Friday, October 9, 2009

Hinduism Today Magazine - Hindu Press International » Tumpek Wariga: Interacting with Tree Devas

  • Hinduism Today Magazine - Hindu Press International » Tumpek Wariga: Interacting with Tree Devas

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    • In a colorful festival, Balinese hindus celebrate the birthday of the trees. This holiday is called Tumpek Wariga or Tumpek Pengarah. Through the celebration, the Balinese express their gratitude to the trees. This holiday serves as a remainder of the importance of trees for life.

      As part of the celebration the Mepengarah ritual is performed to give instructions to the trees. The ritual is conducted right after the ceremony to honor the deva of the tree is finished. Balinese will tap the tree three times to wake it up and say: “Grandpa-grandpa, I have an instruction, it is 25 days left for Galungan day, produce a lot of fruit, a lot of fruit, a lot of fruit!”

      In this ritual Balinese inform the trees that the local Galungan holiday will soon arrive and to celebrate the Galungan holiday many fruits and rice will be needed. Offerings are made to God and ancestors on this holiday.
    • BALI, INDONESIA

ULTRACURRENTS: ** Racial Profiling: Good & Bad

  • ULTRACURRENTS: ** Racial Profiling: Good & Bad

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    • Racial profiling has two sides to it - bright and dark. Peoples" outcry that Prof. Gates" arrest smacked of the dark side of racial profiling is difficult to substantiate in the context of what happened. Would we call it dark, if the professor were white?

      What is exactly racial profiling? Wikipedia defines it as a method that uses racial or ethnic characteristics of a person to determine whether he or she is likely to commit a crime or an illegal act. It is in a way an extension of statistical inference, which, by the way, is as good as the data collected. Granting that the data are good and the statistical analysis of the data indicates that within a confidence level a terrorist is likely to be an Islamic fundamentalist, then it pays to use an adequate sample size to thoroughly security check the travelers from Islamic nations to identify probable terrorists. Bear in mind that a 100% check on all passengers is costly and time consuming and if enforced the planes would never leave or arrive on time.
    • Arab countries profile foreign workers on a regular basis in order to perpetrate false accusations in the name of undocumented labor.
    • I realized then and there the importance of racial profiling. I would rather go through the tedious screening than let the plane take off without it. Mental peace of passengers outweighs the bitter inconvenience that a few of us suffer as a result of profiling.

      The experience taught me a valuable lesson "The good of all must prevail over the comfort of a few."

visfot.com । विस्फोट.कॉम - बाढ़ की विभीषिका में भी प्रधानमंत्री दौरे का भेदभाव

  • visfot.com । विस्फोट.कॉम - बाढ़ की विभीषिका में भी प्रधानमंत्री दौरे का भेदभाव

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    • बाढ़ की विभीषिका आंध्र से अधिक कर्नाटक में पसरी है लेकिन इसके पहले यूपीए अध्यक्ष सोनिया गांधी ने भी 5 अक्टूबर को अपना दौरा करने के लिए आंध्र प्रदेश को ही अपना बेस बनाया था. अब प्रधानमंत्री भी अपने दौरे में कर्नाटक को कोई खास महत्व नहीं दे रहे हैं. एक ओर जहां वे आंध्र में हवाई सर्वेक्षण के अलावा राजभवन में राज्यापाल की उपस्थिति में पूरी स्थिति का जायजा ले रहे हैं और राहत कार्य की समीक्षा करने जा रहे हैं इसके उलट कर्नाटक के लिए उनका ऐसा कोई कार्यक्रम नहीं है. प्रधानमंत्री के हिस्से में केवल प्रधानमंत्री द्वारा केवल हवाई सर्वेक्षण ही आ रहा है.
    • कर्नाटक के मुख्यमंत्री बी एस येदुरप्पा पहले ही आरोप लगा चुके हैं कि बाढ़ से उबरने में केन्द्र सरकार उनकी पूरी सहायता नहीं कर रहा है. बुधवार को जब पहली भोजन सहायता राशि की घोषणा की गयी तो कर्नाटक को महज 52.26 करोड़ रुपये दिये गये जबकि आंध्र प्रदेश को 156.84 करोड़ रुपये की राशि जारी की गयी. इस पर अपनी नाराजगी जताते हुए मुख्यमंत्री येदुरप्पा ने राष्ट्रपति से अपील किया था कि वे इस मामले में हस्तक्षेप करें और कर्नाटक को बाढ़ की विभिषिका से निपटने के िलए पर्याप्त फण्ड जारी करवाने में सहयोग दें.

Suspected rebels bomb power transmission in S. Philippines | Faith Freedom International

Seminary rectors to tackle Hindu fundamentalism - General | hindujagruti.org

  • Seminary rectors to tackle Hindu fundamentalism - General | hindujagruti.org

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    • Ranchi (Jharkhand):
    • The Association of Rectors of Major Seminaries of India (ARMS) plans to tackle the problem of Hindu fundamentalism that its says is the biggest threat to the Church and India as a whole.

      Father Joseph Prasad Pinto, ARMS' newly elected president and rector of Ranchi's St. Albert's College, told UCA News the rectors wanted to find a solution to growing sectarianism and attacks on religious minority groups, including Catholic priests working in remote areas in the country.
    • Their Sept. 25-28 meeting in Ranchi, eastern India, had as its theme: "Formation for Mission in Today's Context."
    • A statement from the meeting noted the rise of Hindu radicalism as "the most potent threat to the Church and society in India." It also said Hindu fundamentalism had attracted "fringe fascist elements" that use various "manipulative" and "insidious" ways to spread their ideology.
    • The rectors said the Hindu fundamentalists' sole aim is to establish a Hindu nation that allows tribal and dalit people (former "untouchables" in the Indian caste system) and religious communities to exist only as second-class citizens "subservient to the upper castes."
    • The rectors want seminarians to study the way Hindu radicals spread propaganda that projects their target groups as villains. Their statement noted that these radicals influence the media, infiltrate the bureaucracy, police and judiciary, and introduce their ideology to the education system.
    • The rectors said they would encourage their students to develop a spirituality that could deal with sectarian politics, study the phenomenon of Hindu fundamentalism, work for human rights and use the media in the fight against sectarianism.
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