Many football fans, especially the English Premier League and the Dutch national team that thought, Robin van Persie is a Muslim. Reference is that he has aMoroccan-Dutch-blooded wife who embraced Islam was named Bouchra.Because of that van Persie converted preached.

The Dutch Football pages, four years ago, Van Persie denied. He claimed not to follow the religion of his wife. Even so, he still lived at home with her ​​two childrenand Bouchara and Dina Shaqueel and Layla in London. According to the Premier League’s top scorer this season, 2012, is not true when he was reported as aMuslim.

“That’s not true. I am not a Muslim nor a Christian, nor Jew, ”he said. Arsenalstriker continued, ”I have bred freely. If you want to be a Muslim, it must come from the heart. ”

Still, he praised his wife’s religion is to teach the beauty and friendliness to each of its adherents. ”I believe in myself. I would not do it just to please my wife, ”hesaid. source republika.co.id

“Discovery” of Buddhism

Buddhism disappeared in India in the 11th century, due to the many invaders who destroyed thousands of monuments. The Buddha was all but forgotten in the land of his birth.

Buddhism was rediscovered owing to the work done by government-sponsored Archaeological Survey of India, founded in 1871. Alexander Cunningham, the first Director-General, brought Buddhism to the forefront and established its study as a separate discipline.

Assisting Cunningham in his archaeology work were the accounts left by two Chinese monks: Fa Xian’s Record of Buddhist Countries in the 1840s and Xuanzang’s Record in the 1850s. Between the two of them, they had mapped out the whole of Buddhist India, with all the main sites, their locations, their importance, their histories, and details of the monasteries and the monks who inhabited them.

One such Buddhist site uncovered by Cunningham is at Sarnath, the spot of the Buddha’s first sermon after his enlightenment. The Mahabodhi Temple as we see it today in Bodh Gaya was restored by him. Another of his discovery is the spot where Buddha died. Under his supervision, the statue of reclining Buddha picturing the Nirvana was found amidst stupas exactly as Xuanzang had described it 1,200 years before.

Helping to tie up the information about Buddhism were the hundreds of stupas that were excavated at various sites. These carried inscriptions, most important of which were the Ashoka’s edicts. Ashoka gave up military conquest to undertake Dharmavijaya — victory by righteousness and truth, and provided royal patronage for the propagation of Buddhism both within and beyond his empire, into Asia and Greece.

Important Places Associated With Buddhism in India/Nepal

1.  Kapilavastu/Piprahwa where Buddha was born

The location of ancient Kapilavastu is still not unanimously accepted. Buddha/Prince Siddhartha’s father Shuddhodana ruled Kapilavastu near the Indo-Nepal border way back in 563 BC. Queen Mahamaya  traversed the distance of 15 km from Kapilavastu, to her parental home Lumbini in Nepal, where she gave birth to Siddhartha. 

Kapilavastu; Source

Tilaurakot, Source

Generally, Indian guidebooks consider today’s Piprahwa village (110 km north of Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh) to be the real Kapilavastu, while Nepalese guidebooks consider Tilaurakot to be the real Kapilavastu. Buddha spent 29 years of His early life in Kapilavastu and Lumbini.

Please take time to go through the following video:

2.  Bodh Gaya in Bihar State where Buddha achieved Enlightenment

Mahabodhi temple complex at Bodh Gaya has been declared a a World Heritage site in 2002 by UNESCO.
Mahabodhi temple is located on the Phalgu River, a tributary of the Ganga, 182 kilometres south of Patna, the capital of Bihar. Constructed by Ashoka, the temple houses the Bodhi Tree (Ficus religiosa) under which Siddhartha attained Enlightenment and became Buddha.

Today the area within one kilometre of the Mahabodhi temple is dotted with several monasteries, such as the Indosan Nipponji Japanese Temple, which houses a Buddha image, at least three Tibetan monasteries, and a number of houses of worship maintained by Sri Lankan, Bhutanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and Nepalese monks.

3.  Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh, where Gautama Buddha delivered his first sermon to five disciples

Sarnath is located 13 kilometres north-east of Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, India. This is a place of importance to Jains, being the birth place of the eleventh Tirthankara. After attaining Enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, Buddha came to Sarnath and delivered his first sermon to five disciples and laid the foundation of a new order of monks (Sangha). 

Sarnath deer park

Dhamekha Stupa is the most important structure at Sarnath. Inside the stupa, Colonel Cunningham discovered a stone tablet on which an inscription is written with the word Dhamekha, and mentions that this is the spot where the Buddha delivered his first sermon.

Dhamekha stupa

Dhamekha seems to be a distorted form of Dharma Chakra which means turning the wheel of the Dharma. Buddha had set the spiritual wheel in motion by showing people the way to truth and enlightened living.

Sarnath dharmachakra; Source

Five disciples pay respect to the wheel of Dharma; Source

4. Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, the site of Parinirvana (’Final Nirvana’)

When Buddha reached His eighty-first year, he delivered his last sermons at the ancient city of Vaishali (55 kilometers from Patna, the state capital of Bihar) and announced his mahaparinirvana was to take place in Kushinagar 

The main site at Kushinagar is the Mahaparinirvana Temple and the adjacent Nirvana Stupa.

Nirvana temple and stupa; Source

Inside the temple is one of the world’s most famous images of the Buddha, the Nirvana statue of the dying Buddha reclining on his right side. This powerful 6.1 meter sandstone statue dates from the 5th Century. There are three small carvings on the plinth on which the image rests. One is of a distraught woman, the centre one of a meditating monk and the right one of a monk with his head resting on his right hand overcome by grief.

Source

Many of these countries have cited safety concerns. A fanatic or an extremist could use the shrouded dress to conceal dangerous weapons and hold the entire country as hostage, they fear.

Many Muslims are righteously indignant about the ban. They resent the imposition and policing of their beliefs by anyone, and consider the ban a breech of fundamental rights.

The veil issue has started a debate about multiculturalism in Europe, as many argue that there needs to be a greater effort to assimilate ethnic and religious minorities.

Western society views Muslim women as oppressed and the hijab as a symbol of their oppression. By mindlessly conforming to what their men demand, Muslim women are allowing themselves to become mere shadows of real women.

Muslim Women Dress Code: Is it Suppressive?

The Koran, Islam’s holy book and treated as the literal word of God, tells Muslims – men and women – to dress modestly.

Male modesty requires men to cover the area from the navel to the knee. For women, modest appearance would mean covering everything except their face, hands and feet when in the presence of men they are not related or married to.

Like it happens with many religions, many religious rules and dictums are packed with metaphors and allegories. And often, what the scriptures say is open to interpretation.

Therefore, various sects and communities belonging to different nations have their own interpreted rules about what is allowed and what is not. Some insist on niqab for women, and some are satisfied with hijab.

Hijab is a common sight among Muslim women, a scarf that covers their hair and neck.

Examples of hijabs in different regions (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Niqab consists of covering up completely, including gloves and a veil for the face – leaving just a slit for the eyes, or covering them too with transparent material.

Muslim woman in Yemen. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now, the question whether the veil is suppressive. Personally speaking, niqab that totally covers and inhibits the body is indeed suppressive. It makes them look like non-entities. Many wearing the veils may say they are doing it willingly, but then the willingness has been imposed by saying it makes them respectable and pious in the eyes of Allah. Fear of communistic disapproval and ostracism can tilt the women’s “choice” in favor of being self-effacing.

Modest Swim-Suits and Sports-Wear

The compulsion to dress modestly in public (in front of men) has meant that Muslim women living in Western countries have to forego physical training in gyms as well as swimming. Public spaces in Western countries are mostly unisex; for many Muslim women, this is a deterrent. But for those who do dare and step into swimming pools in burquinis, the outright ban of burquinis in swimming pools in several countries is certainly an uncalled-for hurdle.

Burquinis have been designed to be trendy, light-weight, flexible, comfortable and unobstructive. When countries like France ban burquinis in public swimming pools, women who had emerged from the confines of their homes into swimming pools dressed in burquinis get discouraged and shrink back into their cocoons. 

The mind-set and attitudes of people have been shaped by centuries of conditioning, and it is difficult for people outside the culture to comprehend, appreciate or evaluate the cultural practices of another community without bias. Blindly assuming such ban would encourage them to come into mainstream isn’t right.

A few personal anecdotes related to this. I remember reading Bangalore Yogacharya Sundaram’s book on Yoga in Tamil as a young girl (in 1960’s). Illustrating the poses were men in dhoties, with a single long piece of loin cloth tied around their hips that went around their thighs without obstructing any body movement. There were also pictures of a young girl named Sharada who had tied the saree with its free end near the ankles lifted to pass between the legs so as to allow doing exercises requiring lifting the feet up.

I also remember my mother swimming in her native village totally draped in a saree, and denying her that right would have forbidden her from swimming.

That was in 60’s. Half a century later, girls and women in India even from the remotest of villages do exercises dressed in salwar kameez.

No, I am not advocating these dresses for either swimming or for competitive sports. But high handedly telling women what to wear can alienate them, or at worst, make them feel belittled. Give them time is all I say. In a globalized world when people are travelling from one end of the world to another and get exposed to multiple cultures, changes are bound to happen, and they will come slowly but surely.

What-if scenario of hijabified footballers; Source

Liberation From Body Fascism?

Many Muslims insist that Western women are enslaved by their culture and its demands on them to be sexy. They feel the hijab allows freedom from the oppression prevalent in Western cultures caused by the pressure of conforming to popular fashion and be judged on their appearance and dress sense. The majority of Muslim women feel sorry for Western women because of the way they are degraded by the men who treat them as sex objects. They decry the western gallant notion that the salvation of Muslim women should come from aping the western women.

The Final Word?

Let’s hope more liberal Muslims would lead the way and strike a middle path and help women to shake off outdated restrictions imposed by men.

Let’s hope for a world more accepting and more tolerant of the cultural diversity that exists in the world.

Vavar mosque(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The pilgrims undertaking the pilgrimage are a distinct species. Come December, and you see shaggy men dressed in black or dark blue, walking barefoot in the evening visiting temples, and you know the Sabarimala pilgrimage is close. Forty days prior to the start of the pilgrimage, they wear a mala or a garland made of Tulasi or Rudraksha with a pendant of Ayyappa. The pilgrim receives this garland from a temple priest or from a Guru called Guru-swami. Guru-swami is one who has successfully completed the Sabarimala pilgrimage at least 18 times, and can lead his disciples in the best traditions of the pilgrimage.

Along with receiving the mala, the pilgrims undertake certain ‘vrata’ or vows. These austerities are meant to purify the body and liberate the mind from the endless worldly desires and attachment, and train it to develop an attitude of total surrender to the Lord. And what are these vows? First and foremost, vow of celibacy during the time of wearing the mala. The mala is removed ceremoniously only after the completion of the pilgrimage. Secondly, no smoking, and no intoxicants or drinks. Only one full-fledged meal during the day supplemented with very light food for the night dinner. Regular worship and visits at the local temple. No lies, no stealth….

The intention of the austerities is to identify onself as the embodiment of the omnipresent and universal consciousness called God. In fact, the avowed pilgrim is addressed by everyone as ‘Ayyappa’ and greeted with ‘Swamiye Saranam’, which means ‘(Let us) surrender to god’. This is also the mass chant or group slogan when they walk barefoot the 45-kilometer through the forests and chant “the pebbles and thorns are cushions to our feet‘. The chorus is rhythmic and energizing.

Making of the Irumudi

Only those who carry the Irumudi are permitted to ascend the 18 steps which lead to the sanctorum, and those who do not carry an Irumudi can only enter the temple precincts through the side entrance.

The eighteen steps

Climbing the 18 steps

The concept of Ayyappa as the son of Shiva and Mohini, the female form of Vishnu is highly symbolic. When the mind is drawn inwards, there is awareness of the thoughts. Mohini represents the powerful form of the intellect, the inquiring nature. Inquiring nature leads to discrimination of the real from the un-real and helps in transcending to the awareness state. This awareness then witnesses everything and finally transcends to the bliss of pure Consciousness. Intellect is other form of Consciousness and so the union of the Consciousness and awareness state is Ayyappa.

Source

Ayyappa denotes that dynamic principle and the silent principle are one and the same and is the meaning of That-Tvam-Asi, the big inscription board you find when you reach the sanctum sanctorium of Lord Ayyappa in Sabarimala

The entire spiritual journey is also highly symbolic. The tough trek through the jungle conveys symbolically that the path to spirituality requires immense efforts. The coconut represents the human body, the outer shell of the coconut symbolizes ego, and the ghee that is poured in is the Atman (human soul). Of the three eyes of the coconut, two represent the intellect and the third one is the spiritual eye. The rear compartment of the Irumudi symbolizes ‘Praarabdha Karma’ (accumulated worldly possessions), which the devotee exhausts during the journey. The devotee opens the spiritual eye of the coconut, breaks the coconut and pours the ghee (Atman) onto the idol (Brahman). The pilgrimage conveys that the liberation of Atman comes from giving up ego and attachment to wordily possessions.

The vrata continues till the pilgrim returns from his pilgrimage to Sabarimala and removes his ‘mala’ after breaking a coconut and offering prayers.

Hindu-Muslim Unity

As pointed out earlier, pilgrims undertaking the seventy kilometer trek from Erumeli to the mountain top shrine of the god Ayyappa at Sabarimala, first pay respects to His lieutenant and a Muslim pirate-turned-saint Vavar and ask his permission to proceed. 

Devotees break coconut offerings at the mosque, and the priest distributes sacred ash, vibhuti.

The Sabarimala shrine may be open to folks of all religions, but not for women between the ages of 10 and 50, to exclude women in the menstrual age group.

The heavy influx of pilgrims during the peak season has caused stampede resulting in the death of hundreds of people last year. The Ayyappa shrine is in the middle of Periyar Tiger reserve, and this place has a fragile ecology. Many renovations in infrastructure have been suggested including building motorable roads, but both environmentalists as well as the more traditional devotees have opposed this. For the environmentalists, this could endanger the already dwindling numbers of tigers. The traditional devotees of Ayyappa want the trudging to be as difficult and as challenging as in the past to remain as spiritually satisfying.

Hindu Muslim

This is one subject where I can comment uninvited any time despite being some one totally avoiding any thing religious or containing that may not suit some of us.

Do you know that in India there are more than three hundred and fifty million Muslims (I am not bothered about what the official figures are) even more than a few Muslim countries combined. In addition, About six hundred million Hindus apart from other casts and creeds including Sikhs, Christians who are here in a good number to make the population count beyond one thousand three million.

You know I come from an area where there are Muslims in majority and most of them are in business, as they prefer business or craftsman-ship mostly rather than going in to the jobs, not that they are not educated and not in job, some of them are in jobs as well. Nevertheless, even with small businesses they know how to make good money.

I know hundreds of them and most of them come to my place or I go to their place. This is only the politicians who still trust in divide and rule and they are the rout cause of all the problems. However, every one knows their intentions now and no one is falling for their evil designs any more.

Let me explain the issue, as I understand it and so wrongly explained in other places, they never know, who have not visited India and have not seen with their own eyes. This is a complicated issue and must be, taken proper care of while trying to talk about relations on these two communities.

To read the full article, please go to the author’s website.  This article has been moved do to copyright concerns.

Then came the Scientific Revolution, which sought to use science, not religion, to explain the universe.

Both these movements helped to set the stage for the Enlightenment, the most influential philosophical movement of the modern European age.

“Enlightenment” mean to “bring light”, that is, to bring rationality, logical thinking, and reason to people.

In this time period Europe became secular, or it separated religion from the government.

It is also the time period where science, rather than religious superstition, became the dominant force in daily life for Europeans.

The Enlightenment is who Europe and the Western World today remains strongly secular, separates religion firm government, and relies on science to explain the universe.

Image of the Dalai Lama as a young boy via Wikipedia

It is necessary to help others, not only in our prayers, but in our daily lives. If we find we cannot help others, the least we can do is to desist from harming them.

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.

If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.

Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.

We need a little more compassion, and if we cannot have it then no politician or even a magician can save the planet.

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance.

Because we all share this small planet earth, we have to learn to live in harmony and peace with each other and with nature. That is not just a dream, but a necessity.

Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend — or a meaningful day.

If there are sound reasons or bases for the points you demand, then there is no need for violence. On the other hand, when there is no sound reason that concessions should be made to you but mainly your own desire, then reason cannot work and you have to rely on force. Thus using force is not a sign of strength but rather a sign of weakness.

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.

It is very important to generate a good attitude, a good heart, as much as possible. From this, happiness in both the short term and the long term for both yourself and others will come.

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.

In the practice of tolerance, one’s enemy is the best teacher.

The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.

Today, more than ever before, life must be characterized by a sense of Universal responsibility, not only nation to nation and human to human, but also human to other forms of life.

Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t appreciate kindness and compassion.

Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.

We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.

My true religion is kindness.

Image via Wikipedia

Caveat (Do I really need a caveat? Should be self-explanatory, already.): This post is simply about kindness, and NOT about religion. People like to take everything out of context, don’t they? And Triond’s automated editor placed this post in Relijournal. I certainly did not. Requesting a relocation is a pain since the online editor keeps declining it. The title is a quote by the Dalai Lama, and not mine. That quote touched me on a certain level, thus this post about kindness and not about religion. I’m amazed how easily some commenters can miss the point of a simple post like this. And I don’t get the point about stating ”genuine love” from the ninth commenter. That should be pretty obvious, don’t you think? I’m talking about genuine kindness. This post is about kindness. Plain and simple.

Thank you, dodolbete, for submitting a relocation request. It went through, though they still put it in the religion subcategory of Socyberty. *lol* Appreciate it very much. 

Below is a list of comments on the relationship on how science relates to the supernatural and the Bible. It includes a reference to creation science and world views.

1. Being an independent thinker means you will often disagree with others, particularly with those in positions of authority

1. Thinking for your self dose not mean not believing in God. It can also mean believing in God when others criticize you for doing so.

1. If you start with the assumption that something does not exist then any theory you produce will support that assumption.

1. Claiming that because some things once thought to be supernatural are now known to be natural events means that all events have natural explanations is like claiming that all convicts are innocent because some people are falsely convicted of crimes they did not commit.

1. Science that discounts even the possibility supernatural explanations is no longer a pursuit of the truth but the development of atheistic mythology.

1. The supernatural is not unscientific it is simply events who’s causes are from outside our universe.

1. World views are like noses. Everybody has one but not everyone has the same world view.

1. Creation Science is not anti science but anti atheistic assumptions being imposed on Science.

1. Any theory that presupposes that the Bible is wrong will inevitably interpret data in a way that disagrees with the Bible. 

1. Knowing something about a topic creates a bias about how you see other information on that topic. So as a result you can only totally objective if you are totally ignorant.

1. Total objectivity in science is like the speed of light, You can try to reach it all you want but you will never quite reach it.

1. The apparent conflict between science and religion results from an anti-religion, atheistic scientific establishment not scientists who believe in God and the Bible.