Promod Puri's Blog: Hinduism:beyond rituals,customs and traditions, page 54

Concept Of Moksha Or Salvation In Hinduism

Moksha or Mukti denotes freedom. It is a much-hyped Hindu traditional thought. In essence, it represents ardent purity to seek Oneness with the Supreme-being.  Moksha covers two allied but different schools under the faculty of moksha-shastra.  One has its base on the concept of eternal salvation from the repeated cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. This rotation of advents is a popular notion among Hindus with the support of reincarnation ideology. Like soteriology, the salvation doctrine, the birth-rebirth cycle to achieve moksha or salvation is called Samsara in Sanskrit. Life is an entanglement of sufferings. Moksha is considered as the ultimate …

Universal Totality

The universe is a totality, indivisible; it is an organic whole. The parts are not separate, we are all existing in a togetherness: the trees, the mountains, the people, the birds, the stars, howsoever far away they may appear, they are all interlinked, all bridged. Even the smallest blade of grass is connected to the farthest star, and it is as significant as the greatest sun. Hindu Mantra Evokes Togetherness: “ Om purnam adah purnam idam purnat purnam udachyate purnasya purnam adaya purnam evavashishyate” Osho Says: “Nothing is insignificant, nothing is smaller than anything else. The part represents the whole …

LIFE REVOLVES AND SURVIVES AROUND MAINTENANCE

Maintenance, maintenance, and maintenance are the mantra that sustains us practically in most aspects of our lives. From personal health to our conveniences, gadgets, computers, and machinery, we are all tied to one crucial essential. And that pivotal element is maintenance. We often talk and care about physical maintenance, body weight, sugar, cholesterol levels, etc.  And then the tuneup of our car or vehicle, upkeep of the house, lawn and building. Parks, gardens, streets, roads, bridges, water pipes, sewer systems, and all the infrastructures undergo routine care, repair and reconstruction. Oversized items maintenance like trucks and planes or any engine …

ATHEISM HAS CREDIBLE INFLUENCE ON RELIGIONS TOO:

God and religion are the two synonymous influences subjected to evolution in humankind’s ongoing social construction. In this evolution, atheism can contribute too because of its credible roots in various religious ideations. The main reason is for its earnest call for humanism in the conduct of our lives. The fact is, since the time God got institutionalized in the religious orders, atheism, despite being firm on His non-existence, has played a challenging and stimulating role in man’s spiritual and divine pursuits. For those reasons, atheism received acceptance as a valid philosophical concept in the religiosity of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and …

The many stories of Diwali share a common theme of triumph of justice

Natasha Mikles, Texas State University As many Indian Americans celebrate the election of the first Black and South Asian woman, Kamala Harris, to the White House, many will also be celebrating the festival of Diwali on Saturday, Nov. 14. Sometimes called the Indian festival of lights, Diwali is arguably the most important holiday of the year for South Asian families. The festival, which is observed by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, lasts five days in its entirety. Traditionally the third day is considered the most important. During this day, families gather to light candles, eat sweets and place lit lamps in …

ELECTION REVEALS TRUE AMERICA

The current election in the United States of America has furnished quite a glimpse of its social behaviour and sentiments through its divided national political scenario. Within its democratic and liberal fundamentals, this is a nation that thrives on extreme racialism and xenophobic temperament in its White supremacist and uncontrolled gun cultures. It is a nation of Nobel laurates sharing their wisdom and knowledge with the rest of the world, while actually, a significant segment of its population lives like a proverbial frog in the well. The US is also a nation where many immigrants, thru some baffling genetic fusion …

Shastras In Hinduism

While traversing along with its ritual, religious and spiritual landscape, we discover on top of it quite a meaningful spectrum of Hinduism’s multi-disciplinary diversity. Its curriculum includes specialized and acknowledged studies and practices in arts, music, and yoga that have earned global fascination. Moreover, the Hindu institution offers an expansive range of inceptive and revealing courses in most pure and applied sciences and social sciences.  All these disciplines are part of the Hindu literature and traditions involving imaginative, investigative, intellectual and cultural pursuits. In Hinduism, ‘shastras’ refer to various schools of knowledge and learning covering most facets of human life …

Perceiving God

God is more than our mindset imagination of being a superhuman governing this universe.A brief and straightforward, but still far from complete, God’s characterization can be: the total of everything and every process in this universe and beyond is God. Everything, known or unknown, that exists is what the universe or Nature is all about. -Promod Puri

VERSATILE PUMPKIN A SUPER VEGETABLE THAT FIGHTS CANCER:

I have strong feelings for pumpkin, mostly when left out in the chill of autumn nights during the Halloween season. It is the most abused and wasted vegetable sacrificing itself to rot and finally dumped in the compost bin. Is that his or her karma carved by custom and tradition! The gigantic orange globe is one of the most nutritious vegetables. Loaded with protein, vitamins A, C, B2 and E, potassium, copper, manganese, and iron, it also carries phosphorus and zinc, and antioxidants that fight cancer cells. So why to waste this super heavyweight produce. There are plenty of recipes …

WHAT IS WRONG WITH FRENCH SECULARISM

France needs pluralistic Secularism – one that tolerates minority ethnic communities' cultural and religious symbols and values.