October, 2006

Purpose of man’s existence, the origin of universe, existence of God, soul and super soul and life after death, Satan, paradise and hell have always been intriguing factors to the people of all religions. All world religions are fundamentally aiming at realization of the truth and salvation by their followers and have accepted the presence of God as a force of unmatched potential, attributes and infinity. While some are rigid that the God of their religion only is the ultimate, others are tolerant and are prepared to accept Gods of all religions as one and the same. While certain religions particularly of Eastern origin believe in the cycle of birth and death and transmigration of souls, Semitic religions believe in the Day of Judgment when one’s fate would be decided. Therefore, the aspect of Realization and Salvation in a man’s life is most important as the purpose of every religion is to attain salvation that is freedom from the cycle of death and birth or attaining the paradise by it’s followers. These aspects are discussed:

continue reading "The Aspect of Human Realization and Salvation in World Religions"

Weblinks are up again. Every software upgrade seems to break the module, and it's taken me a while to get them working again. This one will be better than before--under the hood, as it were. You can locate the it on the menu (position likely to change soon), or click this links here: weblinks.

Even the least observant will notice that there are few weblinks now. That's because I didn't recreate them all the first time an upgrade zapped the list. However, I will be adding many more soon. And, your help in collecting links to related web sites is much appreciated.

continue reading "Weblinks up again"

continue reading "The Religion of Self"

Hello all, I just wanted to say that I am home from Iraq and thank you all for your support and prayers. I am enjoying time with my family and friends and am back home at church. Attending chapel services is great, but not the same as a church home.

I boarded the plane and never looked back and I have not looked at any news about the war since I left. It may take me some time to come to terms with my experience, right now I am just glad to be home.

continue reading "Home from Iraq"

Islam is a major world religion today and has entered all parts of the globe. In most of the Middle East nations, it is the State religion while in some of the other countries, the populations consist of large number of Muslims. The religion of Islam has made great impact on the world affairs right from the days of it’s founding. The great Turkish Empire and modern Arab Nations such as Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Kuwait, Emirates, Saudi Arabia, non Arab Iran, influenced world politics greatly. New nations under Muslim rule such as Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and many African Nations such as Sudan, Uganda and Libya emerged over a period of time and are influencing the world political situation from time to time. In a nation like India, the Muslim invaders attacked Indian provinces in 11 Th century and the regular invasions followed from Kabul in Afghanistan. By this time, Islam was already 500 years old in the world and has swept across the Middle East countries and entire populations in these nations adopted Islam as the religion either by force or voluntarily. The invasions in India resulted in overthrowing of local Hindu States and Islam got a firm foothold in India in 11 th century. Islamic rulers had a sway in India for the next 500 years till the English grabbed the power under East India Company and later by the Crown of England. The atrocities on Hindus during Islamic rule resulted in development of deep fissures between the two communities and as India was edging towards Independence from the British yoke, Muslims opted for a separate nation fearing domination by majority Hindus and finally it could not be prevented. The outcome was the partition of India.

continue reading "Islam at a Crossroads"

In recent years I have become increasingly influenced by a Panentheistic view of faith. Writers like John, the Beloved, and the living example of Jesus fit well into many of the concepts I will mention. These will stir some controversy and discussion -- at least I hope so, otherwise we learn nothing from each other.

God has been discussed in other posts as Above all, Thru all, and In all. Judgment and Life have to do with how God manifests "himself" to the Panentheistic seeker. It may be difficult to understand a conception of God that really does not place him in Heaven, and does not really recognize eternal judgment as a Heaven/Hell thing that takes place in the hereafter, but I want to try to express how God can act and Judgment takes place as an important part of the living process for the Panentheist.

continue reading "God and Judgment in Life"

The life of a human being on the earth, the purpose for his birth and death and the universe have always been intriguing factors to human mind. Human being is the only living being on the earth that has the power of judgment, reasoning and analytical mind. Therefore, these aspects always tormented the minds of prophets, philosophers and saints in all parts of the world belonging to all religions. All religions have put forward their own interpretation regarding the human life on the earth. These are deliberated up on.

continue reading "The Aspect of Human Life and World Religions"

Last week I attended a gathering of United Methodist clergy. The one sentiment that I heard more than any other was a desire for real and authentic worship. In the midst of planning and leading worship for others, clergy often forget to seek out worship for ourselves. As I looked around at the hundreds of people gathered, I could see the need; it was very noticeable. What this did to me, though, was make me more aware of all of our lost sabbaths. It isn't just clergy who miss out on spending time with God.

continue reading "lost sabbath, lost soul"

Tolerance towards others is a very important trait for any religion if world peace is to be maintained. All Eastern religions have been tolerant in this aspect. Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism are the pioneers in this aspect. The scriptures of Christianity and Islam have also taught universal love, compassion and brotherhood. However, the aspect of God became the point of focus and conflict.

continue reading "World Religions and Religious Tolerance"

The thing needed in the 21st century is the ability for humans to see their dreams realized. It's always the thing free creative thinking beings have desired. I think Celebration of Existence, of Life, with Music, Dance, Family and Friends in Harmony in new colorful vibrant high-resolution displays is one of the most powerful methods for humans to communicate their shared dreams. This activity is done outside where everyone can see, where there is familiar nature and the loving light of the sun. The only example I know is the 60s.

continue reading "Limits, Freedom, Courage to test limits and take risks, Full Effort, Peace, Love, Happiness, and the 21st Century Transformation"

National Coming Out Day was Oct 11. This is a short note of encouragement for all who still live in the closet and who yearn to be fully known by family and friends. This is a word of comfort to those who have come out and have been shunned by family and friends. And this is a word of hope to all who continue to seek love and acceptance in their families, from their friends, and in their faith communities.

continue reading "come out, come out, wherever you are"

Four years ago, a controversial exhibit was opening at the Jewish Museum in New York. The exhibit focused on young artists who used Nazi imagery in their artwork. Knowing that it would spark anger in the community, the directors asked a group of rabbis to preview the exhibit. I happened to be one of them. Most of the pieces in the exhibit were interesting conceptual pieces – a lot of sculpture of one sort or another. It did not anger me in the least bit. But one piece was deeply troubling to me. It made my stomach turn. The piece was a digitally altered photograph. The original photograph, taken by Life magazine’s Margaret Burke White, was a picture of the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp. In the picture are a few survivors, malnourished, their bones poking through their skin, lying on wooden barracks. The artists had used Photoshop software to insert himself into the picture, and he was in the barracks, and he was holding a can of Diet Coke. I did not find this funny. In fact, I found it to be profane. That photo was a photograph of a crime scene in which Jewish people were stripped of their dignity, enslaved, and de-humanized. I had the choice: Do I stage a protest outside the museum? Do I call for the museum director’s resignation? Do I write a scathing op-ed? What should I do to stop such a disgrace from occurring?

continue reading "Cartoon Mohammed: A Jewish Perspective"

Islam always represented danger and menace to West and is seen as a threat to Western civilization. Many Jews and Christians seized on the belief that something fearful in the faith of Mohammed (PBUH) had made Sept 9/11, 2001 attack inevitable. Many feared, a new Crusade against Islam would soon ensue. After the above attack, Islam has been identified more than ever in Western mind with violence, intolerance and fanaticism (1). However, the leaders of the West were highly balanced and President George W Bush of the world’s only Super Power and the aggrieved party made it very clear to the world that he believed Islam to be a religion of peace and he had no quarrel on this account. It was declared that the gruesome act was the senseless violence by a section of fundamentalists in Islam who are bringing discredit to their religion.

continue reading "Middle East, The Ever Boiling Cauldron With Hatred Toward The West"

Evil is a part of human life. Although man was created by the God as believed by most of the religions, he has been given the option of ways of leading his life. He may choose a path of truthful living or get entangled and trapped in the vices and the resulting sins. The force that tempts a man to seek pleasures on a sinful path is referred as Satan (in Semetic religions) who has rebelled against the God. In Hinduism the evil is associated with Kali (source of evil). Buddhists refer it as Mara. Therefore, evil is also present in the world and it is for a person to decide and take decision for leading a life free of sin on this earth. Man is basically tempted by five traits such as greed, lust, ego, attachment and anger. All the world religions accept this fact. The Prophets (Peace be on them) of all religions always stressed that the mankind must try to overcome such traits. Apart from above, senses of pleasures are smell, touch, taste, vision and hearing. Human beings are prepared to go to any extent to derive pleasures through the above and it is likely that more a person enjoys the pleasures, more he would crave for these things. Evil lurks on these paths to grab them when limits are exceeded. Falling a prey to one evil leads to another evil. As an example, a person addicted to drinking alcohol is likely to crimes such as theft, murder or even rape as he has no control on himself. One evil leads to another evil. Every religion rightly condemns evil in it’s own way and no religion glorifies evil.

continue reading "Evil and Philosophical View of World Religions"

As frightening as it is to some, freedom of speech and assembly are still the best weapons against darkness. That is, enlightenment—shining light on darkness—is the best solution. These articles by Dr. Rao are good examples.

But to use enlightenment as a tool, we must muster the courage to face our own shadows, our own closeted skeletons, our own failures and our own misdirected attempts at misinformation. That is, when I shine a light on your blemishes or dark secrets, that light will eventually illuminate some of my own. For American business and political leadership, shining a much needed light upon the dark intentions of our self-declared enemies, means the eventual unveiling of some dark deeds carried out by themselves in their own interest over the past century or so. Because they (perhaps we) refuse to own their own shame, they cannot credibly shine the much needed, unfiltered light on the intentions of our aggressors. In other words, the US government (also British, French, etc.) and the business interests to which some major players within in it are beholden, are severely limited in the use of enlightenment to dislodge the darkness from our shores and the Middle Eastern nations in which this deadly strain has been cultivated and nourished over the past century, by the fear and dread of exposing their own past dark dealings.

continue reading "Truth is a Two Edged Sword"

The world today is in the grip of Islamic terrorism and a section of Muslims following Wahaabi cult of Sunni Islam propagate Terrorism. They propagate a Muslim world order and forcible conversion of entire world to Islam. United States of America that represents Western Powers is seen as the archenemy, a big obstacle in their path and a crusader and leader of non-believers (Kafirs) by the terrorists. The dream of such aspirations engendered world where every one is under Islamic rule. They consider themselves as purists and all others are heretical. Muslim dissidents are there everywhere in the world over the last two decades. The Islamic movements share the objective of undoing the secularizing reforms of last century, abolishing imported codes of law and social customs that came with them and returning to the holy law of Islam and Islamic political order. That is what the Islamic fundamentalism is primarily today (1).

continue reading "It is Time For the USA to Battle Its Enemies More Within Its Mainland"

A new page in my own book of life begins this Monday. Quit my job and took another. It will be a much more difficult job but it is in my chosen field of process piping and equipment design. Over the last five years what I was led to believe was industrial and process turned out to be an HVAC company. For those not in the engineering world, you can compare it by looking at your local nasty chemical plant as compared to a commercial building.

continue reading "Turning the Page"

Doubt is something I have lived with for a long time. Even when I was not able to put it into words I sensed that the story I was being told as a child had holes in it. As I have grown older, I have learned I had good reason to doubt. Unfortunately, vindication does little for a person when what they need is hope.

continue reading "THE GREAT WALL OF DOUBT"

continue reading "Why Islam Lags Behind The West?"

There is an first draft, if you will, of a new front page for your consideration: here. The idea is to give a summary of current content that doesn't require scrolling. Also, you probably noticed that the content menu is at the top now. This is also experimental and open for criticism. If the menu at the top of the page provides easy access to content, and

continue reading "New Menu, New Front Page, What Do You Think?"

The major world religions are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. There are other important religions also such as Judaism, Taoism, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism in the world that have limited following. The world religions are distinctly divided into Eastern and Western religions. The Eastern religions have basically sprung from Hinduism that is the most ancient world religion. Therefore, these other Eastern religions have been greatly influenced by the Hindu philosophy. Many scholars are of the opinion that the some of the Eastern religions such as Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism although claiming to be independent religions are only specialized branches of Hinduism and granting separate religious status is debatable. Christianity, Judaism and Islam form Semitic religions. Followers of these religions claim origin from Abraham.

continue reading "Religion And World Peace"