Tag Archives: religion

The evolution of the gods

Here’s something that struck me recently. The deities that ruled the pantheon of Hindu gods in early Vedic times were markedly different from the ones that define Hinduism today. The old gods are still well-known, but they do not find … Continue reading

Posted in About God, culture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Hinduism as open-source faith

Huffington Post has a great post up defining the Hindu way against the backdrop of what religion is commonly understood to be. The author Josh Schrei compares it to the open-source philosophy in software. If we consider god, the concept … Continue reading

Posted in culture, faith | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

This is your brain on God

The NPR has a yummy summary of current research on the relation between brain activity and various instances of spiritual experience. There is a bunch of podcasts thrown in as well. More than half of adult Americans report they have … Continue reading

Posted in Science | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On the accuracy of religious myths

I came across this refreshing defence of myths as stories in an article on mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik’s site. Even an immortal story can use a good defence every now and then. I have often been asked if the war at … Continue reading

Posted in faith | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Indian way to God

Jug Suraiya talks about how the black and white question about whether God exists or not is alien to all-inclusive India. The God anti-God controversy is largely foreign to Indian thought which, traditionally, has been equally comfortable with 330 million … Continue reading

Posted in culture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Did the gods came afterwards?

Times of India, that most maligned of mainstream media outlets has a redeemer in Crest, the lifestyle supplement. This Saturday’s issue screams “Does God Exist?” on the main page. The insides are full of lip-smacking delights in the form of … Continue reading

Posted in culture | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Alan Moore on magic and creativity

I found this most awesome interview with comic book writer Alan Moore in which he draws some interesting parallels between creativity, magic, and imagination. Because in some sense, when I’m talking about magic, I’m only talking about the creative process. … Continue reading

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dalai Lama on tolerance

The Dalai Lama has an op-ed piece in the New York Times. It is about religious freedom, tolerance, and extremism. Finding common ground among faiths can help us bridge needless divides at a time when unified action is more crucial … Continue reading

Posted in culture | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

People of a divided sky

Once upon a time, on a world not very different from this one, there lived a race of people with very short memory spans. They remembered nothing of yesterday, and only very little of what had happened a few hours … Continue reading

Posted in Stories | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Death proves the soul’s existence

Many religions say that what fuels us is something indestructible and, for all practical purposes, invisible – the soul. Hinduism believes that all living creatures — from the tiniest of germs to largest of the redwood trees — have a … Continue reading

Posted in About God, faith | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments