Daily Inspiration from Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

By Krishna Jaipal (PHP Lahore)
Thursday, June 10,2010

As your mind releases its desires and cravings, it releases the hold that it has on you. You dive deeper, fearlessly into this blazing avalanche of light, losing your consciousness. And as you come back into the mind, you see the mind for what it is, and you are free. You find that you are no longer attached because you see that the binder and the bound are one. You become the path. You become the way. You are the light.

Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001)

Daily Inspiration from Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

By Gopinath Kumar (PHP USA)
Thursday,June 03,2010

“You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the state. You will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the state.”

By Mohammad Ali Jinnah (Urdu: محمد علی جناح :December 25, 1876 – September 11, 1948)

Daily Inspiration from Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

By Gopinath Kumar (PHP USA)
Monday,May 31,2010

Our civilization has come under a new assault with the entire globalization of a rotten food culture. The McDonald's experience is really the experience of eating junk whilst thinking you are in heaven.

 Environmentalist Vandana Shiva criticizing fast food chains.

The plight of Non-Muslims , Minorities in Islamic Republic of Pakistan

By Mohammad S.Solanki (PHP Editorial )
Saturday,May 29,2010

 (Policy forum demands legislation for Scheduled Caste Hindus’ rights Islamabad-May 18, 2010)

The EU parliament has rapped Pakistan hard on the knuckles for its poor minority rights record — and rightly so. It has also demanded a review of the infamous blasphemy law that has lent itself to misuse, to the extent of justifying murder.

While it is not clear if the European MPs were provoked by a particular incident, one cannot deny that Pakistan has to put in far more effort to gain the trust of its minorities. There are some laws on the statute books — including the blasphemy law — that actively operate against minorities. Although the constitution pledges protection for the rights of minorities, it also contains provisions that have caused a sense of insecurity among them. Attempts have been made to modify some laws, but the situation has not really changed on the ground. The blasphemy law that was introduced by the military regime of Gen Ziaul Haq is the most draconian and open to abuse. It has been used on a number of occasions to penalise communities that are not Muslim, with entire villages having been set on fire — Shantinagar is still fresh in our memory. An attempt by the Musharraf government to modify the process of registering a case under this law also ran into trouble.

With social prejudices increasing in an atmosphere of growing religiosity, it seems that minorities are becoming more vulnerable, even if they have rights under the law. Moreover, against a background of growing lawlessness in the country, they face a real danger of being targeted physically. They are discriminated against and, what is worse, cannot expect any protection from the state. The government must take a firm stand on their rights even if it means standing up to those obscurantist elements that have always opposed greater rights for Pakistan’s minorities. This government would be issuing a political statement in support of the minorities if it were to work towards repealing the blasphemy law. A campaign is also needed to make people aware of the virtues of tolerance. Without a change in the public mindset the current environment of hostility will remain.

Movement for Rights of the Religious Minorities (Hindus) in Pakistan Missing ???

By Gopinath Kumar (PHP editor from USA)
Thursday,May 27,2010

(Pakistani Hindus celebrate Holi in Karachi City,Sindh)

Pakistan : The tectonic events of the past few years - including September the ‘11’ and the war against terrorism in Afghanistan, Iraq, and beyond - have dramatically affected the Muslims and their attitudes toward the non-Muslims in general. However, some of the dynamics that are influencing the socio-cultural environment in Muslim countries and especially in Pakistan are also the product of trends that have been at work for many decades.
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Falsely presumed religious mission and self-proclaimed righteousness has provided a vehicle through which different governments/leaders have sought legitimacy to discriminate against the non-Muslims. Some of the political parties even contest elections around an agenda of Islamizing the state and reforming the society around religious lines. Based on the ideology of two nation theory, the notion that a separate country "only" for the Muslims where they can live according to their own religious values has indeed proved lethal for the possibility of co-existence with other faiths for all times to come. It is predominantly a Muslim country but we need to be mindful of the existence of Christians, Bahais, Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, Parsis and Sikhs who identify themselves as non-Muslim but true Pakistanis.
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In the past two decade or so, religion has become increasingly intertwined in the political turmoil that envelops Pakistan. The Hindu and Sikh community in Pakistan are very much under represented and is inherently sub divided into various castes. AA while siding with the poorest of the poor will work with the scheduled class hindus all across Pakistan. Their representative groups will be formed at the provincial level and strengthened to amplify their political voice and bring their grievances to the public fore will help us to promote diversity and ensure their rights. Capacity building of these groups will be done especially to empower them to participate in the upcoming census in 2010.
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This campaign will contribute in increasing their participation in the national process as it provide the base of fiscal settings, services and programs provided to remote communities.

Daily Inspiration from Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

By Yogeshvar Dubey (PHP UK)
Wednesday,May 26,2010

The older I get, the more Hindu I become.

V.S. Naipaul, expatriate Trinidadian novelist, now living in UK, widely regarded in English literary circles as the best living writer in the English language.

Daily Inspiration from Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

By Gopinath Kumar
Monday,May 24,2010

A day spent without a conscious attempt to clean ones heart is a day wasted. Impurity of cloth or body will lead to diseases which will last only for one lifetime. But impurity of heart will lead to diseases which will afflict the soul for several births.
Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati, (1894-1994) Shankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peedam

Daily Inspiration from Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

By Gopinath Kumar (PHP Editor)
Friday,May 21,2010

Guru Amar Das Ji (1479 to 1574)

In this Dark Age of Kali Yuga, no one is interested in good karma, or Dharmic faith.
Guru Amar Daas, Raag Gauree, 161

Daily Inspiration from Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

By Gopinath Kumar (PHP)
Thusday,May 20,2010

(Paramahansa Yogananda)

Only the ignorant man expects perfection and lasting fulfillment from this Earth.
Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952), founder of Self-Realization Fellowship

Daily Inspiration from Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

By Gopinath Kumar
Wednesday,May 19,2010

Perseverance in (seeking to gain) the knowledge of the Supreme Spirit, and perception of the gain that comes from knowledge of the truth: This is called knowledge : all that is contrary to this is ignorance. 
Bhagavad Gita 13:11

Daily Inspiration from Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

By Gopinath Kumar (PHP)
Monday,May 03,2010

(Henry Ford on Time Magazine, January 14, 1935.)

I adopted the theory of reincarnation when I was 26. Religion offered nothing to the point. When I discovered reincarnation time was no longer limited. I was no longer a slave to the hands of the clock.
American auto industrialist Henry Ford (1863 – 1947)

Daily Inspiration from Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

By Gopinath Kumar (PHP)
Monday,April 26,2010

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountaintop, then you shall begin to climb. And when the Earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance. Should we all confess our sins to one another, we would all laugh at one another for our lack of originality. Should we all reveal our virtues, we would also laugh for the same cause.

Saint Kabir (1440-1518)

63 die, dozens injured in Hindu temple stampede , India

Source http://www.geo.tv
Thursday, March 04, 2010, Rabi ul Awwal 17, 1431 A.H

Most of those gathered at the ceremony were from nearby villages

LUCKNOW: A stampede broke out at a Hindu temple in northern India Thursday as thousands of people jostled with each other to get free clothes and utensils, leaving at least 63 people dead and dozens more injured, officials said.

The force of the stampede was so great, it knocked down a gate at the temple compound in Kunda, a small town 110 miles (180kilometers) southeast of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state.

About 44 worshippers were injured in the crush of people at a Hindu temple belonging to a popular local religious leader, said Ashok Kumar, a senior government official.

Thousands of farmers and villagers had gathered at the temple around noon to receive free goods to mark the anniversary of the death of the wife of the religious leader, Kripalu Maharaj, said Brij Lal, a local police official.

By late afternoon police had cleared the compound and started the process of identifying the bodies, Kumar said.

Hundreds of people gathered at a nearby hospital for news of their family members.

``She had just wandered in to see what was happening,'' said Gudal, a 38-year-old farmer whose 7-year-old daughter, Ranjana, was killed. Gudal, who uses only one name, wept as she spoke.

Deadly stampedes are a relatively common occurrence at temples in India, where large crowds _ sometimes hundreds of thousands of people _ congregate in small areas lacking facilities to control big gatherings.

In 2008, more than 145 people died in a stampede at a remote Hindu temple at the foothill of the Himalayas.

Happy Holi today and Wish Hindus worldwide !!!

By Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

In Sindh, the main function will be held at Sawami Narayan Mandir situated on MA Jinnah Road in Karachi and at the Lohano Community Hall in district Sangher.

In Lahore, the Hindus will gather at the Krishna Mandir on Ravi Road to celebrate the day.

The history: The celebration of Holi is very ancient in its origin. By its very origin, Holi celebrates an ultimate triumph of the ‘good’ over the ‘evil’. Many colours associated with Holi are said to be the face of celebrations.

There are two different stories behind the Holi festival.

The word ‘Holi’ means ‘burning’ in the Indian language. The reference was found only in ancient Indian legend of Hiranyakashipu, to whom the celebration of Holi is attributed.

Years back in the pre-Christian era, there lived a demon king named Hiranyakashipu in ancient India. He wanted to avenge the death of his younger brother. His brother, also a demon, had been killed by Lord Vishnu, one of the supreme trios, monitoring the life and death in the universe. To take on Vishnu, the tyrant king wanted to become the king of the heaven, earth and the underworld.

He performed severe penance and prayers for many years to gain enough power. Finally, he was granted a boon. Powered by the boon, Hiranyakshipu thought he had become invincible. Arrogant, he ordered all in his kingdom to worship him, instead of god. The demon king, however, had a very young son, Prahalad. He was an ardent devotee of Vishnu. Despite his father’s order, Prahalad continued to pray to Vishnu.

So the demon king decided to kill his son. He asked the favour of his sister Holika who, because of a boon, was immune to fire. They planned that Prahalad would be burnt to death. A pyre was lit up and Holika sat on it, clutching Prahalad. Yet, at the end Prahalad emerged unscathed by the fire, and Holika, the demon, was burnt to ashes.

The earnest devotion and complete submission to Lord Vishnu saved the young Prahlad. Thus was the triumph of Prahlad, the representative of good spirits, and the defeat of Holika. Later, even the demon king Hiranyakashipu was killed by Lord Vishnu.

The second story behind the Holi festival is of Krishna who was a reincarnation of Vishnu himself. It was Krishna, or, Krishan, the king of the ancient city of Dwarka, who popularised the tradition of Holi. The origin of the colourful and frolicking tone of Holi lied in the boyhood of Krishna. It all came up as part of his pranks; he used to play with his mates of Gokul and Vrindavan situated in north India.

Krishna would play pranks by drenching the village girls called gopi’s with water and colours. At first it offended the girls, but they were so fond of this mischievous boy that soon their anger melted away. And, it did not take long for other boys to join in, making it a popular sport in the village.

Later, as Krishna grew up, the play assumed a new dimension. It added more colours to Krishna’s legendary love life. The legend of Krishna’s courtship with Radha and playing pranks with the gopis. The girls in the Gokul village were mostly milkmaids, and, hence locally known as gopis.

The same tradition had emerged through the ages, turning it into a community festival of the masses.

The Holi play of Krishna was documented in hundreds of ancient paintings, murals, sculptures and scriptures found across the subcontinent. 

Major Religions of the World Ranked by Number of Adherents

From Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

(Sizes shown are approximate estimates, and are here mainly for the purpose of ordering the groups, not providing a definitive number. This list is sociological/statistical in perspective.)

1. Christianity: 2.1 billion
   
2. Islam: 1.5 billion
   
3. Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion
   
4. Hinduism: 900 million
   
5. Chinese traditional religion: 394 million
   
6. Buddhism: 376 million
   
7. primal-indigenous: 300 million
   
8. African Traditional & Diasporic: 100 million
   
9. Sikhism: 23 million
   
10. Juche: 19 million
    
11. Spiritism: 15 million
    
12. Judaism: 14 million
    
13. Baha'i: 7 million
    
14. Jainism: 4.2 million
    
15. Shinto: 4 million
    
16. Cao Dai: 4 million
    
17. Zoroastrianism: 2.6 million
    
18. Tenrikyo: 2 million
    
19. Neo-Paganism: 1 million
    
20. Unitarian-Universalism: 800 thousand
    
21. Rastafarianism: 600 thousand
    
22. Scientology: 500 thousand

The Classical World Religions List

There are twelve classical world religions. This is the list of religions described most often in surveys of the subject, and studied in World Religion classes (some of them more for historical rather than contemporary reasons):

• Baha'i
• Buddhism
• Christianity
• Confucianism
• Hinduism
• Islam
• Jainism
• Judaism
• Shinto
• Sikhism
• Taoism
• Zoroastrianism

The "World's Major Religions" list published in the New York Public Library Student's Desk Reference is typical of world religion lists which are functionally-oriented, yet still strongly classical (New York: Prentice Hall, 1993; pg. 271):

• Baha'i
• Buddhism
• Confucianism
• Hinduism
• Islam
• Judaism
• Orthodox Eastern Church
• Protestantism
• Catholicism
• Shinto
• Taoism

In modern Western thought, the first writers to divide the world into "world religions" were Christians. Originally, three religions were recognized: Christians, Jews and pagans (i.e., everybody else).

After many centuries, with the increased Western awareness of Eastern history and philosophy, and the development of Islam, other religions were added to the list. Many Far Eastern ways of thought, in fact, were given the status of "world religion" while equally advanced religious cultures in technologically less developed or pre-literate societies (such as in Australia, Africa, South America, and Polynesia) were grouped together as pagans or "animists," regardless of their actual theology. It's true that by the standards applied at the time, the Far Eastern religions Westerners encountered were often in a different category altogether than the religions they classified as pagan. One can not directly compare, for example, the local beliefs of the Polynesian islands of Kiribati during the 1500s to the organizational, political, literary and philosophical sophistication of Chinese Taoism during the same period. But one could certainly question whether Japanese Shintoism, as an official "world religion", was theologically or spiritually more "advanced" than African Yoruba religion, which was classified simply as animism or paganism.

During the 1800s comparative religion scholars increasingly recognized Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism as the most significant "world religions." Even today, these are considered the "Big Five" and are the religions most likely to be covered in world religion books.

Five smaller or more localized religions/philosophies brought the list of world religions to ten: Confucianism, Taoism, Jainism, Shinto and Zoroastrianism.

Beginning around 1900 comparative religion writers in England began to take note of the Sikhs which had begun to immigrate there from India (part of the British Empire at the time). Sikhs, if mentioned at all, had been classified as a sect of Hinduism during the first three hundred years of their history. But after the influential British writers began to classify Sikhism as a distinct, major world religion, the rest of the world soon followed their example. 

Baha'is are the most recent entrant to the "Classical" list. The religion is only about 150 years old. On their official website, Baha'is claim 5 million adherents worldwide, established in 235 countries and territories throughout the world. While most comparative religion textbooks produced during this century either ignore them or group them as a Muslim sect, the most recent books give them separate status and often their own chapter. Baha'is have achieved this status partially through their worldwide geographical spread and increasing numbers, and partially by constantly insisting that they are indeed the "newest world religion." 

Hinduism: The highest figure we've seen for Hinduism (1.4 billion, Clarke, Peter B., editor), The Religions of the World: Understanding the Living Faiths, Marshall Editions Limited: USA (1993); pg. 125.) is actually higher than the highest figure we've seen for Islam. But this is an abberation. World Hinduism adherent figures are usually between 850 million and one billion. More.

There are an estimated 9 to 12 million Roma (Gypsies; also "Rroma") in the world, concentrated in Europe, but also in North America, Australia and elsewhere. There is clearly a distinct set of Roma religious beliefs and practices, which scholars frequently describe as Aryan/Indian/Hindu in origin with an overlay of local (esp. European) religious culture (often Catholic). But the Roma are primarily classified as an ethnic or cultural group. Many clearly have a strong ethnic identity as Roma and a self-identified religious identity as Catholic or Protestant. The Roma illustrate how arbitrary the dividing lines between ethnicity, culture, and religion can be. 

Five Pakistani Muslim Men Abduct A Christian Woman

Washington, D.C: January 20, 2010. International Christian Concern (ICC) learned that five Muslim men abducted a 21-year-old Christian girl in Sargodha, Pakistan.

It was reported to ICC that Muhammad Afzal, Maqsood Ahmed, Muhammad Ashraf and two other unidentified Muslim men abducted Asifa Bibi from her home at gunpoint. The Muslim men then dragged her into an unregistered black car and drove to an undisclosed location. Asifa’s father, Nasir Masih, told ICC that Muhammad Ashraf, one of the suspects, had previously asked Asifa to convert to Islam and marry him. In Pakistan, it is common for Muslim men to approach Christian girls and ask them to convert to Islam and marry them. If the girls refuse such advances, the men abduct, rape and forcefully convert them to Islam. Asifa’s family has reported the abduction to the police at Saddr police station. The police chief at the station told ICC that his office is investigating the case and hopes to arrest the suspects and secure the young woman’s release as soon as possible. ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa and South Asia, Jonathan Racho, said, “We deplore the abduction of Asifa by the five Muslim men. We commend Pakistani police for promising to secure the release of Asifa and bring her abductors to justice