Category Archives: Religion/Spirituality

MUSICAL MONDAY: Hitting Life’s Highest Notes …

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This is not my typical post for Musical Monday, but I was so charmed by this six-minute moving-image film – you will be too – that I had to share it here. The mood music background is by composer Gary Malkin. “He is founder of Musaic and Wisdom of the World™, a life-enhancing media production company and web site. He is also the co-founder of Care for the Journey, a groundbreaking care-for-the-caregiver initiative for health care professionals.” MORE

Louie Schwartzberg, the film-maker, is an American and well-known for his time-lapse photography. The short-film here is one of several – each with a different theme – which you can find on YouTube. If you can’t get access to YouTube, this film and The Hidden Beauty of Pollination are both available on the TED talks site.

BROTHER DAVID STEINDL-RAST (b. 1926)

Viennese, Catholic Benedictine Monk

The wise and gentle narrative is the gift of the very dear Br. David Steindl-Rast. Br. Steindl-Rast is notable for his work fostering dialogue among the faiths and for exploring the congruence between science and spirituality. Early in his career he was officially designated by his abbot to pursue Buddhist-Christian dialogue. He studied with several well-known Zen Masters. He is the author of feature articles, chapter contributions to collections, and books. Among the most notable are Belonging to the Universe (with Frijof Capra) and The Music of Silence: A Sacred Journey Through the Hours of the Day (with Sharon Lebell). Br. Stendl-Rast is the co-founder of A Network for Greatful Living, dedicated to the life-transforming character of gratitude.

© 2011, Jamie Dedes All rights reserved

Video uploaded to YouTube by 

Photo credit ~ Br. David Steindl-Rast, courtesy of Verena Kessler. She has released the photograph into the public domain.

HAPPY DAWALI

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File:Oil lamp on rangoli.jpg

Burning oil lamp on a colourful rangoli designed on Diwali courtesy of Rangoli under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

October 26, 2011

Deepavali (also spelled Divali in few countries) or Diwali, popularly known as the festival of lights, is an important five-day festival inHinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism, occurring between mid-October and mid-November. For Hindus, Diwali is the most important festival of the year and is celebrated in families by performing traditional activities together in their homes. Deepavali is an official holiday in India,Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, Malaysia, Singapore, and Fiji.

The name Diwali is itself a contraction of the word “Deepavali” (Sanskrit: दीपावली Dīpāvalī), which translates into row of lamps. Diwali involves the lighting of small clay lamps (diyas, or dīpa in Sanskrit: दीप) filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil. During Diwali, all the celebrants wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks with family members and friends. Most Indian business communities begin the financial year on the first day of Diwali. MORE

HAPPY DIWALI TO THOSE DEAR FRIENDS WHO ARE CELEBRATING

THEIR FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS, THEIR VICTORIES OF GOOD OVER EVIL.