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Showing posts from July 20, 2007


Is Hindu Brahmacharya or Celibacy a Hypocrisy?

Talk about Brahmacharya and the first thing that comes to mind is sex. A Brahmachari abstains from all types of sexual intercourse. Brahmacharya is search of Brahman – the Supreme Being that pervades in all animate and inanimate. Is the path to Brahman only open to Bramacharis. Will the knowledge of Brahman be denied to a person who has had sex or erotic imagination? But one the greatest sanyasins in the Santana Dharma (Hinduism) tradition Yajnavalkaya had two wives – Gargi and Maitri. Take a list of all the great sages of Santana Dharma and one will find that most of them were married and had a family life. Some indulged in sexual intercourse to produce heirs. In fact ‘Tatvamasi’ the core Hindu philosophy was taught by Sage Uddalaka to his son. On a careful analysis of the Hindu scriptures – mainly the Upanishads, the Puranas and the epics – one will realize that married life or indulging in sex was never an impediment in knowing Brahman. In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Kris

Book on Hinduism in United States by Prema A. Kurien

A Place at the Multicultural Table: The Development of an American Hinduism explores the Hindu American Experience and discusses the new forms, practices, and interpretations of Hinduism in United States . The author Prema A Kurien is a faculty at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. According to the author “The book examines the relationship between the institutionalization of Hinduism as a minority religion and the political mobilization of Hindu Indians seeking a place in multicultural America .” From the Book Description Drawing on the experiences of both immigrant and American-born Hindu Americans, the author demonstrates how religious ideas and practices are being imported, exported, and reshaped in the process. The result of this transnational movement is an American Hinduism--an organized, politicized, and standardized version of that which is found in India . This first in-depth look at Hinduism in the United States and the Hindu Indian American

Amarnath Cave Look Alike at Devi Talab Mandir in Jalandhar, Punjab

The famous Devi Talab Mandir in Jalandhar, Punjab, has a model of the Amarnath Cave in Jammu and Kashmir in it premises. The structure of the cave temple is an exact replica of the Amarnath Cave shrine. Numerous devotees taking part in Amarnath Yatra are now visiting this shrine and those unable to take the original arduous journey are finding solace in the replica. Situated in the heart of Jalandhar City, the Devi Talab Mandir is dedicated to Goddess Durga and is one among the 51 shaktipithas. An old Kali Temple is also located in the premises. Devi Talab Mandir is the venue for the world famous annual Sri Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan.