Om Sweet Om

Apologies for my hiatus from blogging on OSO. I have spent the last week busily engaged in hosting a special Diwali celebration at Princeton University (where, as my day job, I direct the University’s newly created Hindu Life Program). The event, held on Saturday November 14, was wonderful — a magical evening of shared devotion,…

As a sort of post-script to my blog about Halloween-Hare-Krishnas, check out this video of a carnival in Croatia (yes, Croatia), where one of the groups participating dressed up as Hare Krishna devotees. Note: The selection above is hosted by YouTube and after the video playsthere may be several links presented to other videos. Om…

I blogged the other day about the concept of holy envy, and the broader idea of learning from one another’s spiritual traditions. So you can imagine how pleased I was when I came across this little gem, in which Pastor Eddie D. Smith speaks about the Hindu concept of greeting someone with the term Namaste…

“Imagine there is a puddle. When it rains, the puddle is filled with water. When it doesn’t, the puddle dries up. Now compare that to the ocean. The ocean is so deep, it doesn’t matter if it rains above or it is dry weather. Your inner depth should be as much as the ocean, so…

Ever wake up smiling? I went to see Dasi Karnamrita lead kirtan at the Ashtanga Yoga Studio and Ganesh Temple in New York City last night. In a word, the evening was magical. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there was something about the show that made it seem less like a…

The New York Yankees, World Series champions yet again, are preparing to have 50 tons of confetti dropped on them. Yes, Math Wizards, that would be 100,000 pounds of little, tiny bits of paper. On Friday, the champions will be honored with a ticker-tape parade down a stretch of lower Manhattan that has been poignantly…

Thanks to Chris at the Yoga of Ecology blog for the heads up on this fascinating Times Online piece about UK Climate Chief Lord Stern of Brentford proclaiming that “People will need to turn vegetarian if the world is to conquer climate change.” That is a powerful statement, and Lord Stern is hardly the first…

I like the idea that one should be able to look at another faith and think  There is something in this other religious tradition that I really value and I wish we had it. I can learn something here.  The late Krister Stendahl, who served as Professor of Divinity and Dean of the Harvard Divinity…

Today marks the last day of the lunar month of Kartika (???????), a sacred time of year chock full of holidays on the Hindu calendar. Some of these, like Diwali, are well-known and celebrated widely. Others — days like Karva Chauth or Bhaya Duja or Bahulastami — are observed regionally or are specific to particular…

Halloween has come and gone, without incident. Heidi Klum played it safe this year dressing as a crow, none of the neighborhood kids donned Lil’ Ganesh costumes after all, and my daughter Shruti’s first Halloween costume (an adorable pumpkin) was a hit.  But fresh on the heels of my Halloween hypothetical about the bona fides…

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