Table of Contents

International

Feature: This issue we feature the million-man Vira Saiva festival at the Suttur Math in Karnataka, South India.

Migration: Beleaguered Afghan Hindus find a new home in far-off Germany.

Language: The world’s leading experts in Sanskrit language and literature gather in Delhi.

Lifestyle

Insight: The Insight section explores Creation in a highly esoteric look at Pancha Brahma, the Five-Faced Lord Siva.

Marvels: The lighter side of Sanskrit revealed in the staggering word-play of the ancient poets.

Transition: Facing my father’s final days.

Music: Modern-day minstrel brings Kabir’s soulful songs into the 21st century.

Law: How a US Supreme Court decision impacts Hindu temples: a suggestion to the management.

Food: Tasty tips on the oft-maligned mushroom.

Opinion

In My Opinion: The day proselytizing troops stormed my NY Diwali festival.

Publishers Desk: Karma, bhakti, yoga and jnana—four views of four spiritual practices.

Letters

Youth: I grew up Hindu, a bit against the odds.

Society: One Hindu’s view of gay marriage.

Ecology: Just one principle is needed to reach a sustainable environment: nonviolence.

Digests

Global Dharma

Quotes & Quips

(Hinduism Today): The July/August/September 2012 edition of our flagship magazine is available in print, on-line and in downloadable PDF format. This issue travels the worlds: the outside and inside worlds, that is.

On the Outside:
Travel with us to an amazing mela just outside of Mysore, India. We did! The Hinduism Today editor attended the five-day festival in January as a chief guest of the Suttur Mutt and its spiritual head, Sri Shivaratri Desikendra. For over 1,000 years this festival has been held, drawing some 400,000 pilgrims this year. The JSS Jathra, as they call it, is part carnival, part pilgrimage, part state fair, part musical concert and part Disneyland. Our article takes you inside the event, but more importantly inside the institution that runs it. Suttur Mutt is among India’s best-kept secrets, a massive institution (with education, medical and agricultural projects that are nothing short of mind-boggling) that is founded on the Lingayat/Virasaiva tradition. Enough said.

Other major articles include the Sanskrit renaissance, the beleagured Afgan Hindus who are fleeing to Germany, and a new US Supreme Court ruling that will impact Hindus in important ways.

On the Inside:
We seldom get too esoteric for our readers, but we may have gone over the edge this time. Our 16-page Insight on Sadasiva: Five Powers of Siva is a philosophical tour de force that seeks, ambitiously, to explain the Hindu view of cosmic evolution and, in the bargain, the essence of Divinity. Even with the charts and graphics, this is a challenging article that will give readers a new appreciation for the profundity (and subtle complexity) of the Hindu view of creation. It is accompanied by the extraordinary original artwork of Pieter Veltevrede, the amazing Amsterdam-based master who did the faces of Siva just for this piece.

Our Publisher’s Desk editorial charts new territory in the understanding of yoga. Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami has been traveling the globe, encountering the very different ways various traditions and schools look at yoga. From this broad experience he crafts a piece called “Which Yoga Should I Follow?” If you thought you had a handle on the simple definitions of karma, bhakti, raja and jnana yoga, think again. Here is the real story.

And there Is More:
The issue has stories on how Christians stormed the N.Y. Diwali festival, a controversial Hindu view on gay marriage, Kabir’s devotional songs revisited, the lighter side of Sanskrit, insights on ecology and one woman’s touching tale of seeing her beloved father through his last days on Earth.

As usual, our Global Dharma digest tells you what’s happening around the world in the Hindu family, Quotes & Quips offers a humor-rich respite from the mean-old-world and Digital Dharma gives you the scoop on how technology is being used to support Hinduism. With stunning photos and in-depth articles, you don’t want to miss this issue!

The latest issue of Hinduism Today for July/August/September 2012 may be ordered online atwww.minimela.com in single copies and in multiple copies at discounted prices.