Tantra ist die Erforschung des Universums
aus der Perspektive des Individuums.
Die praktische Anwendbarkeit der tantrischen Lehren
macht Tantra zu einer einzigartigen Wissenschaft,
die alle anderen Wissenschaften miteinander verbindet
und aus ihrer Essenz brauchbare Formeln schafft.
Tantra beschränkt sich nicht darauf,
eine Ebene des Lebensbaumes zu untersuchen –
Tantra ist die Erforschung des Lebensbaumes.
www.internationalwaterforlifefoundation.org
Masaru Emoto (江本勝, Emoto Masaru, born July 22, 1943) is a Japanese author and scientist known for his claim that if human speech or thoughts are directed at water droplets before they are frozen, images of the resulting water crystals will be beautiful or ugly depending upon whether the words or thoughts were positive or negative. Emoto claims this can be achieved through prayer, music or by attaching written words to a container of water. Read More: HERE
Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater dynamically positioned, semi-submersible offshore oil drilling rig. Built in 2001 in South Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries,[2] the rig was commissioned by R&B Falcon, which later became part of Transocean, registered in Majuro, Marshall Islands, and leased to BP plc until 2013. In September 2009, the rig drilled the deepest oil well in history at a vertical depth of 35,050 ft (10,683 m) and measured depth of 35,055 ft (10,685 m) in the Tiber field at Keathley Canyon block 102, approximately 250 miles (400 km) southeast of Houston, in 4,132 feet (1,259 m) of water.On 20 April 2010, while drilling at the Macondo Prospect, an explosion on the rig caused by a blowout killed 11 crewmen and ignited a fireball visible from 35 miles (56 km) away.The resulting fire could not be extinguished and, on 22 April 2010 , Deepwater Horizon sank, leaving the well gushing at the sea floor and causing the largest offshore oil spill in United States history. Read More: HERE
An environmental impact assessment (EIA) is an assessment of the possible impact—positive or negative—that a proposed project may have on the environment, together consisting of the natural, social and economic aspects. The purpose of the assessment is to ensure that decision makers consider the ensuing environmental impacts when deciding whether to proceed with a project. The International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) defines an environmental impact assessment as “the process of identifying, predicting, evaluating and mitigating the biophysical, social, and other relevant effects of development proposals prior to major decisions being taken and commitments made.” Read More: HERE
Healing the Gulf – What can we do? The groundbreaking work of Japanese researcher, Dr. Masaru Emoto is reshaping our awareness and giving birth to a new consciousness of Earth’s most precious resource: Water.
Water nourishes us on a daily basis on a deeper level than most of us realize. In the movie, What the Bleep, many of us were introduced to this idea through the photographs of the water crystals in the film. The ability to photograph water crystals was perfected by Dr. Emoto, who has committed himself to educating the world about the properties of water and the importance of his findings.
Dr. Emoto lectures around the world and has conducted live experiments both in Japan, Europe and the US to show how our thoughts, attitudes, and emotions deeply impact ourselves and the environment. He has facilitated several water blessings at locations around the world, and shares his experiences during his presentations that include ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures that illustrate the shift that occurs in the crystalline structure of water following a blessing. “Water has memory,” he explains, and we have the power as individuals to collectively come together to heal the consciousness surrounding the Gulf.
Hosted by Wings Bookstore and First
Unity of St Petersburg, Florida
Date: Saturday, September 11, 2010
Time: 1:00 – 4:30 PM EDT
If you are unable to make the workshop in person, we welcome you to join us LIVE via your home, office or church! To participate, you simply need an Internet connection and a computer!
Learn about Dr. Masaru Emoto’s latest research on the consciousness of water, see before and after pictures and join us for a special Gulf blessing at Pass-a-Grille Beach. Healing the Gulf will support National Wildlife Federation’s efforts to restore wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico. VIDEO,More*.
On September 11, 2010, Dr. Emoto will be appearing on Unity Campus to remind us that we have the opportunity to make a difference through sharing our alignment with love and gratitude. During the afternoon workshop, he will share his latest research findings with us to assist in elevating us to the level of belief required to make the greatest possible impact.
Joining Dr. Emoto for the workshop, will be Kumari Mullin, who will teach and demonstrate tools and methods that can be utilized by individuals to become open channels for the energy of love and gratitude. Her expertise as an animal intuitive and reiki master will provide for the inclusion of healing the sea life in the Gulf.
Following the afternoon workshop, everyone is invited to relocate to Pass-a-Grille Beach and join us for the blessing of the Gulf and Sea Life. If you are unable to attend in person, we invite you to join us remotely at the appointed time, as we know that the power of our intentions increase exponentially with every person involved.
Traditional African medicine is a holistic discipline involving indigenous herbalism and African spirituality, typically involving diviners, midwives, and herbalists. Practitioners of traditional African medicine claim to be able to cure various and diverse conditions such as cancers, psychiatric disorders, high blood pressure, cholera, most venereal diseases, epilepsy, asthma, eczema, fever, anxiety, depression, benign prostatic hyperplasia, urinary tract infections, gout, and healing of wounds and burns.
Diagnosis is reached through spiritual means and a treatment is prescribed, usually consisting of an herbal remedy that has not only healing abilities, but symbolic and spiritual significance. Traditional African medicine, with its belief that illness is not derived from chance occurrences, but through spiritual or social imbalance, differs greatly from Western medicine, which is technically and analytically based. In the 21st century, modern pharmaceuticals and medical procedures remain inaccessible to large numbers of African people due to their relatively high cost and concentration of health centres in urban centres. In recent years, African medical practitioners have acknowledged that they have much to learn from traditional medical practice. Read More: > HERE <
PAX HERBAL CLINIC & RESEARCH LABORATORIES was established in 1996 as a Catholic centre for the promotion, development and proper utilization of African medicine. Some of its objectives are:
The Business Of Paxherbals – PAX HERBAL CENTRE is into the business of life. We are into the business of promoting human dignity and human health. Salvation is holistic. It concerns all aspect of the human person: body, mind and soul. PAX HERBAL CENTRE is into the business of redeeming the whole person. Note the name is PAX HERBAL CENTRE, not just a clinic. It is a center of healing, of love, of service.
At PAX HERBAL CENTRE, our mission is to promote human health and human dignity, not just the eradication of pain which infact is an essential aspect of being human That is what we are up to. That is our business.
Ewumonks and Herbs – The monks of Ewu have over the years have been involved in intensive research on how to use what providence has given to further the course of man as best as they could knowing fully well that the way to self discovering and good living is through nature and encountering God in nature. Good or God living happen to be a concept that has suffered destructive interpretation that many now equate the attainment of good living as acquisition, possessions, material wealth, gluttony and so on.
Many see also, that it is okay to indulge in unwholesome habits and when this lead them to disastrous health consequence, the hospitals will be good to put things right again. Many times that turns out to be just a dream that never comes true.
With this in mind, Paxherbals, through the work of Ewumonks is not just about making available natural and wholesome ways to restore health to the sick; it is also about the business of helping those who are not sick to stay healthy. Paxherbals is about everything that keeps the spirit, body, mind and soul in harmony.
So, before drugs, there is good food, and together with balance diet, there should be healthy lifestyle. This is paramount and all these for the major part can be seen in Paxherbals’ effort to make the knowledge available through its publications.
It is for these and other reason that many are turning to Paxherbals for their need to be health both in mind and body.
The aim of Pax Herbal Magazine is to re-assimilate, re-understand and re-express ancient African philosophy [indigenous knowledge] in light of modern, scientific knowledge [exogenous knowledge]. African Medicine, that is, the science of life, is at the centre of African philosophy. Life, for the African, is indeed the ultimate value. By exploring the multi-faceted dynamism of healing in Africa, Pax Herbal Magazine is championing a medical revolution that is all-embracing, holistic, African and global.
The Science – After years of repudiating ancient wisdom, science is now validating the wisdom of the ancients. Discoveries in quantum physics, radiology and electromagnetic force have changed the way scientists look at the world. The human body is made up of electronic vibrations. Each atom, element, organ or organism has its own energy field or electronic unit of vibration necessary for the sustenance of life. Our bodily tissues are fed by oxygen, glucose and chemical nutrients as well as by higher vibrational energies which endow the physical form with the properties of life and creative expression. The idea of the body as dense matter has given way to a new vision of the human person as dynamic, energetic and spiritual. Modern medicine has now recognized this fact, and so have developed energy methods of treatment. Therapeutic radiation to treat cancer, electricity to halt pain, and electromagnetic fields to stimulate healing of fractures are new developments in medicine based on the fact that we are energy beings. The human person is unique and special. We are not aimless wanderers in this world but people with a purpose. Healing happens when we know what our purpose in life is. Healing is not just about pain relief or avoidance of suffering. Healing is a transformation of worldviews.
The Monastery of St. Benedict at Ewu is a foundation of an Irish Monastery named Glenstal Abbey. The Irish Monks came to a place called Eke in Enugu state and started a monastery there. That was in 1975. However, for a number of reasons which included infertile farmland, the monks finally moved to Ewu-Esan in the old Bendel state. That was on July 11, 1979 .
The community at that time was composed of five Irish monks and one Nigerian Monk who later became the first Nigerian Benedictine Monk and Priest. Today, in the year 2004, this small community of monks has grown to thirty-two monks, representing fourteen Nigerian tribes and one from Togo , a situation unique in any African Monastery. The monks of Ewu are trained in different fields of discipline such as engineering, farming, philosophy, theology, agriculture animal husbandry and many others.
Apart from the herbal clinic, the monastery of Ewu has a flourishing bakery that specializes in baking wheat bread, prepared under strict hygienic conditions and free of any chemical or addictives. They also run a candle factory, a crafts and gifts shop, poultry, a fish pond, a vegetable garden and a large farm.
Who are Monks? Monks are a group of people, either men or women, who have individually decided to live a life of contemplation, solitude and community in imitation of a particular saint. Just as we have Christian monks, so also there are Buddhist, Hindu and Chinese Monks. Christian monks are those men and women who dedicated their life to a life of continuous contemplation and imitation of Christ, who offered his life for the sake of humanity. Christian monks live together in community, carrying out their Christian obligations in peace and harmony.
Contact: tibetanyogainfo@gmail.com
www.bhutanzopa.com.bt/AdventureTravel
The practice of Yoga is intimately connected to the religious beliefs and practices of both Buddhism and Hinduism. However there are distinct variations in the usage of yoga terminology in the two religions. In Hinduism, the term “Yoga” commonly refers to the eight limbs of yoga as defined in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, written some time after 100 BCE, and means “yoke”, with the idea that one’s individual atman, or soul, would yoke or bind with the monistic entity which underlies everything (brahman). In the Vajrayana Buddhism of Tibet, however, the term “Yoga” is simply used to refer to any type of spiritual practice; from the various types of tantra (like Kriyayoga or Charyayoga) to ‘Deity yoga’ and ‘guru yoga’. In the early translation phase of the Sutrayana and Tantrayana from India, China and other regions to Tibet, along with the practice lineages of sadhana, codified in the Nyingmapa canon, the most subtle ‘conveyance’ (Sanskrit: yana) is Adi Yoga (Sanskrit). A contemporary scholar with a focus on Tibetan Buddhism, Robert Thurman writes that Patanjali was influenced by the success of the Buddhist monastic system to formulate his own matrix for the version of thought he considered orthodox. Read More: > HERE <
Early Buddhism incorporated meditative absorption states. The most ancient sustained expression of yogic ideas is found in the early sermons of the Buddha. One key innovative teaching of the Buddha was that meditative absorption must be combined with liberating cognition. The difference between the Buddha’s teaching and the yoga presented in early Brahminic texts is striking. Meditative states alone are not an end, for according to the Buddha, even the highest meditative state is not liberating. Instead of attaining a complete cessation of thought, some sort of mental activity must take place: a liberating cognition, based on the practice of mindful awareness. The Buddha also departed from earlier yogic thought in discarding the early Brahminic notion of liberation at death. Liberation for the Brahminic yogin was thought to be the realization at death of a nondual meditative state anticipated in life. In fact, old Brahminic metaphors for the liberation at death of the yogic adept were given a new meaning by the Buddha; their point of reference became the sage who is liberated in life. Read More: > HERE <
Dream Yoga or Milam (T:rmi-lam or nyilam; S:svapnadarśana)— the Yoga of the Dream State are a suite of advanced tantric sadhana of the entwined Mantrayana lineages of Dzogchen (Nyingmapa, Ngagpa, Mahasiddha, Kagyu and Bönpo). Dream Yoga are tantric processes and techniques within the trance Bardos of Dream and Sleep (Tibetan: mi-lam bardo) and are advanced practices of Yoga Nidra. Aspects of Dream Yoga sadhana are subsumed within the practice suite of the Six Yogas of Naropa. Read More: > HERE <
Tibetan yoga center was established to provide a program of study and practice in the Tibetan Buddhist (Vajrayana) tradition that would integrate the essence of these teachings and present them in a suitable way for practitioners in the West. The program combines the core practices relying on visualizations, yoga of channels, winds and drops, and insight into the nature of the mind (rigpa) for efficient progress on the path. The core teachings of Tibetan Yoga Center are ‘The yogas of the six bardos’ of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, summarized in the curriculum as seven courses (see the program section). The founder and master teacher of the center, Khenchen Lama Rinpoche, was at numerous occasions encouraged by his teachers to focus on helping Western students, particularly through these practices. To help bring these teachings closer to the background of Western practitioners, the program of the Tibetan Yoga Center also integrates elements of Western neuroscientific research on changes in behavior, mind and brain as a result of meditation. Building on the tradition of enlightened householder yogis in Tibet, the program of the center was developed for yogis of the current era – serious practitioners leading busy lives with work and family commitments who want to bring their spiritual practice to swift fruition to fully benefit sentient beings.
Tibetan Yoga Center operates on principles of a social business, offering teachings mostly by suggested donation and for minimal possible fees to cover expenses. The aim of the Tibetan yoga of mind is to develop universal loving kindness and compassion coupled with the ultimate wisdom of the nature of phenomena, the ultimate truth. At the basic level of achievement, one wishes happiness for oneself as well as other people.
At the medium level of achievement one realizes that the source of ultimate happiness is the understanding of the true nature of phenomena. One realizes that the most profound way to benefit sentient beings is to achieve enlightenment and works very hard towards this goal. On this path, one completely purifies his/her mental afflictions – anger, attachment, ignorance, jealousy and pride. The highest level of achievement in the Tibetan yoga of mind is the experiential understanding of our own Buddha nature – the deepest level of the mind. When one continuously sustains this realization in his/her mind stream, s/he becomes the embodiment of the union of primordial wisdom and compassion, and benefits sentient beings in limitless ways. This achievement is the essence of the Tibetan yoga and the deepest meaning of the term ‘naljor’.
TYPES OF YOGA IN TIBETAN BUDDHISM – There are six yanas (modes of spiritual practice) in Vajrayana: 1. Kriyayana, 2. Upayana, 3. Yogayana, 4. Mahayoga, 5. Anuyoga, and 6. Atiyoga. In Nyingma lineage, the main focus of practice is on Mahayoga, Anuyoga and Atiyoga.
Teaching and Practice Downloads: This section contains general teachings given by teachers of the Tibetan Yoga Center at various occasions as well as specific teachings that are part of the curriculum of the center. These teachings are available for free, but proper reference to the teachings if used as part of other materials should be included.
Tibetan Yogi Lineage in the West :
http://hindupad.com/gangotri-yatra-2010
Uttaranchal was a state of India. On 9 November 2000 Uttaranchal was carved out of Uttar Pradesh as a separate state. In January 2007, the name of the state was officially changed from Uttaranchal, its interim name, to Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand (Sanskrit: उत्तराखण्डम्, Hindi: उत्तराखण्ड Uttarākhanḍ) is a state located in the northern part of India. Known for its natural beauty, it was carved out of Himalayan and adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh on 9 November 2000, becoming the 27th state of the Republic of India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region on the north, Nepal on the east and the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh to the south, Haryana to the west and Himachal Pradesh to the north west. The region is traditionally referred to as Uttarakhand in Hindu scriptures and old literature, a term which derives from Sanskrit uttara (उत्तर) meaning north, and khaṇḍ (खण्ड्) meaning country or part of a country. It has an area of 20,682 sq mi (53,566 km²). In January 2007, the name of the state was officially changed from Uttaranchal, its interim name, to Uttarakhand. The provisional capital of Uttarakhand is Dehradun which is also a rail-head and the largest city in the region. The small hamlet of Gairsen has been mooted as the future capital owing to its geographic centrality but controversies and lack of resources have led Dehradun to remain provisional capital. The High Court of the state is in Nainital.
Recent developments in the region include initiatives by the state government to capitalise on handloom and handicrafts, the burgeoning tourist trade as well as tax incentives to lure high-tech industry to the state. The state also has big-dam projects, controversial and often criticised in India, such as the very large Tehri dam on the Bhagirathi-Bhilangana rivers, conceived in 1953 and about to reach completion. Read more: > HERE <
Childwellness - orphans, neglected children and children of poor families. Therefore we provide them with food, healthcare and education. If necessary we also look for permanent and stable homes in their own environment, for and a loving family form the necessary basis for a child to grow up in a balanced way. To achieve this, objectives. You can find an overview of our selections further in this presentation folder click here.
Childwellness task is to raise funds in order to support these projects financially. For that,sponsoring activities are organised annually. By means of participation of grants and festivals, Childwellness aims to reach a larger public. Furthermore Childwellness tries to find companies, associations, schools and other agencies for possible sponsoring. If you are able to help us with this, please contact us. Childwellness is also looking for monthly sponsors who want to financially support our projects on a regular basis.
www.blueplanetproject.net/RightToWater
www.unwater.org/flashindex.html
Hydraulic fracturing (called “frac jobs”or “frac’ing” in the industry and recently, “fracking” by the media) is a process that results in the creation of fractures in rocks, the goal of which is to increase the output of a well. The most important industrial use is in stimulating oil and gas wells, where hydraulic fracturing has been used for over 60 years in more than one million wells. On the other hand, high-volume horizontal slickwater fracturing is a recent phenomenon. The fracturing is done from a wellbore drilled into reservoir rock formations to enhance oil and natural gas recovery. Hydraulic fractures may be natural or man-made and are extended by internal fluid pressure which opens the fracture and causes it to grow into the rock. Man-made fluid-driven fractures are formed at depth in a borehole and extend into targeted rock formations. The fracture width is typically maintained after the injection by introducing a proppant into the injected fluid. Proppant is a material, such as grains of sand, ceramic, or other particulates, that prevent the fractures from closing when the injection is stopped. Natural hydraulic fractures include volcanic dikes, sills and fracturing by ice as in frost weathering. Considerable controversy surrounds the current implementation of hydraulic fracturing technology in the United States. Environmental safety and health concerns have emerged and are being debated at the state and national levels. Read More: > HERE <
“The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The Halliburton-developed drilling technology of “fracking” or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a “Saudia Arabia of natural gas” just beneath us. But is fracking safe?
When filmmaker Josh Fox is asked to lease his land for drilling, he embarks on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination. A recently drilled nearby Pennsylvania town reports that residents are able to light their drinking water on fire. This is just one of the many absurd and astonishing revelations of a new country called GASLAND. Part verite travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown.”
GASLAND will be broadcast on HBO through 2012. To host a public screening in your community please click here. The DVD will be on sale in December 2010.
UN: Water is a Human Right - The UN General Assembly passed a resolution today on the human right to water and sanitation. The official tabulation: 122 states voted yes, 41 states abstained—including the U.S.—and no state voted against. First things first: Hooray! This is a fantastic victory that finally establishes the critical recognition that all human beings have a right to water—a vital and natural resource upon which all of us depend.
The passing of this resolution, which was introduced by the Bolivian government, should affirm that we are finally—and collectively—advancing the conversation about the human right to water. This is especially rewarding for our water activists and our network of allies who have been working on this issue for the past 10 years.
While the United States’ abstention is disappointing, we still have reason to be enthusiastic. U.S. municipalities and states are increasingly recognizing water as a human right. As this trend gains momentum, so will our ability to pressure the federal government to affirm the right to water in global forums
This resolution is not legally binding, but we are grateful for the opportunity to take one big step in the right direction. To all the water activists everywhere who have worked tirelessly to promote water as a human right—and to all the nation states who voted in support of the resolution today—congratulations!
We eventually hope to make the human right to water an internationally recognized law. Until then, we must continue to educate and inform on behalf of our mission. www.foodandwaterwatch.org
BHOPAL – SOS Water Poisoning, Health Care & Wells: The story beggars belief. In the 1970s, international agencies headed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) began pumping millions of dollars of aid money into Bangladesh for tubewells to provide “clean” drinking water. According to the World Health Organization, the direct result has been the biggest outbreak of mass poisoning in history. Up to half the country’s tubewells, now estimated to number 10 million, are poisoned. Tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands will die.
Why? Because nobody tested for the natural poison, arsenic, widely found in underground water. And when a doctor did find traces of the metal, and when Bangladeshi villagers did start turning up at doctors’ surgeries with the tumours and telltale signs of arsenic poisoning, the results were swiftly buried so that nobody made the connection.
Like Hydroelectric Dam Projects or Oil & Gas Drilling, and the Desaster of Mexican Gulf Oil Spill showing that drilling without testing the underground seems to be dangerous and harmfull for enviroment & health.
Even now as the scale of the calamity emerges, nobody is admitting culpability. Not UNICEF, which initiated the tubewells programme and paid for the first 900,000 wells, nor the WORLD BANK, a fellow sponsor. Not the Bangladeshi government, or the foreign engineers and public health scientists who did not think to test the water for so long. Read more: > HERE <
https://interfaith2010.naz.edu/
Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל, Yisrā’el; Arabic: إِسْرَائِيلُ, Isrā’īl), officially the State of Israel (Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל (help·info), Medīnat Yisrā’el; Arabic: دَوْلَةُ إِسْرَائِيلَ, Dawlat Isrā’īl), is a parliamentary republic in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan and the West Bank in the east, the Gaza Strip and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. Israel is the world’s only predominantly Jewish state, with a population estimated in May 2010 to be 7,602,400 people,of whom 6,051,000 are Jews. Arab citizens of Israel form the country’s second-largest ethnic group, which includes Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Samaritans. According to the May 2010 population estimate these people number 1,551,400, including nearly 300,000 non-Citizens living in East Jerusalem. Read more: >HERE <
Palestine (Greek: Παλαιστίνη, Palaistinē; Latin: Palaestina; the Hebrew name Peleshet (פלשת Pəléshseth); also פלשׂתינה, Palestina; Arabic: فلسطينFilasṭīn, Falasṭīn, Filisṭīn) is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands. As a geographic term, Palestine can refer to “ancient Palestine,” an area that today includes Israel and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, as well as part of Jordan, and some of both Lebanon and Syria.In classical or contemporary terms, it is also the common name for the area west of the Jordan River. The boundaries of two new states were laid down within the territory of the British Mandate, Palestine and Transjordan.Other terms for the same area include Canaan, Zion, the Land of Israel, and the Holy Land. Read More: > HERE <
The Bedouin (from the Arabic badawī (بدوي), pl. badū) are a part of the predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group, where Arab Ethnicity is divided into three lifestyles, of the Urban, rural and Nomad people. Bedouins traditionally had strong honor codes, and traditional systems of justice dispensation in Bedouin society typically revolved around such codes. The bisha’a, or ordeal by fire, is a well-known Bedouin practice of lie detection. See also: Honor codes of the Bedouin, Bedouin systems of justice. Bedouins are well known for practicing folk music, folk dance and folk poetry. See also: Bedouin music, Ardha, Ghinnawa. Read More: > HERE <
The British Shalom-Salaam Trust (BSST) is a Jewish grant-giving initiative created in response to the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East. BSST supports projects both within Israel’s 1967 borders (the ‘Green Line’) and the Occupied Territories. We work closely with Palestinians and Israeli Jews committed to a just resolution of the conflict in Israel/Palestine based on equality and mutual respect.
During the financial year 2009-10, BSST gave financial support to 27 very varied organisations, including to the St John’s Eye Hospital in Jerusalem for emergency detached retina surgery for patients injured in the assault on Gaza; Bustan Qaraaqa, a grassroots environmental movement in the Palestinian territories which addresses the problem of water shortage, food insecurity and waste management; Jama’ah Leadership Development and Community Empowerment group; the Jenin Cultural centre; Sadaka-Reut community in Action Programme; and the Villages Group school transportation for children of the South Hebron Area.
The projects and the activists especially the women in health and development work that we support represent a roll call of hope. They remind us that, even in these devastating times, there are still many in Israel and Palestine striving to find ways to build bridges, to live peacefully and productively in a shared humanity.
JNews promotes understanding and stimulates critical debate about Israel and Palestine among British Jews and the broader public as a contribution to promoting peace with justice for all in the region.
Small but hopeful: Israeli-Palestinian projects in the southern Hebron hills. Israeli and Palestinian volunteers create concrete alternatives for education and energy
The separation barrier and the proximity of settlements to Palestinian villages cause serious disruptions to the daily lives of Palestinians. The situation is particularly acute for schoolchildren, who have to negotiate long circuitous routes to school as well as suffering settler violence. Many schoolchildren have stopped attending school because of these problems.
The Villages Group, a group of Jewish Israeli volunteers and Palestinian partners, decided to set up a school transportation system for children attending a new elementary school, Al-Massafer, belonging to the Palestinian community of Al-Fakhiet in the southern Hebron hills on the occupied West Bank.
The aim of the volunteers was to enable schoolchildren to reach school and return home safely, while also providing employment for a driver. In January, after a fundraising campaign, the community secured the funds to purchase an improvised school ‘bus’ – only to have it promptly confiscated by Israeli army units in the area, who abandoned it in a neighboring valley where it was found two days later. The community and volunteers didn’t give up: local activist Hamed Qawasmeh appealed worldwide for funds, and a ‘new’ vehicle was put to immediate use.The Villages Group runs several other projects in the southern Hebron hills and in the area of Nablus. Their motto is ‘performing deeds of peace.’
Energy alternatives - In March, another joint grassroots project was completed in the southern Hebron hills. The Comet-ME team, a group of Israeli and Palestinian activists including a physicist, an environmentalist and a software developer, creates energy solutions for communities in the area.
After connecting Palestinian families in the village of Sussiya to electricity by installing solar and wind systems, the founding team, encouraged by their success, moved on to neighboring communities.
These semi-nomadic communities suffer from constant harassment by hardline Jewish settlers in the area, who vandalize their property, disrupt their seasonal agricultural activities, and attempt to drive them from their homes – simple cave-dwellings in the southern Hebron hills.
The team joined forces with a Palestinian volunteer from Hebron and fifteen local Palestinian electronic engineering students (including two from Sussiya) to install wind turbines and solar cells in four cave-dwelling communities – upper Sfai, lower Sfai, Mrier al-Abid and Tuba, as well as among the Bedouin families of Umm al-Kheir, adjacent to the Jewish settlement Carmel.
www.comet-me.org / INTERVIEW: www.justvision.org
Installing Solar Cells in Tuba – They were helped by residents of all the Palestinian communities in the area.
“Small but hopeful: Israeli-Palestinian projects in the southern Hebron hills
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A small grant-giving charity founded in 2004, BSST supports mainly community-based, informal projects that involve practical collaboration between communities in Israel and Palestine.
Other initiatives they support include Orthodox Media Watch, a project combating racism in Jewish-Orthodox media; Sindyanna, an Arab women’s fair-trade organization in the Galilee; an educational project on torture run by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI); and direct medical assistance to Gaza provided by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel) during and after the war of 2008-9.
The British Shalom-Salaam Trust – One of the supporters of projects in the southern Hebron hills is a British-Jewish charity called the British Shalom-Salaam Trust (BSST).
A small grant-giving charity founded in 2004, BSST supports mainly community-based, informal projects that involve practical collaboration between communities in Israel and Palestine.
Other initiatives they support include Orthodox Media Watch, a project combating racism in Jewish Orthodox media; Sindyanna, an Arab women’s fair-trade organization , in the Galilee www.sindyanna.com ; an educational project on torture run by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI); and direct medical assistance to Gaza provided by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel) during and after the war of 2008-9.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel) utube Channel <
Int. Website of Mary Ward Schools
Dr. Ruth Katherina Martha Pfau (born 1929) is a Pakistani-German nun and a member of the Society of Daughters of the Heart of Mary who has devoted the last 50 years of life to fighting leprosy in Pakistan. In 1996, Pakistan was declared by the World Health Organization to have controlled leprosy, one of the first countries in Asia to achieve this goal. Read More: > HERE <
Pakistan (Urdu: پاکِستان) officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریہ پاکِستان) (also the Federation of Pakistan), is a country in South Asia. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, and India in the east and China in the far northeast. Tajikistan also lies very close to Pakistan but is separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor. Thus, it occupies a crossroads position between South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. The region forming modern Pakistan was at the heart of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and then later was the recipient of Vedic, Persian, Indo-Greek, Islamic, Turco-Mongol, and Sikh cultures. The area has witnessed invasions and/or settlements by the Indo-Aryans, Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Turks, Afghans, Mongols and the British.
While the Indian independence movement demanded an independent India, the Pakistan Movement (led by Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah of the All-India Muslim League) sought independent states for the majority Muslim populations of the eastern and western regions of British India as well.The British granted independence and also the creation of one Muslim majority state of Pakistan that comprised the provinces of Sindh, North-West Frontier Province, West Punjab, Balochistan and East Bengal. With the adoption of its constitution in 1956, Pakistan became an Islamic republic. In 1971, a civil war in East Pakistan resulted in the creation of Bangladesh. Read More: > HERE <
The German Leprosy and Tuberculosis Relief Association (DAHW), founded in 1957, is a non-profit organisation with headquarters in Würzburg, Germany. It has 62 members. The eight-person Board works on a voluntary basis. For 50 years, DAHW has been helping millions of sick and marginalised people in Africa, Asia, Central and South America. It supports more than 300 relief projects in about 40 countries. DAHW is politically and denominationally independent.
The priorities – The core activity of DAHW is to cure people affected by leprosy and tuberculosis. DAHW takes care also of people who have contracted HIV or who are suffering from AIDS. It combats forgotten diseases such as Buruli ulcer (an infectious disease, similar to leprosy, in Africa, that causes disfigurement, mainly in children), Chagas disease (transmitted by assassin bugs in South and Central America; it causes damage to the nervous system, heart and gut) and leishmaniasis , Kala Azar(carried by phlebotomine sandflies in Asia and Africa; leishmaniasis affects the internal organs, skin or mucous membranes to varying degrees of severity). In places where DAHW has a good infrastructure, it also provides disaster relief, most recently in southern India following the tsunami of 26 December 2004, and in Kashmir, Pakistan, after the earthquake of 8 October 2005.
You Tube Channel DAHW Ruth Pfau Gesten der Menschlichkeit, nicht politische Belehrungen, sind jetzt besonders gefragt“
MALC is working for Leprosy elimination, TB and Blindness control and Community Development for the last 54 years. It is a non profit, non sectarian organization registered under the Societies Act.
A well-knitted network of 157 control centres nationwide mostly in remote areas is functioning in close collaboration with provincial governments and providing services to the patients and communities free of charge. By the grace of Allah SWT and efforts of the team, Leprosy was controlled in 1996. After controlling Leprosy we are now making efforts for its elimination. MALC is also in the front to provide relief and rehabilitation to the poor and needy people affected by natural and man-made calamities and participates actively in the relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation activities in the earthquake and in various floods and draughts relief projects in the country.
The devastating floods in Pakistan – The already food insecure population where 77 million people go hungry in Pakistan while 36% of the population are afflicted by poverty. The situation in Pakistan has developed into a worse case scenario as the government has already declared it as the worst flood in the country’s history. The ravaging flood has moved towards south leaving behind approx 1,500 dead, 900 missing, and innumerable displaced and devastating damage to agriculture, houses and livestock. 250 houses in Kohistan have also been reported completely destroyed. Getting food supply is getting more and more challenging. In mountains due to broken road links, food supply is being transported on mules back and in some areas boats have come into action. Due to scarcity of potable water another emergency has developed for clean drinking water and relief efforts are also directed towards provision of water in containers.
Please donate generously to
MALC Emergency Relief Fund
Account No. 01-7423462-01
at Standard Chartered Bank
and help the poor families especially women and children. MORE…
Mandaeism or Mandaeanism (Mandaic: Mandaiuta, Arabic: مندائية Mandā’iyya, Persian: مندائیان) is a monotheistic religion with a strongly dualistic worldview. “The Mandaeans are pacifists, followers of Adam, Noah and John the Baptist.” The Mandaeans (also sometimes referred to as Sabians in Arabic), revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh, Noah, Shem, Aram and especially John the Baptist. Mandaeism has historically been practised primarily around the lower Euphrates and Tigris and the rivers that surround the Shatt-al-Arab waterway, part of southern Iraq and Khuzestan Province in Iran. There are thought to be between 60,000 and 70,000 Mandaeans worldwide, and until the 2003 Iraq war, almost all of them lived in Iraq Many Mandaean Iraqis have since fled their country (as have many other Iraqis) because of the turmoil of the war and terrorism. By 2007, the population of Mandaeans in Iraq had fallen to approximately 5,000. Most Mandaean Iraqis have sought refuge in Iran with the fellow Mandians there. There has been a much smaller influx into Syria and Jordan, with smaller populations in Sweden, Australia, the United States, and other Western countries.
The prewar Iraqi Mandaean community was centered around Baghdad. Mandaean emigration from Iraq began during Saddam Hussein’s rule, but accelerated greatly after the American invasion and subsequent occupation. Since the invasion Mandaeans, like other Iraqis, have been subjected to violence by terrorist groups (not necessarily of Iraqi origin), including murders, kidnappings, rapes, evictions, and forced conversions. Mandaeans and many other Iraqis, have been also targeted for kidnapping since many worked as goldsmiths. Mandaeism is pacifistic and forbids its adherents from carrying weapons. Most Iraqi Mandaeans have fled the country in the face of this violence, and the Mandaean community in Iraq faces extinction. Out of the over 60,000 Mandaeans in Iraq in the early 1990s, only about 5,000 to 7,000 remain there; as of early 2007, over 80% of Iraqi Mandaeans were refugees in Syria and Jordan as a result of the Iraq War. There are small Mandaean diaspora populations in Sweden (c. 5,000), Australia (c. 3,500 as of 2006), the USA (c. 1,500), the UK (c. 1,000), and Canada. Sweden became a popular destination because a Mandaean community existed there before the war and the Swedish government has a liberal asylum policy toward Iraqis. Read More: > HERE <
The Sabian Mandaeans In Iraq – The Mandaeans are the descendants of the great civilizations of Iraq. They have lived in Iraq for thousands of years, and shared in its glories and miseries. They have added to the colors of the culture in Iraq: their white peaceful color, their sincerity and love of knowledge. Their uniqueness gives an example of how fertile this land is not only in its soil but also in spirituality and human thoughtfulness. They participated in building of the great civilization of that area and took their fair share in its miseries. The last of which was the brutal dictatorship, which spared nobody in its evil. The demise of that regime has widely opened the doors for a possibility of a democratic society where civil liberties and basic human rights are respected unfortunately it also opened the doors for chaos.
The Mandaeans Call for Democracy and Civil Rights in New Iraq – The Mandaeans are ancient people lived in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) for thousands of years. They participated in the building of the great civilization of that area and they took their fair share in its miseries. The last of which was the brutal dictatorship, which spared nobody in its evil. The demise of this regime has widely opened the doors for a possibility of a democratic society where civil liberties and basic human rights are respected.
The Mandaeans, today, ask for the establishment of a democratic system in Iraq. A just and fare system that respects their freedom and religious beliefs and recognize them as a monotheistic religion with equal rights and duties as all other citizens of Iraq.
We call upon the United Nations, The Coalition Governments, and the Iraqi political parties and powers to help in building the new democratic Iraq with a new constitution that guaranties the basic human rights and puts the mechanism for prevention of another dictatorship emerging in Iraq. This will be the only guarantee for a better future for a unified Iraq where all ethnicities and religions live in harmony and peace.
As we congratulate our fellow Mandaeans with the demise of the dictatorship, we also congratulate all Iraqi people and the people of the world for the end of one of the most brutal and dangerous regimes in the modern era. We call for peace and freedom for all. – The Mandaean Associations Union.
The Ninth Mandaean Camp Niagara Falls, August 13-15 , Compark Resort – More than 125 Mandaeans convened from all over the world for the ninth annual Mandaean Camp. Attending a cozy retreat in Niagara Falls, Canada, Mandaeans from the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia enjoyed three days of mild weather celebrating their heritage with family and friends.
Among the most important highlights of the camp was the large number of youth who attended. The ease and conviviality with which they congregated and befriended brought joy to every parent’s heart and reinforced for all of us the main reason we assemble every year.
Mandaean Appeal- Save the Iraqi Mandaeans – To the free-thinkers of the world; to men of religion and thought; to the scientists, artists, writers, journalists, and proponents of peace; to those interested in human civilization, religions of ancient history and anthropology, and the history of Ur, Missan, Babylon, and Nineveh; to the scientists of natural history; to scholars of ancient languages and archaeology; to all those who are pained by the bloodshed in modern-day Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilizations.
In Mandaean legends, as well as in those of India and Persia, one finds perpetual reference to wandering darawish, religious wanderers who, like Hirmiz Shah in the Mandaean story, like Gautama the Buddha in India, or, in medieval times, Guru Nanak, set out in search of intellectual and spiritual peace. www.farvardyn.com/mandaean.php
Speculation in the West is mostly conducted from a chair: the adventurer into the realms of thought goes no farther than the laboratory or the study. In the East, seekers after truth were peripatetic: their intellectual vagabondage was physical as well. It is certain that where the merchant penetrated, religious wanderers followed; travelling philosophers, ranging from China to India, Baluchistan, and Persia, and from Persia and Iraq to the Mediterranean, using the passes of Kurdistan and the waterways of Iraq. The oriental loves metaphysical argument and seeks it: the higher his type, the more addicted he is to this form of mental exercise, and the readier to listen to the opinions of a guest. The result, a leaven of unorthodoxy amongst the intellectual, eventually spread to the masses, first, possibly, as secret heresies, and then as new forms of religion. www.farvardyn.com
Sirs and Madams: The Sabian Mandaeans are a people of ancient Iraqi roots, who practice the traditions and rituals of the oldest era in the history of Iraq. They follow the teachings of the great prophet of peace, John the Baptist. They carry this prophet’s banner of peace, and believe in water as a symbol of purity and vitality. They maintained their baptism ritual generation after generation.
Today, the Mandaeans are facing persecution and death due to the tragic situation in Iraq, resulting in a decrease in the number of members to a few thousand and making the Mandaeans an endangered race. Every day hundreds migrate to neighboring countries (Syria, Jordan, Yemen, etc.) to join other families in exile. These immigrants live in inhumane conditions, mostly on charity. Their children are forced to leave school. They fled to the unknown for fear of murder, robbery, looting and rape.
The Mandaeans are calling on you in the name of humanity, history, religion, and culture to stand and support them in this moment of crisis. Since they are not linked to any strong political institution, or a world religious authority on which they can rely, they are seeking your help. Please sign this letter to be presented to the concerned international institutions, most importantly the United Nations, requesting that they take it upon themselves to protect the Mandaeans, the remnants of the people of Ur, Babylon and Missan, a race threatened in their homeland. Alternatively, these institutions should help organize the Mandaeans’ immigration to a country of safe refuge, where they can keep their original identity, human dignity, and their religious and cultural heritage.
The Mandaean people are depending on your generosity and are certain that you will take this necessary step to protect and aid them in their moment of need. please go to this link to sign the petition .
www.ejfoundation.org/No Place like Home
The Global Governance Project defines climate refugees as people who have to leave their habitats, immediately or in the near future, because of sudden or gradual alterations in their natural environment related to at least one of three impacts of climate change: sea-level rise, extreme weather events, and drought and water scarcity.
Although now widely used in the media, the term “climate refugee” is very controversial. The main concern is that the use of the term “refugee” for climate or environment-related displaced people lumps them together with the political refugees protected under the Geneva convention which defines a refugee as “a person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail him/herself of the protection of that country.” This, for the purpose of protecting refugees, to many states legally binding definition doesn’t mention environmental reasons at all. Concerns have been voiced that referring to environmental migrants as refugees might weaken the protection of political refugees. And while political refugees cannot turn to their own government for support, environmental migrants often can. The UNHCR was quoted with “Lumping both groups together under the same heading would further cloud the issues and could undermine efforts to help and protect either group and to address the root causes of either type of displacement.” Read More: > HERE <
A climate refugee is someone displaced by climate change induced environmental disasters. Such disasters are the result of incremental and rapid ecological change and disruption that include increased droughts, desertification, sea level rise, and the more frequent occurrence of extreme weather events such as hurricanes, cyclones, flooding and tornados. The term climate refugee is seen by some as an inappropriate term, and they would rather see it replaced with environmental migrant. Many people have raised objections to the use of the term ‘refugee’ in a climate context as it becomes mixed up with the legally defined term in the Refugee Convention of 1951. This Convention classifies refugees as those who are fleeing from violence and political intimidation.
So the debate over environmental refugees has been often criticised on the ground that there is no accepted definition of environmental refugees. An excellent article by Architesh Panda written in May 2010 (click on the link to download the pdf file), explores this idea.
The inhabitants of the Carteret Islands are climate refugees caused by sea level rise, and other inhabitants of low lying islands and Island states are also at risk. Tuvalu is especially susceptible to changes in sea level and storm surges and is likely to be another casualty.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the international science body that regularly produces assessment reports on climate change, suggested 200 million environmental refugees would exist by 2050. In this projection, the impacts of climate change, including coastal flooding, shoreline erosion and agricultural degradation were seen as major factors contributing to bulk of environmental refugees.
Freshwater – Seawater intrusion into freshwater aquifers in deltaic and non-deltaic areas is an increasing problem with rising sea level, and has been documented in diverse environments such as the arid Israeli coast, the humid Thailand coast, the Chinese Yangtze Delta, the Vietnamese Mekong Delta, and low-lying atolls. In the Yangtze delta, one consequence of saltwater incursion will be that during dry seasons shortages of freshwater for agriculture are likely to be more pronounced and agricultural yields seriously reduced particularly around Shanghai.
Storm Surges – The most destructive element associated with an intense cyclone is storm surge. Storm surge heights depend on the intensity of the cyclone, i.e., very high-pressure gradient and consequent very strong winds and the topography of seabed near the point where a cyclone crosses the coast. Sea level also rises due to astronomical high tide. Elevation of the total sea level increases when peak surge occurs at the time of high tide. Past history indicates that loss of life is significant when surge magnitude is 3 metres or more and catastrophic when 5 metres and above.
Storm-surge flooding in Bangladesh has caused very high mortality in the coastal population (e.g., at least 225,000 in November 1970 and 138,000 in April 1991), with the highest mortality among the old and weak. Shorelines are inherently dynamic, responding to short and long-term variability and trends in sea level, wave energy, sediment supply, and other forcing. Land that is subject to flooding which is at least 15% of the Bangladesh land area is disproportionately occupied by people living a marginal existence with few options or resources for adaptation. The IPCC have found very few studies that indicate benefits of climate change and sea-level rise in coastal and marine systems. Read More > http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/climate-refugee.html
This trailer is from the documentary Climate Refugees. A film that illuminates for the first time the human face of climate change and the national security issues of our changing climate./Sun Come Up is a lyrical documentary following the relocation of some of the world’s first climate change refugees, the Carteret Islanders.
On November 25, 2003, the Papua New Guinean government authorized the government-funded total evacuation of the islands, 10 families at a time; the evacuation was expected to be completed by 2007, but access to funding caused numerous delays.In October 2007 it was announced that the Papua New Guinea government would provide two million kina (USD $736,000) to begin the relocation, to be organized by Tulele Peisa of Buka, Bougainville. Five men from the island moved to Bougainville in early 2009 to build houses and plant crops. It is planned to bring another 1700 people over the next five years. CNN has reported that the Carteret islanders will be the first island community in the world to undergo an organized relocation, in response to rising sea levels. The people of the Carteret are being called the world’s first environmental refugees. Read More: > Here <
Sun Come Up; www.suncomeup.com an Intimate Look at the World’s First Climate Refugees. The Carteret islanders are moving. Virtually all of them. They are being forced to relocate their entire society, and give up much of what makes them unique as a people. Not because of war, famine or disease, but because of climate change.
The Carteret islanders did not choose to be poster children in the worldwide debate over global warming, yet they are among the first climate refugees in a trend that could affect as many as 250 million by mid-century, according to the UN. This is perhaps surprising for a culture that doesn’t really have a cash economy, roads or an airstrip. They rarely use electricity, live in huts with sand floors and survive primarily on seafood they harvest themselves and vegetables they grow in gardens. Their home is a small line of atolls in the Pacific, off the northeast coast of Papua New Guinea.
Yet the plight of the 3,000 or so Carterets is slowly gaining international attention, thanks in part to documentary filmmakers Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger, who are in the process of making a feature film about these people called Sun Come Up. A shorter version of the film-in-progress, entitled The Next Wave, recently won the Jury Prize at the Media That Matters film festival in New York City. From the looks of the short film, and the feature trailer, the story seems to be beautifully, and powerfully, told. The story of the Carterets is at once heartbreaking and heartwarming, and perhaps prescient of things to come.
http://www.myspace.com/hindoldeb
The origins of Indian classical music can be found in the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas. It has also been significantly influenced by Indian folk music, and Hindustani music has been influenced by Persian music. The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music at length. The Samaveda was created out of Rigveda so that its hymns could be sung as Samagana; this style evolved into jatis and eventually into ragas. Indian classical music has its origins as a meditation tool for attaining self realization. Bharat’s Natyashastra was the first treatise laying down fundamental principles of dance, music and drama. Read More: > HERE <
One of the upcoming sitar player and composer of his generation, Hindol started learning the Sitar at the age of five from his father, Sri. Panchanan Sardar. Later, he was groomed under the guidance of Pt. Deepak Choudhury, a senior disciple of Pt. Ravi Shankar. He graduated from the Prayag Sangeet Samiti under Allahabad University with a gold medal and is a recipient of the Sahitya Kala Parishad scholarship and the National Scholarship for Hindustani Classical Music in Sitar.
Hindol has been pursuing his dream intensely and is on his way to establish himself as a talented, upcoming young musician, giving several performances at many festivals in India and abroad. He has composed and played his music for various plays and ballets.
One striking quality about Hindol is the sense of maturity in his performance, which is unique at his age. With the deep resonating tone of his instrument, each note makes its presence felt and nothing fades away in ambiguity. His aesthetical understanding is rooted deep in spirituality. Simultaneously, he has also accomplished himself as a composer, exploring the infinite combinations in the crossover of Indian music with various other genres like Western Classical, Jazz, Blues, Electronica, Flamenco and folk music.
Recently, he was invited by the French government, with a residency scholarship, to work with other musicians and experiment with different genres like Jazz, Blues and electronic music, along with Indian classical music and performances. He was also invited by the Swedish government as the representative of India, with the musicians from fourteen different countries, to teach and play each other’s music and to perform at the ETHNO festival in Sweden. He has also toured Belgium and Greece to take part in many concert festivals.
Apart from being a performer, he is also a dedicated teacher and conducts workshops of Hindustani music, improvisation techniques and Indian Classical music appreciation in India and abroad.
Shri. Hindol Deb Plays Raag Hemant on the Day 1 of SwarGanga Music Festival 2008. The festival spanned for two days 20th and 21st December 2008. For more information visit www.swarganga.org.
SwarGanga Music Foundation, Atlanta, GA and SwarGanga Trust, Thane, India are non-profit organizations started by Adwait Joshi to promote young and upcoming artists in the field of North Indian Classical Music and spread the knowledge of North Indian Classical Music to people all over the world. SwarGanga currently has over 2 million hits from 147 different countries every year. Thanks to you all for making this site so popular.here.events page or to see any classical music events upcoming in your area please visit the event calendar.
To learn about different concepts of classical music such as sur, patti, taal, raags, please go through the series of articles starting . For a list of events organized by SwarGanga please visit www.swarganga.org . Your feedback helps us improve the website. So please respond by sending us an email .
The Energy [R]evolution demonstrates how the world can get from where we are now, to where we need to be in terms of phasing out fossil fuels, cutting CO2 while ensuring energy security. This includes illustrating how the world’s carbon emissions from the energy and transport sectors alone can peak by 2015 and be cut by over 80 percent by 2050. This phase-out of fossil fuels offers substantial other benefits such as independence from world market fossil fuel prices as well as the creation of millions of new green jobs. http://www.greenpeace.org/energyrevolution
Arsenic_contamination_of_groundwater
The Bhopal disaster or Bhopal Gas Tragedy is the world’s worst industrial catastrophe. It occurred on the night of December 2-3, 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. UCIL was the Indian subsidiary of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC). Indian Government controlled banks and the Indian public held a 49.1 percent ownership share. In 1994, the Supreme Court of India allowed UCC to sell its 50.9 percent share. The Bhopal plant was sold to McLeod Russel (India) Ltd. UCC is now a subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company. A leak of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other chemicals from the plant resulted in the exposure of several thousands of people. A leak of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other chemicals from the plant resulted in the exposure of several thousands of people. Estimates vary on the death toll. The official immediate death toll was 2,259 and the government of Madhya Pradesh has confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas release. Other government agencies estimate 15,000 deaths. Others estimate that 8,000 died within the first weeks and that another 8,000 have since died from gas-related diseases.
” C L E A N U P ” : Chemicals (~390 tons) abandoned at the plant continue to leak and pollute the groundwater. Whether the chemicals pose a health hazard is disputed. Read More: > HERE <
The Sambhavna Trust is a charitable trust run by a group of eminent doctors, scientists, writers and social workers who have been involved with various aspects of the Union Carbide disaster ever since its occurrence in December 1984. The Chairperson of Sambhavna, Dr. PM Bhargava, was awarded the “Padma Bhushan” by the President of India in 1986 and the “Legion d’Honneur” in 1998 by the French government for his scientific and social contributions. Dr. H H Trivedi, former Professor at the Gandhi Medical College and Satinath Sarangi are the two Bhopal based trustees of Sambhavna.
Many are unaware that the disaster in Bhopal continues to this day. An estimated 120,000-150,000 survivors of the disaster are still chronically ill. Over 23,000 have died of exposure-related illnesses and more are dying still. Tens of thousands of children born after the disaster suffer from growth problems and far too many teenaged women suffer from menstrual disorders. TB is several times more prevalent in the gas-affected population and cancers are on the rise.
The Bhopal Medical Appeal was launched in 1994, when a man from Bhopal came to Britain to tell whoever would listen about the calamitous condition of the still suffering victims of the Union Carbide gas disaster. Those who met him learned that after ten years, the survivors had received no meaningful medical help. (Unless one is prepared to accept that aspirin is a cure-all for the dreadful illnesses visited on them.)
The survivors realised that they must help themselves, because nobody else would. They wanted to open their own free clinic for gas victims. They were joined in the UK by a few individuals who put the mechanics of the Appeal together. They were in turn joined in this effort by other like minded people. Our newsletter is called 777. The name arose from an attempt to capture the spirit of the Appeal. Someone suggested, ’saat, saat, saat’, which in Hindi means ‘together, together, together’, but with a slight twist of the tongue could also mean ’seven, seven, seven.’ ‘We’ means all of us, all together.
BhopalMedicalAppeal /Arsen Water Myanmar/Arsen Water Pakistan
Thirty years ago, Bangladeshi villages began pumping arsenic-laced water in a development project gone awry. Why will it take another 30 years to halt the biggest mass poisoning in history?
The story beggars belief. In the 1970s, international agencies headed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) began pumping millions of dollars of aid money into Bangladesh for tubewells to provide “clean” drinking water. According to the World Health Organization, the direct result has been the biggest outbreak of mass poisoning in history. Up to half the country’s tubewells, now estimated to number 10 million, are poisoned. Tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands will die.
Arsenic contamination of groundwater is (not always natural!) a natural occurring high concentration of arsenic in deeper levels of groundwater, which became a high-profile problem in recent years due to the use of deep tubewells for water supply in the Ganges Delta, causing serious arsenic poisoning to large numbers of people. A 2007 study found that over 137 million people in more than 70 countries are probably affected by arsenic poisoning of drinking water.
Arsenic contamination of ground water is found in many countries throughout the world, including the USA. Approximately 20 incidents of groundwater arsenic contamination have been reported from all over the world. Of these, four major incidents were in Asia, including locations in Thailand, Taiwan, and Mainland China. South American countries like Argentina and Chile have also been affected. There are also many locations in the United States where the groundwater contains arsenic concentrations in excess of the Environmental Protection Agency standard of 10 parts per billion adopted in 2001.
Arsenic Catastrophe in Bangladesh: Project To Support the Poorest Rural Population in Bangladesh, Enhance Environmental Consciousness, Regain Traditional Wisdom. and Cultural Heritage . The people will invent more methods and survival strategies, if we really want to survive and refuse vested business interests of many western countries offering inadequate and expensive technologies. We need your help to make this extraordinary project a success. Every step of the project will be accompanied with on-line reports on this page, which will enhance your active participation.
Our goal is to help these people help themselves escape death. By the people, for the people, using simple, affordable methods….You can help by donating any amount: One arsenic free well costs less than 100 EUR – just donate 1 EUR. Solidarity for the poor- Also for Recent Cyclone Disastor: www.sos-arsenic.net
A choir, chorale, or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. A body of singers who perform together is called a choir or chorus. The former term is very often applied to groups affiliated with a church (whether or not they actually occupy the choir) and the second to groups that perform in theatres or concert halls, but this distinction is far from rigid. The term “Choir” has the secondary definition of a subset of an ensemble; thus one speaks of the “woodwind choir” of an orchestra, or different “choirs” of voices and/or instruments in a polychoral composition. In typical 18th to 21st century oratorios and masses, chorus or choir is usually understood to imply more than one singer per part, in contrast to the quartet of soloists also featured in these works.
In Worship Services – Eastern Orthodox churches, some American Protestant groups, and some synagogues do not use instruments. In churches of the Western Rite the accompanying instrument is usually the organ, although in colonial America, the Moravian Church used groups of strings and winds. Many churches which use a contemporary worship format use a small amplified band to accompany the singing, and Roman Catholic Churches may use, at their discretion, additional orchestral accompaniment. Liturgical Function – In addition to leading of singing in which the congregation participates, such as hymns and service music, some church choirs still sing full liturgies, including propers (introit, gradual, communion antiphons appropriate for the different times of the liturgical year). Chief among these are the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches; far more common however is the performance of anthems or motets at designated times in the service. Read More: > HERE <
Music helps create better understanding between different cultures and countries. The “2010 Vienna – World Peace Choral Festival” will be held in Vienna in August 2010 to provide a platform for youth and children’s choirs to perform and to enhance the understanding and friendship between young people.
The opening ceremony will take place in the Festival hall of University of Vienna on the 3rd Aug.2010. The closing ceremony will be hold in the famous music hall – the Concert Hall of Vienna, on the 6th of August 2010.
A series of events and activities will take place from the 3rd to the 6th of August 2010, e.g. concerts and celebration in the UN Headquarters in Vienna, in the Parliament Hall of City Vienna, in local concert halls and churches in and around Vienna.
The festival’s artistic activities will take place under the leadership of Mr. Gerald Wirth who is also the artistic director of the Vienna Boys Choir. Different workshops will be organized to help to reveal the talent of the children and young singers.
During the festival the children’s “World Peace Choir” will be assorted from all choir singers by the festival’s artistic committee. The “World Peace Choir” will tour different countries in the coming years (e.g. it is planned to tour China in spring 2011). Coming together to sing, Singing for a better future!
World Vision 2010 International Children’s Choir Festival / Vienna Boys Choir – Tallahassee FL USA. 2010 Vienna – World Peace Choral Festival, Coming together to sing, Singing for a better future. August 3-6, 2010, Vienna, Austria. TICKETS: http://konzerthaus.at
Program 5th of August, Concert at UN Headquarter& Vienna City Hall The day will start at UN Headquarter with a photo shooting. The participants of the World Peace Choral Festival will have the chance to take photos at this place of international understanding. After this the “young singing diplomats” will have their first big concert of the day at the UN Plaza. All the Choirs will perform their songs.
Following this, the participants will have a short foot walk to Vienna Danube Island, where they will have a picnic. Following a hearty picnic the choirs will tour to Vienna City Hall. After the reception at Vienna City Hall the second big concert of the day will begin. The choirs will get the chance to perform on stage of the Vienna City Hall summer stage.
This year, the activities of the World Peace Choral Festival will go further and are reaching out for new dimensions. The 2010 Vienna- World Peace Choral Festival invites all chorus ensembles across the world, especially children and youth chorus ensembles, to participate.
Competition is not the ultimate purpose of this festival- prior aim is to increase understanding between cultures, promote chorus art, and foster friendship between the people when spending time singing and celebrations together.
Lets get together friends, let’s sing for a better world!
Buddhism in Myanmar (also known as Burma) is predominantly of the Theravada tradition, practised by 89% of the country’s populationIt is the most religious Buddhist country in terms of proportion of monks in the population and proportion of income spent on religion. Adherents are most likely found among the dominant ethnic Bamar (or Burmans), Shan, Rakhine (Arakanese), Mon, Karen, and Chinese who are well integrated into Burmese society. Monks, collectively known as the Sangha, are venerated members of Burmese society. Amongst certain ethnic Bamar communities, Theravada Buddhism is practiced in conjunction with nat worship, although this practice is dying out. Read More: > HERE <
Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar, is the largest country by geographical area in Indochina (mainland Southeast Asia). The country is bordered by People’s Republic of China on the north-east, Laos on the east, Thailand on the south-east, Bangladesh on the west, India on the north-west and the Bay of Bengal to the south-west with the Andaman Sea defining its southern periphery. One-third of Burma’s total perimeter, 1,930 kilometers (1,199 mi), forms an uninterrupted coastline. The country’s culture, heavily influenced by neighbors, is based on Theravada Buddhism intertwined with local elements. Burma’s diverse population has played a major role in defining its politics, history and demographics in modern times, and the country continues to struggle to mend its ethnic tensions. The military has dominated government since General Ne Win led a coup in 1962 that toppled the civilian government of U Nu. Burma remains under the tight control of the military-led State Peace and Development Council. Read More: > HERE <
The Best Friend was founded in 1999 as The Best Friend Group of Literature, by two concerned monks with the purpose of encouraging people to become more educated, aware and active in the struggle for peace and freedom in Burma. The main belief is that education can open up people’s ears and eyes and is THE way to eradicate poverty.
At one point, The Best Friend operated fifteen libraries inside Burma. The libraries provided both monks and laypersons access to uncensored information and literature. Apart from that, they were meeting places where people could discuss freely. The Best Friend also teaches languages, such as English, French, Japanese and Burmese.
The Burmese military regime has been closely monitoring and controlling the activities of politically active people, especially since the 2007 Saffron Revolution. Many of the members and volunteers of The Best Friend were forced to leave Burma to avoid persecution. Several people, also monks, were arrested and are currently imprisoned. Simply for the crime of providing information and discussing about politics and freedom.
6. – 9. August 2010
Friedensfestival 2010 Berlin
The Best Friend will take part in the Peace Festival 2010 in Berlin.
Where: Alexanderplatz, Berlin Germany
Today, only three of the fifteen libraries are still in operation. King Zero and Ashin Sopaka, the founders of The Best Friend, moved to the Thai border town Mae Sot and opened the first Best Friend Library in Thailand in 2008.
Apart from Thailand, The Best Friend has spread to many other countries in the world. It is now legally run by Kölner Buddhismus Center e.V. in Germany and is active raising awareness about the situation in Burma and giving information to people who wish to support the organization. From its new base in Thailand, The Best Friend is developing projects supporting the many Burmese refugees in the area. In 2010, the Mobile Health Care Program was launched and the Relocation Project – to help illegal refugee families , move away from the Mae Sot rubbish dump – was set up. The Best Friend also offers many classes, such as English language classes, computer and sewing courses, Dhamma teachings and children’s classes. All teachers work voluntarily and all classes are free of charge.
http://bookstore.yogananda-srf.org/
“It isn’t academic education alone that makes people happy. It is “how-to-live” education — how to develop a harmonious, moral life, stronger will power, and spiritual understanding — that will bring happiness.” — Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda (Bengali: পরম Pôromohôngsho Joganondo, Sanskrit: परमहंस योगानंद Paramahaṃsa Yogānaṃda; January 5, 1893–March 7, 1952), born Mukunda Lal Ghosh (Bengali: মুকMukundo Lal Ghosh), was an Indian yogi and guru who introduced many westerners to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his book, Autobiography of a Yogi. Yogananda was born in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India to a devout Bengali kshatriya family. According to his younger brother, Sananda, from his earliest years young Mukunda’s awareness and experience of the spiritual was far beyond the ordinary. In his youth he sought out many of India’s Hindu sages and saints, hoping to find an illuminated teacher to guide him in his spiritual quest. Read more: > HERE <
Thousands of SRF members and friends from around the world participated in our annual World Convocation. SRF monks and nuns joined them to lead group meditations, kirtans, classes on the SRF techniques of meditation, and inspirational talks on the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda.
Paramahansa Yogananda in New York / On February 2, 2002, Roy Eugene Davis, founder and spiritual director of the Center for Spiritual Awareness, visited Paramahansa Hariharananda, a brother disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, at his ashram in south Florida. Mr. Davis was asked to speak to the ashram residents about some of his experiences as a disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda.
Programs for Youth – Paramahansa Yogananda felt deeply for the welfare of children and took a lifelong interest in their all-around education. Carrying on in this tradition, Self-Realization Fellowship continues to offer programs that teach young people how to live a balanced life of meditation and right activity.
SRF Sunday Schools, teen programs, and summer youth programs provide children with a solid spiritual and ethical foundation on which to build throughout life. Emphasis is given to the practice of the science of meditation taught by Paramahansa Yogananda for personal experience of God. Children are shown how to develop moral character and the noble qualities exemplified in the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita, such as faith in God, respect, kindness, consideration for others, courage, and evenmindedness.
These qualities then act as spiritual building blocks for the right development of a child’s character and help to establish positive habits such as self-discipline, service to others, truthfulness, and the use of common sense — as countless participants over the decades have attested. Read more: > HERE <
http://notonourwatchproject.org/
http://www.fao.org/acacia senegal
Darfur (Arabic: دار فور dār fūr, lit. “realm of the Fur“) is a region in Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur which are coordinated by a Transitional Darfur Regional Authority. Because of the War in Darfur waged by the Sudanese government against the non-Arab indigenous population, the region has been in state of humanitarian emergency since 2003. Read more: > HERE <
CASH CROP – The term is used to differentiate from subsistence crops, which are those fed to the producer’s own livestock or grown as food for the producer’s family. In earlier times cash crops were usually only a small (but vital) part of a farm’s total yield, while today, especially in the developed countries, almost all crops are mainly grown for cash. In non-developed nations, cash crops are usually crops which attract demand in more developed nations, and hence have some export value. In many tropical and subtropical areas, jute, coffee, cocoa, sugar cane, bananas, oranges and cotton are common cash crops. In cooler areas, grain crops, oil-yielding crops and some vegetables and herbs are predominate; an example of this is the United States, where cannabis, corn, wheat, soybean are the predominant cash crops. Read more: > HERE <
Not since baking soda has there been a natural commodity that has so many different uses. In the days of the Egyptian Pharaohs, gum arabic was essential to mummification, and since Biblical times, it has been used to maintain the integrity of paints.It can also soothe a worried belly, diarrhea, and constipation, and it’s a key ingredient in soft drinks.
Gum arabic is sap from the branches of Acacia Senegal trees. It’s a natural emulsifier, which means that it can keep together substances which normally would not mix well. Pharmaceutical companies use it to keep medicines from separating into their different ingredients, and a dab of gum arabic makes newspaper ink more cohesive and permanent.
Sudan’s Miracle Commodity – The Acacia Senegal tree grows all over Africa and even on the Indian subcontinent. Most of the world’s gum arabic, however, comes from Sudan, where a thick belt of Acacia Senegal trees stretches from one end of Sudan to the other. Hassan Osman Abdel Nour is the general manager of Sudan’s largest exporter of gum arabic, the Gum Arabic Company.
“The botanist who identified Acacia Senegal first saw it in Senegal, but it turned out to be Acacia Senegal is more common in Sudan than anywhere in the belt. . . It’s an endowment from God. We did nothing about it,” Nour says.
But extracting gum arabic from thorn-covered Acacia Senegal trees is not easy. When the amber-colored gum begins bubbling up, farm workers handpick chunks from the trees and sometimes get scratched in the process.
Still, Sudan reportedly exports tens of thousands of tons of raw gum arabic ( 60 – 70 % of the World Market) each year, feeding the high global demand. The raw sap is sent to Europe for processing and afterward is disseminated to customers worldwide.
An Industry in Decline – These days, however, business is down. Sudan’s output has dropped to nearly half of what the nation produced in its heyday. As the once abundant belt of Acacia Senegal trees across Sudan shrinks, climate change appears to be one of the culprits. Farmer Adil Basheer remembers better harvests. “In the 1990s—’e're talking about hectares—one hectare was equivalent to seven and eight bags every two weeks. But nowadays, a hectare cannot bring a half bag or two and a half b”gs.”
The humanitarian crisis in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have died and more than two million have been displaced, is also having a negative impact on the global gum arabic industry.
The Bush administration calls the conflict “government-sponsored genocide,” and around the world, the Darfur crisis appears to have sullied Sudan’s reputation to that point that many companies do not want to admit that they buy a Sudanese commodity.
Coca-Cola, which uses gum arabic to keep the sugar from precipitating to the bottom of its sodas, won’t say where it gets the emulsifier. However, company representatives insist they do not buy directly from Sudan. Gum Arabic Company board president Mansour Khalid says otherwise. “They buy processed gum and the processed gum comes from Europe, and Europe buys from Sudan. And you know, the whole thing is silly.” Staying Afloat – Some Sudanese businessmen believe that widening gum arabic’s appeal internationally is the way forward. Isam Siddiq runs the privately-owned Dar Savannah Gum Arabic processing company. He says manufacturers around the world are trying to create manmade emulsifiers as powerful as gum arabic. Siddiq wants to maintain Sudan’s competitive edge by altering the high-fiber, nonfat emulsifier’s identity from an additive to a food, and he’s ready with his sales pitch:
“America is aware of good health and good food. The American people. And they want it—fiber…The people of the world must really complement each other. We have here fiber, and they have their wheat in America. So Sudan and American could be a good partnership for the benefit of the two nation”. > Related NPR Stories <
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_clooney Not On Our Watch: Official site for charity founded by George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Jerry Weintraub, David Pressman
ECONOMY – In the last ten years, the Sudanese economy has undergone a drastic change. Instead of been an agriculture-based economy it has turned into an OIL DEPENDEND ECONOMY which in turn has marginalized agriculture. At a time when the world is suffering a food crisis, which is especially afflicting Africa, food production should offer the main productive future for the Sudanese economy.
During the last year, oil revenues represented more than 65% of the Government of National Unity income and more the 90% of the revenue for the Government of South Sudan. In the last four months, oil prices have dropped by around 70%. This is a huge blow. Meanwhile, others sectors of the economy have been weakened by a combination of poor policies followed by the regime in the in the 1990s, and the failure to adapt the non-oil sectors to the impact of the growth in petroleum production. Most of the agricultural sector has been neglected and the economy is now driven by the trading sector and the informal sector, which do not contribute in a major way to creating jobs or generating income in the shape of direct or indirect taxes.
The Sudanese people are still waiting for the peace dividends in shape of economic development which will help in alleviating poverty and raising the standard of living to the majority. At the time when market economy has been tested to the limit in western countries and governments are now nationalizing banks and taking control of key economic sectors, the opposite is happening in Sudan. Instead we have a market dominated by a number of monopolies in most economic sectors, controlled by private individuals who are well-connected to the government. It is not the state that regulates the country’s leading businessmen but a cosy partnership between the two. Read More: > HERE <
The issues of the Darfur war are economical. One of them is due to rice a produce. Farmers fear the construction of dams which are made possible by the strength of the River Nile Waters.
There are places in the world that you can hardly forget like Uganda. This last country is in East Africa and has no opening on the Ocean. So, this makes it a landlocked country that needs to negociate with other countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia and Eritrea to import goods by boat and there is the river Nile on which boats can sail from Cairo. Uganda is a very known country these days because of the conflit in Sudan.
This conflit is known as the Darfur war. Sudan is in the south of Egypte and that is where most of the rice plantation are. Probably thank to the river Nile rice is available in large quantities and it constitutes the major dish of the inhabitants in West Africa. The problem with rice is that it needs to be eaten reasonable other wise you gain weight which is difficult to loose especially if you don’t do a lot of activities.
Rice is a major issue. That is all the question of construction of dams which have said to be destructive for plantation. Rice is sometimes transformed into an alchoolic beverage called sake and it is a produce from Japan. So, one may think that it is important to regulate to make sure that nobody get drunk and is treated in case of fetal alchool syndrom. Actually, the population growth in Japan slowed down in the nineties. Rice grows in water and in the mountains. The well known varieties of rice are from the United States of America and France. Rice is grown in the South of the United States of America in the states of North Carolina and South Carolina. France grows rice on its south west border with Spain a place called Camargue where horses run freely.
Thus, the war in the Darfur is an economical and social problem. Rice is a cereal and can accompany many meals.
If the war continues in the Darfur there will be a food security issue. There is a need to control the cereal markets because they can often be stocked for a long time without preservatives and then some other ingredients can be neglected. This is a tragedy that happened everywhere in the world where populations thought that cereals when in large amount are able to cover all the food intake. It is good to know that there is some for eating and that all is not wasted in alchoolic beverages that can put society in danger because of risk of accidents for example and of wars. Read more in > International Business and Trade <
www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/ The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council, with a mandate to discuss indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights.
www.ethicalconsumer.org – Ethical consumption stresses the role of the consumer in preventing the exploitation of women and children in sweatshop factories overseas and in the U.S. It also considers the environmental costs of production. These costs include the depletion of natural resources, as well as human costs. For example, when a corporation like Unilever, producer of Dove and Lever soaps, Vaseline Intensive Care lotion, Finesse shanpoo, Surf detergent, and Mentadent toothpaste, employs women in the jungle areas of Bihar, India to collect seeds from the sal tree for use in lipstick, the women are deprived of control over what was formerly a resource for their own use.
Consumption in North America today will eventually destroy the environment and is in general hazardous to human health. According to the 1998 United Nations Development Report, 20% of the world’s population consumes 86% of the world’s resources, while the poorest 20% consume only 1.3%. “Not everyone has been invited to the party,” said U.N. administrator James Gustave. “Expectations have gone global but affluence has not.”
Obviously, consuming less on a personal level in the United States does not directly ensure that people in other parts of the world will immediately be able to meet their basic needs. Changing social patterns of consumption, however, will eventually make a difference. Once individuals begin to understand how their purchases are connected within a global framework, they can demand new, sustainable methods of production. Living with fewer “things” and assuring that all resources, including labor, are used wisely and fairly will help create a more equitable and ecological world.
By consuming consciously and ethically we can realistically create change. Being aware of current issues in labor exploitation, environmental conservation, and human rights is the best way to spend ethically. Before buying anything ask: Who makes it? Who needs it? and Who profits from it? > Here are some links to informational sites <
Roshi’s new book, Being with Dying
Joan Jiko Halifax (born 1942) is a Zen Buddhist roshi, anthropologist, ecologist, civil rights activist, hospice caregiver, and the author of several books on Buddhism and spirituality. She currently serves as abbot and guiding teacher of Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a Zen Peacemaker community which she founded in 1990. Halifax-roshi has received Dharma transmission from both Bernard Glassman and Thich Nhat Hanh, and previously studied under the Korean master Seung Sahn. She is founder of the Ojai Foundation in California, which she led from 1979 to 1989. As a socially engaged Buddhist, Halifax has done extensive work with the dying through her Project on Being with Dying (which she founded). She is on the board of directors of the Mind and Life Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated in exploring the relationship of science and Buddhism. Read More: > HERE <
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The Japanese word Zen is derived from the Chinese word Chán, which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which means “meditation” or “meditative state.” Zen emphasizes experiential prajñā in the attainment of enlightenment. As such, it de-emphasizes theoretical knowledge in favor of direct realization through meditation and dharma practice. The teachings of Zen include various sources of Mahāyāna thought, including the Prajñāpāramitā literature and the teachings of the Yogācāra and Tathāgatagarbha schools. The emergence of Zen as a distinct school of Buddhism was first documented in China in the 7th century CE. From China, Zen spread south to Vietnam, and east to Korea and Japan. As a matter of tradition, the establishment of Zen is credited to the South Indian prince-turned-monk Bodhidharma, who came to China to teach a “special transmission outside scriptures, not founded on words or letters”. Read More: > HERE <
Meditation, Zen Buddhist Retreats, Chaplaincy Training and End-of-Life Care – Upaya Zen Center is a residential Buddhist community located in beautiful Santa Fe, NM. As a Zen center, we offer daily meditation which is open to the public, a weekly public Dharma talk which often highlights Buddhist teachings, a residential Path of Service and work exchange program, and weekly retreats and workshops focusing on practices related to engaged Buddhism, how to live in our world responsibly, with affection, kindness and wisdom. For your convenience, here is a downloadable document representing a synopsis of Learning and Buddhist Practice at Upaya.
Upaya Zen Center also offers a two-year Certificated Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program in the areas of Prison, End of Life Care, Peacemaking, Women’s, Youth and Environmental Ministries and a Professional Training Program in Contemplative End of Life Care.
Upaya Zen Center is a Zen Buddhist practice, service, and training center. Our vision focuses on the integration of practice and social action, bringing together wisdom and compassion.
Our mission is to provide a context for community practice, education in Buddhism and social service in the areas of death and dying, prison work, the environment, women’s rights, and peacework. It endeavors to fulfill the vision of the Five Buddha Family Mandala, by understanding the integration of all of its functions.
The Five Buddha Family Mandala is based on the Five Meditation Buddhas of traditional Buddhism from India. It is a vision of Buddhism that is integrated, interconnected, and process oriented and is based on the integration of our spirituality, education, livelihood, service, and community into a whole cloth.
Joan Halifax Roshi is a Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, and author. She is Founder, Abbot, and Head Teacher of Upaya Zen Center, a Buddhist monastery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
She has worked in the area of death and dying for over thirty years and is Director of the Project on Being with Dying. For the past twenty-five years, she has been active in environmental work.
A Founding Teacher of the Zen Peacemaker Order, her work and practice for more than three decades has focused on engaged Buddhism. Of recent, Roshi Joan Halifax is a distinguished invited scholar to the Library of Congress and the only woman and buddhist to be on the Advisory Council for the Tony Blair Foundation.
She is Founder and Director of the Upaya Prison Pro ject that develops programs on meditation for prisoners. She is founder of the Ojai Foundation, was an Honorary Research Fellow at Harvard University, and has taught in many universities, monasteries, and medical centers around the world.
She studied for a decade with Zen Teacher Seung Sahn and was a teacher in the Kwan Um Zen School. She received the Lamp Transmission from Thich Nhat Hanh, and was given Inka by Roshi Bernie Glassman. A Founding Teacher of the Zen Peacemaker Order, her work and practice for more than three decades has focused on engaged Buddhism.
Conservation International (CI) is a nonprofit organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, that seeks to protect Earth’s biodiversity “hotspots,” high-biodiversity wilderness areas as well as important marine regions around the globe. The group is also known for its partnerships with local non-governmental organizations and indigenous peoples. CI was founded in 1987 by Spencer Beebe and Peter Seligmann and now has a staff of more than 900 employees. Its work occurs in more than 45 countries, primarily in developing nations in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Central and South American rainforests. Building upon a strong foundation of science, partnership, and field demonstration, Conservation International empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature for the well-being of humanity. Read More: > HERE <
Hans Rosling (born July 27, 1948 in Uppsala, Sweden) is Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institute and Director of the Gapminder Foundation, which developed the Trendalyzer software system. From 1967 to 1974 he studied statistics and medicine at Uppsala University, and in 1972 he studied public health at St John’s Medical College, Bangalore. He became a licenced physician in 1976 and from 1979 to 1981 he served as District Medical Officer in Nacala in northern Mozambique. Rosling’s research has also focused on other links between economic development, agriculture, poverty and health in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He has been health adviser to WHO, UNICEF and several aid agencies. In 1993 he was one of the initiators of Médecins sans frontières in Sweden. Read More > Here <
Conservancy Yunnan The alpine ecosystems mountain areas that lie above the treeline – of northwestern Yunnan are some of the most biologically rich systems in the world. Home to such endangered species such as the snow leopard and blue sheep, this unique area provides important ecosystem services such as water storage, medicinal plants, and grazing for livestock. For example the rare snow lotus, which grows in the rocky upper slopes at elevations over 4,000 meters, is used by Tibetans to treat high blood pressure.
Unfortunately, these ecosystems are currently under siege by incompatible land uses and climate change. The Nature Conservancy has joined together with the Center for Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge (CBIK) and academic researchers to initiate a project focused on protecting these treasured and threatened ecosystems.
Goals • Gain a clear understanding of northwest Yunnan’s alpine ecosystem and identify immediate threats • Develop and implement climate adaptive conservation strategies based scientific, social, cultural, political, and economic factors • Maintain a healthy alpine ecosystem
What the Conservancy is Doing – During October 2003, the Conservancy and its partners traversed the mountain ranges of northwestern Yunnan collecting mapping data and investigating the ecological, political, and economic status of alpine areas across the project area. We interviewed local villagers, gathered information on ecological health, and set up initial photo monitoring sites to serve as the baseline for annual monitoring of these systems. During the course of 2004, we will work with partners and communities to continue research as well as begin to implement “no-regret” conservation strategies.
http://carlsafina.org , www.gapminder.org
http://www.ted.com The Gulf oil spill dwarfs comprehension, but we know this much: it’s bad. Carl Safina scrapes out the facts in this blood-boiling cross-examination, arguing that the consequences will stretch far beyond the Gulf — and many so-called solutions are making the situation worse.
Blue Ocean Institute - From Arctic Alaskan fishing villages to Zanzibar’s shores, the staff of Blue Ocean Institute studies and articulates how the ocean is changing and how everything humans do—both on land and at sea—affects the waters, wildlife, and people of our world. But gloomy environmental warnings and predictions don’t move people to make changes that can help our shared ocean. MacArthur Prize-winning scientist/author Dr. Carl Safina and Mercédès Lee created Blue Ocean Institute in 2003 as a unique voice of hope, guidance, and encouragement.
Blue Ocean Institute is the only conservation organization that uses science, art, and literature to inspire a closer bond with nature, especially the sea. We translate scientific information into language people can understand and use to make better choices on behalf of the sea. Whether you’re a fisherman, seafood lover, student, faith leader, parent, artist, or chef, our programs help you learn how and why you should protect our planet’s life-giving ocean.
Ocean Climate Change – This project is dedicated to turning the science of climate change effects on ocean life into stories that are accessible to policy, public, and scientific communities. We seek to identify those areas of research that are lacking attention, or are particularly complicated, and write articles in both academic and popular media formats about these underrepresented or important subjects.
“Climate change” is really “carbon change” and is not just about warming. We currently focus on how climate change alters ocean chemistry, and how that can affect every creature in the sea by forcing them to devote more energy to coping with excess carbon dioxide in the ocean. Since January, this initiative has already produced several articles, ranging from online journals to environmental faith-based magazines. Our published articles call for a wider appreciation and reporting of climate change effects on marine life. Please see our staff publications page to see articles on this issue.
http://athene.geo.univie.ac.at/project/nako
Kinnaur is one of twelve administrative districts of Himachal Pradesh, India. The district is itself divided into three administrative areas – Pooh, Kalpa, and Nichar – and has five Tehsils or counties. The administrative headquarter for Kinnaur district is at Reckong Peo. Due to the network of motorable roads all the essential facilities are available. According to ancient Hindu texts Kinners are halfway between humans and gods. From here Sangla valley, and district headquarters Recong Peo, Kalpa, Kinnaur Kailash, considered to be the abode of Lord Shiva, can be viewed. Read More: > HERE <
While the 10th and 13th centuries, the Western Himalayan region developed a refined and complex artistic culture under Western Tibetan Buddhist patronage. Some of this tradition’s most striking examples are found in the seven temples of Nako village, Upper Kinnaur, in the province of Himachal Pradesh, India. These temples are not only witness to the long history of this region, but also lie at the heart of the communitity’s religious life, in which even today a Tibetan form of Buddhism flourishes.
These temples are now endangered due to the structural fragility of their architecture, and by the infiltration of rain and melt water. For these reasons amongst others, a major preservation program was necessary, which primarily involved large scale stabilization work, as well as cleaning and conservation of the unique wall- and ceiling paintings. Due to the large scope of the project, for the time being this work has been accomplished exclusively for the Lhakhang Gongma (Upper Temple), while work has now also begun on the Lotsawa Lhakhang (Translator’s Temple).
Some of the major objectives of the NRPP have been (a) providing technical expertise and modern technology to the Nako community, (b) examining and analysing indigenous building techniques and traditional artistic handicrafts, which have contributed to the continued existence of these exquisite monuments, and (c) merging these activities with the ongoing preservation work, while taking into account local economic and technological resources. Therefore, the NRPP is to be considered a model for the future conservation and preservation of this region’s rich cultural heritage. The villagers of Nako have greatly supported and contributed to the efforts and aims of the NRPP, and the ongoing process of consultation between the NRPP, the Buddhist Association and the Nako Village Council remains central to the preservation work.
In order to establish the proper methods and priorities of the preservation process, information needs to be gathered and brought together from technical, social, economical, as well as from historical sources and, in the case of Nako, this information is neither readily available nor easily accessible. Therefore, the research conducted by the NRPP team in Vienna over the last 15 years includes scholars of art history, Tibetan language, religious history, Buddhist philosophy and cultural anthropology, in addition to architects and painting experts. Each of these disciplines provides a distinct methodology for understanding the fragmentary evidence, and their findings serve as the outset for an in-depth study and research of this region’s cultural heritage and it’s preservation.
Karma Triyana Dharmachakra is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Woodstock, NY, USA, which serves as the North American seat of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Karma Kagyu lineage. It was founded in 1976 by the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa. The present abbot is Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche. Read More: > HERE <
The monastery was built through the blessings and inspiration of His Holiness the 16th Gwalya Karmapa, the Head of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. His Holiness’ vision came in response to the sincere supplication of students in the West who yearned for an authentic Tibetan Buddhist monastery for the study and practice of the Buddha’s teachings.
This summer, hundreds of monks and lay people will gather at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra (KTD) on Overlook Mountain above the artist village of Woodstock, N.Y., to participate in the North American Kagyu Monlam, a five day festival of prayers for world peace. This historic event, an extension of the annual Kagyu Monlam Chenmo in Bodhgaya, India, will be the first of an annual tradition to be held at sacred places across the U.S. and Canada.
Tuesday, July 13 – 17, 2010 at 8:30am
Karma Triyana Dharmachakra (KTD)
335 Meads Mountain Road, Woodstock, NY
“Kagyu Monlam is an avenue whereby we can spread, at times of great need, the genuine spirit of love and compassion to all the people of the world, like a great ripple, first in Bodhgaya, then in Bihar, and so on. As we continuously offer these prayers for world peace, it is our intention and our wish that peace and happiness extend to all.” — His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa.
Your prayers and aspirations will help spread the spirit of compassion and love, supporting the mission of His Holiness and other great masters. Highlights of the event include daily teachings by the Very Ven. Thrangu Rinpoche and an Akshobhya Empowerment. The complete daily schedule of events, personally composed by His Holiness the Karmapa, can be viewed at https://www.kagyu.org/monlam/schedule.php
Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, July 13-17 2010
The many recreational opportunities of the Catskill Mountains make this an ideal location to bring the family. Whether you come for one day or for the entire program, your participation will support His Holiness’s efforts to promote world peace and harmony.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email monlamregistration@kagyu.org or contact the KTD front office at 845-679-5906 x3. For more information, please visit www.kagyu.org/monlam. We look forward to seeing you at the first North American Kagyu Monlam.
www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info
www.vedantasociety-chicago.org
Dakshineswar Ramkrishna Sangha Adyapeath – In 1915, a young Brahmin named Annada Charan Bhattacharya was setting up a successful practice in Ayurvedic medicine in Calcutta. A capable scientist, he had discovered seven patent medicines and went on to become a renowned doctor all over Bengal.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (Bangla: রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস Ramkṛiṣṇo Pôromôhongśo) (February 18, 1836 – August 16, 1886), born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay (Bangla: গদাধর চট্টোপাধ্যায় Gôdadhor Chôţţopaddhae), was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu renaissance during the 19th and 20th centuries.Many of his disciples and devotees believe he was an avatar or incarnation of God. Ramakrishna was born in a poor Brahmin Vaishnava family in rural Bengal. He became a priest of the Dakshineswar Kali Temple, dedicated to the goddess Kali, which had the influence of the main strands of Bengali bhakti tradition. Read More: > HERE <
Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are twin organizations which form the core of a worldwide spiritual movement (known as Ramakrishna Movement or Vedanta Movement), which aims at the harmony of religions, harmony of the East and the West, harmony of the ancient and the modern, spiritual fulfillment, all-round development of human faculties, social equality, and peace for all humanity, without any distinctions of creed, caste, race or nationality.
RAMAKRISHNA MATH is a monastic organization for men brought into existence by Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886), the great 19th century saint of Bengal who is regarded as the Prophet of the Modern Age.
RAMAKRISHNA MISSION is a registered society in which monks of Ramakrishna Math and lay devotees cooperate in conducting various types of social service mainly in India. It was founded by Sri Ramakrishna chief apostle, > SWAMI VIVEKANANDA (vedanta, jnana yoga )< (1863-1902), one of the foremost thinkers and religious leaders of the present age, who is regarded as ‘one of the main moulders of the modern world’, in the words of an eminent Western scholar A. L. Basham.
The ideology of Ramakrishna Math and Mission consists of the eternal principles of Vedanta as lived and experienced by Sri Ramakrishna and expounded by Swami Vivekananda. This ideology has three characteristics: it is modern in the sense that the ancient principles of Vedanta have been expressed in the modern idiom; it is universal, that is, it is meant for the whole humanity; it is practical in the sense that its principles can be applied in day-to-day life to solve the problems of life.
The motto of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission is: Atmano mokshartham jagad hitaya cha, “For one’s own salvation, and for the welfare of the world”. The main goals and objectives of these twin organizations, based on the principles of Practical Vedanta, are:
Sarada Devi (Bengali: সারদা দেবী) (1853—1920), born Saradamani Mukhopadhyaya, was the wife and spiritual counterpart of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a nineteenth century mystic of Bengal. Sarada Devi is also reverentially addressed as the Holy Mother (Sri Maa) by the followers of the Ramakrishna monastic order. Sarada Devi played an important role in the growth of the Ramakrishna Movement. Read More: > HERE <
Endearingly known as ‘Holy Mother’, Sri Sarada Devi, the spiritual consort of Sri Ramakrishna, was born on 22 December 1853 in a poor Brahmin family in Jayrambati, a village adjoining Kamarpukur in West Bengal. Her father, Ramachandra Mukhopadhyay, was a pious and kind-hearted person, and her mother, Shyama Sundari Devi, was a loving and hard-working woman.
HEARTLAND LEARNA CENTER - UNITY IN DIVERSITY
http://meena-chopra.fineartamerica.com
http://learnaheartland.blogspot.com/
http://meenasartworld.blogspot.com
Let us Celebrate Unity in Diversity with children and spark their creative power. This is the Motto of Unity in Diversity Arts Competition.
UNITY IN DIVERSITY – The events has been created to celebrate the essence of life and that is ‘UNITY IN DIVERSITY Children’s Art Competition’. Competition. Hopefully we will have this event every year.
All of us have a rainbow of attributes within ourselves and this colourful rainbow unites us in our personalities to create that one shining flame of everlasting sunshine, one spirit that we all seek. That is how we want to see a blossoming Canada under the one sunshine of Unity in Diversity, always celebrating the light and the rainbow at the same time and with the same spirit.
This event has come up with the support of many. Mississauga Arts Council. Art Unit of City of Mississauga has been behind us and encouraged us at every step. Learna Education Inc. as our main sponsor helped us in organising this event. We received a lot of support and congratulatory messages from many including community leaders, our sponsors and volunteers. I extend my thanks to everybody.
About Meena Chopra – A multi faceted person, painter and poet, Meena Chopra now settled in Mississauga, Canada, for 5 years after migrating from New Delhi India, hails from Nainital, a hill resort in India. She has had several art exhibitions in many countries, which includes India, Canada, England. An avid reader of prose and poetry, she writes both in English and her native language Hindi. Her first collection of poems, “Ignited Lines” was published in 1996 was released in London, England the same year. At the moment she is working on two collections of poems one in Hindi and one is translations from English to Hindi. These are to be released by the end of this year(2009). Her poems have been published in many national and inter-national journals. They have also been translated into German by Carla Kraus, a well known Austrian author.
She represented Canada in New Delhi India in 7th Inter-national Hindi Celebration Meet in December 2008 organized by Akshram in association with ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations). She has also represented India in the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Artists Meet, New Delhi in December 2002. She received Honourable Mention at Poetry Writing Contest 2003 held by the Mississauga Library System Canada when she landed in Canada.
Her paintings are with many Corporates, Government Bodies, Embassies, Hotels and Private Collections in India, Canada, Australia, England, Switzerland, Dubai and many other countries
She qualified as a textile and fashion designer and worked in this industry for for six years, then got into advertising.
She has had an intense career in advertising for twenty years and was heading an advertising agency in New Delhi, India. Now she runs an Entertainment & Life Style news weekly called “STARBUZZ” along with her husband in GTA, Canada and also runs an after school learning centre in Mississauga.
Meena is also passionately involved in community arts and has directed many art events and curated many art exhibitions. Most of these have been done under the aegis of ‘CROSS CURRENTS – Indo Canadian International Arts’ which has a mission of embracing diverse cultures and origins and bringing them on a common platform through arts there by ‘taking arts beyond boundaries’. The organization has had several successful art events in past. This includes an art exhibition “Confluence”, which was taken to India, ” “Children’s Art Competition, Unity In Diversity” and “Beyond Boundaries International Arts Festival”.
She is also a qualified art educator (Learning Through the Arts) from The Royal Conservatory School (The RCM) Ontario, which means to implement an arts-infused approaches in developing the potential of every child and adult.
Meena Chopra, President
CROSS CURRENTS Indo Canadian International Arts
(Also Director Learna Education Centre, Heartland, Mississauga)
Email: crosscurrents.ca@gmail.com
www.unpo.org/Uyghuren Nederland (VUN)
http://turkmenfriendship.blogspot.com
The Uyghur (Uyghur: ئۇيغۇر, Uyghur?; simplified Chinese: 维吾尔; traditional Chinese: 維吾爾; pinyin: Wéiwú’ěr; are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People’s Republic of China. An estimated 80 % of Xinjiang’s Uyghurs live in the southwestern portion of the region, the Tarim Basin. Large diasporic communities of Uyghurs exist in the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Smaller communities are found in Mongolia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Russia and Taoyuan County of Hunan province in south-central Mainland China. Uyghur neighborhoods can be found in major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Sydney, Washington D.C, Munich, Tokyo, Toronto, Istanbul. Read More: > HERE <
Erkin Alptekin (born on July 4, 1939 in East Turkistan) is a noted international advocate for the rights of native and indigenous people. Among the organizations he has led are the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, of which he was formerly the chairman, and the World Uyghur Congress, of which he was the first president. Read More: > HERE <
Erkin Alptekin is one of the foremost human rights advocates for the Uighur people of Eastern Turkestan, also known as the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. Mr. Alptekin was employed by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from 1971 to 1994. He is one of the founders of the Unrepresented Nations and People’s Organization (UNPO), and currently serves as its General Secretary. www.dalailamafoundation.org
Uyghur Medicine – The Uyghurs had an extensive knowledge of medicine and medical practice. Sung (Song) Dynasty (906-960) sources indicate that an Uyghur physician, Nanto, traveled to China, and brought with him many kinds of medicine not known to the Chinese.
There are 103 different herbs for use in Uyghur medicine recorded in a medical compendium completed by Li Shizen (1518-1593), a chinese medical authority. The Tartar scholar Rashit Rahmeti Arat has written two valuable books in German entitled Zur Heilkunde der Uighuren (Medical Practices of the Uygurs) , in 1930 and 1932, relying on Uyghur documents discovered in East Turkestan. In his book, Arat gives important information on Uyghur medicine and medical treatment.
Among other documents he studied he found a very important sketch of a man with an explanation of acupuncture. Relying on this document, some western scholars claim that acupuncture was not a Chinese, but a Central Asian invention and the Uyghurs perfected the method. Traditional Uyghur medicine, which can be traced back for more than 2,700 years through written records, is still very popular in East Turkestan today.
Tibetan Buddhist Medicine/Ancient Uyghur Civilization
Medicine - The Uyghurs had an extensive knowledge of medicine and medical practice. Chinese Song Dynasty (906-960) sources indicate that an Uyghur physician named Nanto traveled to China and brought with him many kinds of medicine unknown to the Chinese. There were 103 different herbs used in Uyghur medicine recorded in a medical compendium by Li Shizhen (1518-1593), a Chinese medical authority.
Tatar scholar, professor Reşit Rahmeti Arat in Zur Heilkunde der Uighuren (Medical Practices of the Uyghurs) published in 1930 and 1932, in Berlin, discussed Uyghur medicine. Relying on a sketch of a man with an explanation of acupuncture, he and some Western scholars suspect that acupuncture was not a Chinese, but an Uyghur discovery. Today, traditional Uyghur medicine can still be found at street stands. Similar to other traditional medicine, diagnosis is usually made through checking the pulse, symptoms, and disease history, and then the pharmacist pounds up different dried herbs, making personalized medicines according to the prescription. Modern Uyghur medical hospitals adopted the Western medical science and medicine and adopted Western pharmaceutical technology to discover new and produce traditional medicines.
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This condition progressively reduces the effectiveness of the immune system and leaves individuals susceptible to opportunistic infections and tumors. HIV is transmitted through direct contact of a mucous membrane or the bloodstream with a bodily fluid containing HIV, such as blood, semen, vaginal fluid, preseminal fluid, and breast milk.This transmission can involve anal, vaginal or oral sex, blood transfusion, contaminated hypodermic needles, exchange between mother and baby during pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or other exposure to one of the above bodily fluids. AIDS is now a pandemic.In 2007, it was estimated that 33.2 million people lived with the disease worldwide, and that AIDS killed an estimated 2.1 million people, including 330,000 children. Over three-quarters of these deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa. Genetic research indicates that HIV originated in west-central Africa during the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. AIDS was first recognized by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1981 and its cause, HIV, identified in the early 1980s. Although treatments for AIDS and HIV can slow the course of the disease, there is currently no vaccine or cure. Antiretroviral treatment reduces both the mortality and the morbidity of HIV infection, but these drugs are expensive and routine access to antiretroviral medication is not available in all countries.Due to the difficulty in treating HIV infection, preventing infection is a key aim in controlling the AIDS pandemic, with health organizations promoting safe sex and needle-exchange programmes in attempts to slow the spread of the virus. Read More: > HERE <
XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010), 18-23 July 2010, Vienna, Austria. The IAC is the premier gathering for those in the field of HIV, as well as policy makers, PLHIV and others committed to ending the pandemic.
Conference Overview – The International AIDS Conference is the premier gathering for those working in the field of HIV, as well as policy makers, persons living with HIV and other individuals committed to ending the pandemic. It is a chance to assess where we are, evaluate recent scientific developments and lessons learnt, and collectively chart a course forward.
Given the 2010 deadline for universal access set by world leaders, AIDS 2010 will coincide with a major push for expanded access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. With a global economic crisis threatening to undermine public investments, the conference will help keep HIV on the front burner, and is a chance to demonstrate the importance of continued HIV investments to broader health and development goals. AIDS 2010 is also an opportunity to highlight the critical connection between human rights and HIV; a dialogue begun in earnest in Mexico City in 2008.The selection of the AIDS 2010 host city is a reflection of the central role Vienna has played in bridging Eastern and Western Europe, and will allow for an examination of the epidemic’s impact in Eastern Europe.
The AIDS 2010 programme will present new scientific knowledge and offer many opportunities for structured dialogue on the major issues facing the global response to HIV. A variety of session types – from abstract-driven presentations to symposia, bridging sessions and plenaries – will meet the needs of various participants. Other related activities, including the Global Village, satellite meetings, exhibitions and affiliated events, will contribute to an exceptional opportunity for professional development and networking. Following the success of the pilot programme at AIDS 2008, the XVIII International AIDS Conference will provide or facilitate hubs (centres) where selected sessions of the conference will be screened, to increase the access to the conference programme.
Welcome to www.aids2010community.org, a Guide to Community Involvement to AIDS 2010. This Guide was created by the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) to help you better understand and participate in the international AIDS conference in Vienna, Austria, next year, from July 18-23.
As Executive Director of ICASO, and having been to many conferences, I know that international conferences can be overwhelming, as much as they can be educational and inspiring, allowing you to network with others doing similar work. I recognize that thinking about how and why you might get involved in AIDS2010, it is often difficult to put all the pieces together. This guide will help you navigate the next international AIDS conference and provide you with what you need to know to make decisions on what resources you or your organization should commit and the best way to get the most out of it.
The Life Ball in Vienna, www.lifeball.org , is the biggest charity event in Europe supporting people with HIV or AIDS. The event is organized by the non-profit organization AIDS LIFE, which was founded in 1992 by Gery Keszler and Torgom Petrosian.
AIDS LIFE supports non-profit aid organizations for people who are HIV-positive or have AIDS. The team entrusted with the allocation of funds thoroughly examines each petition to make sure that it is a worthy cause. Moreover, it is an explicit goal of AIDS LIFE to inform the public about the risks of HIV/AIDS and to raise awareness for this disease. Read More: > HERE <
Serbian Church North & South America
Motive on the poster: The White Angel, a dominant detail from the fresco Angel on the tomb, from the scene The Resurrection of Christ, painted in the church of the Mileševa monastery, built and painted in 1234-1236. Mileševa monastery is the endowment of King Vladislav, it is located in the South of Serbia, near Prijepolje.
The Serbian Orthodox Church (Serbian: Српска православна црква / Srpska pravoslavna crkva; СПЦ / SPC) or the Church of Serbia is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia. It is the second oldest Slavic Orthodox Church in the world (after the Bulgarian Orthodox Church), as well as the westernmost Eastern church in Europe. It exercises jurisdiction over Orthodox Christians in Serbia and surrounding Slavic and other lands, as well as exarchates and patriarchal representation churches around the world. The Patriarch of Serbia serves as first among equals in his church; The current patriarch is His Holiness Irinej. The Serbian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous, or ecclesiastically independent, member of the Orthodox communion, located primarily in Serbia (including Kosovo), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Republic of Macedonia[4], as well as Croatia. Since many Serbs have emigrated to foreign countries, there are now Serbian Orthodox communities worldwide. Read More: > HERE <
The Dommuseum, in cooperation with Matica Srpska, the oldest cultural and scientific institution of Serbia, and the collaboration of the ecumenical foundation Pro Oriente under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Serbia Boris Tadić, and the President of the Republic of Austria Heinz Fischer, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Municipality in Vienna, presents Serbia’s rich cultural heritage of the past twelve centuries.
It is generally considered that the nature and direction of the development of Serbian culture was determined long ago by the medieval educator and founder of the autocephalous Serbian Orthodox Church, Rastko Nemanjić, St. Sava (1175–1235), who saw Serbia, in his speeches and writings, as a bridge connecting the eastern and western parts of the world. During a period that lasted for many centuries and under the influence of Byzantium, Turkey, Russia and countries of Central and Western Europe, a specific culture originated representing the bond between the East and the West. This culture, however, does not represent a mere combination of the different foreign traditions, but a new culture of great spiritual value as recognized specially through Serbian Orthodoxy (Svetosavlje), the Serbian architectural style, an unique Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, rich literature, a distinctive philosophy of life within which elements of eastern collectivism and western individualism interlace, a rich history of endowments, significant contribution to science and fine arts.
The exhibits are of great historical and artistic value and together with multimedia presentations reflect the permeation of the East and the West in Serbian tradition and culture.
From the permanent exhibitions and collections of the National Museum in Belgrade, the Matica Srpska Gallery in Novi Sad, the Matica Srpska Library in Novi Sad, the Gallery of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Belgrade, the Serbian Orthodox Church Museum in Belgrade, the Belgrade City Museum and the Serbian Historical Museum, have singled out items presenting fresco art and icons from the most significant medieval Serbian monasteries built under the influence of Byzantine culture, art of the baroque era, as turning points in the approach towards and acceptance of the Western European cultural model, and finally, the rebuilding of social institutions, following the emancipation from the centuries-long Turkish domination. The exhibition presents renowned personalities from Serbian history that have given a significant contribution to humanity in the fields of culture and science.
The following portraits are presented in the exhibition: Mihailo Pupin, world renowned scientist and professor at Columbia University in New York; Nikola Tesla, one of the most deserving inventors in the field of electrical engineering in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; Milutin Milanković, founder of theory of cyclical climatic changes; Ivo Andrić, Noble Laureate for literature in 1961.
In five rooms of the Dommuseum are presented five eras:
www.native-americans-online.com
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/medicine
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North, Central, and South America, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples. They are often also referred to as Native Americans, Aboriginals, First Nations and by Christopher Columbus’ geographical and historical mistake, Indians, now disambiguated as the American Indian race, American Indians, Amerindians, Amerinds, or Red Indians. According to the New World migration model, a migration of humans from Eurasia to the Americas took place via Beringia, a land bridge which connected the two continents across what is now the Bering Strait. The most recent point at which this migration could have taken place is c. 12,000 years ago, with the earliest period remaining a matter of some unresolved contention. These early Paleo-Indians soon spread throughout the Americas, diversifying into many hundreds of culturally distinct nations and tribes. According to the oral histories of many of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, they have been living there since their genesis, described by a wide range of traditional creation accounts. SEE NATIVE AMERICANS may be refering to: > HERE <
Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous or folk medicine) comprises medical knowledge systems that developed over generations within various societies before the era of modern medicine. Practices known as traditional medicines include herbal, Ayurveda, Siddha medicine, Unani, ancient Iranian medicine, Islamic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, Muti, Ifá, traditional African medicine, and other medical knowledge and practices all over the globe. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines traditional medicine as: “the health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs incorporating plant, animal and mineral-based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises, applied singularly or in combination to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses or maintain well-being.” Read More: > HERE <
The healing traditions of Native Americans have been practiced in North America since at least 12,000 years ago and possibly as early as 40,000 years ago. Although the term Native American medicine implies that there is a standard system of healing, there are approximately 500 nations of indigenous people in North America, each representing a diverse wealth of healing knowledge, rituals, and ceremonies.
Many aspects of Native American healing have been kept secret and are not written down. The traditions are passed down by word of mouth from elders, from the spirits in vision quests, and through initiation. It is believed that sharing healing knowledge too readily or casually will weaken the spiritual power of the medicine.
Native American medicine is based upon a spiritual view of life. A healthy person is someone who has a sense of purpose and follows the guidance of the Great Spirit. This guidance is written upon the heart of every person. To be healthy, a person must be committed to a path of beauty, harmony, and balance. Gratitude, respect, and generosity are also considered to be essential for a healthy life. Ken Cohen writes, “Health means restoring the body, mind, and spirit to balance and wholeness: the balance of life energy in the body; the balance of ethical, reasonable, and just behavior; balanced relations within family and community; and harmonious relationships with nature.” Read More: > HERE <
The meaning of the term medicine to an American Indian is quite different from that which is ordinarily held by modern societies. To most American Indians, medicine signifies an array of ideas and concepts rather than remedies and treatment alone. There is no separation between religion and medicine in tribal culture and healing ceremonies are an integral part of the community experience. To the American Indian, the natural or correct state of all things, including man, is harmony. Far from being dominant over nature, man is seen as interdependent with other living beings and physical forces. All thinking is grounded in relationships. More emphasis is given to the connectedness of one thing to another than to the individual thing itself. To maintain a correct or natural relationship is to be in harmony. The universe is a complex matrix of interdependence. There is a proper set of relationships for each being, a proper existing in harmony with the universe. Read More: > HERE <
Jammu and Kashmir (Dogri: जम्मू और कश्मीर; Urdu: جموں اور کشمیر) is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People’s Republic of China to the north and east and the Pakistani administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, to the west and northwest respectively. Formerly a part of the erstwhile princely state of Kashmir and Jammu, this territory is disputed among China, India and Pakistan. Jammu and Kashmir is referred to in Pakistan as Indian-occupied Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir consists of three regions: Jammu, the Kashmir valley and Ladakh. Srinagar is the summer capital, and Jammu is the winter capital. While the Kashmir valley, often known as Paradise on Earth, is famous for its beautiful mountainous landscape, Jammu’s numerous shrines attract tens of thousands of Hindu and Muslim pilgrims every year. Ladakh, also known as “Little Tibet”, is renowned for its remote mountain beauty and Buddhist culture. Read More: > HERE <
Kashmiri Pandit (Hindi: कश्मीरी पण्डित) refers to a person who belongs to a sect of Hindu Pandits who originate from the Kashmir region in the Indian subcontinent. Many honest and credible experts are of the opinion that the original home of the Aryan race is the Kashmir Valley and its vicinity. Also the fact that all Hindus of Kashmir are Brahmin Pandits retaining their rich traditions by large since several millennia point to the tradition that in ancient times all Aryan Indian Hindus were of a single Brahmin caste but later split into occupation based several castes.Read More: > HERE <
The KOA organization has its origins in the early meetings of History several Kashmiri Pandit families in the Washington D.C. and Maryland areas. These families soon came to realize the importance of building a community structure which could include other families too in a bond for mutual preservation and growth. As more families and members joined the founding group, the organization evolved to become a national outfit with regional chapters, documented bye-laws, systems and procedures as well as a non-profit status to better seek donations and pursue community actions.
This is the beginning of the process to document and detail the history and origins of KOA. At the present time, this document is a simple chronological representation from materials available in various KOA publications. The eventual document will trace the past 30 years and list important milestones that have brought the organization to the present point. > HERE <
KOA Annual National Camps – KOA organizes two national camps every year, one each in east-coast area and west-coast area. Camps like these serve the members an avenue to mingle, catch up and reminisce with friends, the most cardinal objective is to create a vibrant opportunity and a very conducive environment for our youth (our future pillars) to make new friends and hopefully progress to potential relationships that are everlasting. What better way to preserve our culture, keep our community involved and most significantly contribute towards the survival of our progeny within our cultural milieu? This in any account is huge benefit to the members. Arranging and organizing the camps like these are only possible if the organization has strength and infrastructure and KOA gets its strength from its members. Click on the following links for more details > HERE <
Ganden Monastery (also Gaden or Gandain) or Ganden Namgyeling is one of the ‘great three’ Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet, located at the top of Wangbur Mountain, Tagtse County, 36 kilometers ENE from the Potala Palace in Lhasa, at an altitude of 4,300m. (The other two ‘great monasteries’ are Sera Monastery and Drepung Monastery.) The Ganden Monastery has been re-established in Karnataka, India by the Tibetan population in exile. The Ganden Monastery is located in the Tibetan settlement at Mundgod. This settlement of Tibetan refugees is the largest of its kind in India and was first established in 1966, from land donated by the Indian government.
Its full name is Ganden Namgyal Ling (dga’-ldan rmam-rgyal gling). Ganden means “joyful” and is the Tibetan name for Tuṣita, the heaven where the bodhisattva Maitreya is said to reside. Namgyal Ling means “victorious temple”. Read More: > HERE <
Ganden Monastery is located on Wangbur Mountain, on the southern bank of Lhasa River in Tagtse County, 47 kilometers (29 miles) from Lhasa City. It stands at an altitude of 3,800 meters (12,467 feet) above sea level! Ganden Monastery is one of the earliest and largest Buddhist monasteries in Tibet, and stands atop of the six famous temples of Gelugpa – a branch of Tibetan Buddhism. Its significance as a religious, artistic, political and cultural relic led to it being preserved by the National Key Cultural Relic Preservation scheme in 1961, and is now known as being one of the ‘Three Great Temples’, together with the Sera Monastery and the Drepung Monastery . Every year, one of the grandest of Buddhist activities – Buddha Painting Unfolding Festival – is conducted in the monastery, attracting thousands of visitors and disciples. Read More: > www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction <
Shar Gaden Library came to life very soon after the monastery was founded and it is located underneath the new assembly hall. It is also a non-profit organization, like the clinic association. The main aims and objectives of the library are to preserve and promote Pure Buddha Dharma, the uncommon monastic education and traditions and to fulfil the hard-working students’ wishes by producing necessary holy texts of Buddha Shakyamuni, as well as commentaries of highly realised Buddhist masters of India and Tibet, especially Panchen Sonam Drakpa, the unrivalled scholar of his time, who is the composer of our monastic syllabus texts and many more. Currently the association is run by the director Ven. Lobsang Jamyang, along with seven members of staff, who are highly capable in terms of computer and other related technologies. It plays a significant role during Shar Gaden School’s yearly and monthly examinations, where all the question papers, booklets, etc are designed and produced by the library with strong involvement of the director of the association. The printing press machine is not available presently, therefore we type, design, etc and take the documents to be printed elsewhere. Since it has a great role to play in terms of development of education and production of better facilities for the students, it has been given the highest priority on the monatery’s agenda so far.
Shar Gaden Altruistic Clinic Association came into being on February 26th, 2008. One of the classrooms is being used as clinic due to insufficient space and is located within the grounds of Shar Gaden school, near the library. Earlier it was known as Shar Gaden dispensary, which provided free First Aid and general medicines to the young students of the school. But later, with generous support from our benefactors and close friends, we expanded medical services by including elder monks and lay people, as well as locals. Since the monastery was established in South India, the population of the monastery has been rising rapidly day by day. A vast amount of young students have been enrolled who came from Tibet, the Himalayan region, Nepal, Mongolia, etc. The climate we have here is not very suitable for most of them and there have been many cases of allergic infections among new-comers.
This scenario has given rise to many mysterious diseases so far and many of them are beyond our ability to treat, hence, we frequently invite well-versed doctors from outside to check up on sick and feeble monks and sometime patients have to visit well known hospitals outside of the monastery if the invited doctor diagnoses the patients with serious infections. We strive to run the medical services only in order to benefit inner and outer monks and lay people who need medical help despite lack of sufficient financial foundation. So, the Shar Gaden Altruistic Clinic Association fully depends on your generosity.
http://sivanandaonline.org/gangadussehra
Gangapujan Dashahara or Dussehra *
* The Descent of the River Ganges, Srimad Bhagavatam 5th Canto 17the Chapter Summary by HDG Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad.
Ganga Dussehra is the annual celebration of the most sacred of Hindu rivers, Ganga, or the Ganges. The celebration lasts for ten days from the new moon at the beginning of Jyaistha (amanta reckoning). The last day, 10 Jyaistha, is the holiest of them all (this normally occurs in June in the Gregorian calendar, or occasionally at the end of May). Devotees are expected to bathe in the Ganga. If they cannot reach the banks of the river, many devotees will use water drawn from the Ganga that is kept at home to bathe. Alternatively, the devotee will bathe in ordinary water whilst invoking Ganga by prayer. This bathing is considered to impart purity from sin.
Ganga Dussehra: Swami Sivananda’s “Hindu Fasts and Festivals” and Swami Krishnananda’s “Spiritual Import of Religious Festivals” have detailed descriptions of the festivals listed here. Click here for ordering details. This Spiritual Calendar is for worships held at the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh, India. Some of the dates may not necessarily hold true for other parts of the world. http://www.dlshq.org/calendar.htm
Sri Ganga Dussehara (Jayesht Shukl Dashmi) 21st June 2010 – This day is auspicious because on this day the sacred Ganges descended in the earth. It can be called birthday of Ganga. A dip in the Ganges or in any other river invoking Goddess Ganges, is beneficial and is said to be purified from ten sorts of sins. Worship of the river deity is done by incense, light, sandal wood, flowers, milk, etc.. Flour balls are fed to aquatic animals.
There was a ruler named Sagar. He performed Ashua Medha Yageya. God Indra stole away the ashva (Horse). Sagar’s grandson Anshuman took over the responsibility of the search of the horse. After searching all over, he reached Netherlands with 60,000 followers, where he saw god personified as Kapil saint, was under meditation and the horse was grazing nearby.
The followers of Anshuman shouted, “thief-thief”. Thereupon Kapil rishi opened his eyes and by the blazing lighting of which all were reduced to ashes. For the final cremation ritual of those dead, Bhagirath undertook severe austerities. B’rhma when pleased and asked him to demand a boon. Bhagiratha requested for the descent of Ganges on land. B’rhma agreed but expressed his apprehension if the earth could shoulder the weight and flow of the Ganges, in that case of Bhagirath should invoke God Siva. When Siva agreed to hold the fall of Ganges, B’rhma let it loose from the heavens (swarga lok). The Ganges was then interlocked in the tufts of Siva and Bhagirath’s purpose, of washing the ashes of this ancestors in the water of the Ganges, remained still. There upon Bhagirath invoked Siva, who when please, released the Ganges as river Ganges on the land. The release of the sacred water of the Ganges and its flow through different cities of India is very fortunate, pious, and auspicious for the Hindus of India.
Ganges was not merely a river. She (Goddess Ganga) was devoted to the service of lord K’rsna in the heavens (Swarge-Baikunth). She was thus very near the lord, which made Radha jealous. later cursed her to go down to earth and flow as a river. Ganga, in retaliation, also cursed Radha that you will be close to K’rsna, yet you will always imagine him far away, tolerate separatism and never be peaceful. Thus since then Gange flows as a Ganges river, under the ancient curse of Radha and under the modern curse of city pollution. In the modern times of Kaliyuga, Ganges is of utmost and importance, as according to Narade Purana, all pilgrimages were of influence in Sateya yuga then Pushkar in Treta and Kurukshtra in Dwapar Yuga.
Article by Prof. Chitralekha Singh
Dean: Institute of Visual, Performing Arts & Research, Mangalayatan University, Beswan, Aligarh. Arts Visit at: www.artistchitralekha.com, e-mail: chitralekha@artlover.com, mob . 91 9319103482
http://www.freetibet.org/events/tashi-lhunpo-monks-acton
Tashilhunpo Monastery (Tibetan: བཀྲ་ཤིས་ལྷུན་པོ་), founded in 1447 by Gendun Drup, the First Dalai Lama, is a historic and culturally important monastery next to Shigatse, the second-largest city in Tibet. It was sacked when the Gurkhas invaded Tibet and captured Shigatse in 1791 before a combined Tibetan and Chinese army drove them back as far as the outskirts of Kathmandu, when they were forced to agree to keep the peace in future, pay tribute every five years, and return what they had looted from Tashilhunpo. The monastery is the traditional seat of successive Panchen Lamas, the second highest ranking tulku lineage in the Gelukpa tradition. The “Tashi” or Panchen Lama had temporal power over three small districts, though not over the town of Shigatse itself, which was administered by a dzongpön (prefect) appointed from Lhasa.
Located on a hill in the center of the city, the full name in Tibetan of the monastery means: “all fortune and happiness gathered here” or “heap of glory”. Read More: > HERE <
Tashi Lhunpo Monastery is seat to the Panchen Lama, the second most important spiritual leader of Tibet. In 1447 the Monastery was founded by His Holiness the 1st Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Gendun Drup, in Shigatse, Tibet’s second largest city. It is one of the four great monasteries of Central Tibet and was supervised and looked after by the Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas of the Gelugpa, or Yellow Hat tradition. It has the glory of producing thousands of renowned scholars in the field of Mahayana Buddhist Philosophy and Tantra.
During the lifetime of the 4th Panchen Lama, Lobsang Choekyi Gyaltsen, there were more than 3,000 monks in the Monastery and by 1959 there were 5,000, with another 2,000 monks affiliated to the monastery living outside Tibet. The Communist Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959 and the Cultural Revolution from 1966-80 both wreaked destruction on Tibet’s monastic institutions, which lost many precious scriptures, statues and images. Many monks were killed or imprisoned and only 250 were able to follow the Dalai Lama into exile.
www.tibettours.com , In 1972, by the order of the 14th Dalai Lama, the Tashilhunpo Monastery was re-established in Karnataka, the southern state of India. From early1980’s, entry to the general public has been allowed, although one cannot visit all the parts of the monastery, but still Tashilhunpo Monastery has become an important tourist destination in Tibet.
Tibet Reiseführer – Das Tashilhunpo-Kloster, der Sitz der Panchen Lamas aller Generationen. Das Tashilhunpo-Kloster gehört zu den unter staatlichen Denkmalschutz stehenden bedeutenden Kulturstätten Chinas. Es liegt am südlichen Fuß des Berges Nyimarie im Westen der Stadt Xigaze. Es ist das größte Kloster der gelug-Sekte in Westtibet und der Hauptort der religiösen und politischen Angelegenheiten der Panchen Lamas aller Generationen. Das Tashilhunpo-Kloster und die oben genannten drei Klöster Lhasas sind die vier berühmtesten Klöster Tibets.
Tashilhunpo bedeutet auf tibetisch “Glückliches Sumera”. Das Kloster wurde am Berghang gebaut und umfasst Hauptsutrahallen, die Qamba-Buddha-halle, die Gyina Lhakang-Halle, Gedenkhallen mit Stupas für die Panchen Lamas fünf bis neun, die Gedenkhalle Shesong Namgyi mit dem Stupa für den zehnten Panchen Lama, die Terrasse zum Ausrollen großer Buddhabilder sowie Arbeitszimmer früherer Panchen Lamas. Es gibt außerdem noch vier Zhacangs (buddhistische Kollegien), 64 Dörfer mit Wohnhäusern, in denen die Mönche, nach Herkunftsorten zusammengefasst, untergebracht waren, und 56 Gebetshallen. Read More: > www.china-guide.de <
Monasteries Enviromental Himalayaprotection
www.alternative-energy-news.info
Sustainable energy is the provision of energy such that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. A broader interpretation may allow inclusion of fossil fuels as transitional sources while technology develops, as long as new sources are developed for future generations to use. A narrower interpretation includes only energy sources which are not expected to be depleted in a time frame relevant to the human race, which can potentially also include nuclear power if it is utilized differently from the current manner. Sustainable energy sources are most often regarded as including all renewable sources, such as plant matter, solar power, wind power, wave power, geothermal power and tidal power. It usually also includes technologies that improve energy efficiency. Conventional fission power is sometimes referred to as sustainable, but this is controversial politically due to concerns about peak uranium, radioactive waste disposal and the risks of disaster due to accident, terrorism, or natural disaster. Read More: > HERE <
The 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held in Cancún, Mexico, from 29 November to 10 December 2010.The conference is officially referred to as the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 6th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties (CMP 6) to the Kyoto Protocol. Read More: > HERE <
The STYRIAN ACADEMY is a unique international European life-long learning platform organised by Graz University of Technology in cooperation with Strategic Partners. The STYRIAN ACADEMY addresses business, science and politics as well as excellent students and an interested public.
The unique feature of the STYRIAN ACADEMY is that it combines internationally recognised research across disciplines with entrepreneurial experience to provide participants with the skills and knowledge to develop innovative solutions.
The STYRIAN ACADEMY offers 2010 the following events:
Kick-Off-Event 15 June 2010
Download Programme Kick-Off-Event (PDF)
International Summer School 5-16 July 2010
Download Programme International Summer School (PDF)
International Business Seminar I, 6/7 July 2010
Download Programme International Business Seminar I (PDF)
International Business Seminar II, 7/8 July 2010
Download Programme International Business Seminar II (PDF)
Garden Talks, 7 July 2010
Download Programme Garden Talk (PDF)
In 2010 and 2011 the STYRIAN ACADEMY is dedicated to the European key topic of future Sustainable Energy Systems. The STYRIAN ACADEMY taps into the know how of top-class scientists and entrepreneurs from the European Sustainable Energy Innovation Alliance (eseia) (www.eseia.eu).
The 2010/2011 STYRIAN ACADEMY provides participants with the necessary knowledge and entrepreneurial skills to turn dwindling fossil resources and the challenge of climate change into a chance. The high level training covers the whole innovation field from sustainable energy resources to efficient infrastructure to rational provision of energy services.
One of the senior disciples of Swami Vishnudevananda and who spent 18 years with gurus mission International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta centre as a Director in different branches. Swamiji is the author of poetry Kaliyuga Vahini in Kannada language. His poetry is coming in all major languages shortly. Swamiji is teaching yoga and Meditation and conducting Satsanga and giving spiritual guidelines to sadhakas all over the world. Swamiji is traveling across the globe in spreading Gurus message.
Sri Swami Krishnananda Saraswati Maharaj (April 25, 1922 – November 23, 2001) was a Hindu saint. He was a foremost disciple of Swami Sivananda and served as the General Secretary of the Divine Life Society in Rishikesh, India from 1958 until 2001.He was one of the most important theologians and philosophers of the 20th century. Author of more than 200 texts, Krishnananda wrote and lectured prolifically on yoga, religion, and metaphysics. His lectures, though delivered extempore (without rehearsal), were known for their structure, style and sophistication, and have been widely published in text form. The works for which Krishnananda is best known are The Realization of the Absolute, The Philosophy of Life, and The Philosophy of Religion. Read More > HERE <
Yoga is a divine knowledge taught by Rishi’s to gain Physical, Mental, Spiritual well being and to attain our Divine quality through following the eight limbs of Raja Yoga called Astanga Yoga. Yoga means union of human sole with the supreme – sole or Almighty god means join Divine & human spirit. This is a Process which liberates the human soul from the bondage of Maya (attachment to worldly things and makes the sole free from rebirth) Only Maya is a strong bondage.
The ultimate Aims of Yoga practice is to get Self –Realization to merge our tiny spark of soul in the ocean of God consiousness.To remove our ignorance due to Maya, to know our own ego, to get freedom from bondages of birth and deaths, to remain in permanent eternal peace, bliss and joy and to realize the complete ultimate knowledge of everything in the universe we should practice this techniques with devotion, faith and proper understandings . Without devotion we never reach any where in this practice.
Love yoga? Want to get started? Become a teacher?
SURYA JYOTHI YOGA CENTRE offers an amazing range of yoga retreats and trainings for people at all levels of experience.
Sivananda Ashram (Headquarters of The Divine Life Society) Rishikesh, Himalayas, India.
The Divine Life Society was founded by the great Saint and Sage of modern times, Swami Sivananda, in the year 1936. It was founded for resuscitating the higher values of life beyond the limitations of perceptional and cognitional evaluations of life. The Founder’s main intention was to awaken humanity towards the ways and means of imbibing in one’s life the characteristics of Ultimate Reality, veritably God-realisation.
Towards this end a vigorous disciplinary process has to be undergone by imbibing in one’s personal life the other associated values, such as the social, ethical, and austere principles, all which have to be set in tune harmoniously with everything that is considered as part of one’s life at any stage of one’s existence in this world. This is briefly the great vision of the Founder, Swami Sivananda.
All material on this website is copyright. This website is independent of the Divine Life Society.
www.businessweek.com/june 2010
Muhammad Yunus (Bangla: মুহাম্মদ ইউনুস, pronounced Muhammôd Iunus) (born 28 June 1940) is a Bangladeshi banker, economist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient. He previously was a professor of economics where he developed the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. These loans are given to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. Yunus is also the founder of Grameen Bank. In 2006, Yunus and the bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, “for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.” Yunus himself has received several other national and international honors. He is the author of Banker to the Poor and a founding board member of Grameen America and Grameen Foundation. Read More: > HERE <
This third book by Professor Yunus, following Banker to the Poor and Creating a World Without Poverty, is dedicated solely towards the concept of social business, its implementation, and its maintenance. Social business is an innovative business model which promotes the idea of doing business in order to address a social problem, and not to maximize profit. As the title suggests, this complement to traditional capitalism truly can serve humanity’s most pressing needs, especially poverty. Each and every social business creates employment, good working conditions, and of course, addresses a specific social ill such as lack of education, healthcare, and good nutrition.
In simple terms, a social business is a non-loss, non-dividend company dedicated entirely to achieve a social goal. In social business, the investor gets his investment money back over time, but never receives dividend beyond that amount. The Grameen Bank is a prime example of social business, with the Grameen borrowers themselves being its shareholders!
Building Social Business consists of case studies, anecdotes, and solid advice from Professor Yunus himself. This “Social Business Manual” is a must read for anyone who wants to use his or her creativity to make a positive impact in their neighborhood, town, country, and world.
The Nobel Peace Prize-winner shows how the social business model can harness the entrepreneurial spirit to address poverty, hunger, and disease
Muhammad Yunus, the practical visionary who pioneered microcredit and, with his Grameen Bank, won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, has developed a visionary new dimension for capitalism which he calls “social business.” By harnessing the energy of profit-making to the objective of fulfilling human needs, social business creates self-supporting, viable commercial enterprises that generate economic growth even as they produce goods and services that make the world a better place.
Company Overview – Grameen Bank provides credit to rural poor in Bangladesh. It offers small loans for women. The company also provides training programs to individuals in the forms of Grameen basics course, exposure programs, international dialogue programs, research, internships, workshops, and media. It offers its services to villages of Bangladesh. Grameen Bank was founded in 1976 and is based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
www.unwatch.org/The Right of Food
Jean Ziegler (born April 19, 1934) is a former professor of sociology at the University of Geneva and the Sorbonne, Paris. He was a Member of Parliament for the Social Democrats in the Swiss federal parliament from 1981 to 1999. Nominated by Switzerland, he was the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food from 2000 to April 2008. On 26 March 2008, he was elected for one year into the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee. Despite objections from UN Watch he received 40 out of 47 votes to finish first in a field of seven candidates. He is also member of the advisory board of the human rights organization Business Crime Control. Read More: > HERE <
The Codex Alimentarius (Latin for “food code” or “food book”) is a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations relating to foods, food production and food safety. Its name derives from the Codex Alimentarius Austriacus. Its texts are developed and maintained by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a body that was established in 1963 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Read More: > Here <
Jean Ziegler: “This World Order is not just murderous, it is absurd” - Jean Ziegler is a senior professor of sociology at the University of Geneva and the Sorbonne, Paris. He is one of the leading protagonists in the world for the anti-globalization movement and has taken a continued stand for human rights, the right to food and a decent livelihood for all people. In 2000, he was appointed by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights as the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. He kept this position until March 2008 in spite of much hard criticism from the neoliberal leaders of the U.S. and the UN for his categorical stand for equal rights for all people. His continued fight against poverty, hunger and chronic malnutrition in the world has been a constant embarrassment to the West.
He is now the Swiss member of the UN Human Rights Council. His is one of the very few voices heard on the international scene speaking out loudly against the criminal financial system that has put the world in its present tailspin with hunger and lack of human rights, devastating a continually increasing mass of the world’s 6.6 billion population. Unfortunately he is not very well known in the Anglophone world, where, for obvious political reasons, his humanitarian message is hushed up. He says in “Empire of Shame”: “One thing is certain: world agriculture, in the current state of productivity, could feed twice the number of today’s global population. So it is not a matter of fate: hunger is man made.”
“Empire of Shame – A Conversation with Jean Ziegler” He has written several books on the lack of justice in the world, condemning the vicious global power system that allows close to a billion people to be the chronic victims of hunger and permanent malnutrition and denouncing crimes committed in the name of global finance and capitalism.
See: Hunger in the Midst of Plenty, By Girish Mishra. FULL ARTICLE: * HERE *
