SCIENTIFIC DATING OF ANCIENT EVENTS BEFORE 2000 BC

INDIA’S SEMINAR ON SCIENTIFIC
DATING OF EVENTS BEFORE 2000 BCE

New Delhi, India (HPI) - “The anthropological research reports have established that DNA dating for Paleolithic continuity starts from 60,000 BC. The Genome studies during the Holocene have revealed that the genetic profile of humans settled in north, south, east and west of India is the same and has remained the same for the last more than 11,000 years. Therefore, contrary to the popular belief, the Dravidians as well as north Indians have common ancestors and both are originals of India.” This interesting revelation was made by Dr. V.R. Rao, Professor of Anthropology, Delhi University while presenting his paper at the national seminar on “Scientific Dating Of Ancient Events Before 2000 BC”.  The Seminar was held on 30th and 31st July, 2011 at the auditorium of Indian Institute of Mass Communication in New Delhi. 

The seminar was attended by about 400 people including Sanskrit scholars and astronomers, archaeologists and geologists, ecologists and anthropologists, oceanographers and space scientists, bureaucrats and academicians as well as other persons from the public and media, who took deep interest in the deliberations of this otherwise highly technical event organized by the Delhi chapter of I-SERVE [Institute of Scientific Research on Vedas].  Ms Saroj Bala, Director, I-Serve, Delhi Chapter stated, “Till now we have been told that prior to 1500 BC, India was uncivilized and that the Aryans who came from Central Asia pushed the uncivilized inhabitants towards the south and were later known as Dravidians. These invaders were the ones who set up the first civilized society in North India. Multidisciplinary and purely scientific research has shown that this premise, which was based on linguistic guesswork, is not correct.”

Speaking at a national seminar on ‘Scientific Dating of Ancient Events before 2000 BC’, India former president APJ Abdul Kalam welcomed efforts by scientists and scholars to verify the facts of ancient India.  He said their archaeological findings provide scientific clues to the dating of the Ramayana era and places associated with Lord Ram.  A lot of what is treated as mythology, for want of evidence, may actually become history if a systematic and coordinated investigation is made through all the various tools and techniques that are available today.  

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

We, Indians, are the products of one of the oldest civilisations.  We need to be really proud of our ancient history and cultural heritage.  However, during the British Rule, we developed an inferiority complex, which adversely affected our quest to unearth facts relating to our glorious past.  But our young and educated men and women, being born and brought up in independent India, are capable of unearthing the true facts and are confident enough to evaluate these objectively. ... There is a need to constitute a multidisciplinary team in order to carry out research pertaining to most ancient period and this team should consist of Sanskrit Pandits, Astronomers, Archaeologists, Geologists and Space Scientists.  This team should be asked to carry out and correlate research activities in order to rewrite the history after verifying the authenticity and dating of most ancient events of Indian history.

Ms Saroj Bala :
“Historicity of the Era of Lord Rama”
Director, I-Serve, Delhi Chapter
Institute of Scientific Research on Vedas
http://sarojbala.blogspot.com/2011/07/historicity-of-era-of-lord-rama.html

ROLLING STONE MICK JAGGER SINGS IN SANSKRIT

MICK JAGGER SINGS IN SANSKRIT
‘SATYAMEVA JAYATE’ WITH A.R. RAHMAN

http://www.hindustantimes.com - Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger has sung ‘Satyameva Jayate’ (Truth alone triumphs) in an album that was produced by a supergroup, which also features Oscar-winning Indian musical legend A. R. Rahman.  In a rare feat in his illustrious career, rock legend Mick Jagger will hum the Sanskrit words (Satyameva Jayate) which is India’s national motto and is inscribed in Devanagiri at the base of India’s national emblem. The band SuperHeavy, which also consists of AR Rahman, Dave Stewart, Joss Stone and Damian Marley, has recorded the song. But only Rahman and Jagger sing the Sanskrit words. The song is the second single that the band has released. The first, Miracle Worker…, released in July and is already a summer hit. The second track specifically keeps India and our Independence Day in mind.

It will also be part of SuperHeavy’s first untitled album, which hits stores on September 19. Says Sunil D’Sa, vice president marketing, Universal India, which is releasing the CD in India. “The song is an original AR Rahman composition. It’s not a patriotic song. It’s just that the timing was right. The other members of SuperHeavy have sung the English lyrics, while Rahman and Jagger sing in English and Sanskrit.” Interestingly, Rahman and Jagger will promote the single on the first day of the third test between India and England at Edgbaston on August 10.  Since Jagger is a huge cricket fan, he and Rahman will join commentators Sunil Gavaskar and Harsha Bhogle for a special session during the lunch break.  Jagger revealed that he had formed the band in May, saying that he ‘wanted a convergence of different musical styles’.  “It’s different from anything else I’ve ever been involved in,” the BBC quoted Jagger as telling Rolling Stone magazine.

Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger has sung in Sanskrit on a new album by a supergroup, called SuperHeavy, which stars Oscar-winning Indian musician AR Rahman and also features Dave Stewart, Joss Stone and Damian Marley.  Jagger sings Satyameva Jayate (Truth alone triumphs), the band’s second single.  SuperHeavy’s album is expected to be released in September.  “The music is very wide-ranging - from reggae to ballads to Indian songs in Urdu,” Jagger said.  The alphabet and vowel system of the Sanskrit language are found in every language of the world because Sanskrit is the first language of the earth planet.
 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

The Divineness of Sanskrit language is self-evident. You don’t light up a candle to see the sun; just open your eyes and see it. But if you deliberately shut your eyes then how could you see the sun. Scriptures themselves tell about the eternal Divineness of the Sanskrit language and thousands of learned Saints and acharyas have already proclaimed its Divine authenticity. ... No ‘sound shift,’ no change in the vowel system, and no addition was ever made in the grammar of the Sanskrit in relation to the formation of the words. It is in its totally perfect form since it landed on the earth planet with its 52 letter alphabet. As regards its vocabulary, it had abundance of words and its grammar had a capacity of creating any number of new words for a new situation or concept or thing, and the same we have up till today. Its alphabet, vowels and the exacting nature of the pronunciation of the letters and words were all perfect and the same since the very beginning.

Swami Prakashanand Saraswati (Shree Swamiji) :
“Encyclopedia of Authentic Hinduism”
from “The True History and Religion of India”
Chapter 11: “The Divine language of Bhartiya scriptures”
http://encyclopediaofauthentichinduism.org/articles/11_the_divineness_of.htm 
http://www.thevedicfoundation.org/the_true_history_and_the_religion_of_india/index.html

STUDENT PROTESTS IN CHILE ERUPT IN VIOLENCE

WITH CLASHES AND RIOTS, THOUSANDS
DEMAND EDUCATION REFORM IN CHILE

http://news.sky.com - Student protests in Chile have turned violent again as tens of thousands took to the streets demanding changes to public education.  Masked demonstrators burned cars, looted storefronts and threw furniture at police in the capital Santiago and other cities.  Apartment buildings were also attacked as riot police used tear gas and water cannon to push back students.  Police have said 23 officers were injured during the protest which saw 273 demonstrators detained.  Students have been demanding a fundamental change to how Chile finances public education.  They also called for private universities enjoying a non-profit tax status to reinvest revenues into educational improvements, as is required by law.  University of Chile student president Camila Vallejos claimed that 150,000 marched on Santiago’s side streets because they were denied permission by the government to protest on the main avenue.

Deputy interior minister Rodrigo Ibilla doubted these figures, estimating that 70,000 to 80,000 had protested in the capital.  The demonstration had started out peacefully with many students wearing costumes, dancing, singing and waving signs.  However, a group of masked protesters split off from the main parade and attempted to break through police barricades blocking the way to the presidential palace.  A protest five days earlier, which had been deemed illegal, ended with 900 arrests and many civilians and police officers injured.  Teachers’ union president Jaime Gajardo reiterated the students’ call for a national referendum on their demands.  The leaders of the governing centre-right coalition have dismissed this as unconstitutional and dangerous.

Tens of thousands of teachers, students, parents and sympathetic labor activists marched in downtown Santiago, Chile, for the fifth time in two months to demand reforms from the conservative government.  Apart from a rising anger over poverty, the top of the list of demands is education, which is the privilege of the few.  Some protesters started fires and threw rocks at police, who responded with tear gas and water cannon.  When there are different centers of interests, nobody can avoid clashing of groups, so Nama-Sankirtan is a universal remedy which can unite all people's hearts.  

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

According to Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Transcendental Divine Love is the strongest spiritual force on earth which can establish close relation of love and unity of hearts amongst all human beings and thereby establish real peace in the world. There is an outbreak of conflagration of group clashes throughout the world. Nowhere you will find peace. ... False egos create false interests and by that clashing of interests we see the forest fire in this world. ... In the present age, “Nama-Sankirtan” is the best medicine and effective way to achieve the summum bonum of human life as it can be performed under any sort of circumstances.  Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math institution is engaged in the propagation of the all-embracing doctrine of Transcendental Divine Love of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to counter the present trend of violence and cruelty and to bring unity of hearts amongst all irrespective of caste, creed and religion.

Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Mahārāja :
“Strongest Spiritual Force on Earth”
Press conference, on 29 December, 2000, Mumbai.
Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math - www.sreecgmath.org
http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/sreecgmath/message/64

TORTURE CAMP REVEALED IN ZIMBABWE

DIAMOND “TORTURE CAMP”
DISCOVERED IN ZIMBABWE

London (www.nytimes.com) - Britain has urged the authorities in Zimbabwe to investigate a BBC report that its security forces are beating and raping prisoners at two camps in the Marange diamond fields in the east of the country. International monitors voted to allow exports from the fields to resume in June despite objections from the United States, Canada and the European Union.  The BBC’s documentary program “Panorama” said the camps hold workers who were recruited by the police and the military to dig illegally for diamonds for them, but who then demand too large a share of the profits or civilians caught mining for themselves.  A  released prisoner who was not named said guards at the camps were beating prisoners three times a day, with 40 lashes at a time.  Dogs were loosed to bite shackled inmates, and imprisoned women were frequently raped, the program said.  The Zimbabwean authorities offered no immediate comment.

The government of President Robert Mugabe has been working to increase its legal sales of diamonds. Mr. Mugabe’s political opponents fear that he will use diamond income to finance a violent campaign to win elections that are likely to be held next year.  One of the torture camps identified, Diamond Base, is about a mile from the Mbada mine, which the BBC says is run by a friend of Mr. Mugabe. Witnesses cited by the program described Diamond Base as “a remote collection of military tents, with an outdoor razor-wire enclosure” to hold the prisoners.  “They beat us 40 whips in the morning, 40 in the afternoon and 40 in the evening,” said the man, who still could not use one of his arms after the beatings and could barely walk.  “They used logs to beat me here, under my feet, as I lay on the ground. They also used stones to beat my ankles.”

A torture camp run by Zimbabwe’s security forces is operating in the country’s rich Marange diamond fields and it is known locally as “Diamond Base”.  Witnesses said it is a remote collection of military tents, with an outdoor razor wire enclosure where the prisoners are kept.  They are routinely subjected to rape; sexual assault; severe beatings and some are mauled by dogs.  Civilians are recruited to illegally dig for diamonds for them and they are taken to the camps for punishment if they demand too large a share of the profits.  There are many kinds of vikarma, such as greed, cruelty, violence and lust for the wives of others.  

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

The more you try to satisfy your senses, the more you will come under the control of lust, greed and anger. Lust is there when you want to satisfy your material desires. Greed is there when you want more than you need.  Anger will always be there in some form when you fail to achieve what you want, or when you attain it but then lose it. The unmerciful masters of lust, greed and anger will never leave you alone. ... A good standard of morals must be followed because such rules promote the prosperity of social life.  If a standard of morals is not followed, then the lack of respect people will have for each other, and the crimes that follow, will force all social happiness to quickly disappear.  Therefore, we should cultivate the principle sentiments of love, kindness, friendship, and mercy, for the promotion of social good and prosperity.

Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
"Toward World Peace: Seeing the Unity Between Us All"
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/toward_world_peace_ebook.htm
http://www.stephen-knapp.com  -  http://www.stephenknapp.info/

LONDON VIOLENCE EXTENDS INTO THIRD NIGHT

LOOTING, ARSON SPREAD WIDELY IN
LONDON, AS CIVIL UNREST ESCALATES

http://www.washingtonpost.com - Rampant looting and raging fires engulfed swaths of London on Monday as the wave of civil unrest that has gripped this sprawling capital escalated sharply, including riots in a neighborhood not far from that of the athletes’ village and shiny stadiums built for the 2012 Olympic Games.  The images of violence - with hundreds of youths looting shops, setting businesses ablaze and clashing with police in more than a half-dozen neighborhoods - deeply shocked Londoners, dealing this legendary city an enormously damaging blow less than a year before the start of the Olympics.  In the worst bout of urban violence to hit Britain in more than two decades, parts of the city morphed into lawless no-man lands. Gangs of youths attacked double-decker buses and started a fire burning across a street side in south London. Most of a block in the southern neighborhood of Croydon raged in flames. Shopping malls were attacked and set on fire.

The violence also spread to Britain’s second city of Birmingham, where hundreds of youths attacked and looted shops.  Prime Minister David Cameron cut short a vacation trip to Italy and was returning to London overnight to chair an emergency cabinet meeting to handle the mounting crisis. The embattled Metropolitan Police called in reinforcements from law enforcement forces outside London to help cope.  The violence first erupted Saturday night in Tottenham, a gritty north London neighborhood, after the fatal shooting of a black resident by police investigating gun crimes. Those riots triggered a ripple effect among disenfranchised youths in other parts of the city Sunday, and the unrest increased in size and intensity Monday.

Riots have spread to new areas of London while looting erupted in the cities of Birmingham and Leeds, as Britain's worst clashes in decades extended into the third night.  Some rioters broke into shops.  Police arrested more than 160 people.  Dozens of officers were injured.  The violence, which began in London's northern Tottenham district on Saturday, has now spread to the south of the city.  Materialistic science has tried to give answers to all social problems, but we are still not satisfied and need to find the ultimate source of all in order to be truly at peace.  

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Human society, at the present moment, is not in the darkness of oblivion. It has made rapid progress in the field of material comforts, education and economic development throughout the entire world. But there is a pinprick somewhere in the social body at large, and therefore there are large-scale quarrels, even over less important issues. There is need of a clue as to how humanity can become one in peace, friendship and prosperity with a common cause.  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam will fill this need, for it is a cultural presentation for the respiritualization of the entire human society.  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam should be introduced also in the schools and colleges, for it is recommended by the great student-devotee Prahlāda Mahārāja in order to change the demoniac face of society.   

kaumāra ācaret prājñodharmān bhāgavatān ihadurlabham mānusham janmatad apy adhruvam arthadam (Bhāg. 7.6.1).

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam - Preface
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase

JUNO IS ON THE WAY TO JUPITER

NASA’S JUNO SPACECRAFT
HEADED TO JUPITER FRIDAY

‎http://www.accuweather.com - NASA’s solar-powered Juno spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 12:25 p.m. EDT Friday to begin a five-year journey to Jupiter.  Juno’s detailed study of the largest planet in our solar system will help reveal Jupiter’s origin and evolution. As the archetype of giant gas planets, Jupiter can help scientists understand the origin of our solar system and learn more about planetary systems around other stars.  “Today, with the launch of the Juno spacecraft, NASA began a journey to yet another new frontier,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. “The future of exploration includes cutting-edge science like this to help us better understand our solar system and an ever-increasing array of challenging destinations.”

After Juno’s launch aboard an Atlas V rocket, mission controllers now await telemetry from the spacecraft indicating it has achieved its proper orientation, and that its massive solar arrays, the biggest on any NASA deep-space probe, have deployed and are generating power.  Juno will cover the distance from Earth to the Moon (about 250,000 miles) in less than one day’s time. It will take another five years and 1,740 million miles to complete the journey to Jupiter. The spacecraft will orbit the planet’s poles 33 times and use its collection of eight science instruments to probe beneath the gas giant’s obscuring cloud cover to learn more about its origins, structure, atmosphere, and magnetosphere, and look for a potential solid planetary core.  With four large moons and many smaller moons, Jupiter forms its own miniature solar system.

A sun-powered robotic explorer named Juno is rocketing toward Jupiter on a fresh quest to discover the secret “recipe” for making planets.  It will take five years to reach Jupiter, the solar system’s most massive and ancient planet.  With Juno, scientists hope to answer some of the most fundamental questions of our solar system: “How Jupiter formed. How it evolved. What really happened early in the solar system that eventually led to all of us?”  As the modern scientists are conditioned souls liable to so many errors and mistakes, the safe side as regards the creation of the universe is to accept the version of Vedic literatures.  

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

In the creation of the Lord there are many wonderful things we can see with our own eyes every day and night, but we are unable to reach them equipped by modern materialistic science. We should not, therefore, depend on the fragmentary authority of materialistic science for knowing things beyond the range of scientific purview. For a common man, both modern science and Vedic wisdom are simply to be accepted because none of the statements either of modern science or of Vedic literature can be verified by him. The alternative for a common man is to believe either of them or both of them. The Vedic way of understanding, however, is more authentic because it has been accepted by the ācāryas, who are not only faithful and learned men, but are also liberated souls without any of the flaws of conditioned souls.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam - Canto 2: “The Cosmic Manifestation”
Chapter 2: “The Lord in the Heart”- Verse 26
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase

ANTIDEPRESSANTS BEING PRESCRIBED NEEDLESSLY

ANTIDEPRESSANTS ARE OFTEN GIVEN
WITH NO PSYCHIATRIC DIAGNOSES

http://www.medscape.com - Antidepressant prescribing by nonpsychiatrist providers in the United States has increased substantially in recent years.  What’s particularly “worrisome,” say the report’s authors, is that a “large and growing” proportion of antidepressant prescribing by nonpsychiatrists happens without an accompanying psychiatric diagnosis.  “Many of the patients who are receiving these medications are dealing with the stresses of life or physical illness, and there is no evidence that antidepressants are effective in these groups of patients,” lead author Ramin Mojtabai, MD, PhD, MPH, from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, said in a statement.  Dr. Mojtabai and coauthor Mark Olfson, MD, MPH, from the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University in New York City, examined national trends over 12 years (1996-2007) in antidepressant prescribing by office-based nonpsychiatrists. 

According to the results, the proportion of antidepressants prescribed for patients WITHOUT a psychiatric diagnosis increased from 2.5% of all visits to nonpsychiatrist providers to 6.4% between 1996 and 2007.  In contrast, antidepressants prescribed WITH a psychiatric diagnosis increased only slightly over the study period, from 1.7% 2.4%.   “In patients with very mild symptoms of mental disorders,” Dr. Narrow explained, “usually the best mode of action is to provide psychotherapy, behavior changes, exercise, and other lifestyle changes, which are often very effective, whereas antidepressants, for example, in very mild cases of depression, tend not to work very well.”  The study is published in the August issue of Health Affairs.

More Americans are being prescribed antidepressant medications by their doctors even though they were not given a psychiatric diagnosis, according to a new study.  Antidepressants are increasingly prescribed for people who have not been diagnosed with an actual psychiatric disorder.  Inappropriate prescribing of antidepressants can expose patients to withdrawal symptoms when they go off the drugs.  In addition, antidepressants are under increasing scrutiny for their side effects, which include weight gain, sexual problems, and diabetes.  

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

So with all this progress why the greatest medical problem is mental health, mental disease, depression. This is a serious problem today, depression and it’s not the problem is not amongst just the poor people. It’s the upper class, the aristocrats as well as the middle class. So much depression. Insanity, frustration, suicide, just people minds just burst with craziness, they just go on rape people, shoot people. ... So yes, so much tremendous progress but Prabhupada our Guru Maharaj said there is a pinprick in society. There is frustration, there is depression, and there is loneliness. The mind is simply not satisfied. The mind will never be satisfied no matter how much you money you make, no matter how much sex you have, no matter how much power you have, no matter how much position you have, no matter how much land you own. The mind will never be satisfied.

Śrīla Radhanath Swami Mahārāja :
“Conquering The Greatest Enemy”
http://www.radhanathmaharaj.net/content/conquering-greatest-enemy-radhanath-swami
http://www.radhanath-swami.net/  -  http://radhanathswami.info/

IN INDIA, ‘CHEER QUEENS’ OPT FOR SARIS

INDIAN CHEER SQUAD WEARS
SARIS, THE TRADITIONAL GARB

New Delhi, India - Cheerleading arrived in India three years ago with the inception of a shorter, more TV-friendly form of cricket, a three-hour version of a game that, in its purest form, lasts five days with breaks for tea.  To attract audiences to the glitzy new Indian Premier League, organizers drew on an age-old principle - sex sells - and introduced U.S.-style cheerleaders in bikinis, miniskirts and high boots.  Many male fans welcomed the idea. But right-wing, religious and feminist groups quickly condemned it as “vulgar,” “walking porn” and “frivolous eye candy” in a nation where, sensuality is not frequently discussed or displayed in public.  At least half the cheerleaders were foreigners, including several members of the Washington Redskins cheerleading squad who wear short skirts.  They’re “worse than bar dancers,” complained Maharashtra state minister Siddharam Mhetre. “Mothers and daughters watch these matches and it does not look nice.”

In a bid to appeal to the cultured side of the sports-fan brain, the Warriors introduced its traditional-culture, fully clothed approach to crowd excitement. Cheerleaders juggle seven traditional dance forms and multiple costumes in a bid to encapsulate India’s 5,000-year diversity before spectators, all in a heat that can reach 120 degrees Farenheit.  The cheerleading squad for the Indian cricket team Pune Warriors takes a traditional-culture, fully clothed approach to motivate players and fans. It calls for complex hand waves and traditional dance steps in saris. “The concept of Cheer Queens is an extraordinary way of showcasing our national artistic heritage to the world,” says Abhijit Sarkar, director of the Pune Warriors.

An Indian cricket team said it is “showcasing our national heritage” by employing cheerleaders dressed in full-length traditional clothing.  Abhijit Sarkar, director of the Pune Warriors, said the “cheer queens” reviving up the crowds for the teams are dressed conservatively and use complex hand waves and traditional dances in the place of high kicks and splits.  He said the idea of the “cheer queens” is an incredible means to expose to the world their ancient artistic tradition.  Keeping traditions and avoid losing the sense of decorum and decency are the basis of social morality.  

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Tradition includes dress-code, demeanours and flexibility or by its popular name, social freedom, as diagnostic devices for nature, impression and depiction of inner discipline. It describes about the subtle impact of every inch of thought, exposure and action in character, which may not be digestible to the fashion world. ... Unfortunately, this is branded as a western culture, whereas it is a degraded form of global cultural stamina, which has infected the western community.  Due to continuous engagement in scientific and economic pursuits, west has lost its immunity in self and social control, which has made it the first and the worst vulnerable region for ethical degradation. ... Without cultural framework, any self styled discipline, audacity and insecure freedom will certainly dismantle any orderly society or even an organised one.

Śrīla S.A.R. Prasanna Venkatachariar Chaturvedi Swamy :
Acarya de la Ramanuja Sampradaya
“International Conference on Interfaith” - “Culture”
“Culture, Philosophy, Literature and Religion” 2009, Mumbai, India.
http://saranagathi.org/blogs/members/chaturvedi
http://www.sriramanujamissiontrust.org

KAMLA COMES HOME

KAMLA COMES HOME,
AND IS MUCH HAPPIER FOR THAT

India - www.hindustantimes.com - In an article written for the Hindustan Times, the author - Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi - explains that in the Seventies, feminists urged women to go out of their homes and work. Domesticity limited their potential, women were told, and they could do much more with their lives than remain restricted to their nurturing and homemaking roles. “What men can do, women can do too, and maybe better” was their anthem.  Now, the idea of women going out to work is commonplace.  Economic independence has been the buzzword for women for years now. However, a growing number of women today are actually choosing not to go out into the workplace. Maybe they’ve tried working and opted out because they couldn’t manage home and office. Maybe they’ve stopped working to bring up their children. Or maybe they want to stay at home.  Today, women can choose - to step out or to stay in.

Dr. Syed Mubin Zehra, social analyst, says “It is a very conscious and individual decision, without any sort of pressure. And thus holds a lot of value and is far more fulfilling.”  The choice to stay at home, however, is governed by a host of factors.
Unnati Kant, an HR professional, decided to quit and stay at home because she felt that her responsibilities towards her home were higher on her priority list. “Work was important but there were other things as well. We wanted to start a family. Bringing up a child, I knew, was a full time job, so I gave up the other one. Also, the decision was purely mine. No one told me to quit. But I didn’t want to compromise on the quality time that I could devote to my child if I stayed at home. 
Besides, the choice to go back to work is always open, right? My qualifications exist and so does the support from family.”

Analysts of this issue say that unlike men, who grow up with the notion that they have to provide for the family, the idea of going out to work was not ‘intrinsic’ to women in general. It was a certain section of feminists who propagated the idea and it became a movement.  Most marriages are based on this unwritten understanding that the man holds the responsibility to generate income to run the house. The woman may choose to earn but if she doesn’t, it is the man’s duty to cater to her needs.  The Vedic scriptures, source and pattern of spirituality, have taught how the members of the Hindu family can live happily.  

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Hindu families all over the world are struggling - some failing, most succeeding. Our experience is that those most rooted in their Hinduness cope better and are the better survivors. Hindu households, sheltering one-sixth of the human race, are being threatened. ... Hinduism teaches a constellation of principles which, if followed by husband and wife, make the bold assertion that preserving the marriage and the integrity of the family.  Hinduism teaches them the ideals of dharma, which includes duty, selflessness, virtue and faith. When dharma is the shared ideal of every family member - as opposed to self-fulfillment or social-economic objectives - it is easier to navigate troubled waters, easier to persist in seasons of loss or lack, in times of emotional or mental difficulty.  An important ideal that help a family survive in Hinduism is that father and mother are the children’s first guru, first teacher of things of the spirit.

“What Is Hinduism?” :
Chapter 10: “Family Life and Monastic Life”
“The Spiritual Ideals of Hinduism’s” - “The Hindu View of Family”
Hinduism Today Magazine - Himalaya Academy, India - USA - 2007
http://www.hinduism-today.com/modules/wfdownloads/singlefile.php?cid=25&lid=40

MUBARAK’S TRIAL: ‘HE LOOKED MISERABLE’

BEDRIDDEN AND CAGED 
EGYPT’S MUBARAK GOES ON TRIAL

Cairo (AP) - From a bed inside the defendants’ cage, an ashen-faced Hosni Mubarak showed a glimmer of his old defiance. Egypt’s former president wagged his finger in the air and denied all charges against him Wednesday as he went on trial for alleged corruption and complicity in the deaths of protesters who helped drive him from power.  The spectacle, watched live on state television by millions of Egyptians, calmed the fury of those who suffered under his rule - some of them parents of children gunned down during the uprising that toppled the longtime president.  The father of a slain protester, among those sweltering in the heat outside the courtroom on the third day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, was ecstatic.  “The biggest achievement of this revolution is that all these crooks and scum are in a cage,” he said.

The ailing 83-year-old Mubarak laid on a hospital bed as his sons, one-time heir apparent Gamal and wealthy businessman Alaa, stood protectively beside him, at times trying to shield their father from the camera and hundreds of spectators. Dressed in white prison uniforms, the two younger Mubaraks denied charges of corruption.  The sight of Mubarak lying helplessly in bed inside the grim metal and wire cage was a stunning moment for Egyptians - and for a region known more for its presidents-for-life and absolute monarchs than democracy or accountability.  With Arab Spring revolts sweeping the Middle East, the sight of Mubarak during Wednesday’s hearing could serve as a powerful cautionary tale for other autocratic leaders who have long acted as if they alone were fit to rule, the lesson of Mubarak’s predicament may be very simple: Don’t lose.

Egypt’s ex-President Hosni Mubarak has denied charges of corruption and ordering the killing of protesters, on the opening day of his trial in Cairo.  The 83-year-old is being tried with his sons, who also deny charges against them, ex-Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six other former officials.  Many in Egypt savored the humiliation of the man who ruled with unquestionable power for 29 years, during which opponents were tortured, corruption was rife, poverty was widespread and political life was stifled.  When the atomic soul lives in illusion, sees himself as separate from the Godhead and the desire to be supreme begins.  

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

The individual self is a minute particle of will or consciousness - a sentient being - endowed with a serving tendency. This self is transcendental to matter and qualitatively one with Godhead, while quantitatively different. A personal, “human-like” Godhead replete with abode and paraphernalia is a perennial notion.  In this conception the explicate order becomes in effect a perverted reflection of the ultimate reality existing in the transcendental realm. The reflection of that realm, appearing as the explicate order, amounts to the kingdom of God without God. It would be without God inasmuch as God, being the center of the ultimate reality, when expressed in reflected form no longer appears as the center. This produces illusion and the necessity for corruption. The basis of corruption is the misplaced sense of proprietorship resulting in the utterly false notions of “I” and “mine”.

Śrīpad Bhakti Bhāvana Vishnu Mahārāja :
“Physics to Metaphysics” - “The Vedic Paradigm”
http://gosai.com/ashrama/swami-bb-vishnu
http://gosai.com/writings/physics-to-metaphysics
http://vedicsciences.net/articles/physics-metaphysics.html

IRANIAN WOMAN SPARES ATTACKER ACID PUNISHMENT

IRANIAN WOMAN BLINDED BY ACID ATTACK
PARDONS ASSAILANT AS HE FACES SAME FATE

http://www.rferl.org - An Iranian woman who was blinded and badly disfigured in an acid attack has stopped a retributive blinding sentence from being carried out on her attacker at the last moment.  “He was standing in the hospital operating room and the doctor was about to put acid in his eyes. It was that moment when I said, ‘No, I don’t want this,’” said Ameneh Bahrami.  The sentence of “retribution in kind” called for five drops of sulfuric acid to be put in each of Majid Movahedi’s eyes for the 2004 incident, when the spurned suitor poured a bucket of acid on Bahrami, ultimately leaving her blind and forcing her to undergo at least 17 operations.  But as the acid was about to be applied by a doctor in a live broadcast on Iranian state television, Bahrami forgave her attacker and spared him the punishment.  “The Koran gives you the right to retribution,” Bahrami says.  “But this very Koran also encourages you to pardon, since pardoning is one of the highest moral standards.”

Movahedi said Bahrami was “very generous,” but she said her attacker “hasn’t changed one bit.  This person is still dangerous for society. I think a person like Majid Movahedi should be kept in prison until the last moment of his life.”  Despite the protests raised against the cruel and inhumane nature of the retributive punishment by Iranian and international rights groups, Bahrami had insisted on it being carried out. Even after sparing Movahedi, she said she had no regrets in doing so. “Other victims after me might decide for the sentence of retribution to be carried out on their attackers, some might drop it,” she said. Bahrami also said she still wanted financial compensation from Movahedi’s family. “I was told that since you’re a woman, you’re entitled to half of the total amount of 200 million tomans [almost $200,000], which is 100 million tomans.  I am a full person and I am entitled to full amount of the blood money,” she said.

An Iranian woman Ameneh Bahrami who is victim of acid attack, pardoned a man named Majid Movahedi who was convicted of throwing acid in her face. Movahedi was sentenced for ‘qesas’ (‘eye for an eye’-style justice) to be blinded in both eyes after being charged with hurling acid in the face of the Bahrami when she repeatedly rejected his suggestions for marriage. She said she forgave the attacker man, “because God talks about ‘qesas’ (retribution) in the Koran but he also recommends pardon; since pardon is greater than qesas and I wanted to do a greater job.”  Justice is human, mercy and forgiveness are divine.  

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

When a person is situated in devotional service, his heart melts with love for Krishna. Because such a person sees all other living beings as servants of Krishna, his heart also melts with love for them. Thus he has mercy on them. ... Forgiveness is situated between mercy and humility. In this way one thinks, “I am poor and fallen, how can I be qualified to punish others?” When this thought joins with mercy, forgiveness is born. ... Krishna is eternal and real (satya), the individual spirit soul is eternal and real, the individual spirit soul’s service to Lord Krishna is also eternal and real, and the individual soul’s temporary sojourn in the material world is also real. In this way the relationship between the individual soul and Krishna, a relationship that is manifested as devotional service, is eternal and real.  Therefore eternal spiritual reality, humility, mercy and forgiveness are four things naturally included in devotional service.

Śrīla Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thākura :
“Jaiva-dharma” (The Universal Religion)
Chapter Eight : “Nitya-dharma O Vyavahar”
“Eternal Religion and Ordinary Activities”
Bhaktivedanta Memorial Library  -  http://bvml.org/SBTP/JD/index.html

DELHI STAGES ‘SLUTWALK’ AGAINST SEXUAL VIOLENCE

INDIAN WOMEN HELD SLUTWALK
SEX HARASSMENT PROTEST IN DELHI

http://www.bbc.co.uk - A rally has taken place in India’s capital inspired by the “Slutwalk” protests held in a number of countries.  The protest is to challenge the notion that the way a woman looks can excuse sexual abuse or taunting - “Eve teasing” as it is known in India.  The protests originated in Canada after a policeman said women could avoid rape by not dressing like “sluts”.  The organisers are trying to challenge the mindset that the victims of sexual violence are to blame for the crimes committed against them.  Delhi can be a very difficult city for women, with sexual harassment commonplace, and rapes and abduction all too frequent.  And according to a recent survey, India remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for women.  One protester told: “Every girl has the right to wear whatever she wants, to do whatever she wants to do with her body.  It’s our lives, our decisions, unless it’s harming you, you have no right to say anything.”

Hundreds took part in Delhi, though there was little of the skimpy dressing that has marked protests elsewhere.  Most of the marchers in Delhi were soberly dressed in jeans and T-shirts or traditional shalwar kameez.  “You stare at me not because of my clothes but because I’m a woman”, read one of the placards.  Another protester said: “There are a lot of problems for women in Delhi because a lot of women do face sexual harassment and just a couple of weeks ago the chief of police of Delhi said that if a women was out after 02.00 she was responsible for what happens to her, and I don’t think that’s the right attitude.”  India recorded almost 22,000 rape cases in 2008, 18% up on 2004.  “The purpose of this Slutwalk is to address three issues of gender inequality, gender stereotypes and victim blaming,” Mishika Singh, one of the organisers said.

An Indian version of Slut Walk was held on Delhi's streets on Sunday with women - mainly of school and college students - along with many men who support them to protest against harassment and abuse.  The concept of a Slut Walk started in Toronto, Canada in April this year after women there staged a protest against a police officer’s remark that “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimised,” which is another way of blaming the victim.  “The clothes we wear, don’t give anyone the right to rape us”, read one of the placards.  The consciousness of the conditioned living being is covered by lust.  

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Prema, and Kama (or sensual love in any form), are on two different levels. Prema is possible in the transcendental Realm of God alone, while Kama or sensual love is on the plane of mundane senses. It will be an utter mistake to attempt to understand Prema in terms of the knowledge of mundane love or lust (be it human or animal). It is only by honest and earnest spiritual practices or sadhana that an individual may gradually climb the different steps of the ladder, from the lowest step of Sraddha to the highest step of Prema. A mere jump from the lowest to the highest, from Kama or mundane love (which is only another form of mundane lust) to Prema will simply hurl one into the abyss of mundane lust, and such a person can never realise and relish the mellow-sweetness of supra-mundane Krsna-Prema.

Śrīla Bhakti Hridaya Bon (Vana) Mahārāja :
Sri Rupa Goswami’s “Bhakti-Rasamrta-Sindu”
Transliteration in English with Translation with Comments
http://bvml.org/SHBM/brs.htm - Bhaktivedanta Memorial Library