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Showing posts from August 12, 2007

#070, GLOBAL DONATIONS FOR EVICTING AND REHABILITATING SLUM DWELLERS?

Swami Vivekananda according to his lectures and writings loved poor people. Today, I saw an advertisement in the New Indian Express, released by the Bara Bazar branch of the Ramakrishna Math seeking donations from public. The ostensible noble purpose of collecting the donations (exempt u/s 35 of the Income Tax Act) is rehabilitation of slum dwellers. There is a concurrent object of sending out (the word "evicting" may be more appropriate) the 50 slum dwellers from the site of the Bara Bazar Math, which the slum dwellers were occupying for a long time, for construction of the Bara Bazar Math. The Ramakrishna Math already has a sprawling premises at Belur Math on the banks of river Hoogly, with temples dedicated to Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. They have 162 Centres all over the world. The questions which, therefore, arise are:- 1. Is one more Monastery necessary? 2. Is it reasonable to send out slum dwellers? 3. Would Vivekananda have himself appreciated displacing the poo

#069 Goat curry is Mother Kali's benediction at Hollywood

When I wondered about the Advaita Vedanta preacher Swami Vivekananda resorting to goat sacrifice at his Belur Math in Nov. 1901, I thought that it was a phenomenon limited only to Kolkata. Things now reveal that it is not a rare incident. Distributing goat curry as Mother Kaal`i 's benediction (prasada) seems to be a practice at Vedanta Society, Hollywood, South California. Does Mother Kali insist on goat's curry? Does she get satisfied? Goat's salvation!