Promod Puri's Blog: Hinduism:beyond rituals,customs and traditions, page 51

Farmers Following Gandhi’s Message Of Satyagraha

Why Indian farmers’ protests are being called a ‘satyagraha’ – which means ’embracing the truth’ Sumit Ganguly, Indiana University For the past few months, farmers protesting in India’s capital, New Delhi, have been demanding the repeal of three farm laws that were passed last year. These largely peaceful protests have been referred to as a “satyagraha” by many in the Indian media, politicians and activists. As a political scientist who writes on Indian politics and society, I argue that the choice of this word, which means “embracing the truth,” is important to note. It evokes a long political history that …

Karmas Role In Hinduism For The Self And The society

In creating divine residency in our intellect and consciousness, Hinduism offers a humanistic and enlightened walk paved with disciplined and ethical karmas.

‘The Mauritanian’ rekindles debate over Gitmo detainees’ torture – with 40 still held there

Lisa Hajjar, University of California Santa Barbara “The Mauritanian,” directed by Kevin Macdonald, is the first feature film to dramatize how the war on terror became a war in court. As a sociologist of law and a journalist, I have spent the past two decades researching and writing about the kinds of legal battles the film accurately portrays. My research has included 13 trips to observe military commission trials at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The film stars Tahar Rahim as a Mauritanian named Mohamedou Ould Slahi who is captured and held at the Guantanamo detention center, …

Indian Democracy Not Dead But Acquires Saffron Avatar

By Promod Puri Obsessed with his impulsive cause based on insufficient knowledge and limited perception of Hinduism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertakes a significant transformation of secular Indian democracy towards sectarian nationalism.   With an accelerated pace, the bigoted transformation gets camouflaged by the autonomous and non-partisan institutions like the judiciary, media, and the election commission that have become weak and corrupted in the last few years of Modi’s autocratic rule. There are token signs of Opposition too. But these are either impotent or fragmented in their own regional or ideological formations. Leading this disengaged pack is the dud leadership …

FUTURE OF HUMANITY BASED ON TWO FACTORS

(Based on an essay by Mekhi Dhesi in the blog Rationalising The Universe) Does humanity face a permanent extinction tomorrow, day after tomorrow, a few years, or thousands, millions, or billions of years from now? When will the curtain be down both for the human species and our companions in nature? Two factors can cause this extinction. One is anthropogenic when we as humans are responsible; the other is non-anthropogenic, involving nature itself. Anthropogenic changes cover human activities related to biophysical environments, natural resources, global warming, environmental degradation, ocean acidification and ecological collapse. In the non-anthropogenic category, controlled or getting …

HINDUISM’S COMMITMENT TO SOCIETY AND SELF

The execution of Karma in Hindu thought influences or has a consequence on society as well.  For that reason, societal reconstruction is part of karmas’ obligations to clean up the religion from discriminatory and inhumane practices. All-inclusive full empowerment of women and annihilation of castes as envisioned by Ambedkar are part of these needed corrections to institute human rights traditions in Hinduism. MANAGEMENT OF SELF Whereas religion’s genesis and role have been the management of society, karma’s religiosity implies the self’s administration. This governance of the self gets conducted by conscious and divine living. It is a significant commitment indicating …

$ 1 MILLION OFFER TO STUDY IF CONSCIOUSNESS SURVIVES AFTER DEATH

Does consciousness or ‘Atma’ die too after bodily death? Or it survives to re-enter a new body. A Los Vegas billionaire real estate mogul, Robert Thomas Bigelow, is offering $1 million to help figure out the survival of consciousness after the body becomes lifeless. According to the New York Times, “Last June, four months after bone marrow disease and leukemia claimed the life of his wife of 55 years, Mr. Bigelow quietly founded the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies to support research into what happens after death.” What is consciousness? The dictionary explanation is: “full activity of the mind and …

CELEBRATION OF INDIA’S REPUBLIC DAY:

by Promod Puri Republic Day on January 26 is an official colossal event in India every year to celebrate the adoption of its constitution marking the nation as an independent democratic republic. How does the country look after all these years since its Independence from the British Raj in 1947? Especially when there has been quite an ideological transformation to reweave India’s social and secular fabric in the last few years since the Hindutva forces led by Narendra Modi are at the helm in the nation’s affairs. When explored, the cliché that India is a country of extremes makes it …

POLITICS AND RELIGION IN US PRESIDENTIAL CEREMONIES

Is the Bible or other religious volumes have ritualistic values only on such occasions. Or they offer spiritual inspirations as well. Whatever the reason is, politics has a dependency on religion both for ritualistic functioning and spiritual guidance.

Indulgence in reading can lead to an urge to write about what is read.

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