CHINA CELEBRATES YEAR OF THE DRAGON

CHINESE NEW YEAR OF THE DRAGON
WELCOMED IN AROUND THE WORLD

www.mirror.co.uk - Celebrations for the Year of the Dragon begin today and last for 15 days.  Millions of ethnic Chinese, Koreans and Vietnamese across Asia have rung in the New Year of the Dragon with fireworks, feasting and family reunions.  From Beijing to Bangkok and Seoul to Singapore, people hoping for good luck in the New Year visited temples and lit incense, setting off fireworks and watched street performances of lion and dragon dances. In London, Chinese New Year will officially be marked on January 29 with a parade and a performance in Trafalgar Square. Among the 100-strong performers will feature Shanghai Song and Dance Troupe and the National Music Orchestra of Jilin Province.  For many, the Lunar New Year is the biggest family reunion of the year for which people endured hours of cramped travel on trains and buses to get home.

In ancient times the dragon was a symbol reserved for the Chinese emperor, and it is considered to be the most auspicious and powerful of the 12 signs of the zodiac, one associated with high energy and prosperity. It’s also the only mythical creature in the Chinese astrological stable that includes horses, rats and pigs. This year is considered especially auspicious because it is the year of the water dragon, something that happens once every 60 years.  “The dragon is a symbol of power and superior control,” says Stephen Chu, president of the Mississauga Chinese Business Association, west of Toronto. “It’s not evil. The dragon is a good symbol.” It also represents change and mobility. “Dragons seem to be a change year, and usually from bad to good,” says Paul Ng, a feng shui master in Richmond Hill, Ont., north of Toronto.

Chinese New Year celebrations have begun throughout the world.  Colorful parades and spectacular fireworks usher in the Year of Dragon, which symbolizes courage and prosperity. According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of Dragon comes after the Year of Rabbit and is followed by the Year of Snake. In the Rig Veda, there is a description of the battle between Lord Indra, the king of heaven, and an asura named Vrtra who had taken the form of a mighty Dragon and stole all the water in the world for himself.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

I will declare the manly deeds of Indra, the first that he achieved, the Thunder wielder. He slew the Dragon, then disclosed the waters, and cleft the channels of the mountain torrents. Like lowing kine in rapid flow descending the waters glided downward to the ocean.  Impetuous as a bull, he (Indra) chose the Soma and in three sacred beakers drank the juices. Maghavan (Indra) grasped the thunder for his weapon, and smote to death this firstborn of the dragons. ...  When Indra and the Dragon strove in battle, Maghavan gained the victory for ever. ... The waters bear off Vrtra's nameless body: the foe of Indra sank to during darkness.  Guarded by Ahi (Vrtra) ... the waters stayed like kine held by the robber.  But when he (Indra) had smitten Vrtra, opened the cave wherein the floods had been imprisoned.

“The Hymns of the Rigveda”
Book I - Hymn XXXII - “Indra”
Translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith
2nd edition, Kotagiri (Nilgiri) 1896
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv01032.htm
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/sacredscripts/hinduism/rigveda/indra_1.asp

DUTCH TEEN CIRCUMNAVIGATE WORLD

DUTCH TEEN LAURA DEKKER COMPLETES
HISTORIC SOLO SAIL AROUND THE GLOBE

(CNN) - Some 518 days after she first set off alone in her sailboat, 16-year-old Laura Dekker glided into a Caribbean port on Saturday to complete her historic, and controversial, voyage around the globe.  The Dutch citizen arrived in Sint Maarten around 3 p.m. (2 p.m. ET).  While other teens have made similar sea voyages - some of them without stopping, as Dekker did - the Dutch girl unofficially appears to be the youngest to do so sailing alone. In 2010, Australian Jessica Watson finished a non-stop, unassisted solo circumnavigation days before her 17th birthday. Her route was less than 21,600 orthodromic (or, in the same direction for a great circle) nautical miles, which is the length of the equator and the distance generally used for round-the-world sailing records. Dekker states on her website that she traversed about 27,000 nautical miles on her own solo voyage aboard her 38-foot yacht, which she has dubbed Guppy.

The teenager made a trip with stops that sound like a skim through a travel magazine: the Canary Islands, Panama, the Galapagos Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Bora Bora, Australia, South Africa and now, St. Maarten, from which she set out on Jan. 20, 2011.  She had altered her route and headed around South Africa toward Sint Maarten to avoid pirates.  The trip almost didn’t happen - not because of problems at sea, but rather due to a high-profile legal fight by Dutch authorities to prevent the teen from setting sail, for her own safety.  In October 2009, a Dutch court ruled the girl couldn’t sail around the world because she was not considered experienced enough to do so. But it left the door open for a future trip, deciding that she could depart if she fulfilled certain requirements the court had established for her.  Laura did what the authorities require, and she finally arrived in St. Maarten after struggling against high seas and heavy winds.

Laura Dekker, 16, arrived in the island of Sint Maarten after her voyage around the globe.  She was at sea or in port for 518 days and traversed 27,000 nautical miles.  “There were moments where I was like, ‘What the hell am I doing out here?’ but I never wanted to stop,” she said. “It’s a dream, and I wanted to do it.”  She also fought against Dutch authorities who didn’t want her to sail. Tapah (austerity) and Acāpalam (determination) are good for everyone because in the end our efforts are rewarded.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

“To serve the spiritual master the disciple should learn cleanliness, austerity, tolerance, silence, study of Vedic knowledge, simplicity, celibacy, nonviolence, and equanimity in the face of material dualities such as heat and cold, happiness and distress.” Tapah, or “austerity,” means that despite the irrational impulses of the mind, one should remain fixed in executing his proper duty in life. Specifically, one must control burning anger and the urge for wanton sex life. If a human being does not control the impulses of lust, anger and greed, he loses his power to understand his actual situation. Human life is a golden opportunity to solve the overwhelming problems of birth, death, old age and disease. ... One must remain in his prescribed duty and not become impatient or unregulated due to the waves of lust, anger and greed.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Śrīla Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam - Canto 11: “General History”
Chapter 3: “Liberation from the Illusory Energy”
Verse 24 - Bhaktivedanta VedaBase

MALAWIAN WOMEN ATTACKS FOR WEARING PANTS

ATTACKS ON WOMEN IN TROUSERS,
MINISKIRTS SPARK PROTEST IN MALAWI

Blantyre, Malawi (AP) - It’s been 18 years since the late dictator Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s “indecency in dress” laws were repealed in Malawi, but mobs of men and boys in the largely conservative southern African country have recently been publicly stripping women of their miniskirts and pants.  Friday, hundreds of outraged girls and women, among them prominent politicians, protested the attacks while wearing pants or miniskirts and T-shirts emblazoned with such slogans as: “Real men don’t harass women.” “Some of us have spent our entire life fighting for the freedom of women,” Vice President Ms Joyce Banda told the protesters. “It’s shocking some men want to take us back to bondage,” she added.  The attacks took on such importance that President Bingu wa Mutharika went on state television and radio on the eve of the protest to assure women they were free to wear what they want.

The president ordered police to arrest anyone who attacks women wearing pants or miniskirts. He said in a local language, Chichewa. “I will not allow anyone to wake up and go on the streets and start undressing women and girls wearing trousers because that is criminal.” During Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s 1963-1994 dictatorship, women in Malawi were banned from wearing pants and short skirts. Banda lost power in the country’s first multiparty election in 1994 and he died three years later. While Banda is gone, strains of conservatism remain in the impoverished, largely rural nation. Some of the street vendors who have attacked women in recent days claimed it was un-Malawian to dress in miniskirts and pants. Some said it was a sign of loose morals or prostitution. The protesters were wearing pants, miniskirts and leggings in a show of solidarity as they gathered to condemn the attacks.

Malawian women protested about attacks on women for wearing trousers. Some women were beaten and stripped by vendors on the streets for wearing pants, leggings and miniskirts, instead of dresses. They accused women of defying cultural norms and attacked them claiming they did not follow the tradition.  Women have also been attacked for wearing trousers in Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Puritanical mentality is based on external materialistic issues, not on spiritual considerations.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

If we truly believe, even theoretically, that we “are not this body,” then why do we care whether our bodily duties are “higher” or “lower” than someone else’s?  Such things are temporary, external, and don’t touch the real self. ... Most difficulties with understanding the position of women can be solved if we understand that all of us have two duties: material and spiritual.  The spiritual duties, the nine processes of devotional service, are equally available to every human being regardless of age, gender, race, intelligence, health, etc. etc. ... Why not just accept the body we have for this life, and work with it so as to please Krishna and make our life peaceful, so that we can concentrate our time and energy on what’s truly important-loving and remembering Krishna.

Śrīmati Urmila devi dasi :
“Prabhupada's Views on Women”
http://urmila.me.uk/
http://www.chakra.org/discussions/WomenNov29_02.html

ARGENTINA OUTRAGED AT CAMERON’S ‘COLONIALISM’ REMARKS

UK PRIME MINISTER ACCUSES ARGENTINA
OF ‘COLONIALISM’ TOWARDS FALKLANDS

www.bbc.co.uk - Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has demanded renewed talks about the future of the islands - which Argentina calls Las Malvinas.  But Mr Cameron told MPs they would stay British for as long as the islanders wanted, and Argentina’s demands for that to change were “like colonialism”.  The issue was discussed at a National Security Council meeting on Tuesday.  This year is the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War, which was prompted by an Argentinian invasion of the islands. Most Falkland Islanders wish to retain British sovereignty and 14 June is marked as Liberation Day in the capital, Port Stanley.  Argentine leaders have reacted with fury after UK Prime Minister David Cameron accused Argentina of “colonialism” for continuing to claim sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.  “It’s totally offensive, especially coming from Great Britain,” Argentine Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo said.

President Fernandez has repeatedly requested talks on the islands’ future and accused the UK of “arrogance” for refusing to negotiate.  She has accused Britain of “taking Argentine resources” from the islands and the waters around them.  Tensions have risen in recent years over oil exploration around the Falklands.  In December, the Mercosur grouping of countries, which includes Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay, announced that it would ban ships sailing under the Falkland Islands flag from docking at their ports.  The islands were discussed on Wednesday during a visit by UK Foreign Minister William Hague to Brazil. Mr Hague knows that “Brazil and other South American nations support Argentine sovereignty over the Malvinas and that we support the UN resolutions calling on Argentina and Britain to discuss the issue,” Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota told reporters.

British PM Cameron has accused Argentina of “colonialism” for continuing to claim sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. In response, Argentine Foreign Minister Timerman said Great Britain was a country “synonymous with colonialism”. Little remains of colonialism and Great Britain, an empire in decline, decides to re-write history.   The sayings of politicians try to historical “re-arranging the furniture”.  This cheating tendency is called vipralipsa, ‘the desire to deceive.’

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

This is called samsāra-dāvānala. Even in ordinary transactions between two people, there is invariably cheating because the conditioned soul is defective in four ways - he is illusioned, he commits mistakes, his knowledge is imperfect, and he has a propensity to cheat. Unless one is liberated from material conditioning, these four defects must be there. Consequently every man has a cheating propensity, which is employed in business or money transactions. ... A philosopher accuses an economist of being a cheater, and an economist may accuse a philosopher of being a cheater when he comes in contact with money. In any case, this is the condition of material life.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam - Canto 5: “The Creative Impetus”
Chapter 14: “The Material World as the Great Forest of Enjoyment”
Verse 26 - Bhaktivedanta VedaBase

GLOBAL WARMING THREATENS CHINA’S ADVANCE

CHINESE REPORT SPELLS OUT
CLIMATE CHANGE THREAT

www.smh.com.au - Global warming threatens China’s march to prosperity by cutting crops, shrinking rivers and unleashing more droughts and floods, says the government’s latest assessment of climate change, projecting big shifts in how the nation feeds itself.  The warnings are carried in the government’s “Second National Assessment Report on Climate Change,” which sums up advancing scientific knowledge about the consequences and costs of global warming for China - the world’s second biggest economy and the biggest emitter of greenhouse gas pollution.  Global warming fed by greenhouse gases from industry, transport and shifting land-use poses a long-term threat to China’s prosperity, health and food output, says the report.  Water, either too much or too little, lies at the heart of how that warming could trip up China’s budding prosperity.

 With China’s economy likely to rival the United States’ in size in coming decades, that will trigger wider consequences. “China faces extremely grim ecological and environmental conditions under the impact of continued global warming and changes to China’s regional environment,” says the 710-page report, officially published late last year but released for public sale only recently.  Even so, China’s rising emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas from burning fossil fuels, will begin to fall off only after about 2030, with big falls only after mid-century, says the report.  Assuming no measures to counter global warming, grain output in the world’s most populous nation could fall from 5 to 20 percent by 2050, depending on whether a “fertilisation effect” from more carbon dioxide in the air offsets losses, says the report.

China, with 1.34 billion people, already emits a quarter of the world’s CO2, with the United States the world’s second largest greenhouse gas emitter.  As the temperatures continue to rise, the negative consequences of climate change on agriculture will be increasingly serious. Without effective measures in response, by the latter part of the 21st century, climate change could still constitute a threat to the world’s food security. We are living in one of the most precarious situations of humanity.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Today we see the condition of the world. Never before in history has the world been in a more dangerous situation. We have made progress through technology and science. We have cured diseases such as small pox. We made vaccinations for polio and breakthrough in open heart surgeries to keep people living after major heart attacks. These are good things. But at the same time, what are we doing on the other side. We are creating other diseases due to pollution and other unnatural styles. … And with all the toxic chemicals in the soil, in the ocean, in the rivers and in the air, if you look at it realistically the world is in a hopeless state. Politicians don’t want to tell you and we don’t want to hear about it, because we are just caught up in our petty pursuance of fulfilling our greed. It is a big problem.

Śrīla Radhanath Swami Mahārāja :
“The Real Significance of Bhumi Puja”
Lecture at Govardhan Farm, Wada - 2nd October 2009
http://www.radhanathmaharaj.net/node/80
http://www.radhanath-swami.net/  -  http://radhanathswami.info/

ETHIOPIA FORCES THOUSANDS OFF LAND

RIGHTS GROUP: ETHIOPIA
FORCIBLY RESETTLED 70,000

Addis Ababa (AP) - Ethiopia has forcibly moved tens of thousands of semi-nomadic people in the country’s west to barren villages and threatened, assaulted and arrested those who resisted, an international rights group said in a report. The Human Rights Watch report said that Ethiopia last year resettled about 70,000 people in its western Gambella region after the first of a three-year “villagization” program. The rights group said it suspects people have been moved to lease out farmland to investors, and not just to lift them out of poverty. It said that security forces “repeatedly threatened, assaulted, and arrested villagers” who resisted relocation. It also reported rape, killing of cattle and burning of houses among rights violations.  Instead of the promised improved life with “access to basic socio-economic infrastructures,” locals found new villages that lacked food, farmland, schools and health clinics, HRW said.

The watchdog said its report is based on 100 interviews in 2011 with residents in Gambella and in a refugee camp in Kenya. The organization called upon the Ethiopian government to suspend its program until all promised facilities have been provided for. The government in Addis Ababa rejects HRW’s allegations.  Ethiopia’s minister of federal affairs denounced the allegations in a letter to Human Rights Watch as “downright fabrications” of a “politically motivated” organization. He wrote that Human Rights Watch “willfully ignores the fact that more than 50,000 people are utilizing services from the newly built” villages. HRW says it has evidence that some 70,000 indigenous people in the western Gambella region were relocated against their will to new villages that “lack adequate food, farmland, healthcare and educational facilities”.

Ethiopia’s government has been accused by US-based Human Rights Watch of forcing tens of thousands of its poorest people off their fertile land so it can be leased to foreign investors.  Indigenous peoples, like the pastoral Nuer and agrarian Anuak, are being forcibly relocated to new villages that lack adequate food, clean water, farmland, schools, clinics and other basic facilities.  When there is no sense of justice or mercy, governments utilize violence against their own people to simply serve their selfish purposes.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

We are all brothers and sisters in this world. We are all visiting the planet earth for a very short time. We all have a certain amount of pains and pleasures to experience in this short visit. And the human being specially will accumulate either positive or negative reactions for everything they will do in this lifetime. And after they leave this body, very soon we will get the just compensation for what have been our deeds in this lifetime. So it is in all of our interests that we do not commit any injustice to anyone and instead of creating hellish conditions in our greed to gain more power and money. We should remember that in our next lifetime we will be subjected to the same injustices we are creating for others today.

Śrīla Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Mahārāja :
“Attacks on Innocent Considered Most Sinful”
http://www.vrindanews.com/articles/attacks_on_innocent.html
http://www.vrindanews.com/  -  http://www.gurumaharaj.net/

FATAL BUILDING COLLAPSE IN BEIRUT

AT LEAST 27 KILLED MANY INJURED
IN BEIRUT BUILDING COLLAPSE

Beirut (AFP) - At least 26 people were killed when an old six-storey building in the Lebanese capital collapsed, officials said on Monday, with more people still trapped under the rubble. A dozen people were also injured, none of them seriously. Civil defence chief General Raymond Khattar told AFP the bodies recovered by rescuers who worked through Sunday night and Monday included those of seven Lebanese, six Sudanese, two Filipinos and two Egyptians. Among the dead was a 15-year-old Lebanese girl, and those hurt included her grandmother as well as a 73-year-old Lebanese man, at least two Sudanese, an Egyptian and a Filipina. The building housed some 50 people, many of them labourers from Sudan and Egypt, Khattar said, adding that at least eight people were known to have escaped as the building came down.

A Syrian labourer at a nearby building site said debris started falling from the building in the early evening before the entire block came crashing down. “We saw small pieces of stone falling down but no one paid any attention at the start,” he told AFP. “Then large chunks of stone started falling and people began screaming for everyone to get out. Within minutes, the building was on the floor.”  Bilal Hamad, the head of Beirut municipality, urged all residents to alert authorities should they suspect any danger in their neighbourhoods and said a team of experts would soon begin to inspect buildings across the capital, many of which are built illegally or have had storeys added without proper permits. There was speculation that heavy rain may have contributed to Sunday’s disaster, making the building more prone to collapse.

At least 27 people died and several people were injured when a five-storey building collapsed unexpectedly in the Lebanese capital Beirut.  Rescuers are continuing their search of the site in the Ashrafiyeh district for a further 16 people believed to be buried beneath the rubble.  It is said the building was extremely run-down and the owner had recently warned tenants to move out.  We are daily surrounded by many dangers; there are risks at every step, so we should choose the Lord as our protector.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

A firm confidence that the Supreme Lord will protect us in all circumstances is needed. In fact, who is saving us from all the dangers and calamities that are hovering around us every moment? In time of a severe trial, all of our acquisitions or our nearest relations fail. There is no power anywhere in this universe that would do any harm to a person whose Protector is the Supreme Lord. On the contrary, the entire population and resources of the whole universe, cannot save him, if he is disowned by the Lord. This firmness in his belief makes him steady ever the more. This spirit of confidence saves him from the unsteady nature of the mind. … It makes the life of a striver light and easy, and his journey remarkably smooth and pleasant.

Śrīla Bhakti Vaibhava Purī Mahārāj:
“Guru and Atma Nivedan”
“Firm Confidence in the Lord”
Bhakti Vigyan Nityananda Book Trust
Śrī Krishna Chaitanya Mission - http://www.purimaharaj.com/

CHAOS IN ITALIAN CRUISE SHIP SINKING

LIKE SCENE OUT OF FILM ‘TITANIC,’
CHAOS CONSUMED LISTING SHIP

Porto Santo Stefano, Italy (CNN) - The 3,200 passengers aboard the Costa Concordia cruise liner were enjoying a night of entertainment and relaxation off Italy’s Mediterranean coast. Then, at about dinnertime, the lights went out, an ominous scraping sound moaned through the hull, and the ship tilted to one side. The 1,500-cabin luxury vessel, which was also carrying about 1,000 crew members, had run aground on a rocky sandbar off the tiny island of Giglio. Chaos overwhelmed passengers and crew alike when, as the ship listed and water rose as if it were a scene from “Titanic,” everyone realized that only one side of the ship’s lifeboats and rafts were reachable.  Amid screams, the crew appeared helpless, according to one passenger who had to make a ladder of rope to save himself and his wife.  The worst part came when a lifeboat crew member told everyone, “Women and children first.”

“All these families who were clinging to each other had to be separated,” said Benji Smith, who was on the Concordia for his honeymoon with his wife, Emily. The couple lives in Boston. After helping passengers, some crew members jumped overboard and swam ashore. At least three lifeboats apparently malfunctioned due to technical or crew error, Smith said.  Life rafts were “twisting and turning,” and the crew pulled in some rafts and put the people back on the ship, but the crew never returned for them, Smith said. With the ship’s staircases flooded, “we made ladders out of ropes to climb down from the outer fourth deck to the third deck,” Smith said. “We waited clinging to those rope ladders for 3½ hours” before being picked up by a lifeboat, he said. Smith said he and his wife never heard from any of the officers or captain during the incident. The couple was eventually transported by bus to a hotel in Rome.

Panic spread as people scrambled to find lifeboats in the dark as the ship quickly leaned to one side. Passengers complained about how the cruise ship staff handled the crisis when disaster struck. A sixth body was being pulled from the wreckage of the stricken Costa Concordia as the ship’s captain was accused of “significant human error”.   Mankind is by nature afflicted with the four flaws or defects, even the greatest scholars cannot free themselves of them.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

The conditioned soul has four defects: (1) bhrama (‘the tendency to error’), (2) pramada (‘inattention’), (3) karanapatava (‘the inadequacy of the senses’) and (4) vipralipsa (‘the desire to deceive’). Any conditioned soul has these defects.  Bhrama means the tendency to think something that is true to be false and vice versa.  The word pramada means ‘inattention.’ Even when the senses do their job, the mind is not entirely attentive and so makes further errors. Karanapatava means the incapacity of the senses to properly perceive anything. And the last fault is quite devastating; it is vipralipsa, ‘the desire to deceive.’ Even though we don’t really know what the truth is, we say, ‘I have seen.’  So these are the conditioned souls’ four defects.

Śrīla Bhakti Promode Puri Mahārāja :
“Sri Guru Pranali - Siddha Pranali”
Conversation at Gopinatha Gaudiya Matha,
Cakra Tirtha, Jagannatha Puri, Sept. 28, 1998
http://bvml.org/SBPPG/sgp-sp.html

THAI MAN MARRIES HIS DEAD GIRLFRIEND

THAI MAN MARRY HIS GIRLFRIEND
DESPITE SHE’S BEEN DEAD FOR DAYS

Pattaya Daily News - The news of a North Eastern Thailand tv director marrying his dead fiancée became viral on the social media with 50,000 sharing the news on-line.  The news became the “Talk of the town” on Facebook and YouTube after “ Chadil Deffy “ or Deff Yingyuen, stated his love for his late girlfriend, Sarinya or “Anne” Kamsook.  Much to the surprise of his friends, on January 4, Deff posted the message on his Facebook page, inviting his friends to a wedding-cum-funeral rite for his longtime girlfriend at a local temple in Surin Province. The couple had been together for a decade and made a promise to get married before the bride died in a car accident. Deff said their wedding was postponed due busy schedules and his studies before he was going to settle down in matrimony with Sarinya.

This bizarre wedding ceremony together with the funeral of the corpse of the bride was held at Tri Vivek temple Moo 9 Baan Sadao Tambon Nabua , Amphur Muang, Surin province. The corpse of the bride was Ms. Sarinya or “Ann Kamsuk” age 29, from Surin province. The bridegroom, known by his nickname “Dave”, is director of television programs. Both of them fell in love while studying at the Eastern Asia University ten years ago and had planned to get married but the woman had died on the evening of January 3, 2012. During the funeral ceremony, the groom is seen in a black smart suit putting a ring on the finger of his late girlfriend. This was posted on the Facebook and YouTube and it spread like wildfire. There were many wreaths from her friends and relatives and from actors, singers and fellow students.

A young man, Chadil Duffy, and long-time girlfriend Sarinya had agreed to marry, but before they had the chance, she died unexpectedly. However, Duffy, intent on following through on his promise to his girlfriend, and last week he has married his dead girlfriend. Depending on sensibilities, one may have a number of reactions to this unique story of tragedy and love, yet one thing is certain: in our current conditioned state, the material attachment for the gross body is very hard to overcome.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Sukadeva Gosvami told Maharaja Pariksit that every living entity is actually most attached to his own self. Outward paraphernalia such as home, family, friends, country, society, wealth, opulence and reputation are all only secondary in pleasing the living entity. ... The next important object of affection, after his own self, is his material body. A person who has no information of the spirit soul is very much attached to his material body. ... The attachment to the body is there only because the “I,” the spirit soul, is within the body. Similarly, when one is further advanced, he knows that the spirit soul is pleasing because it is part and parcel of Krishna. Ultimately, it is Krishna who is pleasing and all-attractive. Without being an expansion of Krishna, nothing can be attractive.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
“Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead”
Chapter 14: “Prayers Offered by Lord Brahma to Lord Krishna”
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International

VAN DER SLOOT GETS 28 YEARS FOR MURDER IN PERU

 JORAN VAN DER SLOOT GIVEN 28 YEARS
PRISON FOR MURDER PERUVIAN WOMAN

Fox News - The self-confessed killer of Peruvian college student Stephany Flores was convicted of aggravated homicide and petty theft. The prosecution had requested a 30-year sentence, which was reduced to 28 years for having subjected himself to what is called an “anticipated conclusion,” whereby he declared himself guilty and accepted all charges put forth by the Public Ministry of Peru. He was also charged just over $74,000 in reparations. Van der Sloot’s sentence will conclude on June 10, 2038, after which he will be expelled from the country. Van der Sloot acted bored and disconnected during his two hearings, an attitude many interpreted as disrespectful to the court. During his plea, he said he “felt badly” and “regretted” what had happened. Asked if he accepted the sentence, Van der Sloot, standing in a green T-shirt and faded jeans in a hot Lima courtroom, said he would appeal.

Van der Sloot met Flores, 21, at a poker tournament in Lima the night before her murder. Her badly beaten, decomposing body was found in his hotel room two days later. The murder grabbed international attention because van der Sloot was already the only suspect in the presumed death of 19-year old Holloway, who vanished in Aruba. He was detained twice in Aruba, but released because of lack of evidence. He was never charged with the murder because Holloway’s body was never recovered. The Flores case, on the other hand, was loaded with a weight of evidence, and he admitted that he killed Stephany.  Van der Sloot and Flores fought after returning to his hotel room to play on-line poker. It is said she received a message from someone who had been at the poker tournament, warning her of van der Sloot’s alleged murder of Holloway, so he reacted and brutally beaten and strangled Flores with a bloody shirt.

The 24-year-old Dutch national Joran van der Sloot was sentenced to 28 years in a Peruvian prison for the 2010 qualified murder and robbery of 21-year-old Stephany Flores. He was in Lima for a poker tournament, where he found himself on a losing streak.  The professional poker player lured the young woman to his hotel room for a game of online poker, then he reacted with rage and beat her to death. The Mahabharata states that gambling is one the vices which lead to a man’s downfall.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Gambling opens the door to all types of deceit.  Whoever doesn’t dedicate his life to gambling understands that all work and each responsibility have its own fruit.  To gamble means not to know why one is living. Responsibility and honesty get lost simultaneously when playing with money. The illusion of betting is that one can win something good, effortlessly. The idea of good luck contradicts the law of karma.  Time that is lost in gambling should be devoted to improving family relationships, because the family is our best treasure.  One has no right to put others in anxiety; the well-being of one’s beloved family is at risk. No one will find blessedness in games of chance, nor in material gain.

House of Wisdom :
“Gambling - The real fortune is inside of you”
http://www.houseofwisdom.org/english/index.html
http://www.houseofwisdom.org/english/advices_society_realfortune.htm

VIDEO OF MARINES DRAWS U.S. CONDEMNATION

MARINES GUILTY OF SHOCKING
ACT AGAINST TALIBAN IDENTIFIED

Washington (Washington Post) - The Obama administration on Thursday strongly condemned a viral video that depicts Marines desecrating corpses as U.S. officials tried to prevent a popular backlash in Afghanistan and forestall damage to nascent peace talks with the Taliban.  

As the images of Marines urinating on three bloodied bodies circulated around the globe, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta denounced the video as “utterly deplorable” and called Afghan President Hamid Karzai to assure him that the incident would be thoroughly investigated. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed “total dismay” at the apparent behavior by Marines.

“Actions like those are not only illegal but are contrary to the values of a professional military and serve to erode the reputation of our joint force”, said Gen Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  The video, which runs for less than a minute, depicts four Marines in combat gear laughing and joking as they urinate on three male bodies lined up on the ground next to a toppled wheelbarrow. The caption refers to the corpses as “dead Talibans,” but it was unclear whether they were civilians or fighters killed after a battle. A Marine official said investigators were questioning two individuals whom they had preliminarily identified as being in the video. The Marine Corps is “fairly confident” that all four were members of the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Two of the soldiers appearing in a shocking video showing marines urinating on corpses of the Taliban militants have been identified.  “This conduct is entirely inappropriate for the US military and does not reflect the standards of values our armed forces are sworn to uphold,” Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said in a statement.  This apparent desecration of the dead is an immoral behavior that goes against military code of conduct and should be internationally repudiated.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

The prime protector of the citizens in the Sanskrit language is called a Kshatriya. This word means warrior, but primarily as one who protects people from kshat or unhappiness.  Such a Kshatriya is said to display the characteristics of bravery, courage, vigilance, charity, the ability to display his prowess, and not retreating from battle. (Mb. 6.42.43)  Kshatriyas should take up their weapons only to protect others, such as individuals and the community at large. (Ramayana 3.10.3)  A Kshatriya must exhibit the appropriate conduct toward his subordinates. He can exercise control of the other classes in society and is thus called a statesman. He thus must exhibit impartiality in executing his duties without favoritism or disdain toward anyone. He must have consideration for the benefit of all.

Dr Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
“Purpose and Function of Government
According to Mahabharata”
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/purpose_of_government_according_to_mahabharata.htm
http://stephenknapp.wordpress.com/2009/06/30/purpose-and-function-of-government-according-to-mahabharata/

 

INTERFAITH PANEL OFFERED BY JEWISH FEDERATION

HAVDALLAH, COMMUNITY DINNER
AND INTERFAITH PANEL DISCUSSION

www.chattanoogan.com - The Jewish Federation from Chattanooga city in the US state of Tennessee will host a Havdallah, a community dinner, and an interfaith panel discussion on life and the afterlife on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 7 p.m. at the Jewish Cultural Center, 5461 North Terrace Road.  The evening will begin with Havdallah, a very short ceremony that marks the symbolic end of the Sabbath (Shabbat in Hebrew) and/or religious holidays. Havdallah ushers in the new week and during the ceremony, individuals use all five senses, tasting wine, smell spices, seeing and feeling the flame of a special braided candle, and hearing special Havdallah blessings. Following the ceremony and a community dinner, members of an interfaith panel will present how each of his religions deal with life and the afterlife.

Each of the members of the interfaith panel will exhibit each religion’s view by answering the following questions: - How does his faith define/interpret the word, “heaven?” - How does his faith define/interpret the word, “hell?” - What are the views/beliefs/understandings of his faith regarding sin? - What are the views/beliefs/understandings of his faith regarding reward and punishment? The evening will conclude with a facilitated question-and-answer session with the audience. Members of the panel include Rabbi Bill Tepper (Mizpah Congregation), Imam Plemon ElAmin (representing the Muslim community), Father Stavros Ballas (Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church), and Reggie Lisemby (Brainerd Baptist Church).

The Jewish Cultural Center at Chattanooga, USA, offers classes and exhibits rooted in Jewish values; however, all programs are open to everyone regardless of religious affiliation. In a world of constant struggle between religions, this interfaith panel discussion is a right path towards mutual understanding.  Besides, the rapid rise of fundamentalism threatens the religious freedom for all of us. That is why interfaith dialogue is more important now than ever.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

The purpose of Interfaith is to create an understanding about the other systems and their rudimentary values to enforce mutual respect, even though not reverence … 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. ... In the present context of Interfaith, cultural exchange, in its level-headed way, can tremendously lubricate collective survival mechanism. Festivals and art forms of every faith and system are to be demonstrated with their essential messages, so that it can kindle involvement in their own people and others. This get together shatters the cloud of selfishness and egoism, thereby binding everybody with inborn love.

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