Vegetarian Shoes

Danisco to receive first batch of sustainable vanilla from India

Jai Chaitanya Dasa, a Hare Krishna monk from a temple in Bangalore, India, has established a non-profit organisation that promotes organic and sustainable growing methods among local farmers and manages the collection, initial processing and sale of vanilla pods.

The local farmers involved in the vanilla project receive 80% of the earnings generated from the sale and the remaining 20% goes to the workers who process, sort and dispatch the vanilla. Initial processing takes place at a small factory in Mysore and most of the work is carried out and supervised by women, who are paid up to three times the pay rates for similar work elsewhere in India, which allows them to send their children to school.

Foodingredientsfirst.com

The Size of Soul

"According to Vedanta Sutra, the idea that God resides in the physical heart the size of the thumb is for the sake of conceptualization during meditation, and is thus a metaphorical description. The size of the thumb refers to the size of the human heart. God is in reality all pervading and atomic at the same time" said Dr KK Aggarwal

Dr KK Aggarwal is a senior Physician, Head Department of Cardiology and Deputy Dean Board of Medical Education-Moolchand Hospital, President-Heart Care Foundation of India, President Delhi Medical Association and Member-Delhi Medical Council

Hindustantimes.com

Sacred Practice

Commercialized yoga is departure from spiritual origins, experts say

The word yoga is most often defined as a yoking, or union. Its practice strives to unite the individual soul with the "greater soul" of the universe, traditionally through four main paths: karma (action), bhakti (devotion), jnana (wisdom) and raja or ashtanga (mental and physical control). Hatha yoga, which most Americans call simply "yoga," is in fact just one aspect of ashtanga.

"A yoga master in India is a highly evolved spiritual being, not a gymnast," said David Frawley, the director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies in Santa Fe, N.M., who writes and lectures on the controversy.

But Americans tend to focus on fitness alone, perhaps because "as a culture we are extremely physically oriented," as Hindu University's Tiwari put it. "We are enamored by the physical aspect of who we are. Some of us even worship our bodies."

Journalnow.com

East meets west: come together

It is time for scientists and theologians to work towards a synthesis of science and the core beliefs common to all world religions.

Science and religion were not compartmentalized in ancient societies as they are in modern times. As knowledge advanced, compartmentalization became a necessity in science. At the same time, however, there is the recognition that advances in all branches of science also contribute towards their synthesis in terms of an overall worldview.

Science and Theology News

East meets west: cosmology then and now

Symbolism is a common feature in all religious traditions. Bread and wine symbolize the flesh and blood of Jesus in the Christian Eucharist. Jesus himself spoke in parables. The ancient Hindu and Greek mythologies personify stars, planets and the elements. While this may seem strange now, a quick look around will show you that science and technology does the same thing.

Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are said to be the creator, sustainer and the destroyer respectively of the universe in Hinduism. Setting aside the personified symbolism here, the idea can be seen as an extrapolation of what is observed on earth to the universe at large: birth, growth, decay and recycling are central to everything we observe in the world within us and around us. Extrapolation from the particular to the general is commonly done in science, especially physics.

Science and Theology News

The music of science and religion

Even apart from its religious relevance, music gives us not just sensuous pleasure but something much deeper that is hard to define. Our encounters with the great composers of both past and present sharpen our sensibilities and enable us to transcend our own limitations, living our lives with greater meaning.

Devotional songs, hymns and repetitive musical chants are a common denominator in many religious practices. Whether through instrument or song, through chant or the beating of the drums, musical sounds have been used since time immemorial to facilitate the individual's efforts to transcend his or her finite existence and achieve a sense of mystical union with the Great Spirit, the Universal or the Divine. The Bible describes Jericho's walls falling at the sound of military horns. Moses instituted an annual musical event involving the blowing of trumpets as a prelude to the worship of his God. The Chinese speak of their ancestral singers changing the seasons and creating fire or water through music. Hindus speak of specific ancient mantras to manipulate specific natural phenomena. In Europe, the music of numerous Western composers like Bach is known to have been largely spiritually inspired. Vedic chanting and Gregorian chanting are classic examples of the role of music in religion. The most striking repetitive chanting rituals include the Holy Mary chant, the Buddhist chants and the Hindu Mantras such as the Hare Krishna Mantra and the Gayatri Mantra.

Science and Theology News