The sprawling Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Ram was inaugurated on January 24 in Ayodhya. The ceremonial and sacred word “Prana-pratishtha” emerged in the extensive coverage of the event. According to its dictionary meaning, the English equivalent is consecration, “to make or declare sacred.” Prana-pratishtha carries the same sense, plus elaborate rituals involved to ‘declare…
Author: Promod Puri
Retired after 40 years of career in journalism. Former publisher and editor of The Link, a South Asian Canadian weekly newspaper from Vancouver, BC. Now a freelance writer. Published my first book titled "Hinduism:beyond rituals,customs and traditions". The book is educational dealing with all the facets of Hinduism.
Websites: promodpuri.com
progressivehindudialogue.com
promodpuri.blogspot.com
WHAT IS MINDFULNESS?
(320 words, 2mts. of reading time) Staying in an environment exclusively reserved for the self leads to an experience called mindfulness. Residing in this environment are the present moments connected to what one is doing, cohering internally with one’s body and mind while keeping an absolute awareness of breath’s inhalation and exhalation flow. Mindfulness is…
AYODHYA TEMPLE INAUGURATION
Most of north India, as it passes through in the grip of a cold wave, the Hindu-frenzy public warms up in Bhakti mode. “Jai Shri Ram, Jai Shri Ram” fills the air as the new national anthem of the nation. Don’t pose questions like, “Since when did the government’s job be to inaugurate temples and…
“Hindu Sentiments Are Hurt”
What is that delicate and feeble Hindu Sentiment that often gets hurt? We hadn’t heard about it till in the last few years as we hear more about the hurt sentiments of a community across India who are the victims of bruised feelings. The latest injury gets inflicted through culinary indigestion by watching the just-released…
Do Atheists And Non-religious people Need To Have A place for Congregation?
Church without God: How secular congregations fill a need for some nonreligious Americans Jacqui Frost, Purdue University Shared testimonies, collective singing, silent meditation and baptism rituals – these are all activities you might find at a Christian church service on a Sunday morning in the United States. But what would it look like if atheists…
WHAT IS INTELLECTUAL HUMILITY AND WHY THE WORLD NEED IT
Once its worth is recognized and accepted as a way of life, intellectual humility leads to a better understanding of the self and society around us. Among the philosophers and academic scholars studying human behaviour, intellectual humility is one of the favourite topics of deliberation and emphasis for contemporary society. Intellectual humility offers multiple traits,…
MY VISION OF A HAPPY NEW YEAR
The moment clock’s second hits midnight and the year 2023 slips away in the realm of history. We step into the optimism of 2024. Two images flash; one switches off, and the other switches on, reflecting two storylines: an imprint of the old one, while the history begins with the new one. Do we spot…
BESIDES THINKING AND OTHER FUNCTIONS, HUMAN BRAIN CREATES LIVE IMAGES, TOO
(This is my last article of the year, conceived during our recent vacation in Maui, Hawaii. Happy holidays and best wishes for the New Year.) Reading time: three minutes. It always happens when we plan a vacation to an exotic place we have never been before; an indefinite image of the location gets created in…
Progressive Hindu Dialogue 