Author name: Sankeerth

Jainism is one of the oldest religions of India. Since the founding of the religion, Jainism has given prominence to Sallekhana, death by ritual fasting facing north, as exemplified in the deaths of Bhadrabahu and Chandragupta Maurya. The controversy whether this religious form of starvation is related to suicide is debated since the time of […]

Symbolic tree ordination is a ritual initiated by Ecology Monks (Phra Nak Anuraksa), a group of Thai Buddhist Monks, in the late eighties. Cambodian, Vietnamese, Sri Lankan and Burmese monks have also practised this symbolic ritual in a good faith effort to reduce or reverse deforestation or to make young people understand the importance of

For while it may have been the tradition in the West to naturally equate power with the masculine, this is not at all a universally held outlook. One world-view which offers a fresh and radically different approach to the issue of power and the feminine is found in the philosophy and culture of Hinduism –

This Buddhist nunnery – the only one in Nepal – has an empowering claim to fame: here nuns learn martial arts and strive to put compassion into action. The nuns of the Buddhist Drukpa Order train three hours a day, and they break bricks with their bare hands. Heroes in the Himalayas, these strong women

In September 2018, EcoSikh, a non-profit social organization, launched a global project to plant 1 million trees across the world to celebrate 550th Gurpurab of Guru Nanak.  The main idea is to plant micro-forests (a.k.a. Guru Nanak Sacred Forests) using the Miyawaki methodology in partnership with the local host partner and volunteers. This is in

The purpose of this qualitative study was exploration of the relationship between Sikh spirituality and well-being. The literature presented an overview of the relationship between social work and spirituality, the religious aspects that are correlated with well-being, and the history, practices and beliefs of the Sikh faith. The methodology included in-depth interviews of four devout

Conservation of nature and culture is part of the daily life and spiritual commitment of the Tsumba people of the sacred Upper Tsum valley, in Gorkha District, Nepal. The Tsumba declared Upper Tsum a non-violent area during a wang-pooja celebration in 1920 – a little over a century ago – after endorsing the proposal by

Though not expressed in its present phraseology, the basic principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) are fully supported and reinforced in the buddhavacana (teachings of the Buddha). As a religion and philosophy dealing with the welfare and happiness of the masses (bahujana hitāya, bahujana sukhāya), Buddhism upholds such principles in greater depth

Modern psychology can be enriched by the sacred and valid teachings of Bhagavad Gita. All the therapeutic frameworks include psychoeducation, a process of educating the client about a helpful framework from which emerge tools, techniques and perspectives that greatly enhance one’s life. Including some of the curated teachings for self-mastery primarily from the treasure of

The Vedas speaks of all types of equality and equality by birth and gender equality are the two cardinal Vedic norms, now enshrined in the Constitution of India. It can be said that by following the teachings of the Vedas, all types of inequalities (caste inequalities, gender discrimination etc.) can be removed from society.