Author: Maria Wirth
There seems to be some “defect” in Hinduism, because worldwide, it is clearly not as respected as Christianity and Islam. Hindus struggle to get a fair representation for Hinduism in the media or in textbooks whether abroad or even at home. This is hard to understand, because Hinduism has the best philosophical basis of all and is in tune with modern nuclear science. It acknowledges that the essence in all is consciousness (spirit) and shows practical ways how to realize this one spirit as true. It is therefore even in tune with the ever growing tribe in the west who…
There is no doubt that we have a problem in today’s world. It’s a big problem. The strange thing is that apparently we don’t want to solve it, because we close our eyes to the problem and to its root cause. This closing of our eyes is officially endorsed by almost all governments in the world and is seen as politically correct. Naturally, there is no chance to improve things but it’s likely to get much worse. The problem is a faulty, black and white mind-set of a huge chunk of the world population and the root cause is what…
During the Ujjain Simhasth Kumbh 2016, a Vichar Maha Kumbh, an International Convention, was organized from May 12 -14, and a Universal Declaration was released in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I had sent in a proposal on the topic “Religion for human welfare”. Here it is: Since ancient times the Kumbh Mela was an occasion where spiritual personalities guided lay people on the dharmic way of life, and fearlessly and honestly conducted debates about truth. Today, the world is interconnected. It means that the debates on truth need also to take note of the truths that are…
This is the Marathi translation of https://mariawirthblog.wpcomstaging.com/2016/04/17/truth-and-political-correctness/ काही निमित्ताने मी जर्मनीमध्ये गेले असताना माझ्या प्राथमिक शाळेतील मित्रमैत्रिणींची भेट झाली. त्यातल्या दोघी जणींची तर गेल्या ५० वर्षांत भेट झाली नव्हती. आणि इतक्या दीर्घ काळात आमच्यांत खूप बदल झाला होता. त्यामुळं ओळखणं कठिणही जात होतं. असो. तर आमच्या बोलण्याची गाडी गावातील तुर्की समाजाकडे वळली. ६,००० वस्तीच्या त्या गावात त्यांची संख्या ६००च्या आसपास असेल. पण त्यातले फारसे लोक गावाशी एकरूप झाले नव्हते. त्यातल्या काहींनी गावाच्या अगदी मध्यवर्ती वस्तीतच घरे घेतली होती, एकजण म्हणाली. कुराण वाचल्यापासून मी अगदी धार्मिक वृत्तीच्या मुस्लींमांच्या बाबतीतही फार सावधपणं वागते, मी तिला म्हटलं. त्यात जे काही लिहिलंय त्याच्याबद्दल श्रद्धा बाळगणारे…
Some years ago, on a visit to Germany, I met with a few friends from primary school times. Two of them I hadn’t seen for over 50 years, but we were quickly familiar again after we got used to our new (elderly) look. The conversation veered to the Turks in town, around 600 of the overall 6000 inhabitants. “Most of them are not integrating into our society and some buy up houses right in the centre of the town”, a former classmate said. I mentioned that I have become very wary of pious Muslims ever since I read the Quran.…
The picture is from my article in a German magazine from 1986 During the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar in 2010, a young Frenchman exclaimed, “Oh, it must have been so different then” when he came to know that I was in 1986 at the Kumbh already. “No, it was not”, I realised. It was very much the same. It may have been the same for centuries. Here is my description of the Kumbh Mela in 1986: Luckily I don’t get afraid, when I am stuck in a crowd; otherwise India would be the wrong country for me. I actually enjoy…
Today it is not uncommon for westerners to come to India for spiritual inspiration. Even big-wigs like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg have come. Yet this was not the case in 1935, when a 29 year old woman embarked on the long journey from Austria to India and never went back till she died 50 years later. Atmananda, who was called Blanca in her youth in Vienna, came because of Jiddu Krishnamurthi. Later, she was fascinated by Anandamayi Ma and became her disciple. I met Atmananda in 1980 in the surroundings of Anandamayi Ma in Dehradun and stayed in touch…
This is the Marathi translation of my recent post “Of course Hindus won’t be thrown into hell” by Manohar Railkar काही दिवसांपूर्वी एका बातमीनं माझं लक्ष वेधून घेतलं: कॅथॉलिक चर्चकडून दलित ख्रिश्चनांमध्ये भेदाभेद केला जातो, याकरता भारतामधील दलित ख्रिस्त्यांनी व्हॅटिकनविरुद्ध संयुक्त राष्ट्रसंघाकडे एक परिवेदिका (तक्रार) दाखल केली आहे. सदर परिवेदिका राष्ट्रसंघाच्या दिल्लीस्थित माहितीकेंद्रात दाखल झाली आहे. पूर्वी एका लेखात मीच केलेल्या एका सूचनेचं मला स्मरण झालं. ती सूचना अनुचित तर नव्हतीच. उलट, खरं तर लक्षात घेण्याइतकी महत्त्वाचीच होती. हिंदू आणि बौद्धसुद्धा अशीच परिवेदिका ख्रिश्चन आणि मुस्लीमांविरुद्ध राष्ट्रसंघात दाखल करू शकतात. कारण ख्रिस्तीतर लोकांना ख्रिश्चन लोक धर्मलंड मानतात आणि सर्वशक्तिमान ईश्वराच्या…
Some time ago, a news item caught my attention: Dalit Christians had filed a complaint with the United Nations against the Vatican because of caste based discrimination of the Catholic Church in India. The complaint was filed with the UN Information Centre at New Delhi. It made me feel that a suggestion I had made in an earlier article was maybe not so outlandish and actually worthwhile. I had suggested that Hindus, Buddhists and others could file a complaint with the UN against Christianity and Islam, because Christianity considers non-Christians as heathen and Islam non-Muslims as infidels, and both these…
(This one-hour speech happened to be a first for me. I never was a teacher and was rather afraid of public speaking. I want to thank the students that they made it easy for me and looked interested throughout.) My three main points: To encourage the students to know and be proud of their heritage. To point out what is lacking in the west To give inputs on Jnana, Bhakti, Karma and Raja Yoga – the way of life which enables one to tap/ realise the Divinity within. Here is my talk, most of it recreated from the points i…