semen is retained, it can be transformed into a source of creativity and spiritual power.  The ascetic ideal, too, is quintessentially In