We posed to our panel of distinguished religious leaders of the region the following question: Relevance of church: If God is omnipresent, why do we still need to go to church, mosque, temple, synagogue, etc.? Why cannot we just pray, worship, read about,
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SHANGHAI Fifteen years ago, Jean-Jacques Annaud was demonized by the Chinese Communist Party for his film Seven Years in Tibet the cadres were unhappy with his cinematic portrayal of the Peoples Liberation Armys invasion of the region in 1949 and his casting of the sister of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
A decade and a half on, the 68-year-old French director is being welcomed here with open arms. On Saturday, Annaud will arrive in China to chair the jury of the 15th Shanghai International Film Festival, which kicks off this weekend with 17 films from around the world in competition. And hes preparing to make a $30-million Mandarin-language drama with the state-run China Film Group.
The film is based on Wolf Totem, the biggest-selling contemporary novel of all time in China. Wolf Totem follows a Chinese student from Beijing who is sent to Inner Mongolia in 1967 for reeducation at the height of the Cultural Revolution. By living with the nomads and among the wolves on the steppe, the protagonist builds a deep respect for freedom and nature, themes Annaud has explored before in his films The Bear and Two Brothers.
The nearly 600-page semi-autobiographical novel was written by Jiang Rong, the pen name of Beijing political scientist Lu Jiamin, who was detained without trial for more than a year following his participation in the 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising. His first book, it shot up Chinas bestseller list in 2004 and was widely translated after celebrities such as former NBA star Yao Ming praised the messages between its covers. There are many, including praise for the complementary individualism and teamwork of nomadic life, the destructiveness of breakneck modernization and the importance of environmental conservation.
The fact that censors allowed the book to be published in China surprised many, given that the protagonist expresses contempt for the group-think that Chinas majority Han ethnicity forces on ethnic minorities and disdains the Confucian principles that the Communist Party has recently revived in its political rhetoric even in the 21st century. Which messages Annaud and his partners will highlight on screen remains to be seen.
Annaud spoke by phone from his country home in France about his second chapter with China.
I try my best to see that winners reflect the democratic taste of my jury. I am not a dictator. I am here to chair, Im not here to decide alone. Ive been to most of the festivals in the West. I will come to Shanghai with the most open mind and open heart. I am honored to chair this festival. One of the things that excites me is to get closer to members of the industry. Its a good occasion for me to meet again the producers, directors, actors. Its important for my next project and for my interest in cinema in general to be closer to Chinese cinema.
Did you first read Wolf Totem in French or English?
I read it in French. I was approached by the writer, Jiang Rong, who became a wonderful friend. I spent three weeks with him in Inner Mongolia. He knew my work, and some of his friends at the production company also knew my work. They came to me, and I found it was right up my alley. It has been my conviction to find true stories about the environment. I was very excited to see that one of the bestselling books in China was precisely about something that everyone in the West is unaware of that China has a deep movement that understands the need for the conservation and protection of nature and promotion of environmental issues.
Did you and Jiang Rong ever talk about his anti-Confucian themes?
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Indian police on Thursday detained a popular guru facing a series of assault and sexual abuse charges, just hours after he was set free on bail, saying the "godman" faced threats to his life.
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14 June Paramahamsa Nithyananda Arrested - Followers worldwide start a voluntary peaceful fast & prayer.Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) June 14, 2012 As per the local media IBNLive there has been a re-arrest of His Holiness Paramahamsa Nithyananda. In view of today’s re-arrest of His Holiness Paramahamsa Nithyananda, all his followers worldwide are undertaking a peaceful fast with prayer as a religious ...
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Voluntary Peaceful Fast & Prayer By The Worldwide Followers Of His Holiness Paramahamsa Nithyananda
Two police documents [# 0294/2012, Section 154 Cr.P.C & # 300/2012, Section 154 Cr.P.C with Karnataka State Police in Ramanagara, India], reveal a slew of criminal cases that have been filed against a group of protestors & a local media chief of Suvarna TV Channel of Karanataka state, India in the wake of the recent violent attacks on the Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam Ashram, Bidadi, India. ...
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Inspirational pieces for growth and spiritual clarity by Hugeutte Castaneda.Naples, Fla. (PRWEB) June 11, 2012 Amidst the rush and frivolity of today’s world, many look for guidance on stepping outside our material culture to find higher purpose and enlightenment.Huguette Castaneda expresses the importance of oneness with the inner spirit through poetic verse in “Autumn Leaves Dancing in the ...
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June 9th 2012: As is his innate nature and as usual, the Enlightened Master His Holiness Paramahamsa Nithyananda once again inspires all his followers world wide to be blissful & to continue the good spiritual work which they have been doing for close to ten years now.In a message to all his followers, Paramahamsa Nithyananda assures the followers to have faith in the Divine and the law and also ...
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Inspiring Message from His Holiness Paramahamsa Nithyananda to His Followers across the World
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Manatee County residents Neela and Gopi Chari will join their guests in celebration of Buddha at the Unity Church of Sarasota on Saturday. GRANT JEFFERIES/Bradenton Herald
MANATEE -- Manatee County's Gopi and Neela Chari, who just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, offer a suggestion to others who wish to match their marriage's longevity.
Seek enlightenment together, they say.
"My guru said if your wife doesn't support you in spiritual matters you might as well wait until your next life," Gobi Chari said with a smile this afternoon.
The Charis, then, are both excited about the birthday party they have organized Saturday for Siddhartha Guatama Buddha, the famous Indian teacher of spiritualism whose name means "awakened one" or "enlightened one."
Buddha would be roughly 2,556 years old this month.
"It will be a cultural event," Neela Chari said of the party, which will also celebrate divine love and divine life.
The event, which is open to the public with a $10 donation requested, is set for 4-6 p.m. Saturday at Unity Church of Sarasota, 3023 Proctor Road, Sarasota.
The Charis promise a parade of Buddhist monks, meditation, chanting, guest speakers from other faiths, a talk about Buddha, dancing, music and, as is custom on Buddha's birthday, the bathing of small statues of Buddha.
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Birthday party for Buddha promises to be unique cultural event
There are true interests and false interests. True interests guide a person toward spiritual enlightenment; false interests are introduced in society and block a person's mental, physical and spiritual growth. Too many choices may sometimes paralyze a human spirit.
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Jack Powell: Seek your true self and God's perfect plan will unfold
Police in rural Arizona are investigating the mysterious death of a yoga student who spent two months living in a desert cave after being expelled from a nearby Buddhist retreat, where he had agreed to meditate silently for more than three years.
The body of Ian Thorson, 38, was discovered by rescuers in late April, 7,000ft up a mountain outside the remote town of Bowie, roughly 60 miles east of Tucson. His wife, Christie McNally, 39, was lying nearby, dehydrated and in a critical condition.
They'd ventured into the wilderness after being forced to leave the nearby Diamond Mountain University, a New Age facility where residents forego conversation for three years, three months, and three days in pursuit of spiritual enlightenment.
Like most "courses" at the so-called "university", which has no traditional academic accreditation, Mr Thorson and Ms McNally's silent retreat was run by the institution's leader, a charismatic self-styled "Geshe", or monk, called Michael Roach, who has written several yoga manuals.
It had begun at the start of 2011. But relations between the university-educated couple and fellow students appear to have started to seriously deteriorate this year. Efforts to establish what occurred are being hampered by the refusal of the 36 remaining individuals on the silent retreat to talk. According to written notes and statements posted on the internet, Mr Thorson and Ms McNally were expelled after a domestic confrontation in which he was stabbed with a samurai sword.
The intrigue has been heightened by revelations that Ms McNally was previously married to Mr Roach. Their relationship was kept secret from students at the University and ended by divorce in September 2010, a month before her wedding to Mr Thorson.
Mr Roach, a former diamond dealer who advocates yoga and meditation as a path to financial prosperity, has uploaded a lengthy statement to Diamond Mountain's website alleging that couple were expelled for "serious incidents of mutual spousal abuse".
He said: "Lama Christie [McNally] described what sounded like repeated physical abuse of herself by her husband, and also an incident in which she had stabbed Ian [Thorson] with a knife, under what she described as a spiritual influence."
Mr Roach did not acknowledge his previous marriage to Ms McNally in the statement. Although they had shared a yurt at the 960-acre retreat in previous years, he had insisted to students that their relationship was platonic and she was his "spiritual partner."
The New York Times yesterday detailed "bizarre initiation ceremonies" at the retreat. An alumnus called Sid Johnson alleged that one ritual involved "kissing and genital touching". Another former student, Ekan Thomason, recalled having blood drawn from her finger by a samurai sword.
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The yoga death – and the 'wall of meditative silence' that met police
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Religious Pilgrimages: 14 Of The World's Most Spiritual Destinations
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New York, NY (PRWEB) June 01, 2012
New York Times bestselling author, spiritual leader and a grandmaster of many ancient Chinese disciplines. Dr. and Master Zhi Gang Sha declares June 2 as Divine Healing Hands Day, offering free healings in hundreds of locations around the world in one day.
Dr. and Master Sha, who is a direct channel from the Divine, focuses on Soul Power to deliver enlightenment by helping individuals to lift their soul to a higher spiritual level in heaven. On Saturday, June 2, Dr. and Master Sha will deliver Divine blessings (remote healing) to thousands of people around the world via webcast from Frankfurt, while Divine Healing Hands Soul Healers offer healings in individual cities. These blessings from the Divine are free to everyone who registers on http://www.DrSha.com.
During the free global webcast, Dr. Sha will unveil the principles of the Divine Healing Hands Mission that explains how to open our spiritual selves to help ourselves and others. During this webcast, Dr. Sha will discuss:
This year, Dr. and Master Sha brings the Divine Healing Hands mission to humanity by offering Soul, Mind and Body Transplants to 35,200 individuals who open their spiritual selves to receive them and become Divine Healing Hands Soul Healers. To spread the Divine Healing Hands mission to humanity, Dr. & Master Sha offers free, daily Divine Healing Hands Blessings via teleconference. Now, he will also hold a global Divine Healing Hands event every month. Everyone can participate in person by joining a Divine Healing Hands Soul Healer near them or via webcast on the first Saturday of every month in 2012.
Dr. Sha is not only a teacher, but he is a servant to God. His lifes work includes serving humanity by helping them to achieve balance in their lives, cleanse their karma, be of service to others, and lift their soul to a higher standing in heaven. By finding a path to harmony with the universe, everything else in our lives will follow. Divine Healing Hands carries a frequency and vibration from God that can transform the frequency and vibration of the health, relationships, finances, intelligence and every aspect of life. This is the first time that God has ever been willing to give the opportunity and honor to humanity to receive his permanent healing hands to serve humanity, mother earth, heaven an all universes. The Divine Healing Hands carries:
For a Soul Transplant, Dr. Sha extends the Divines golden light for the soul. For a Mind Transplant, Dr. Sha offers the Divines golden light for the consciousness. For Body Transplant, Dr. Sha gives the Divines golden light for energy and matter. These three treasures joined together as one are called Divine Healing Hands. From here, individuals who receive these treasures are encouraged to share the Divines gifts with others by healing their soul and helping to make a better world. To Register for the Saturday, June 2, 2012 free Divine Healing Hands Webcast please go to http://www.DrSha.com.
Dr. Sha has more than 60,000 Facebook fans (Facebook.com/ZhiGangSha) who share heart-touching stories about Divine Healing Hands every day. On Dr. Sha's YouTube channel (YouTube.com/ZhiGangSha), you can witness the power of Divine Healing Hands in more than 900 videos.
Why Does The Divine Offer Healing Hands to Humanity?
Master Sha teaches a universal Tao principle that reincarnation happens to everything. Not only do human beings reincarnate, but Mother Earth does too. Mother Earths reincarnation goes through a cycle of eras, each lasting fifteen thousand years. Since 2003, the earth has entered into the Soul Light Era which is the era in which soul over matter will be prominent.
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30-05-2012 10:21 Watch as participants share what has happened for them since reading Lola's life changing book, 'Things Are Going Great In My Absence' and experiencing Divine Openings for themselves.
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Spiritual Enlightenment Experiences with Divine Openings - Video
I like to think I'm attuned to the spiritual energies of the universe.
I may not be able to bend my body into yoga poses like the downward-facing dog, the half-frog or the buzzing-mosquito-in-my-itchy-ear. But I'm definitely open to the spiritual implications of eternal vastness, never-ending infinity and the Twilight Zone. (Especially that episode where all the machines come to life and a guy gets chased by an electric razor.) But sometimes, I have my doubts about all this one-with-the-universe stuff.
For instance I recently received a press release from Sue Kenney, a self-described author, speaker, coach and pilgrim. (I don't think she means 17th-century-funny-hat-and-turkey-at-Plymouth-Massachusetts pilgrim. I believe she means sacred-journey-to-enlightenment pilgrim.) Kenney's press release is about her "Barefoot Healing Workshops."
And though I try to be an open-minded guy, I have some problems with her key points.
Kenney's press release begins this way: "Wow. I've discovered the healing powers of going BAREFOOT. Scientific research has shown that there is a positive environmental impact from connecting with Mother Earth. Not only will you improve your balance and flexibility, you can heal your body, clear your mind, have more energy and have a spiritual experience too."
Now in my experience, walking barefoot doesn't give me more energy - it gives me splinters, cuts and dirty feet. More importantly, it prevents me from getting served a delicious, chemically-altered slab of beef in my favourite fast-food restaurant.
Kenney's press release continues: "Our bodies are electrically conducive and the influx of negative electrons received through direct contact with the Earth neutralizes free radicals and reduces inflammation. Wearing shoes has cut us off from this incredible gift the Earth has to offer."
I don't know much about negative electrons. I do, however, know a thing or two about negative emotions, which often arise when you stub your bare toe against a hard part of Mother Earth, like a tree stump, or lacerate your bare foot on a beer bottle that's lying in a naturally-occurring state of shattered chaos in the middle of a parking lot.
Kenney continues: "Eating organic, raw, nutritious meals, doing yoga/meditating, seeing holistic health practitioners and growing spiritually are all elements of a holistic approach to life."
Clearly, I don't qualify. Apart from Oreo cookies, I rarely eat anything raw. No sir, I come from a long line of meat-eaters who adhere strictly to the if-God-had-meant-us-to-eat-uncooked-stuff-He-would-never-have-created-fire credo.
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OAKVILLE BEAVER - Oakville’s Darren Hogarth, a mechanical engineer, has just published a novel which takes its central character through a journey of spiritual enlightenment.
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