Hindu Press International <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:Hindu Press International
August 8, 2007 August 8, 2007
Most Reincarnation Claims are True, Says Dr. S.K. Pasricha
China Tells Living Buddhas They Must Obtain Permission Before Reincarnating
Ganesha Goes Green for Khairatabad
Advertising's Disturbing Influence on Children's Food Choices
1. Most Reincarnation Claims are True, Says Dr. S.K. Pasricha
hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 5, 2007: Dr. Satwant K. Pasricha, a NIMHANS Professor
of Clinical Psychology and a leading national authority on reincarnations, has
been using rigorous scientific methods to investigate reincarnation claims
since 1974. Here are excerpts from an interview with Neha Tara Mehta: "It is
important to first understand what we mean by reincarnation. For the purpose of
our research, we use the term to refer to the concept that human beings consist
of two components: a physical body and a non-physical component, some call it
psyche, others may refer to it as mind, personality, or soul. At death, the
physical body perishes but the non-physical component survives and after an
interval, becomes associated with a new physical body. On the basis of meager
data that we have, we can't make generalizations about whether or not everyone
reincarnates. But what I can tell is that every one does not remember a
previous life. I have investigated nearly 500
reincarnation claims in India, Seventy-seven per cent of them were authentic.
Children who talk about previous lives usually do so between the ages of 2 and
5 and stop talking about their previous life between 5 and 8; rarely do they
continue beyond 10 years of age. They display corresponding behavior that is
unusual for their present circumstances but is appropriate for the behavior of
the deceased person whose life they claim to remember. Some children have
facial features, gait or mannerisms corresponding to their claimed previous
personalities; some even have birthmarks or birth defects attributed to the
previous lives."
One such reincarnation story is of a young boy named Sachin. Every time Sachin
tried to tell the adults in his village that he was in fact Kanti, a domestic
servant from the nearby Dhanaura village whose master had murdered him, the
villagers would laugh. His family also thought the child's imagination was
runnin g wild. "We thought it was a game of make-belief," says his elder
sister Poonam. But Sachin, a Class III student at the village primary school,
seldom spoke, behaved or conducted himself like the 12-year-old he was. "He was
always so grownup, talking about development and other social issues," says
Imran, Sachin's playmate. The boy soon earned the title of 'Netaji'. To read
Sachi's story, click here.
---------------------------------
2. China Tells Living Buddhas They Must Obtain Permission Before
Reincarnating www.timesonline.co.uk
BEIJING, CHINA, August 4, 2007: Tibet's living Buddhas have been banned from
reincarnation without permission from China's atheist leaders. The ban is
included in new rules intended to assert Beijing's authority over Tibet's
restive and deeply Buddhist people. "The so-called reincarnated living Buddha
without government approval is illegal and invalid," according to the order,
which comes into effect on September 1. The 14-part regulation issued by the
State Administration for Religious Affairs is aimed at limiting the influence
of Tibet's exiled god-king, the Dalai Lama, and at preventing the
re-incarnation of the 72-year-old monk without approval from Beijing. It is the
latest in a series of measures by the Communist authorities to tighten their
grip over Tibet. Reincarnate lamas, known as tulkus, often lead religious
communities and oversee the training of monks, giving them enormous influence
over religious life in the Himalayan region. Anyone outside China is banned
from taking part in the process of seeking and recognizing a living Buddha,
effectively excluding the Dalai Lama, who traditionally can play an important
role in giving recognition to candidate reincarnates.
For the first time China has given the Government the power to ensure that no
new living Buddha can be identified, sounding a possible death knell to a
mystical system that dates back at least as far as the 12th century. China
already insists that only the Government can approve the appointments of
Tibet's two most important monks, the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. The
Dalai Lama's announcement in May 1995 that a search inside Tibet -- and with
the cooperation of a prominent abbot -- had identified the 11th reincarnation
of the Panchen Lama, who died in 1989, enraged Beijing. That prompted the
Communist authorities to restart the search and to send a senior Politburo
member to Lhasa to oversee the final choice. This resulted in top Communist
officials presiding over a ceremony at the main Jokhang temple in Lhasa in
which names of three boys inscribed on ivory sticks were placed inside a golden
urn and a lot was then drawn to find the true reincarnation. The boy chosen
by the Dalai Lama has disappeared. The abbot who worked with the Dalai Lama
was jailed and has since vanished. Several sets of rules on seeking out "soul
boys" were promulgated in 1995, but were effectively in abeyance and hundreds
of living Buddhas are now believed to live inside and outside China.
---------------------------------
3. Ganesha Goes Green for Khairatabad www.hindu.com
HYDERABAD, INDIA, August 5, 2007: The Khairatabad Ganesha this year is all set
to blaze a new trail going in for an eco-friendly makeover. The district
administration that has been campaigning for a shift to eco-friendly natural
dyes for the Murthis, hopes that more Murthi makers and festival organizers
would follow suit. "We have yielded to the Government's request for use of
eco-friendly colors," says S. Sudarshan, chief organizer of Khairatabad Ganesh
Utsav Committee. Whether clad in natural Indigo, dark green, maroon or
chocolate, the 40-foot giant Deity however cannot do without that matt finish
in its fashion statement. The Chirla-based Shyamal Handlooms involved in
Kalamkari work for a decade was approached by N. G. Ranga Agricultural
University for developing eco-friendly colors. It took them four months of
research to come out with required hues. They would supply as many as nine
colors for the Deity.
"Sixty liters of colors will be needed to paint the whole statue. We have
already sent samples of a liter each," said U. Venkateshwar Rao from Shyamal
Handlooms that is ready to supply eco-friendly colors to other manufacturers
and artisans. Hyderabad District Collector R. V. Chandravadan commended the big
step taken by the Utsav Committee on Saturday while speaking at an awareness
workshop attended by artisans, resident welfare associations, committee members
and officials of Pollution Control Board and National Green Corps.
---------------------------------
4. Advertising's Disturbing Influence on Children's Food Choices
www.news-medical.net
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA, August 7, 2007: A study with pre-school
children has revealed just how potent and effective the power of advertising
is. In what many parents will find very depressing news, new research has
revealed that as far as tots are concerned food wrapped in McDonald's packaging
tastes up to six times better than the same food in plain wrappers. The study
by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine, in California, was
designed in order to gauge the power of advertising on young children. It comes
at an opportune moment as there is widespread concern over the growing obesity
rates in children and the influence of advertising on children's health. In the
developed world child obesity rates have trebled over the last two decades and
currently 10 per cent of six-year-olds and 17 per cent of 15-year-olds are
estimated to be obese. Experts say that by 2050, half of all primary school-age
boys and a fifth of all girls could be so overweight
that their health is at serious risk.
A total of 63 children completed the study and performed a total of 304
individual tasting comparisons. The researchers led by Dr. Thomas N. Robinson,
found that children as young as three found food nicer when they thought it was
made by a big brand and this preference was not merely restricted to fast
foods; the youngsters found that milk and carrots tastier better when they
believed they had been bought at McDonald's. For the study, the researchers
asked children aged between three and five to rate five foods for tastiness;
each child was given two samples of identical food, one in McDonald's packaging
and one in plain wrapping. The researchers say the children found the
McDonald's wrapped food was judged as far more appealing but when the children
were not influenced by branding, they found both samples equally tasty.
McDonald's fries were judged tastiest by six times as many children as the same
fires in plain packaged wrappers and the same applied to chicken nuggets.
It seems even milk and carrots, foods not as a rule associated with
McDonald's, were rated as more appealing when packaged with the fast food's
logo. McDonald's says it actively tries to promote healthy food to children.
The food and beverage industries spend more than $10 billion each year on
marketing aimed at children in the United States and by age 2, many already
have beliefs about certain brands; 2- to -6-year-olds are able to recognize
brands and associate them with products. The study is published in the journal
Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
---------------------------------
NOTICE: Some source URLs cited in HPI articles are only valid on the date
the article was issued. Most are invalid a week to a few months later. When a
URL fails to work, go to the top level of the source's website and search for
the article.
Daily Inspiration
Man's freedom is not in being saved troubles, but is the freedom to take
trouble for his own good, and make the trouble an element in his joy.
Rabindranath Tagore
Opportunities and Submissions Please send us URLs to super Hindu web
sites that inspire you.
---------------------------------
Individuals and organizations are invited to submit Hindu-related news and
announcements for distribution by HPI.
News is our major thrust--the more current and global, the better. When
sending news to HPI, please provide the source and text of the original item,
either by e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or by fax to 808-822-4351. News should
clearly relate to the Hindu religion.
For announcements, please prepare a short summary of the subject and provide
a URL to a web page with details. For example, "Swamiji will be visiting San
Francisco November 14-19 and Ann Arbor, Michigan, November 21-23, 2006. For
further information visit www.swamiswami.org. Alternatively, one could provide
an e-mail address. Acceptable subjects for announcements include significant
world tours of religious leaders, major events of organizations, major cultural
exhibitions and outstanding artistic performances.
---------------------------------
Contact
Archives
HPI on the web
Reuse and Copyright Information
Support HPI Financially
---------------------------------
Subscribe | Unsubscribe | List Master
Umesh Sharma
Washington D.C.
1-202-215-4328 [Cell]
Ed.M. - International Education Policy
Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University,
Class of 2005
http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/index.html (Edu info)
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/ (Management Info)
www.gse.harvard.edu/iep (where the above 2 are used )
http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/
---------------------------------
Yahoo! Answers - Get better answers from someone who knows. Tryit now._______________________________________________
assam mailing list
[email protected]
http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
