Religions
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Dharma focuses on empathy, not justice
Who is a Hindu? Published on 4th August, 2019, in Mumbai Mirror Once upon a time, there were two friends in a school. They were the best of friends and they promised to share everything with each other. After they…
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Two Prophets, two visions
Published on 28th July, 2019, in Mid-day The Old Testament of the Christian Bible tells the story of two prophets: one is Jeremiah and the other is Ezekiel. Jeremiah is called the Weeping Prophet. He lived in Jerusalem and mourned…
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Raising Hindu kids in America
Published on 21st July, 2019, in Mumbai Mirror How do you teach a child about Hinduism? There are no easy answers out there How does a child in India learn Hinduism? Unlike Bible classes of Christians and madrasas of Muslims,…
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Unspoken language of village gods
Published on 21st July, 2019, in Mid-day If you want to understand the village gods of India, you must understand what defines a living creature. The fundamental difference between a living creature and a non-living creature is that a living…
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Declaration of faith
Published on 7th July, 2019, in Mumbai Mirror Declaration of faith is part of many religions. It means publicly stating one’s belief. In Judaism, which is the oldest Abrahamic faith, it is a reiteration of monotheism, the ‘Shema’. In Christianity,…
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Sacred Seven
Published on 7th July, 2019, in Mid-day Once Vishnu and Laxmi had a quarrel. Laxmi left Vaikuntha in a huff, and came down to earth. Vishnu followed her and tried coaxing her to return, but she refused. So, Vishnu decided…
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Legends of Sikandar
Published on 30th June, 2019, in Mid-day There is a big difference between the words ‘legend’ and ‘myth’. Legend is a story of a heroic figure that has some historical basis but is largely fantasy. Mythology is not just stories,…
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Who is a good Hindu father?
Published on 23rd June, 2019, in Mumbai Mirror Indians are obsessed with their mothers. An overview of Bollywood films reveals that. Mothers can do no wrong. They always sacrifice their life for their children. Good sons always choose mother over…
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Child-sage Balak Nath
Published on 23rd June, 2019, in Mid-day In Himachal, and nearby regions, a yogi is worshipped, who is considered a form of Shiva in Kalyug. His name is Baba Balak Nath. In art, he is visualised as a young boy…
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Is Shiva the corporate destroyer or Kalki?
Published on 15th June, 2019, in Economic Times. Kalki, the tenth avatar of Vishnu, is very popular amongst young people, who visualise him as an Avenger, part of a cosmic end game. He is visualised as riding a white horse,…
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Where Hinduism and Sikhism meet
Published on 9th June, 2019, in Mumbai Mirror. WHO IS A HINDU? If you ask a Hindu extremist, he will say that Sikhism is very much a dharmic religion like Hinduism, under the umbrella term, Sanatan Dharma. However, if you…
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Sea-faring Kaundinya
Published on 8th June, 2019, in Mid-day. If you travel to Cambodia, you will come across a folklore that a sage from India known as Kaundinya travelled across the sea to what is now called Cambodia, where he encountered a…
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Faith: 40 Insights into Hinduism
Why are Hindus so ritualistic? Why do they worship idols? Were Hindus always casteist? Are Hindus supposed to be vegetarian? Is divorce permitted according to Hinduism? Why is a Hindu prayer different from a Muslim or Christian prayer? Did the…
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The sorcery of Harut and Marut
Published on 2nd June, 2019 in Mid-day. In Middle Eastern (aka Islamic) mythology, when god created Adam, he expected all the angels to bow down before Adam. The angel, Iblis, refused to do so. Therefore, Iblis was cast out of…
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Gods outside temples
Published on 26th May, 2019, in Mumbai Mirror WHO IS A HINDU? What did communities that were not allowed entry into temples do? They decided to create their own gods. There was a community of landless labourers in Gujarat. Some…
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A temple for a dog
Dogs are associated with Yama, who is the keeper of dharma. One of the meanings of dharma is the obligation of human beings to repay debts to ancestors, sages, gods, nature and society.