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By Dr. Anantanand Rambachan, Huffington Post

The Huffington Post | By Jahnabi Barooah

On March 10, Hindus around the world will celebrate Shivaratri (The Night of Shiva). I share these theological reflections on the occasion of this sacred festival.

For centuries, Hindus have worshiped and described God through the name and form of Shiva. The name Shiva connotes kindness, benevolence and grace. Shiva is also commonly known as Shankara, meaning one who acts unceasingly for the good of all. The many names and forms of God available in the Hindu tradition are not just expressions of India’s religious and cultural diversity. These also express profound insights about the nature of God and human existence that enrich our theological understanding. I want to suggest four ways in which the name and form of Shiva speak relevantly to us about divinity and the meaning of human life.

The first insight arises from the contrast between the iconic representations of Shiva and those of God as Vishnu. Although, both may be seen as forms of the one God, there are unmistakable differences. Icons of Vishnu typically represent him in the symbols of royalty, power and affluence. He wears a crown on his head, jewels around his neck, golden earning on both ears, and resplendent robes. Shiva, on the other hand, wears nothing but a loincloth; his only “jewels,” are snakes and rosaries. The icon of Shiva attracts us by its stark simplicity, asceticism and lack of adornment. The eyes of Vishnu are open, looking out to the world; the eyes of Shiva are half-closed in meditation.

The representation of Vishnu with the symbols of kingship and splendor properly emphasizes the nature of God as the omnipotent source, lord and sustainer of creation. The icon of Shiva, empty of all trappings of power and wealth, reminds us that the meaning of human life is be found in who we are and not in what we own. Although wealth and power are important for human wellbeing, these are impermanent, unpredictable and ultimately fail to satisfy the thoughtful person. Our human worth is an intrinsic one that has its source in the divine that exists at the heart of everyone. Shiva’s half-closed eyes point to the condition of being awake to this divine reality.

The second insight about Shiva arises from his association with time and change. As a form of God, Vishnu is associated with preservation and stability, the familiar and the predictable that afford us constancy and continuity. Shiva reminds us that even as we value and seek stability, change is inevitable. On his flowing hair, Shiva wears the crescent moon, the symbol of time, reminding us that there is no creation without movement and motion and that there can be no peace without our acceptance of impermanence. Shiva invites us to see the positive possibilities in change. Without change, our sons and daughters will not grow into beautiful young men and women, the seeds that we plant will not blossom into plants and winter will not come to an end.

The third insight about Shiva is a challenge to our own expectations of where and in what forms we may discover divinity. The city of Varanasi (Banaras) is one of the most sacred locations in Hindu geography. It is famous for its cremation grounds. Elderly and terminally ill Hindus travel to Varanasi in the hope of dying within its sacred precincts. Traditionally, death is an event of in-auspiciousness and ritual impurity; cremation grounds are avoided, as well as contact with a deceased body. Varanasi, however, is the holy city of Shiva and the location of one of the most famous Shiva temples. Shiva is described as frequenting the cremation grounds, dressed in beggarly attire and smearing himself with the ash of the cremation sites. The point seems to be that we must be careful not to associate God only with beautiful temples and richly adorned icons. Although we teach God’s omnipresence, we are more reluctant to discern God in places associated with death and suffering. Shiva reminds us not to place limits on divine reality. Our boundaries, our notions of purity and impurity, are not Shiva’s own. His association with the place of death dramatically states this fact.

The fourth insight about Shiva is concerned with our consciousness of our environment and our need to be good stewards of the earth and its resources. The most popular representation of God as Shiva depicts him as residing in a Himalayan abode in the midst of lush and verdant vegetation. The bull, Nandi, sitting happily next to Shiva and the snakes playfully adorning his neck and arms present us with a portrait of natural harmony. The Ganges River is shown as flowing from and through Shiva’s luxuriant hair, suggesting that nature’s bounties are divine gifts. We are more likely to abuse nature when we disconnect the natural world from its divine origin and strip it of sanctity. The icon of Shiva, placed firmly in the midst of nature speaks, of our interdependence with and our inseparability from the natural world.

One of the compelling forms of Shiva represents him as Dakshinamurti, the teacher of wisdom. He is seated under a banyan tree, surrounded by eager students, As a teacher, Shiva is eternally young, suggesting that his teaching is a continuous process for those of us who are open to learning. As we worship Shiva on Shivaratri, let Shiva also become our teacher. May we learn from him the value of detachment, the positive possibilities in change, the ability to see divinity where we least expect, and a renewed value for nature as a sacred gift.

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By Kenny Smith 

Australians debate the validity of religions based upon popular culture, such as Jediism and Matrixism (based upon the film, The Matrix), and the blending of new and old traditions, such as “Islamic Jediism,” as the 2011 census approaches this August.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPZ77_vORPY

Also in Australia, The Dali Lama appeared as a surprise judge on the TV cooking show “Masterchef.” Sadly, while quite friendly, the Tibetan spiritual leader proved somewhat of a judicial disappointment, stating: “As a Buddhist monk, it is not right to prefer this or that food.”  

In Indonesian, some 4,500 couples were married in an extraordinarily interfaith fashion, with Islamic, Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, and Hindu ceremonies. 

American Hindus have won the legal right to sue a New Jersey restaurant that accidentally served them meat. What’s at steak: trips to sacred sites in India to remove the impurities.  

An Amish teenager was arrested after leading police on a “car” chase, after officers observed him drinking beer while driving his horse-drawn buggy. 

The Learning Channel is developing a weekly show about Muslim American families. 

Want to be a Jedi Knight but can’t afford the cost of training? Ask fellow citizens for donations. After all, you’ll be a guardian of galactic peace and justice.  The Jedi may soon have available a remote light-saber training droid similar to that used by Luke Skywalker aboard the Millennium Falcon, as students at Stanford University have developed a “Jedibot” using Kinect technology.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuSCErmoYpY

Star Wars lunch boxes, “with real R2D2 sounds,” will also be available for the coming school year. 

Dudeists (i.e., members of Church of the Latter-Day Dude, which currently claims over 100,000 Dudeist ministers worldwide), have distilled the essence of The Big Lebowski’s teachings thusly: “The Way Of Fuck It,” a mantra said to ease the heart, mind, and spirit. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVdKQ0I35qo

The Dudeist Bible, Abide Guide: Living Like Lebowski, is due out this August (2011) offering a wide range of spiritual guidance.  

Meet mild-mannered police officer by day, Pagan priest by night, Sgt. Simon Wood.  A self-identified witch, who claims to have been wrongly imprisoned, is suing federal and state governments, demanding to be given land upon which to found his own country.  Texas Druids contemplate the emergence of their traditions in 18^th century English Christianity.  

Ricky Gervais is developing a new cable TV show (for HBO?), Afterlife, about an Atheist who dies and goes to heaven. Richard Dawkins has come under criticism from fellow Atheists, of the feminist variety, for comments seen as misogynist.  A new http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwTdChdy6yg

“Infomercial” is not well done, but it’s funny.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwTdChdy6yg

GOP presidential candidate, Michele Bachmann, in 2006 publicly predicted that the world would soon end, that “the last days” and God’s “harvest” of humankind would soon occur, and that therefore “nothing is more important” than converting others to her religious views.  In her new song, “Better Day,” country singer and devout Christian Dolly Parton responds to the doomsdays prophets such as Harold Camping (and, apparently, Bachmann), “No one knows when the end is coming,” Parton sings, so “in the meantime, let’s make things right.”

Check out the new http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW_5sAKUl20

fund-raising video. It’s not very good either, but it’s funny.  It’s difficult to imagine the Church of Scientology as financially strapped, when one considers the numerous historic Hollywood properties it owns, paid for apparently with cash.    The Church responded to Janet Reitman’s new book, Inside Scientology: The Story of America’s Most Secretive Religion, with a detailed critique of Reitman’s research methodology. Reitman’s book, the Church argues, ought to have been titled Outside Scientology, as it has little to do with what Scientologists actually make of Scientology.  

The practice of creating “instant churches” in public schools is becoming controversial, and has also given birth to an emerging “portable church” industry.  In Virginia, county commissioners denied a zoning permit to a “communist, anti-Christian” religion that is “against God,” that is, an “interfaith retreat and social justice center.” County commissioners in Maryland have rescinded a “Wiccan-proof” policy regarding opening prayers that required prayer-leaders represent “established monotheistic faiths.”  

Mormon GOP candidate Mitt Romney has apparently fallen out of favor on the Fox & Friends morning show, where Mormons generally are now understood as “obviously not Christian.”   GOP candidate Herman Cain now believes that prohibiting Muslim Americans from building mosques is part of his right of religious freedom (yes, I’m serious). Has the Republican Party developed into “a full-fledged religious movement,” with its own myth, rituals, and theology? An Emory University religion scholar argues that it has.  

The image of Jesus appeared for a South Carolina couple on their Wal-Mart receipt. They consider it a miracle sent by God to renew their faith.  Plagued by satanic manifestations? Check out the ABC Primetime Nightline special report: “Beyond Belief: Battle with the Devil.” 

BTW, are you playing World of Warcraft with only a superficial grasp of its gods and goddesses? WoW aficionados hope to change that, with a “Know your lore!” campaign.

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By Joseph Rosenthal, Georgia State University 

“Man shall not live by bread alone,” responds Jesus defiantly in the Gospel of Matthew (4:4) to Satan’s entreaty to break his forty-day fast.  This phrase has been used variously by Christians throughout history as a tribute to the virtues of moderation and as a justification for some of the most extreme forms of asceticism.  Dietary practice is the second most popular domain of religiously motivated self-denial, surpassed only by matters of sex and human intimacy.  The diversity of rituals, laws, and red tape surrounding the consumption of food ranges from prohibitions of basic food types (e.g. shellfish, pork, alcohol, etc.) to extended periods of fasting.  The religious preoccupation with what goes into the body goes well beyond hatred of gluttony, sometimes verging on total caloric restriction. Although usually nothing more than a quirky inconvenience, at its extremes, religious dietary practice is virtually indistinguishable from an eating disorder, and at least as deadly. 

The history of religion abounds with stories of holy men and women claiming to have gone months or even years with little to no food or water.  The theological explanation for such dietary feats is always the same: spiritual nourishment meets all the metabolic needs of the non-eater.  In medieval Europe, voluntary starvation for god went by the name of anorexia mirabilis, or “miraculous loss of appetite,” an affliction—or charism, according to most pre-Renaissance clergy—that almost exclusively affected women.   

Women were particularly drawn to the fast-based lifestyle known as inedia, which often accompanied lifelong virginity, self-flagellation, and a host of other ascetic practices.  Angela of Foligno spurned almost everything but Holy Communion and the puss of the sick, which she described as rivaling the sweetness of the Eucharist.  When force-fed by clergy despairing for her health, Catherine of Siena would induce vomiting by pushing a branch or twig down her throat, in perhaps the earliest recorded case of bulimia.  In actuality, many of these “miraculous maids,” as they were sometimes known, starved themselves to death. 

Today, the Catholic practice of inedia is dead, but the spiritual pursuit of a calorie-free lifestyle persists in many parts of the world.  Claims made by religious people to the effect that they can survive without food are hardly unique to Christianity.  In fact, the majority of such claims come out of Eastern traditions.  In his 1946 book Autobiography of a Yogi, the Indian guru Paramahansa Yogananda describes a yogini by the name of Giri Bala who has allegedly lived without food or drink for over fifty years.  As the yogini explains, her prayers as a youth to tame an uncontrollable appetite were answered in the form of a guru, who taught her the “kria technique which frees the body from dependence on the gross food of mortals.” 

For years, highly publicized accounts of Indian monks and sadhus claiming to have survived without food and water for impossible stretches of time have regaled Western audiences.  In the last decade, images of bearded mystics in dusty robes, who starve yet are not consumed, have appeared frequently in newspapers.  In fact, fantastical stories of what Yogananda called “God’s hungerless touch” appear to be so commonplace in India that it would seem long-term foodless survival is something of a banality. 

Shri Hira Ratan Manek is a mechanical engineer from Calicut who claims not to have taken any food since June 18, 1995, save for the occasional glass of tea, coffee or buttermilk (for social purposes only, he insists).  Since 2002, the mutton-chopped yogi has been the subject of international headlines.  According to Manek, all humans can learn to live without food by deriving their energy directly from the sun through the act of solar gazing, a supposedly ancient Jainist practice he claims to have rediscovered, citing Lord Mahavir as his main inspiration.  HRM, as he is known to his followers, lectures around the world to worshipful audiences on the miracles of solar healing and the follies of Western medicine.  But HRM’s inediate (person who lives without food or water) feats pale in comparison to those attributed to Prahlad Jani, an 82-year-old Indian sadhu who denies having had any food or water since 1940.  As Jani explains, a religious experience at the age of 11 acquainted him with the Hindu goddess Amba, who sustains him by pouring heavenly nectar through a hole in his palate. 

Enchanted stories of hunger-less yogis streaming from the East have spawned a number of copycat cases abroad.  In Western countries, most but not all of the religiously-motivated individuals claiming to subsist on, or working towards the fulfillment of, a foodless diet call themselves Breatharians.  While there is no official Breatharian doctrine, most practitioners believe that humans, while equipped to digest food, can be sustained entirely by prana, which is harvested from the air by the act of breathing and from the sun by the act of sungazing (according to the Aryuveda, the main sources of prana are air and sunlight).  In Vedantic philosophy, prana refers to the life-sustaining, vital energy that suffuses all reality.  If anyone could be said to qualify as a figurehead or spokesperson of the Breatharian movement, it is either Wiley Brooks, founder of the Breatharian Institute of America, or Jasmuheen (formerly Ellen Greve), a self-styled Breatharian guru who has authored books such as Pranic Nourishment – Living on Light. 

Breatharianism is not explicitly a Hindu practice (most Hindus would probably prefer to distance themselves from the Breatharian community, if they are even aware that such a thing exists), nor is it associated with any particular religion.  Rather, it is an amalgam of Hindu philosophy, Yogic and Aryuvedic practice, and various New Age currents.  It has also caught the attention of certain quasi-religious dietary movements, most notably Raw Foodism. A popular practice among many raw foodists is “juice fasting,” wherein the only thing consumed for weeks or months is freshly pressed vegetable or fruit juice.  Some of the more diehard practitioners have tried to transition into a full-fledged Breatharian lifestyle, while others are content to join fellow dieters on periodic “fasting retreats.”  Even further along the spectrum of dietary extremism, Breatharianism holds an obvious appeal to the pro-Ana community, an online support network for individuals with eating disorders, where “support” means egging on and mutual encouragement.  Accounts of solar-powered yogis and the teachings of Jasmuheen serve as regular “thinspiration” on pro-Ana forums and other thinspo-themed websites. 

Not surprisingly, Breatharianism in America has had a number of muddy run-ins with the law.  Three deaths have been definitively linked to the starvation cult and to Jasmuheen’s publications in particular, but many more are suspected.  These cases have forced legal experts to grapple with the familiar question of where religious freedom trespasses onto public safety.   

In 1998, after reading Jasmuheen’s book, Lani Morris, a 53-year-old mother of nine, recruited Jim and Eugenia Pesnak to guide her through a 21-day Breatharian initiation program.  During the course of the program, her health deteriorated to the point that she lost the use of her limbs and began to cough black liquid, which the Pesnaks attributed to the effects of spiritual detoxification.  Morris died on July 1 of severe dehydration, kidney failure, and the effects of a stroke.  On November 19 1999, the Brisbane Supreme Court found the Pesnaks guilty of manslaughter.  Earlier that year, the semi-naked body of Breatharian enthusiast Verity Linn was found dead at a remote camp site in the Scottish Highlands.  Her only belongings consisted of a sleeping bag, a copy of Jasmuheen’s book Living With Light, and a diary detailing her descent into starvation. Jasmuheen has denied all responsibility for the deaths in connection with her writings, and expresses doubt that these victims indeed died of hunger.  As of this writing, she has not been officially charged with the deaths of any of her followers, though authorities have seized control of her website. 

While no less fervent in their claims, Western Breatharians have not achieved the same level of “popular legitimacy” enjoyed by Eastern inediate yogis.  And unlike Dr. Sudhir Shah and his team of investigators at Sterling Hospital in Ahmedabad, India, who have devoted thousands of government-funded man-hours attempting to validate such claims (for which they have incurred the censure of organizations like the James Randi Foundation and the Indian Rationalist Association), most American scientists won’t even give Breatharians the satisfaction of their time.  The fact that so many Indian physicians and scientists, including the Indian Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), consider inediate claims a worthy subject of medical investigation constitutes a profound failure of their basic scientific and medical educations, and should be a point of national embarrassment.  As it turns out, there is such thing as starvation without hunger.  Breatharian mania at home and abroad is yet another bitter reminder that in the 21^st century, large swaths of the human population are positively starving for rationality, a kind of hunger that can’t be felt, that consumes without always killing its victims, and for which the only known treatment is a sound scientific education.

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Joseph Rosenthal is very near the completion of a B.A. in Religious Studies at Georgia State University, with a minor in Chemistry. His main areas of interest in Religious Studies are the historical and contemporary relationship between science and religion, the cognitive science and evolutionary psychology of religion, memetics, and the so-called New Atheism. He intends to pursue a Masters degree in Chemistry at Georgia State University, where he currently works in a research lab as a synthetic chemist.  

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The tradition, I believe, is potentially an exciting case study for the development of Hinduism in America with ramifications for the new religious movement. Sitting poised in a synchretism of faith honoring Shaktism and contemporary Paganism, Sha’can, much like American Buddhism, is co-created from ancient roots in a new land.  Additionally, while Sha’can in my mind is not part of the Indo-Pagan movement (because it is an innovation of Shakta Hindu philosophy and the(a)ology rather than a tradition that offers space for Hindu deities and ritual within established or newly established Pagan pathways), others within the tradition do consider it a manifestation of the rise in popularity and awareness of Hindu deities increasingly incorporated into different varieties of Paganism. Either way, the tradition stands ready to welcome those seeking an expression for their devotion to and yearning for Goddess in and through the forms, symbols, tools and practices that She offers via-a-vis Hindu Shakta Tantra and its contemporary expressions.  Sha’can seeks to make the experience of worship and devotion relevant to these times at the same time that it drives for an honoring of those teachers and practitioners, past, present and future, who have grown and continue to grow Shakta Tantra in India and beyond.

Through the ancient traditions of Goddess worship still practiced today in Hindu South Asia and especially as made relevant for those without otherwise religious or cultural access to the Divine Female and Divine Feminine in ways that are empowering for actual women, the Sha’can tradition offers a glimpse through Kali worship and the practices of Shakta Tantra at possibilities for the Feminine and female that lie outside of limiting constructs. Certainly, patriarchy plays a role in religions everywhere, and religions of Goddess are no exception. Yet, within Hindu Shakta Tantra conjured in conjunction with ecofeminist spirituality, we are finding expanded notions of divinity and (r)evolutionary potentials for engagement in the world that promote healing and peace in response to patriarchy and its agendas. 

I should note that as I type, an image of Kali greets my gaze. I focus on Her black feet sporting golden anklets, with the residue of alta, a red plant-based, semi-permanent dye, decorating the outline of the soles and spaces in-between the toes. Join me in this gaze for a moment. From this perspective, we are internally bowed low. We are spiritually naked before Adya Maa, the Primordial Dark Goddess, and here, we may come just a bit closer to an understanding of who She is and what She offers. I argue that here, the Witch and the Tantrick meet to create, enliven and empower us all! 

[2] SHARANYA (www.sharanya.org) is a 501(c)(3) federally-recognized devi mandir (goddess temple) performing public puja (worship) and offering classes and spiritual services to community in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond in the Sha’can tradition.

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Bio: Chandra Alexandre is a householder and clergy, initiated in 1998 into the mysteries of the dark goddess in India—first on the dakshinacara path and then, five years later, on the non-dualistic path of vamacara tantra. She is founder and a spiritual leader of the SHARANYA community and Daughters of Kali dedicated to engaged spirituality for social justice and transformation through (r)evolutionary shakta tantra known as Sha’can. Chandra and community also run an online mystery school, Kali Vidya (www.KaliVidya.org). In addition to serving as adjunct faculty at the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology, Chandra is conjurer of The Aghori Bakery (forthcoming). She holds a PhD in Asian & Comparative Studies from CIIS, a Doctor of Ministry degree, and an MBA in sustainable management. She is a fund development officer during business hours for a public policy advocacy organization and at all hours, mother to Eve, born at home on December 12, 2009. Chandra can be reached at chandra@sharanya.org.