American Buddhist Net

Monday, Jul. 07, 2008 By MADHUR SINGH

The Tirumala temple, in the south Indian city of Tirupathi, is one of Hinduism's holiest shrines. Over 5,000 pilgrims a day visit this city of seven hills, filling Tirumala's coffers with donations and making it India's richest temple. But since 2002, Tirumala has also been generating revenue from a less likely source: carbon credits. For decades, the temple's community kitchen has fed nearly 15,000 people, cooking 30,000 meals a day. Five years ago, Tirumala adopted solar cooking technology, allowing it to dramatically cut down on the amount of diesel fuel it uses. The temple now sells the emission reduction credits it earns to a Swiss green-technology investor, Good Energies Inc.

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July 7, 2008

President Pratibha Patil Monday called for strong social and community action to eliminate social evils like dowry, child marriage and female feoticide.

Inaugurating the platinum jubilee celebrations of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), the governing body of India's richest temple, she also underlined the need to educate people on the harmful effects of alcohol, drugs and intoxicating materials.

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July 4, 2008

Kashmiri separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq were placed under house arrest in Srinagar on Friday to prevent them from organising a rally to celebrate the cancellation of land allotment to the Amarnath shrine board.

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Among the greatest minds in Indian philosophy and Sanskrit literary traditions was Prof. G.N. Chakravarthy. This scholar, who constantly renewed his understanding of the ancient knowledge systems to tackle the problems of the present, passed away last Friday.

Friday, Jul 04, 2008

...While the West scoffed at the Indian approach of seeking solutions for individual and civilizational issues in the spiritual realm, dogmatic Oriental scholars who nurture a standpoint that is as one-sided as this, seek all answers in the transcendental and mystical, refusing to see its historical basis in the material world. It was for these reasons, that towards the end of his life, he was interested in studying Buddhism and its relationship with the Vaidika tradition.

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Palanpur (Gujarat), July 3(IANS) The police arrested 44 activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in north Gujarat Thursday during a nationwide shutdown announced by the Hindu group protesting revocation of land allotment to the Amarnath shrine in Jammu and Kashmir. According to District Superintendent of Police (DSP) Raju Bhargava, 21 people were held in Mehsana, 16 in Kadi and 7 in Sabarkantha.

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07/03/08

NEW DELHI: Claiming that their day-long nation-wide bandh was a "success", Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Thursday said it will continue its protests until the Jammu and Kashmir government withdraws its decision to revoke the land transfer to Shree Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).

"We will continue our protest against the anti-Hindu move of the state government until it withdraws its decision," VHP general secretary Praveen Togadia told reporters here.

He also said his organisation will not hesitate to adopt a violent path if the government fails to accept their demand.

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SRINAGAR (AFP) — Two people were killed Thursday in central India in protests over the revocation of an order to transfer land in Indian Kashmir to a Hindu pilgrims' body, the Press Trust of India agency reported.

The protests were part of a nationwide action called by the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and an ally, angered that officials had rescinded the transfer after bitter opposition in Muslim-majority Kashmir.

"Two persons have been killed in violence," Rakesh Shrivastava, an official in Indore city in central Madhya Pradesh state, told the agency.

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Twelve die in two-day Kashmir clash, says Indian army

Kashmir Valley explodes over land-for-mandir

The rise and fall of Bhddhism in South Asia
Author: M. Abdul Mu'min Chowdhury
Publisher: London Institute of South Asia
Pages 358, Price: Taka 500/- US$ 15

Before the rise of Brahmanism the subcontinent was overwhelmingly Buddhist. South Asian monks and merchants had introduced Buddhism to other countries. Although in those Asian countries it continues to prosper, in South Asia it survives only as a jumbled memory. The human agency, the Aryan-Brahmans, behind the unusual fate of Buddhism in the subcontinent also became its modern day historiographers.

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"Lives of Early Buddhist Monks" by Saroj Kumar Chaudhuri
Abha Prakashan
Rs 1,200, PP 192

June 23, 2008

While the earliest impressions of India in China were based on accounts of traders and diplomats, it is the more vivid, first-hand records of Chinese Buddhist monks who came to the Indian subcontinent that are best known. Among other things, this is because of the impact that these sources have had on the archaeology and historical geography of India. Saroj Kumar Chaudhuri's book, though, is not about such travellers. It is a compendium of the biographies of Buddhist masters that are contained in Chinese historical works. Considering that so many of these were Indian monks, he provides a window into the Chinese reception of Indians and China’s perceptions of India that go be yond the better known travel literature of pious pilgrims like Hsuan Tsang and Fa Xian.

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19 June 2008 11:17 BST

Holographic mobile handsets capable of projecting, capturing and sending 3D images have been developed by an Indian tech company.

By 2010 the devices will routinely beam 3D films, games and virtual goods into our laps according to Indian technology giant Infosys, which has patented the handset.

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Patna, June 23 :Missing precious ornaments and jewellery donated by devotees to the Bodh Gaya Mahabodhi temple, among the holiest Buddhist sites in the world, have been recovered from the room of a former chief priest. He was earlier indicted for chopping a branch of the revered Bodhi tree.

Gaya district administration officials recovered the missing items, including a heavy gold crown, after they opened a locked wooden box in the room of Bhadant Bodhipal at Bodh Gaya, about 110 km from here, two days ago.

“It shocked all. It was a violation of the rules of temple management,” said a member of the newly formed Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee (BGTMC).

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Press Trust of India / Itanagar June 18, 2008, 17:22 IST

The teachings of Buddha is like a medicine without an expiry date and one can use them to become happy anytime anywhere, said a young monk here.

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By Alastair Lawson
BBC News, Meghalaya

In the US it's known as bigfoot, in Canada as sasquatch, in Brazil as mapinguary, in Australia as a yowie, in Indonesia as sajarang gigi and, most famously of all, in Nepal as a yeti.

The little known Indian version of this legendary ape-like creature is called mande barung - or forest man - and is reputed to live in the remote West Garo hills of the north-eastern state of Meghalaya.

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January 22nd, 2008

For the most part, condoms are used all over the world. There are varying styles and varying sizes, but some people claim that this doesn’t work for everyone. According to a recent survey of over 1,000 men in India, the main brands of condoms simply aren’t small enough for most of the men in that country.

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June 16 2008 11:56 IST
Express News Service

KENDRAPARA: For an archaeological hotspot, Langudi wears the tag of obscurity. Located in Dharmasala tehsil 40 km from here, it’s a sleepy hamlet with a sparse population.

But things could change. Discovery of a Buddhist Stupa along with many images of different postures of Lord Buddha have raised hopes. Langudi hit the headlines eight years ago. However, few tourists have since ventured into this remote hamlet.

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Doctor: 'It Has to Be Some Kind of Divine Intervention'

June 13, 2008
By BOB BROWN

In a remote village in the Bihar region of northeast India, in October 2005, a woman named Poonam Tatma gave birth to an extraordinary child -- a girl with four arms and four legs who was destined to become famous worldwide.

The newborn was the image of a multi-limbed Hindu goddess named Lakshmi, who is worshiped as a deity of wealth and good fortune. And so the child was also named Lakshmi.

"After she was born, for a whole month crowds of people came to see her," Tatma said. "It was said that Lakshmi had been born here."

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Smoke and Mirrors An experience of China By Pallavi Aiyar Publishers: HarperCollins Price: Rs 395

Rasheeda Bhagat

Any book written by an Indian on China has to include some comments/insight into an Indian’s food experience in that country. Pallavi Aiyar, in her book Smoke and Mirrors — An experience of China (Harper Collins), does not disappoint her readers on this score.

Freelancing as a journalist in China from 2002, she had to supplement her income and became a part-time consultant to the CII. This position taught her more than Sino-Indian economic engagement; it took her to business lunches and banquets too. She also met Nigami, the local representative of an Indian bank, who disapproved not only of the “lack of diversity” in China compared to India, but also hated the Chinese addiction to baijiu, “a local liquor, gallons of which were consumed during business dinners”.

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Thursday, June 12, 2008

New Delhi: At the centre of a boundary dispute between India and China, Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh is now gearing for the installation of a 80-feet high statue of Tara — the female Buddha, typically associated with Buddhist tantra practice as preserved in Tibetan Buddhism, is also the “mother of liberation” — atop a strategically located peak which is 11,000 feet high and overlooks Tibet and Bhutan.

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6 Jun, 2008

BEIJING: In a rare gesture, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee today personally presented India's coveted civilian award Padma Bhushan to Ji Xianlin, renowned Chinese Indologist who has inspired love for Indian culture and literature among generations of his countrymen.

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India cites geopolitics, but the monks say the fight is not about a piece of land but its culture, identity

Tawang Monastery,Arunachal Pradesh: A white flag bearing the words, “One world. One Dream. Stop human rights violations in Tibet”, flaps desolately in the gray stone courtyard of a monastery, 500km east of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Hemmed by the Himalayas in India, this is the second largest Tibetan monastery in the world and one of the only places left where the practice of Tibetan Buddhism has never broken. But beyond the fluttering flag, there are few signs of protest. Most, after all, have been silenced.

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June 5, 2008

Beijing (PTI): India and China jointly released stamps on Thursday to celebrate the central theme of Buddhism that reflects centuries-old interaction between the two countries and civilisations.

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Monday, June 02, 2008
By Madhusree Chatterjee

Indian yoga guru Swami Ramdev, who has helped popularise ancient fitness regimens and traditional ayurvedic medicine in different parts of the world, wants to contribute to politics now to realise 'the India of my dreams'.

'I have political ambitions, but not to grab power. I want to change the way of life and thoughts of those who are in power,' the 55-year-old guru said.

'I hate the country's political system. It paints a negative picture of our country abroad,' Swami Ramdev told IANS in an informal chat aboard the Superstar Virgo off the South China Sea.

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June 1, 2008

NEW DELHI: India will repair Myanmar’s famous Shwedagon Pagoda, or Golden Pagoda, which was damaged by cyclone Nargis on May 3. This offer was made during Sunday’s pledging conference where around 52 countries promised rehabilitation and reconstruction aid to Myanmar.

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Sanjaya Baru

An Indian window has finally been opened into contemporary China. Scores of books are now available on life in a changing China. But Pallavi Aiyer, teacher and journalist, is the first young Indian to have lived the experience and written about it. She has written a witty, insightful and profound book that every educated Indian must read to understand the life and loves, the fears and hopes, the ups and downs of our biggest, oldest and most important neighbour.

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Some Indians resent the presence of Tibetan refugees. Yet had India stood up to China's 1950 invasion of Tibet, the problem could have been averted

Trevor Mostyn

After having the world’s attention drawn to its shortcomings during the miserable odyssey of the Olympic torch, China bent over backwards to show its compassionate side in the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake. Yet the ghost of Tibet is unlikely to fade away before the August Olympics. The Dalai Lama’s 11-day visit to Britain has kept the plight of the Tibetans in the public eye, even if he is speaking here only on the art of happiness and has met the prime minister only in his capacity as a “religious leader.”

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