Posts Categorized: Religion

Re-reading a Saint

Karen Pechilis Prentiss was the guest of honor at the Sangam annual general meeting in November 1999.

Jeyendra Saraswathi: Brahmin Reformer or Murderer?

by Shan Ranjit, November 28, 2004 sangam.org/articles/view2/667.html July 1994, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu:  Maha Periaval (Sri Chandrasekar Saraswathi , the predecessor of the present Mutt head, Sri Jayendrar Saraswathi , who is accused in a murder case) had attained Maha samadhi ( permanent liberation) only a few months before.  He was cremated inside the mutt itself in Kanchipuram. … Read more »

‘In the Name of the Buddha’ in New York Dec. 5

The controversial film is at another film festival in New York City – the South Asian International Film Festival and is sponsored by India Abroad and Salaam Theater.  It will be showing at Chelsea Clearview Cinema at 12:00 noon on Sunday, December 5. For more information check http://www.saiff.org/program/program_day5.asp [The Sangam is most gratified that India Abroad, a New York… Read more »

Diwali Greetings to All

This is a festival celebrated throughout India and surrounding countries.  It is colloquially known as the “festival of lights,” for the common practice is to light small oil lamps and place them around the home, in courtyards, verandahs, and gardens, as well as on roof-tops and outer walls. In urban areas, especially, candles are substituted… Read more »

Fear of the Demand for One Country, Two States

And equal individual opportunity By Professor Alvappillai Veluppillai, The Journal of Buddhist Ethics, Volume 10 2003 ISSN 1076-9005 sangam.org/articles/view2/595.html Introduction In my view a common thread running through the history of the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict in the post-independence period is the Buddhist fear of the Tamil demand for sharing as one nation, two states,… Read more »

US Blasts Sri Lanka on Religious Freedom

Just like the US State Dept.’s annual Human Rights Report, the Report on International Religious Freedom is a summary of events this government department has heard about from its embassy in Sri Lanka and other sources.  Sri Lanka has been put on the list because of concern by Christians in the US for the well-being… Read more »

Ecumenical Center in Trinco Orphanage

Press Release California-Based Nonprofit Announces Plan to Develop Ecumenical Center in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka San Luis Obispo, California (April 29, 2004): VeAhavta, a nonprofit based on the Central Coast of California, has announced a plan to develop the “House of Peace Ecumenical Center” (“HOPE Center”) on its 7-acre “Grace Care Center” in Trincomalee (Uppuveli), Sri… Read more »

The US & Sri Lanka’s Muslims

by India Abroad News Service (IANS), April 4, 2004 One wonders why the US is being so solicitous of Sri Lanka’s Muslims. There seem to be at least 3 reasons: 1.) A Muslim party was an important constitutent of the last government, so had the information about how the US aid process works, the time… Read more »

Foreign Intervention, Part 1

by Neville Jayaweera; The Sunday Island, Colombo, February 15, 2004   The following 2 articles were printed in the February 15, 2004 and February 22, 2004 editions of The Sunday Island under the pseudonym ‘Nostradamus’ and are reprinted here at the request of some of our readers. Foreign intervention and Sri Lanka’s changing fortunes Part 1 Geo-politics of… Read more »

Easter Message

by Father S.J. Emmanuel; Germany, April 11, 2004 Easter is the Feast of LiberationEaster is the greatest feast in the Christian calendar. It is the feast in which Christians rejoice over the Liberation which Jesus won for humanity. Jesus Christ, Christians believe, is the Son of God who became man, and through his suffering, death and… Read more »

Email Campaigning

by A Colombo Resident; published March 12, 2004 E-mail campaigning is on in this election. Up to the last election they used the fax. Buddhist monks are also campaigning using e-mail. Here is a sample…just for fun!! The extra benefits of voting for the Sangha. Today giving a dana or inviting a monk in Colombo and… Read more »

Sinhala Buddhist Vote

by Sarath Bulathsinghala; Lankaweb, February 18, 2004 From a Sangam member: You might think of publishing this as the latest example of Sinhala Buddhist determination to exclude and discriminate- first it was ethnic, now it is religious as well. Where will this end? It reminds me of the cartoon of two roaring galloping lions chasing a… Read more »

An Ayodhya in the Making in Lanka

by Dr. Jayadeva Uyangoda; Daily Mirror, Colombo, January 30, 2004 PA and the UNF are not taking adequate political action to counter politics of militant Sinhalese nationalism One of the most disturbing developments occurred during the past few weeks has been the acceleration of attacks on Catholic and Christian churches as well as places of worship…. Read more »

Caste in Transition

by V. G. Julie Rajan; Hinduism Today, Hawaii, April/May/June 2003 issue http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/2003/4-6/30-35_caste.shtml Caste in Transition Education, economics and protest drive changes and reform to India’s ancient societal divisions Caste is not a pleasant topic for Hindus, and in the international arena today, it has elicited a shame upon the Hindu religion. I have written this article… Read more »

Christmas Message from Father Emmanuel

Christmas 2003 May the Birthday of this Universal Liberator Enliven the Hope of our own LiberationThe time of Liberation was at hand. Joseph and Mary, destined to carry the divine Liberator into this world Journeyed faithfully into their own land of Bethlehem, They came in obedience to the laws of the Ruler, but the Ruler… Read more »

Buddhism and Violence

by Bernard Faure, Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University; An International Review of Culture & Society, Issue No. 9, Spring 2002 Is Buddhism pacifist? One would think so, to hear the Declarations of the Dalai Lama and those who claim there has never been “Buddhist war.” So has Zen Buddhism’s “drift” to militarism been only… Read more »

The Present Call to American Tamils

by Father S.J. Emmanuel; originally published November 10, 2003 Keynote speech at the Sangam’s Annual General Meeting by Prof. Dr. S. J. Emmanuel Our Struggle forges ahead around a New Turning Point 1. I congratulate the Tamil Sangam for the successful completion of a quarter century of pioneer service, in bringing and building together a Diaspora community… Read more »