Once upon a time, India's spiritual and intellectual centers were in its forests. The great seers, philosophers and composers lived there, as did their students. Those who are familiar with the epics - the Ramayana and the Mahabharata - have absorbed this and take it for granted. That is why almost no one remarked at what otherwise is a very paradoxical statement in today's reading of Swami Dayananda Saraswati's commentary on the Gita; namely
Having lived {in exile from his kingdom} in the forest, Arjuna had met many great people (mahatmas).
Dear Friends,
ReplyDeleteYesterday, on the 31st of March, an internet blog that calls itself "Sepia Mutiny" decided to play an april fools joke on its readers. They replaced their website with another one that offered to sell certain products in the coming future. They then lamented about how they lost the rights to www.sepiamutiny.com, where they had been parked all along.
Among the products offered was a thong with a Shiv Ling printed on it.
That website is still online at:
http://sepiamutiny.com/april1/
Also see the blog at:
http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/003219.html
After reading the comments in the website and looking at the conversations on the blog, I have not found this april fools joke to be even mildly amusing.
This is a serious assault on the sensitivities of Shiva Devotees in America. Upon browsing the website, you will note that they have already printed an apology on their website. This was done even before anyone protested this action of theirs. Which indicates that they deliberately decided to poke fun at a shivlingam by displaying it being printed on a thong. The apology does not mean anything as they continue to post the offending pictures of the thong with the shivlingam on it.
It appears that this group is deliberately trying to insult hindus and demean hindu beliefs..
Lord Shiva is an important figure in Indian culture. In the interests of maintaining a diverse population in the USA, it is important that no religious belief be brought to ridicule. Such attempts by pathetic hatemongers that the higherups at Sepia Mutiny are, must be stopped.
Could someone please guide me as to how punitive action may be taken against this group??
Any pro-active action by groups to bring some sanity tinto the brains of these morons will be appreciated. I believe the main contact person running the website is an individual called Manish Vij, who can be reached at:
manish@vij.com
In case you found this stunt of printing a shivling on a thong offending, please write to him about it and please spread the word around so more people will get involved in this matter.
As you might be aware the Hindu American Foundation is currently sueing the California board of education for not following proper procedure in treating academic hindu studies fairly in accordance with california regulations. This is one more instance of how contemporary hindu studies in America create mindsets that are totally hostile to a hindu Amrican living a hindu life in America.
Regards,
Deshpande