Tyson's Spiritual Journey

Vince Thomas | Jul 13, 2010
"my whole life has been a waste – I've been a failure."

Extract: "The picture taken of "Iron" Mike Tyson in front of the holy Ka'aba reminds believers the reason that Muslims make the pilgrimages: it is a time for deep personal reflection and growth. After the life Tyson has led, is there anyone more deserving?" continue reading

See also:

MIKE TYSON'S SPIRITUAL JOURNEY‎ Saudi Gazette - 4 Jul 2010, By Majed Al-Suqairi
"MADINA – Former US heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, who is on a visit to the Kingdom to perform Umrah, Sunday prayed at the Quba’ and Qiblatain mosques..."

Mike Tyson, en peregrinación a Arabia Saudita Diario las Américas

Info courtesy: Mohammed Ibrahim

Terrorism is not a Muslim monopoly, Times of India

Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar, TNN, Jul 23, 2006,

"All Muslims may not be terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims." This comment , frequently heard after the Mumbai bomb blasts implies that terrorism is a Muslim specialty, if not a monopoly. The facts are very different. continue reading

Info courtesy: Mrs. Elizabeth Rahman, CEO of Metamorphosis Translation Services, and co-hosts the Annual Abraham Festival in Peterborough.

Google is neither God nor Satan - Thought for the day

Picture (Some Questions Can't Be Answered by Google) courtesy: TameBay : eBay news blog

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, Nicholas Carr (W. W. Norton & Company 2010; ISBN: 0393072223)

"Google is neither God nor Satan, and if there are shadows in the Googleplex they're no more than the delusions of grandeur. What's disturbing about the company's founders is not their boyish desire to create an amazingly cool machine that will be able to out think its creators, but the pinched conception of the human mind that gives rise to such a desire." (in Chapter Eight: The Church of Google, p. 176)

Review: The New York Times - Jonah Lehrer
While Carr tries to ground his argument in the details of modern neuroscience, his most powerful points have nothing do with our plastic cortex. Instead, The Shallows is most successful when Carr sticks to cultural criticism, as he documents the losses that accompany the arrival of new technologies.

Contents:
Prologue; The Watchdog and the Thief; One Hal and Me; Two The Vital Paths; a digression on what the brain thinks about when it thinks about itself; Three Tools of the Mind; Four The Deepening Page;a digression on lee de forest and his amazing audion; Five A Medium of the Most General Nature; Six The Very Image of a Book; Seven The Juggler's Brain; a degression on the buoyancy of IQ scores; Eight The Church of Google; Nine Search, Memeory; a digression on the writing of this book; Ten A Thing Like me; Epilogue Human Elements

Coalition Calls for Boycott of Comedy Central Over Cartoon Depicting Jesus

By DAVE ITZKOFF, NYTimes.com, June 3, 2010
" A coalition of organizations that seek to promote what they see as religious values and family-friendly programming said on Thursday that they were calling on prospective sponsors to boycott advertising on a planned Comedy Central animated series that would satirize Jesus Christ.
The group, which calls itself the Citizens Against Religious Bigotry and includes leaders from the Media Research Center, the Catholic League and the Parents Television Council, said the series represented a double standard in light of the network’s decision to censor an episode of “South Park” that mocked the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam." continue reading

On the same shelf: UKRANIANS PROTEST AGAINST FRENCH CARTOON OF JESUS CHRIST

Jihad jitters at Comedy Central

Margaret Wente,, The Globe and Mail, The Globe and Mail

Why do we allow ourselves to be spooked?

What’s the lowest point in the history of American TV? The censorship of South Park could be it.
South Park is a hilarious, profane and potty-mouthed cartoon show that has been airing on The Comedy Network for nearly 14 years. This week’s Wednesday episode, featuring an irreverent treatment of the Prophet Mohammed, was altered by a frightened network. The network cancelled replays of the show and took it off the website. Episode 201 of South Park has officially ceased to exist.
The network did this in reaction to a single threat from a tiny group of nut-bars calling themselves Revolution Muslim. Here’s where things get surreal. This group was reacting to the episode of the week before – which dealt in a satirical way with threats over depicting the figure of Mohammed. continue reading: Jihad jitters at Comedy Central

Reading now: Do I Kneel or Do I Bow?

Do I Kneel or Do I Bow?: What You Need To Know When Attending Religious Occasions (Simple Guides)by Akasha Lonsdale, (Kuperard, 2010)

About the Author:
AKASHA LONSDALE is an Interfaith Minister. Her two-year seminary training in London included instruction in the major religions and sacred traditions of the world, and her vocation brings her into frequent contact with people of every faith and none.

Product Description:
In today’s multicultural society we are increasingly likely to meet and become friends with people from different religious backgrounds, and to find ourselves attending an unfamiliar ceremony. When this happens, there can be few of us who know exactly what to expect, or are confident about how to behave.

Each religious occasion is categorized in a helpful sequence. For e.g., Buddhist ceremonies (p. 298) > festivals and holy days (p. 314) > Wesak, Vesak, Vesakha (Buddha Day) What do I do? (p. 317) ... Similarly, Sikh ceremonies (p. 260) > Vaisakhi, Baisakhi (what do they do) (p. 281);

You will find description of each faith's practice, theology, what do I do, What happens, and much more...

In terms of coverage of ceremonies, Western Christianity gets the largest share: 60 pages; Orthodox Christianity: 20 pages; Jewish: 50 pages; Muslim: 25 pages; Hindu: 50 pages; Sikh: 38 pages; and Buddhist: 30 pages.

"Armed with this basic information, you will feel relaxed enough to enjoy the occasion–and perhaps inspired to discover more about the spiritual world view of another cultural tradition. "

Strength:

It is a 'how to' manual for those desiring to understand seven faiths' religious occasions.

It is easy to read, easier to follow and educating everyone.

Each faith (except Christianity) ends with a glossary ('Some Useful Words & Phrases').

It has a detailed Table of Contents, equally detailed index and a useful list of resources (Further Readings)

Weakness

The background information of each faith takes away precious space, and this factor makes the book bulky (336 pages); Just the details of 'Bow, Kneel, Prostrate and Hand Shake' would have taken only 200 pages, making it cheaper, handy and unique. In a future revision, the author / publisher may consider a more appropriate title for this book, such as, 'Bow, Kneel, Prostrate and Hand Shake: unique and common practices in major theistic religions of the world.'

This book’s wonderful detailed description of faith practices is simply short of visuals.

Missing in glossary: Sajda, singular (prostration) in Muslim practice; Eight-limbed (ashtanga pranama) and five-limbed (panchanga pranama) prostrations in Hinduism; “Bet-Resh-Kaf (Knee) The words barukh and berakhah are both derived from the Hebrew root Bet-Resh-Kaf, meaning "knee," and refer to the practice of showing respect by bending the knee and bowing.” See here more on: Did the Jews pray as Muslims do ?!

Recommendation:
This book is a handy resource for the following: (a) you, to understand the other and learn how best to accommodate; (b) any one interested in building bridges (or interested in comparative religion, interfaith dialog, etc.), c) a teacher who can use it as textbook to learn and teach 'what do I do' 'when invited to attend their ceremony.'

In short, all school libraries and public libraries must have a copy. This is a valuable reference source. Read other reviews, here: Simply Divine Ceremonies
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