GROWTH CHEMICAL LEADS TO EXPLODING WATERMELONS

CHINA: “EXPLODING” WATERMELONS
PUT SPOTLIGHT ON FARMING PRACTICES

http://www.presstv.ir - Chinese farmers in the country’s eastern Jiangsu Province have lost acres of their watermelons after the fruits started exploding one by one.  A report by the China Central Television said farmers were using too much of the growth promoter chemical so that they could get their fruit to market ahead of the peak season and increase their profits.  According to the Xinhua, 20 farmers in a Jiangsu village planted imported seeds from Japan, from whom 10 households said their watermelons began exploding last month.  Farmer Liu Mingsuo told Xinhua that more than two-thirds of his crop had blown up after he used chemicals to boost their growth.  Liu is, however, the only farmer from the 10 households who used chemicals.  Experts cannot explain why the chemical-free watermelons have the same fate as the non-chemical ones.

Chinese regulations don’t forbid the drug, and it is allowed in the United States on kiwi fruit and grapes. But the report underscores how farmers in China are abusing both legal and illegal chemicals, with many farms misusing pesticides and fertilizers.   China has approved the use of growth chemical - like the growth accelerator forchlorfenuron - under certain quotas and tests conducted so far show that the chemical is safe.  
People, however, are more concerned about food safety and experts believe a quality tracking system should be introduced to ensure food safety and inform the public about all stages of the food chain.

Watermelons have been bursting by the score in eastern China after farmers gave them overdoses of growth chemicals during wet weather.  Prices over the past year prompted many farmers to jump into the watermelon market.  The aim of gaining more profit leads farmers to depend on chemical fertilisers and many have no choice but to cut down their trees and to poison their soil with cheap fertilisers to produce cash crops for sell.  People have been taught to want more and more, and the result is pollution, hunger and war. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

You have to feed 16 pounds of grain and soybeans to a cow to produce one pound of edible beef. In other words, to produce 500 pounds of meat on a 700 pound cow requires that the cow consume 8,000 pounds of grains and soybeans. ... In environmental matters, for instance, the largest culprit against the environment is the farm industry. Because it takes 16 times more food to feed cattle than what we receive in return, that means we are using 16 times more land than is necessary to produce food. And this land is mostly cleared forests and drained wetlands, which are growing in short supply, and are essential for the biological diversity of nature. ... The largest polluter of rivers, lakes, and underground aquifers (for water wells) is not the manufacturing industry, but the agriculture industry, by the runoff from chemical fertilizers, manure and pesticides.

Śripad Yajnavalkya Dasa :
“Defending Dharma”
http://stephen-knapp.com/defending_dharma.htm
http://es.scribd.com/doc/46973472/DefendingDharma

‘TORERO’ BULLFIGHTING PLAY FOR 21ST CENTURY

THE BULLFIGHTER REFUSES TO FIGHT
THE BULL DUE TO HE HAS BECOME HINDU

http://www.abc.es - The company “Suripanta Theatre” opened last Friday, in the city of Navalmoral dela Mata (Cáceres), Spain, the XXI edition of Amateur Theatre Festival “Villa de Navalmoral “, which will run from 6 to May 28 with seven plays and the closing gala.  “Suripanta Theater” goes to the House of Culture with its latest production entitled “Torero (the last three lots of the Macareno Antonio)” a comedy that tells how a matador, Antonio El Macareno , refuses at the last minute to enter the arena, having the overflowed square and in front of his own people, and even during full show!.  Entrenched in the chapel, hidden in his hands the reason for such a grave decision: he has converted to Hinduism.  In the scene, you can see - as in a parade - all those rascals who live at the expense of the bullfighter: parents, sister, girlfriend and even the village priest, who has vocation of attorney.  All with one intention: to get him into the ring no matter what.

The dialectical struggle between the bullfighter and the group around him that live at his expense inevitably end in a violent and tragicomic denouement.  ‘Torero’ shows us a tragicomic and hilarious portrait of the human condition in a dissolute, amoral society.  Arturo Ruíz, David Desola - the play writers - and Esteve Ferrer - director of the show - said:  “‘Torero’ does not intend to reflect the bullfighting world as it is alive today.  Our interest is to focus on the figure of the matador and his environment, full of village brides, close family members, attorneys and rascals of low birth who feed from the ephemeral success of those who risk their lives in the ring.   ‘Torero’ is an anti-hero who fights and bleeds to survive.”

“Torero, las tres ultimas suertes de Antonio el Macareno,” is a picaresque comedy or grotesque tragicomedy which is now touring Spain.  The play’s plot is that a famous bullfighter refuses to enter the bull ring, even though the place is packed with his fans, because he has converted to Hinduism and has a crisis of conscience.  His fiance, family and a priest try to dissuade him.  The plot of this play reminds us of the purifying power of the process of Krishna Consciousness, as happened with Srila BB Harijan Maharaj who had been a bullfighter by profession and became a perfect example of dedicated and wonderful Vaishnava. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

Havi Das (Ilan Chester), a disciple of Prabhupada, went to Bogota and began to chant Hare Krishna and one of the first people that attended his lecture was Bhimala Srila Harijan Maharaj.  Now, at that time, he was known as Miguel Antonio Chávez, and by coincidence or by special destination, he was a bullfighter by profession, which is not exactly a Vaishnava style profession.  He was a frustrated bullfighter because he did not want to know anything more about that, he wanted to know about the spiritual life.  Then he attended the class and he liked it so much that he moved two days later along with Havi Das and they began to found the first temple of Krishna Consciousness in Colombia.  BB Srila Harijan Maharaj represented the ideals of Krishna Consciousness and when he left this world he had already preached in many places, he made devotees in Chile, USA, Germany and Colombia, left many churches, and above all, he won the hearts of all devotees in a very special way.

Śrīla Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Mahārāja :
“Welcome to Krishna’s Family”
“The Message of Srila Prabhupada - The Most Precious Gift”
http://bhaktipedia.org/espanol/index.php?n=paramadvaiti_ba.bienvenidos_a_la_familia_04

SWISS SAY NO TO EUTHANASIA RESTRICTIONS

VOTERS IN SWISS CITY OF ZURICH VOTED
AGAINST ASSISTED SUICIDE RESTRICTIONS

Zurich (AFP) - Voter in the Swiss region of Zurich, which has become known as a hub for “death tourism”, have voted against plans to restrict assisted suicide to local residents.  The motion brought by the conservative Federal Democratic Union party sought to impose a one-year residence requirement in the Zurich canton for those who resort to legally sanctioned assisted suicide.  A locally based association, Dignitas, has gained notoriety over the past decade by offering more than 1,000 foreigners, mainly terminally ill people, the opportunity to take advantage of relatively permissive Swiss laws.  The motion was rejected by the 78 % of the votes.  A second motion calling for a national ban on assisted suicide was also rejected by the 84 % of the votes.  Passive help for those wanting to end their lives is allowed and efforts to change the Swiss laws have failed.

In Switzerland a person may be given “passive” assistance to suicide, such as being supplied with a lethal dose of a drug, provided it is not done for selfish motives or for gain.  Active assistance, including helping the person to take the drug or administering it, is forbidden.  Dignitas, a Swiss organisation founded by controversial human rights activist Ludwig Minelli that assists the terminally ill, said that by the end of 2010 it had worked with 1,138 people seeking to end their lives.  The list includes 592 people from Germany, 102 from France, 118 Swiss nationals, 19 Italians, 18 US nationals and 16 people from Spain.  The group says that in the last decade it has approached more than 1,000 foreigners about benefiting from Swiss assisted suicide laws.

Voters in Zurich overwhelmingly rejected yesterday proposed bans on assisted suicide and “suicide tourism” -  foreigners travelling to Switzerland to get help ending their lives.  Euthanasia, assisted suicide or "mercy killing” is only legal in the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and the US state of Oregon.  The Greek word euthanasia means, "dying well".  To have a "good dead" is possible if at the time of death one remembers God, despite of all adverses circumstances.  The Greek word euthanasia means, "dying well".  To have a "good dead" is possible if at the time of death one remembers God, despite of all adverse circumstances. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

Euthanasia is now a subject of moral inquiry, and is controversial because it concerns the right of people to kill themselves deliberately. ... Euthanasia is a medical procedure that is performed to end the life of an evicted human being.  Supporters of such a procedure are convinced that this is a great task; therefore, they say it is the best to do when face suffering; others call this work an “act of compassion.”  However, they forget the importance and seriousness of death.  These people are unaware that at the moment of death one has to receive special attention, since it is the last moment of his life:  God created death for the soul can transmigrate into another body, so this is the way to satisfy all desires and pay all debts that have been accumulated.

Śrīla Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Mahārāja :
“Vedic Wisdom”: “Euthanasia. Dying with Dignity?”
http://vwonline.blogspot.com/  -  http://www.sabiduriavedica.org
http://bhaktipedia.org/espanol/index.php?n=sabidurias_vedicas.eutanasia

GUN DEATHS HIGHER AMONG URBAN YOUTH

OFFICIAL CENTERS IN U.S. REPORTS
GUN CRIMES HIGH AMONGST TEENS

http://www.medpagetoday.com - Firearm homicide rates among 10- to 19-year-olds exceeded the combined rate for all ages in many metropolitan areas during 2006-2007, according to the CDC.  Interestingly, youth suicides from firearms were lower than for all ages combined during the same period, according to the May 13 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.  Compared with the national rate of 4.2 per 100,000 persons per year, firearm homicide rates for the 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas averaged 5.2 overall; the highest rates being in the central cities. In all, 66% of these areas had rates exceeding the national rate.  The youth firearm homicide rate was 6.8 for the 50 largest metropolitan areas combined, and exceeded the all-ages rate in 80% of metropolitan areas.
 
The report looked at firearm homicide and suicide rates in 50 metropolitan statistical areas, which are defined by as “a core area containing a substantial population nucleus, together with adjacent communities.”  Examples of metropolitan areas are “New York; northern New Jersey; Long Island” and “Los Angeles; Long Beach; Santa Ana.”  The 62 central cities such as New York, Newark, N.J., and Chicago referred to in the report generally comprise the core areas.  The CDC suggested that national and state prevention programs directed at reducing firearm violence should focus on youths, particularly in central cities.  Suicides and homicides by guns were the fourth and fifth leading causes of death in the U.S. during 2006-2007, together accounting for approximately 30,000 fatalities each year.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published that more firearm homicides were completed by 10 to 19 year old Americans in metropolitan areas than all other areas.  Large metropolitan areas suffer about two-thirds of all firearm homicides in the United States, with inner cities most affected.  To reduce the carnage, the country needs to teach young people ways to resolve conflicts without violence.  In big cities there are technological advances, a lot of money, luxury and pleasure, but young people do not find meaning in their lives and are prone to drugs and gun violence. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

Great progress ... So much on every level medically, militarily. It used to be bows and arrows and guns, then machine guns, then big big guns, then bombs, then atom bombs, then nuclear bombs. ... So with all this progress why the greatest medical problem is mental health, mental disease, 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://radhanathswami.info/  -  http://www.radhanath-swami.net/

WOMAN BEHEADED AT SHOP

BRITISH WOMAN BEHEADED IN STORE
ON SPANISH ISLAND BY 'PROPHET OF GOD'

http://www.smh.com.au - A Man has beheaded a woman in front of stunned shoppers at a supermarket on the Spanish holiday island of Tenerife.  The suspect, a 28-year-old homeless Bulgarian, was chased, tackled and detained by security guards after he fled the store brandishing the head in his hands.  Britain's Foreign Office confirmed the 62-year-old victim was a British citizen but were yet to contact her next of kin, who is believed to be an expat living in Tenerife.  The killing took place at 10.30am local time on Friday in the southern town of Arona, 15 kilometres north of the beach resort of Los Cristianos.  Colin Kirby, a local magazine reporter, spoke to an English couple who claimed they saw the man walk in to the shop and stab the woman repeatedly with a sword-like blade.  After the attack, the bloodstained man reportedly ran on to the street carrying the victim's head, telling passers-by: ''This is my treasure.'' He also yelled: ''God is on Earth.''

Some witnesses presumed the man was carrying the head of a mannequin.  Kirby, who was outside the shop, said: ''I heard people shouting and screaming and making a commotion. A Hispanic-looking guy, very scruffy, was walking behind me muttering to himself, carrying what I thought was a joke head by the hair, with blood. It made me think of Clash of the Titans, gorgons. I thought, 'It's a joke.'''  
Mayor Jose Alberto Gonzalez said the attack appeared to be random and had been recorded on the supermarket's security cameras. Police confirmed the alleged killer had previous convictions for violence and had been in a psychiatric hospital.

A man randomly attacks and beheads a British 60-year-old woman in a supermarket on the Spanish resort island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands.  The woman was shopping when a 28-year-old Bulgarian man stabbed her to death while claiming to be a “prophet of God”.   He then hacked off her head and ran from the store carrying it by the hair.   At every step there is a danger waiting for us.  There is no safe place in this material world.  Only the chanting of the Holy Name of Krishna cleanses the mirror of the heart and extinguishes the fire of misery in this ocean of birth and death. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

Just as the evening lotus blooms in the moon’s cooling rays, the heart begins to blossom in the nectar of the Name, and at last the soul awakens in full knowledge of its real inner treasure - a life of love with Krsna in the highest mellows of devotion. Again and again tasting nectar, the souls dive and surface in the ever-increasing ocean of joy.  In this way, all phases of the self are fully satisfied and purified by bathing in the nectarine mellows of the Holy Name of Krsna. Therefore, let the Sankirttan of the Holy Name be victorious. ... We are forced to come into creation and again die. The mundane wave catches the soul which mingles with that vibration in different stages.  That is stopped by the second effect of Sri Krsna Sankirttan and we become liberated ... from the great conflagration of threefold miseries.

Śrīla Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Mahārāja :
“Our Inner Treasure : The Spirit of the Name”
http://bvml.org/SBRSM/oittsotn.html
Bhaktivedanta Memorial Library

TALIBAN SUICIDE BOMBS KILL 80 IN PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN SUICIDE BOMBS KILL 80  
TO TAKE BIN LADEN REVENGE

Habqadar, Pakistan - A pair of Taliban suicide bombers attacked paramilitary police recruits eagerly heading home for a break after months of training, killing 80 people Friday in the first act of retaliation for the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden.  In claiming responsibility, the al-Qaida linked militant group cited anger at Pakistan’s military for failing to stop the American incursion on their soil.  The blasts in the northwest were a reminder of the savagery of Islamist insurgents in Pakistan. Tensions also have risen between the U.S. and Islamabad over allegations that some elements of Pakistani security forces had been harboring bin Laden, who died in a May 2 raid in Abbottabad, a garrison town about three hours’ drive from the scene of the bombing. “We have done this to avenge the Abbottabad incident,” Ahsanullah Ahsan, said spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban. He warned that the group was also planning attacks on Americans living inside Pakistan.

The bombers blew themselves up in Shabqadar at the main gate of the facility for the Frontier Constabulary, a poorly equipped but front-line force in the battle against al-Qaida and allied Islamist groups like the Pakistani Taliban close to the Afghan border. Like other branches of Pakistan’s security forces, it has received U.S. funding to try to sharpen its skills. The scene was littered with shards of glass mixed with blood and flesh. The explosions destroyed at least 10 vans. It was the first major militant attack in Pakistan since bin Laden’s death on May 2, and the deadliest this year. Bin Laden, the Sept. 11 mastermind, and at least four others were killed by U.S. Navy SEALs who raided his compound in Abbottabad. 

Pakistani Taliban struck the first blow yesterday in what is feared will be a series of deadly attacks to avenge the death of Osama bin Laden, killing at least 66 paramilitary policemen and 14 civilians were killed and around 120 people were wounded, in a double suicide bombing near the northwest city of Peshawar.  “This was the first revenge for Osama’s martyrdom. Wait for bigger attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan,” a spokesman for the Taliban warned.  People don't have to fight for revenge or respond with the same violence, because desire for vengeance only lead to the destruction of the worlds. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

While the Kurukshetra fighting was going on, the snake Ashvasena remembered how Arjuna had killed his mother as she was trying to escape the Khandava forest fire set by Agni.  Desiring to gain revenge against Arjuna, he entered the arrow that was being kept by Karna for Arjuna’s death.  When Karna released that arrow, meteors fell from the sky, and the demigods, headed by Indra thought that Arjuna would be killed.  Seeing the blazing snake mouthed arrow come toward Arjuna, Lord Krishna pressed down on the terrace of the chariot and caused it to sink into the ground about a foot and a half.  When this happened the horses were forced down to the ground.  Karna’s deadly arrow then swept off Arjuna’s crown and smashed it to pieces. Upon witnessing the feat of Lord Krishna, which saved Arjuna’s life, the demigods showered flowers and beat on their drums.

Commentary of the “Mahabharata Summation”
to the 4th Chapter of Karna Parva - “The Death of Karna”
New Vrindavana community, June 3, 1985.
http://philosophy.ru/library/asiatica/indica/itihasa/mahabharata/eng/

1152 CONGOLESE RAPED DAILY, STUDY FINDS

48 WOMEN RAPED EVERY HOUR
IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Dakar, Senegal ( http://www.time.com ) - The African nation of Congo has been called the worst place on earth to be a woman. A new study released Wednesday shows that it’s even worse than previously thought: 1,152 women are raped every day, a rate equal to 48 per hour.  That rate is 26 times more than the previous estimate of 16,000 rapes reported in one year by the United Nations.  Congo, a nation of 70 million people that is equal in size to Western Europe, has been plagued by decades of war. Its vast forests are rife with militias that have systematically used rape to destroy communities.  On average 29 Congolese women out of every 1,000 had been raped nationwide.  “The number of reported violations are just the tip of the iceberg of actual incidents,” said Margot Wallstrom, the U.N. special representative for sexual violence in conflict.

The highest frequency of rape was found in North Kivu, the province most affected by the conflict, where 67 women per 1,000 had been raped at least once.  “The message is important and clear: Rape in (Congo) has metastasized amid a climate of impunity, and has emerged as one of the great human crises of our time,” said Michael VanRooyen, the director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.  
Even in the parts of Congo that are not affected by the war, a woman is 58 times more likely to be raped than a woman in the United States, where the annual rate is 0.5 per 1,000 women.

Congo has endured decades of conflict, characterized by the use of brutal sexual violence against civilians, with mass rapes still regular in this country of a population of around 60 million.  Michelle Hindin, specialized professor in gender-based violence - says that more than 400,000 women had been raped in Congo during the a 12-month period between 2006 and 2007.  To satisfy their unlimited appetite for lust and sense enjoyment some people performed terrible cruel acts towards others, without thinking that they are actually harming to themselves because those are their own sisters and brothers. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

Caught in a trap of many needs, the soul in a gross material body suffers.  To drive away these sufferings, he acts in many ways.  To drive away hunger and thirst, he struggles to get food and drink.  So these things may come easily, he labours to collect money.  To drive away the cold, he collects clothing.  To stop the thirst for sense pleasures he becomes married and performs many other activities also. ... Tossed about by the six waves - lust, anger, greed, bewilderment, pride and envy - he engages in fighting, argument, violence to others, tormenting others, robbing others’ wealth, cruelty, senseless pride, and a host of other evil deeds.  So he can live independently, he builds his own house and performs other deeds.  In this way the soul in Maya’s prison struggles day and night to attain pleasure and stop distress.

Śrīla Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thākura :
Jaiva-dharma (The Universal Religion)
“Eternal Religion and Sambandha, Abhidheya and Prayojana”
“The Individual Souls Swallowed by Maya”
Bhaktivedanta Memorial Library -  http://bvml.org/SBTP/JD/index.html#16

PEERING INTO MONKS’ MINDS TO UNRAVEL MEDITATION MYSTERY

BRAINS OF BUDDHIST MONKS  
SCANNED IN MEDITATION STUDY

New York (BBC News) - In a laboratory tucked away off a noisy New York City street, a soft-spoken neuroscientist has been placing Tibetan Buddhist monks into a car-sized brain scanner to better understand the ancient practice of meditation.  But could this unusual research not only unravel the secrets of leading a harmonious life but also shed light on some of the world’s more mysterious diseases?  Zoran Josipovic, a research scientist and professor at New York University, says he has been peering into the brains of monks while they meditate in an attempt to understand how their brains reorganise themselves during meditation.  “Meditation research, particularly in the last 10 years or so, has shown to be very promising because it points to an ability of the brain to change and optimise in a way we didn’t know previously was possible.”

When one relaxes into a state of oneness, the neural networks in experienced practitioners change as they lower the psychological wall between themselves and their environments, and this reorganization in the brain may lead to what some meditators claim to be a deep harmony between themselves and their surroundings, Dr Josipovic says.  The brain appears to be organized into two networks which are rarely fully active at the same time, and like a seesaw, when one rises, the other one dips down.   Dr Josipovic has found that some monks and other experienced meditators have the ability to keep both neural networks active at the same time during meditation - that is to say, they have found a way to lift both sides of the seesaw simultaneously.

“Meditation research has shown to be very promising as it points to an ability of the brain to change and optimize.  When one relaxes into a state of oneness, the neural networks - in experienced practitioners - change as they lower the psychological wall between themselves and their environments,” Josipovic says.  This brain’s reorganization makes meditators to claim they have found a deep harmony between themselves and their surroundings.  A rubbish-brain will be only cleaned when we purify our heart by serving the Guru and having the lotus feet of God as the highest object of meditation. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

Our heart’s concern is with ecstasy, charm, and sweetness. And this is felt by the heart, not by the brain, so the heart has been given the most importance. The next effect is felt in the plane of knowledge. ... By getting a taste of Krsna consciousness, the heart is captured, and when the heart is captured, the ecstasy of love of Godhead, prema, begins to flow.  Being satisfied, the heart will say, “This is what I was searching for!” Then, the brain will follow, thinking, “Yes, there can be no doubt, this is the highest goal of our search. Dissolve everything else.” The heart will say, “I have attained prema, divine love - this is the highest thing! Stop all works from now on.” ... When the heart is captured, the brain approves, and our karma, energizing in the wrong direction, stops. Krsna consciousness is the real wealth of the heart.

Śrīla Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Mahārāja :
“The Golden Volcano of Divine Love”
“Friend of the Fallen” - “The Heart Wants Ecstasy”
http://bvml.org/SBRSM/tgvodl.html

HINDU SWIMSUIT GODDESS OUTRAGE

INDIAN FURY OVER AUSTRALIA SWIMWEAR
IMAGES OF HINDU GODDESS LAKSHMI

http://www.bbc.co.uk - Images of the Hindu goddess of wealth displayed on swimwear at an Australian fashion show have sparked a legal battle in India.  The Allahabad High Court has issued notices to the Hindustan Times for publishing the photos that show female models wearing the swimwear.  Images of the goddess, Lakshmi, were displayed on the garments.  The fashion show attracted worldwide media attention and was held in the Australian city of Sydney last week.  Pictures of the controversial swimwear were published in many newspapers, leading to protests in towns and cities across India.  “The sentiments of billions of Hindus have been hurt and this issue will not get resolved by presenting an apology. We feel this is a deliberate act to get cheap publicity,” said protesters belonging to radical Hindu groups such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal who took to the streets of Delhi on Monday, shouting slogans against the Australian government.

The swimsuit, from Byron Bay label Lisa Blue, shows Lakshmi - the goddess of wealth and beauty - on the front and back of the cutaway design.  The label’s creator, Lisa Burke, has issued an apology on Facebook and Twitter.  “This range will never be available for sale in any stockists or retail outlets anywhere in the world,” Ms Burke posted on the label’s Facebook page on Saturday.  “We apologise to the Hindu community and take this matter very seriously.”  But the statement was not enough.  Protesters who took to the streets of some Indian cities, waving photos of the swimsuit and burning the Australian flag,  continued demonstrations over the weekend, because the swimwear display had offended their feelings.

“It’s disturbing to see the goddess Lakshmi, who is highly revered in Hinduism, printed on a swimsuit,” said Hindu statesman Rajan Zed.  “Lakshmi was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not for pushing swimwear in fashion shows for mercantile greed of an apparel company.”  The designer of the brand, Lisa Burke, decided to apologize to those affected, discontinue production of the garment and remove all copies of its stores.  Lakshmidevi, the goddess of fortune and Lord Vishnu’s consort and shakti (or potency) is worshipped every day by Hindus and her image is considered to be sacred. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

Lakshmi, or Sri when she is especially known as the goddess of beauty (though sometimes considered to be separate entities), is the Goddess of fortune, wealth, power, and loveliness.  Wealth means not only money, but also the higher values and qualities of life.  The power of the mind and intellect is also a must if one wants to be truly wealthy, which includes spiritual wealth.  These are prerequisites to attaining spiritual knowledge. ... As the spouse of Lord Vishnu, she appears whenever He does in each of His appearances, such as Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, or Krishna. In each of these appearances, she appeared as Padma or Kamala, Dharani, Sita, and Rukmini respectively.  They are inseparable.   Lakshmi is also known in Her other eight forms as Veera, Adhi, Gaja, Vijaya, Dhana, Aiswarya, Santhan, and Dhanya.

Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
“Gods and Goddesses of Vedic Culture”
“A Quick Guide to the Primary Divinities of Sanatana-Dharma”
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/gods_and_goddesses_of_vedic_culture.htm
http://www.stephen-knapp.com  -  http://www.stephenknapp.info/

CHRISTIANS PROTEST VIOLENCE IN CAIRO DEMONSTRATION

EGYPT’S CHRISTIANS CONTINUE
PROTESTS AGAINST SECTARIAN VIOLENCE  

Cairo (http://www.voanews.com) - Coptic Christians demonstrated in Cairo on Monday in protest of Muslim-Christian clashes that left 12 dead over the weekend in sectarian violence.  Some of the protesters gathered outside the headquarters for state-run television where a sit-in began on Sunday.  Demonstrators are demanding that Egypt’s Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi step down and that the arsonists who burned two Coptic churches be brought to justice.  State media have reported that 12 people were killed and more than 220 wounded during two days of sectarian clashes that began late Saturday in the poverty-stricken Cairo slum of Imbaba. Medical sources said 65 of the injured were shot. 

The demonstration came as Egyptian security on Monday detained 23 Egyptians, including two blamed for sparking the riots.  Military leaders said Sunday that 190 people detained in connection with the violence will face trial in a military court.  Egypt’s civilian leaders have promised a swift response to the clashes including more security at houses of worship and a new ban on demonstrations outside churches and mosques.  The violence has deepened fear among Christians, who complain of poor police protection and a new tolerance of Muslim extremists, raising the risk of new flashpoints in a country dogged by poverty, soaring prices and a faltering economy.

Hundreds of Egyptians, many of them Coptic Christians, demonstrated on Monday in Cairo to protest Muslim-Christian clashes that left 12 dead and a church burned.  Demonstrators feared that some in Egypt seek to create an Islamic state that would marginalize the Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 % of Egypt’s nearly 80 million population.  There are quarrels between races, religions, countries, and even next door neighbours.  While we live in the bodily concept, seeing the differences between us, we always feel that our group, culture or religion, is the best; and this is the beginning of the disagreement among people. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

There are five great enemies of peace which inhabit all of us: avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride. These also take shape in our passions, prejudices, vices, weaknesses, and our intellectual and spiritual ignorance. If these were removed, we would enjoy perpetual peace.  However, these are not qualities found in relations between people.  Rather, they are within ourselves, hampering our ability to relate.  We not only have to work on problems that exist in our relations with others, but also on the problems that exist within us. So our primary enemies are inside us. Thus, in order to grow in our understanding of each other, it is first better to rid ourselves of these internal enemies than to inflict these characteristics out on others. After all, if we want to change the world, the change starts with ourselves.

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

AND RABINDRANATH TAGORE CONTINUES TO LIVE ON ...

INDIA KICKED OFF RABINDRANATH TAGORE
150TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

New Delhi (AFP) - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched the festivities for the poet who won the Nobel in 1913 and who is revered by the world’s 250 million Bengali speakers in India and neighbouring Bangladesh.  The events, planned over one year, aim to stir new interest among a wider audience in the Bengali writer’s novels, music, plays, poems and paintings, the government said.  “A number of commemoration events have (also) been planned abroad, particularly in countries with which Tagore had some association,” Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at a function in New Delhi.  Tagore, who established an open-air university in India’s West Bengal state, also penned the national anthems of both Bangladesh and India. He produced some 50 volumes of poetry including his acclaimed Gitanjali (Song Offerings).  Singh, addressing diplomats and fans from India and Bangladesh, announced an award in the name of the poet.

“A jury headed by the prime minister will select each year a citizen of the world of outstanding public eminence who in his or her life and work epitomizes the high universal ideals that Tagore stood for,” Singh said.  The Prime Minister also announced India’s culture ministry has begun the digitalization of Tagore’s rare paintings and original manuscripts and books.  Tagore, known as the “Bard of the East,” set up Vishwa Bharati in 1921 in the picturesque town of Shantiniketan near Kolkata from the prize money he received from the Nobel Foundation.  The prime minister thanked his Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, for jointly hosting the year-long celebrations.

India began celebrations on Saturday to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of iconic poet and playwright Rabindranath Tagore, the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize for literature.  There is a need for a critical analysis of the works of Rabindranath Tagore to understand the relevance of his ideologies, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said today.  No doubt, Tagore was a nice poet from the materialistic point of view, but not from the spiritualistic one.  Vaishnavas prefer to read Vyasadeva’s poetry, such as the Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is far superior, even from the literary point of view. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

Gopala Krsna: How do you feel about Rabindranath Tagore, the poet?
Prabhupada: ... God consciousness is on the spiritual platform. ... Generally people are in bodily concept of life.  Therefore body means the senses.  They want to satisfy the senses.  And then mental platform, they are satisfying the mind by philosphical speculation or some poetry.  So, Rabindranath Tagore, he belongs to the mental platform.  So one has to transcend the bodily platform, mental platform, intellectual platform and come to the simple spiritual platform. ... So Rabindranath Tagore belonged to the mental platform - a little bit higher than persons who are on the bodily platform.  But perfection of life comes when one comes to the spiritual platform.  That we are giving directly, Krsna.  Immediately.  That is the difference between Rabindranath Tagore and our activities.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
Lectures & Classes - 710728BS.NY
Sri Brahma-samhita, Lecture - New York, July 28, 1971
The Complete Works of HDG ACBSP

ALBINOS IN TANZANIA KILLED OR RAPED AS AIDS “CURE”

ALBINOS RAPED AS AIDS “CURE” OR
KILLED FOR BLACK MAGIC PURPOSES

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – Hundreds of albinos are thought to have been killed for black magic purposes in Tanzania and albino girls are being raped because of a belief they offer a cure for AIDS, a Canadian rights group said on Thursday.  At least 63 albinos, including children, are known to have been killed, mostly in the remote northwest of the country.  “We believe there are hundreds and hundreds of killings in Tanzania, but only a small number are being reported to the police,” Peter Ash, founder and director of Under The Same Sun (UTSS), told Reuters.  “There is belief that if you have relations with a girl with albinism, you will cure AIDS. So there are many girls with albinism who are being raped in this country because of this belief, which is a false belief.”  Around 1.4 million Tanzanians among a population of 40.7 million have the HIV virus that leads to AIDS.

Albino hunters kill their victims and harvest their blood, hair, genitals and other body parts for potions that witchdoctors say bring luck in love, life and business.  “(It is believed) a person with albinism is a curse.  They are from the devil, they are not human, they do not die, they simply disappear,” said Ash.  Ernest Kimaya, head of the Tanzania Albino society and a sufferer of the pigment disorder, said social stigma prevented many girls from reporting rape, making it difficult to say how many albinos had been sexually abused.  Activists last week reported three murders of teenage albino boys from the same family in northern Tanzania, who were poisoned and their bones later robbed from their graves.

Hundreds of albinos have been killed for black magic purposes in Tanzania and many albino young women have been raped in the belief that having sex with albino girls can cure AIDS, and that drinking blood from albinos promotes health and makes you more powerful.  The business of buying and selling body parts of albinos - which shamans used to make “magic potions” for good luck in love, life and business - move a lot of money and is very lucrative.  If you are interested in obtaining material benefits by means of black magic or the help of witchcraft spells, you will quickly fall in great disgraces, and only God's mercy can save you. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

In the Malabar district, a section of the brāhmanas are known as Nambudari brāhmanas, and the Bhattathāris are their priests.  Bhattathāris know many tantric black arts, such as the art of killing a person, of bringing him under submission, and of destroying or devastating him.  They are very expert in these black arts, and one such Bhattathāri bewildered the personal servant of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu while the servant accompanied the Lord in His travels through South India.  Somehow or other Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu delivered this Krishnadāsa from the clutches of the Bhattathāri.  Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is well known as Patita-pāvana, the savior of all fallen souls, and He proved this in His behavior toward His personal servant, Krishnadāsa, whom He saved.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
Śrī Caitanya Caritāmrita - Madhya-līlā - Chapter 1 - Verse 112
“The Later Pastimes of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu”
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase

SUICIDE CAR BOMBER KILLS MORE THAN 20 IN IRAQ

SUICIDE CAR BOMBING IN IRAQ
KILLS UP TO 25 AND WOUNDS 80

(Reuters) - A car bomber killed more than 20 people and wounded 80 on Thursday at a police building in the mainly Shi’ite city of Hilla, an official said, as Iraq braced for revenge attacks after U.S. commandos killed Osama bin Laden.  Iraq’s army and police have been on high alert since American forces shot dead the al Qaeda leader and security officials said they had received intelligence that the Sunni Islamist group’s Iraqi wing would carry out revenge attacks.  The suicide bomber rammed his car into the entrance of a police headquarters in the center of Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, during a shift change at around 6:40 am (11:40 p.m. EDT), when many police officers were outside the building.

A hospital source in Hilla said the blast killed 25 and wounded 83.  Iraqi officials often give conflicting tolls.  Iraq has been a major battlefield for al Qaeda since the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.  Dozens of bombings and other attacks are still mounted each month, although U.S. and Iraqi officials say al Qaeda in Iraq has been severely degraded in recent years.  Attacks on the army and police are rising ahead of a full withdrawal of U.S. troops by December 31, more than eight years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.  Blast walls in front of the police headquarters in Hilla collapsed and the building was badly damaged, many shops, houses and buildings nearby also were damaged, a Reuters reporter at the scene said.

A suicide car bomb attack on the Iraqi police in south of Baghdad on Thursday killed 25 and wounded another 75.  The attack came as the Iraqi security forces increased security alert in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities as they expected deadly attacks to be carried out by al-Qaida militants in retaliation for the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.  The retaliatory attacks by the death of al-Qaida leader have already begun.  Western governments then return to take revenge and action-reaction cycle continues, and it will not stop until we see the other as a loving brother. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

When we are free from the clutches of separate interest, then all suspicion and doubt will be cleared.  We shall feel this through direct soul experience, the experience of the inner senses that we possess.  Then there will be no need for all our attempts and efforts; they’ll stop.  No special endeavor must be undertaken for our purpose because we have no separate existence.  We are particles in the Infinite and that which is feeding the Infinite will feed us also.  We shall find the general interest everywhere. We are not separate, so there is no necessity of acting for our special interest.  We shall see the divine arrangement for everyone, including every grain of sand.  We are one in the whole and the main current is doing everything, so no karma, no action is necessary on our own behalf.

Śrīla Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Mahārāja :
“Follow the Angels” – ‘The Path of Dedication’
Part One: “Connection with Divinity”
http://bvml.org/SBRSM/FtA.html