A Quote To Live By: “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die”

Death and dying is a subject that is a common concern of all religions and philosophies.

Reading a blog post by Lita C. Malicdem, 'To Live Meaningfully, Die for Others (Ampatuan Massacre),' reminded me in another context, death has positive side too. In this context I quote famous lines from The poems of Thomas Campbell (1777-1844): "To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die." (p. 249)


[info courtesy: Angel, Aasman Se Aaya ek Farishta]

An Interesting reflection: Slow Down Culture

Info courtesy: 7 Colors of The Life

LAW OF ATTRACTION -- Faith-based Resources

RELIGIONS AND IDEOLOGIES ON TOYS ~~ With Malice towards None

The following is by Phils Phun

Capitalism: He who dies with the most toys, wins.
Hari Krishna: He who plays with the most toys wins.
Judaism: He who buys toys at the lowest price wins.
Catholicism: He who denies himself the most toys wins.
Anglicanism: They were our toys first.
Greek Orthodox: No, they were OURS first.
Branch Davidians: He who dies playing with the biggest toys wins.
Atheism: There is no toy maker.
Objectivism: Toys are Toys.
Islam: You must force the world to play with this exact toy, other toys are forbidden. Polytheism: There are many toy makers.
Evolutionism: The toys made themselves.
Socialism: You will have toys eventually.
Taoism: The doll is as important as the dumptruck.
Mormonism: Every boy may have as many toys as he wants.
Fascism: We have ways of making you play with your toys.
Libertarianism: You can do anything you like with your toys as long as its consensual.
New Labour: We have firm evidence that masses of toys do exist somewhere.
Voodoo: Let me borrow that doll for a second...
Jehovah's Witnesses: He who places the most toys door to door wins.
Pentecostalism: He whose toys can talk wins.
Existentialism: Toys are a figment of your imagination.
Confucianism: Once a toy is dipped in water, it is no longer dry.
Buddhism: What is the sound of one toy playing with itself?

What has been done will be done again -- Thought for the day

By JOSH L. DICKEY
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) - When a mysterious biblical philosopher wrote what would become Ecclesiastes 1:9, he may as well have been staring into the liquor cabinet: "What has been done will be done again," his thoughts roughly went. "There is nothing new under the sun."

Fraud in the Unexpected Discipline: Research Ethics

• The Science Creative Quarterly » RESEARCH FRAUD: TRUST AND MONEY

• Look out for fraud-Editorial-Opinion-The Times of India

• Making by Stealing of Un-cited (Recycled) Content ...

Interspirituality @ Fatihcommons.org

Search results from the Website: http://faithcommons.org/:

• More on Spiritual Unity
  ... But whether it is probable is the big question. Interspirituality Links Here are some links on Interspirituality. Interfaith Studies Interspirituality Portal ...
  blog entry - bill - 06/21/2005 - 19:47 - 14 comments
• Is Interspirituality in your future?
  ... this is so, and I believe it is, we might also say that interspirituality –the sharing of ultimate experiences across traditions—is the religion of the third millennium. Interspirituality is the foundation that can prepare the way for a planet-wide ...
  blog entry - bill - 06/01/2005 - 18:55 - 0 comments
• Faith in the Commons
  ... great religions getting together in peace. They call it Interspirituality . Of course, these participants may be far along the path ...
  weblink - bill - 02/07/2007 - 16:45 - 10 comments
• What Response to Slander Campaign
  ... Bede Griffiths. They are more closely associated with “Interspirituality.” Maybe because they both died before anything was called ...
  blog entry - bill - 04/17/2006 - 19:15 - 16 comments
• Who's Afraid of Interfaith Dialog?
  ... of some of the interest? Cheers - Steve Interspirituality reply, redux I'm sorry that I Steve, I'm ... of looking. The most up-to-date arguments that are against interspirituality found so far are from Ken Silva are at ... The best way to find these documents it to type “interspirituality” in the search dialog form. Redefine that search criteria ...
  blog entry - bill - 05/12/2006 - 10:08 - 6 comments
  

NB. More on this subject of Interspirituality is at http://interfaithunity.ca or correspond with Publisher: Rev. Leslie Mezei; Editor, Layout, Webmaster: Rev. Terry Weller.

Religion and Violence, a webcast coming up from the National Cathedral

Explore the deep roots of religious conflict as a panel of prominent interfaith theologians illuminates each faith’s vocation as a force for peace—in ourselves, our families, our communities, and the world.

Join James Carroll, James H. Cone, Susannah Heschel, and Tariq Ramadan via live webcast from Trinity Wall Street, New York, as they address the paradox of the faithful raising prayers for peace, and discuss stories of religiously fueled violence filling the news. Participate in on-site interfaith discussions guided by local Jewish, Christian, and Muslim facilitators. To learn more about this event visit Trinity Institute. Continue reading

See also an interesting resource: A handbook for Muslim teens

Being a young Muslim in the US got much tougher after 9/11, so a brother-sister
team came up with a book to help peers in their faith.
By Jane Lampman Staff writer of The Christian
Science Monitor

NB. Information courtesy: Al Reynolds

The calendar of commercialism does not reflect our spiritual rhythms

Geoffrey Rowell , Times Online

Extract: "...Christians have not always kept new year on January 1 -that was the Roman new year, and the Church was often very suspicious of it. Only in 1582 did Pope Gregory XIII's reform of the calendar mean that January 1 was generally adopted.

Jews kept the new year at the Feast of the New Moon at the end of September.

England began the new year with the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25, and adopted January 1 only in 1752. Germany began with Christmas, and France and the Low Countries with Easter. The Orthodox East keeps New Year's Day on September 1. " continue reading

Parents Fake Religion To Avoid Vaccines

Religious Or Not, Growing Numbers Say They Are To Get Out Of Vaccinating Their Kids

BOSTON, Oct. 17, 2007, CBS News

(AP) Sabrina Rahim doesn't practice any particular faith, but she had no problem signing a letter declaring that because of her deeply held religious beliefs, her 4-year-old son should be exempt from the vaccinations required to enter preschool. She is among a small but growing number of parents around the country who are claiming religious exemptions to avoid vaccinating their children when the real reason may be skepticism of the shots or concern they can cause other illnesses. Some of these parents say they are being forced to lie because of the way the vaccination laws are written in their states. “It's misleading,” Rahim admitted, but she said she fears that earlier vaccinations may be to blame for her son's autism. “I find it very troubling, but for my son's safety, I feel this is the only option we have.” continue reading

To Offer Your Heart

According to Sharon Salzberg, faith is not a set of beliefs, but the act of opening our hearts to the unknown.

Sharon Salzberg has been practicing and studying Buddhism for more than 30 years. A renowned spiritual leader and meditation instructor, she is the cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society and the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. The message in her latest book, "Faith," offers insight to practitioners of any religious tradition.

In an interview with Belief Net, Sharon answers the question "What does faith mean to you?" this way:

Faith means several different things to me. It means having the courage to go forward into the unknown. I think we spend so much of our lives trying to pretend that we know what's going to happen next. In fact we don't. To recognize that we don't know even what will happen this afternoon and yet having the courage to move forward--that's one meaning of faith. continue reading "Sharon Salzberg on Faith" @ Faith Commons