BOULDER, Colo. (PRWEB) October 10, 2019

As schools and universities begin a new academic year, a growing alliance of leaders in colleges of education across the country today released a statement cautioning against many of the current trends for reforming how we prepare teachers for our nations public schools.

In the statement, Seven Trends to Reform U.S. Teacher Education, and the Need to Address Systemic Injustices, over 350 deans and other leaders called for a significant shift in course. The statement begins by declaring that teacher-education programs without a doubtcannot and should not operate as if all is well, because it is not. But the leaders then warn that several current efforts to reform teacher education in the United Statesare making things worse. These trends, they explain, share the fundamental flaw of focusing on hyper-individualistic, market-based solutions linked to failed ideas about student achievement, teacher accountability, rewards, and punishments, rather than addressing legacies of systemic injustices in educational institutions and strategies to increase participatory democracy.

The seven trends examined are:

The leaders statement highlights research that shows how, in a number of ways, these approaches lack a sound research basis, and in some instances, they have already proven to widen disparities. The statement concludes with an alternative vision for teacher education that advances equity and justice in our nations schools.

Signing the statement are over 350 current and former leaders in colleges and schools of education across the United States. The leaders, which include deans, associate deans, directors, and chairs, work in public, private, and religious institutions of higher education spanning over three dozen states.

The statement was authored by Education Deans for Justice and Equity (EDJE) and prepared in partnership with the National Education Policy Center. EDJE was formed in 2016 as an alliance of deans to address inequities and injustices in education while promoting its democratic premises through policy, research, and practice.

Seven Trends to Reform U.S. Teacher Education, and the Need to Address Systemic Injustices, including the list of signatories and endorsements, can be found on the NEPC website at:http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/seven-trends

Find Documents:Publication Announcement: https://nepc.info/node/9994NEPC Publication: https://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/seven-trends

The National Education Policy Center (NEPC), a university research center housed at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education, produces and disseminates high-quality, peer-reviewed research to inform education policy discussions. Visit us at: http://nepc.colorado.edu

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A Call to Retreat from Trendy Teacher Education Reform October 10, 2019Key New NEPC Statement - PR Web

On October 4, I had the rare opportunity of spending more than three hours with Sheela Birnstiel, formerly, Ma Anand Sheela, as she re-visited the lanes and by-lanes of Koregaon Park, saw the Osho International commune, and paid her respects to Osho at the place where he was cremated in Pune.

Famous as the controversial secretary of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, who was later known as Osho, Sheela shot into the limelight in recent years after the Netflix docu-series, Wild Wild Country, featured her prominently, and, the rise and fall of Rajneeshpuram in Oregon.

The most tumultuous period of Rajneeshpuram centred around clashes with the locals, her sudden flight to Germany in September 1985, and the criminal convictions for which she was deported to the US and served a prison sentence.

Pune was the place where she spent one of the most beautiful periods of her life at the Commune, demonstrated her organisational capabilities, rose to become Oshos secretary after Ma Yoga Laxmi and planned Oshos secretive departure to the US in June 1981. Pune was also the place where she spent beautiful moments with her first love Chinmaya, whom she lost to cancer in this city.

Now 70 and settled in Switzerland where she runs two homes for the elderly and disabled, Sheela, accompanied by her two devoted secretaries-caretakers, and a film crew, was on a short, discrete visit to Pune to re-visit Koregaon Park.

Full of nostalgia about Koregaon Park (KP) of the mid-to-late 1970s, one of the first things she noticed was the lifeless faade of Osho International commune in lane number 1, and the complete absence of people in orange robes. Yes, when she left Pune in 1981, Oshos followers wore bright orange robes, and the maroon robes only came later. She was happy with the rich greenery of KP, although the entire landscape had changed with large buildings, numerous shops and restaurants and the high volume traffic.

She was not aware of the famous German Bakery restaurant because it did not exist when she was here. The only hotel she knew was Blue Diamond- Punes first and only five star hotel in those days. Take me to Hotel Blue Diamond because that is my reference pointthe Commune was right behind, she said.

The most poignant and deeply emotional moment for her was when she visited the place where Osho was cremated on the night of January 19, 1990, at Tulsiram Ghat in KP. Full of reverence for Osho, Sheela closed her eyes, stood in silence for minutes and bowed with a namaste at the low pedestal created to place bodies. She was delighted to spot a dog sitting below the grill and spoke of her immense love for animals.

For Sheela, this was one of the most significant moments of her journey with Osho. I was not there when he died, but I feel connected with him here, she said.

When asked, where she was when Osho died, Sheela said she was in Paris with her lawyer, who saw the news on TV, confirmed it and then informed her. I had the feeling that it was an unnatural death, Sheela said, of her intuition when she got the news.

We had a lengthy discussion on all that happened on the day Osho died, and in the years that followed. She could not immediately connect with some of the names such as Amrito- Oshos personal physician, whom she knew as Devraj; and Nirvano- whom Osho considered as his soulmate- and who had died in suspicious circumstances 40 days before his own death. Sheela knew Nirvano as Vivek.

Sheela spoke extensively of how shocking and outrageous it was to completely deny the existence of Oshos Samadhi inside the Commune, created as per his own wish. She wondered whether this was being denied by the Commune managers to make it easy to liquidate the property.

She expressed the hope that Oshos followers, his admirers and others would take steps to ensure that the Samadhi was protected and opened to the public.

abhay.vaidya@hindustantimes.com

First Published:Oct 07, 2019 14:02 IST

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Monday Musings: When Sheelas love for Osho brought her to Pune after 35 years - Hindustan Times

Aurangabad: Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi on Saturday said a new "Father of the Nation" has come up with the emergence of new India, but the Mahatma could never have become the father of such nation.

He also termed as "sacrilege" the theft of an urn which was used for immersing ashes of the Father of Nation in Madhya Pradesh recently and slammed the governments at Centre and Madhya Pradesh for their "silence".

Tushar said the incident was a "pre-planned act to sully the image of the Mahatma by political parties who are ruling today and for the last seven decades".

A portrait of Mahatma Gandhi was found defaced at Bapu Bhawan in Laxmanbagh Sansthan at Rewa on Gandhi Jayanti by unidentified persons who wrote "deshdrohi" (traitor) over it and also stole an urn which was used for immersing his ashes.

Addressing reporters in Aurangabad in Maharashtra, Tushar said more painful than the theft of the Mahatma's "mortal remains" is the "silence" of the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh and the BJP dispensation at the Centre over the incident.

"The theft and the sacrilege of the poster is painful. However, it's more painful to note that Congress government in Madhya Pradesh and the BJP-led Central government have not uttered a single word to condemn the incident. Sixty hours have passed since the incident occurred," he said.

Tushar ruled that while the nation was celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of the Mahatma, his mortal remains were stolen from Rewa.

"This silence of political parties and media speaks a lot. I request the government to get those mortal remains back and immerse them. Because such act is painful to me as the great-grandson of the Mahtma and also to those who follow his philosophy," Tushar said.

Responding to a query, Tushar said government agencies were serving notices to residents of the Sabarmati ashram in Ahmedabad for vacating the premises.

"A reason is being given that a big memorial of Mahatma Gandhi will be erected at that place. But when every individual visiting Sabarmati bows at the 'Hriday Kunj' (present ashram), what is the need for a new memorial?" he questioned.

"This is a clear case of land grabbing. This is an attack on institutions working for Gandhian philosophy. The agencies are also asking for archives and all those things which belonged to Mahatma Gandhi that are kept in Sabarmati premises," he said.

Tushar said a protest could be planned to "save" the ashram area.

Targetting the BJP, Tushar said the saffron party has "(Nathuram) Godse (assasin of the Mahatma) in mind and Gandhi on their lips. As the new India is emerging, new 'Father of Nation' has also come up. Mahatma Gandhi can never be the father of such new nation," he said without taking any names.

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New 'father of nation' has come up with emergence of new India: Mahatma Gandhi's grandson - Economic Times

By Sudheendra Kulkarni

When Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Mahabalipuram for his second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, October 11-13, i hope he visits the Aurobindo Ashram in nearby Puducherry. Apart from knowing about Maharshi Aurobindo, the renowned Hindu sage of modern times, he will also be able to pay tribute to distinguished Chinese philosopher, Prof Xu Fancheng, who lived in the ashram for 27 long years, from 1951-1978. Earlier, Prof Xu lived in Santiniketan for five years.

Who was Prof Xu? According to Luo Zhaohui, who was his student and who later served as Chinas ambassador to India (and as vice foreign minister now he will be accompanying Xi to Mahabalipuram), He was the first Chinese who introduced Sri Aurobindo to China. There were three great men in modern India Gurudev Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo. The first two men were well known in China. It was due to Prof Xus contribution that China began to know about Sri Aurobindo. He translated Sri Aurobindos The Life Divine and Integral Yoga into Chinese. He also translated Fifty Upanishads, Bhagwad Gita and Shakuntala into Chinese. As a Chinese philosopher who lived in India for the longest period of time, he became a bridge linking China and India.

Xu thus belongs to the noble lineage of those who introduced the best of India to China. In ancient times, there were those like Kumara Jiva, Hiuen Tsang, Fa Xian and Bodhidharma. In modern times, Prof Tan Yunshan came to India under Tagores influence and became the first director of Cheena Bhavana at Santiniketan. Padma Bhushan Prof Ji Xianlin, who is regarded as Chinas Gurudev, translated the Ramayana into Chinese.

Modi and Xi will no doubt discuss many important contemporary issues that impact our two countries and the world. It is equally important for the two leaders to reaffirm the value of the deep cultural-spiritual ties between India and our great northern neighbour that are over 2,000 years old. Hinduism, Buddhism and Sanskrit form the bedrock of these ties.

Mahabalipuram, the site of magnificent Hindu temples facing the Indian Ocean, itself is an eloquent symbol of India-China exchanges in the past. Pallava King Narasimhavarman II (680-720), who built some of these temples, had sent envoys to China. These temples were called the Seven Pagodas of China by some European explorers, on account of the architectural resemblance between the sacred structures in our two countries. Ships sailed from the shores of Tamil Nadu to China proof that India was very much a part of the ancient maritime silk road, whose modernisation is a component of Xis ambitious Belt and Road project. I have seen telltale exhibits of this in the maritime museum in Chinas port city of Quanzhou. In the citys famous Kaiyuan Buddhist Temple, one can see carved images of Narasimha, Shiva, Krishna and other Hindu deities.

During his first visit to India in 2014, Xi had said, I have had a deep interest in Indian civilisation since I was young. I have read historic books on the Ganges River civilisation, the Vedic culture. I have paid great attention to the life and thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi, hoping to penetrate the development path and psychology of this great nation.

May Mahabalipuram greatly augment the Chinese presidents interest in Indian civilisation in general and in Hinduism in particular. (The author was aide to former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee).

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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Xi Jinping's chance to rediscover Hinduism - Times of India

Sacred Games that is based on Vikram Chandra novel and directed by Anurag Kashyap-Vikramaditya Motwane created an immense buzz for itself right from the inception. The series went to become a massive hit and has been nominated for the Emmy Awards this year. The second season of the series that was launched on August 15 this year also ended on a cliff-hanger. So here are the biggest twists and turns from season two and an overview of season one.

Ganesh Gaitonde dies in the first episode itself but does not forget to warn inspector Sartaj Singh regarding the looming danger. The season runs into two parallel storylines. One storyline is Gaitondes rise in Mumbai and the second timeline is Sartaj Singh and RAW agent AnjaliMathur trying to figure out Gaitondes warning. According to the first timeline, Ganesh Gaitonde meets Kanta Bai and they start creating their own empire. Slowly and steadily more secrets are revealed and the number of deaths also increases.

RAW agent Mathur, Gaitondes right hand Bunty, TV actress Nayanika who wasSartajs informant, Gaitondes love interest Kukoo, and Sartajs junior Katekar all end up being killed in the process. Sartaj got closer to finding out about the secret that Gaitonde was referring to and bumps into Guruji. In the final episode, the link between Ganesh Gaitonde and Sartajs father is revealed. Sartaj also finds about the godman Guruji and his role in regards to the danger looming over the city and people in general.

Also read |Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Top 10 Sacred Games Dialogues

Ganesh Gaitonde starts working for RAW in the second season. In the first season, Sartaj gets to know about his familys connection to Gurujis cult. Now in the second seasons first episode, Sartaj joins the mission to foil the conspiracy and Gaitonde can be seen in an ocean. Trivedi and Yadav Sir pay a visit to Gaitonde. Sartaj Singh also pays a visit to Gurujis ashram with the terrorist-cell investigation underway. In the third episode, Sartaj discovers about Shahid Khans nuclear consignment delivery to India.

Also read |Nawazuddin Siddiqui: All About The Sacred Games Actor's Fashion Sense

Gaitonde can be also seen working for the RAW in this season and chooses to become friends with Isa. Malcolm who is one of the major links to the conspiracy shoots himself this season. Sartajs visit to Gurujis ashram backfires on him as he gets addicted to Gochi the drug. Gurujis mission of starting Satyug and preaching Balidaan also gains limelight. Two new relationship angles between Gaitonde and Guruji and Sartaj and Batya are explored. The season ends with Sartaj using the pattern for detonating the bomb and it ends with an 11-second cliff-hanger.

Also read |'Sacred Games' Finds Space At Emmy's, Saif Ali Khan Reacts

Also read |Sacred Games At Emmy: Nawazuddin Siddiqui Gaga Over Anurag Kashyap

Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment.

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Sacred Games: All the major plot twists from the Emmy nominated series - Republic World - Republic World

NurPhoto via Getty ImagesAn artist dressed as Ram, performs during the play of Ramleela, in Allahabad on October 11, 2018.

How many Rmyanas? Three hundred? Three thousand? At the end of some Rmyanas, a question is sometimes asked: How many Rmyanas have there been? And there are stories that answer the question. Here is one.

One day when Rma was sitting on his throne, his ring fell off. When it touched the earth, it made a hole in the ground and disappeared into it. It was gone. His trusty henchman, Hanumn, was at his feet. Rama said to Hanumn, Look, my ring is lost. Find it for me.

Now Hanumn can enter any hole, no matter how tiny. He had the power to become the smallest of the small and larger than the largest thing. So he took on a tiny form and went down the hole.

He went and went and went and suddenly fell into the netherworld. There were women down there. Look, a tiny monkey! Its fallen from above! Then they caught him and placed him on a platter (thli). The King of Spirits (bht), who lives in the netherworld, likes to eat animals. So Hanumn was sent to him as part of his dinner, along with his vege tables. Hanumn sat on the platter, wondering what to do.

While this was going on in the netherworld, Rma sat on his throne on the earth above. The sage Vasistha and the god Brahm came to see him. They said to Rma, We want to talk privately with you. We dont want anyone to hear what we say or interrupt it. Do we agree?

All right, said Rma, well talk.

Then they said, Lay down a rule. If anyone comes in as we are talking, his head should be cut off.

It will be done, said Rma.

Who would be the most trustworthy person to guard the door? Hanumn had gone down to fetch the ring. Rma trusted no one more than Laksmana, so he asked Laksmana to stand by the door. Dont allow anyone to enter, he ordered.

Heritage Images via Getty ImagesIllustration from the Ramayana by Valmiki, second half of the16th century. Artist: Mir Zayn al-Abidin (active 1570-1580)

Laksmana was standing at the door when the sage Vivmitra appeared and said, I need to see Rma at once. Its urgent. Tell me, where is Rma?

Laksmana said, Dont go in now. He is talking to some people. Its important.

What is there that Rma would hide from me? said Vivmitra. I must go in, right now.

Laksmana said, Ill have to ask his permission before I can let you in.

Go in and ask then.

I cant go in till Rma comes out. Youll have to wait.

If you dont go in and announce my presence, Ill burn the entire kingdom of Ayodhya with a curse, said Vivmitra.

Laksmana thought, IfI go in now, Ill die. But if l dont go, this hot headed man will burn down the kingdom. All the subjects, all things living in it, will die. Its better that I alone should die.

So he went right in.

Rma asked him, Whats the matter? Vivmitrais here.

Send him in.

So Vivmitra went in. The private talk had already come to an end. Brahm and Vasistha had come to see Rma and say to him, Your work in the world of human beings is over. Your incarnation as Rama must now be given up. Leave this body, come up, and rejoin the gods. Thats all they wanted to say.

Laksmana said to Rma, Brother, you should cut off my head.

Rma said, Why We had nothing more to say. Nothing was left. So why should I cut off your head?

Laksmana said. You cant do that. You cant let me off because Im your brother. ThereII be a blot on Rmas name. You didnt spare your wife. You sent her to the jungle. I must be punished. I will leave.

Laksmana was an avatar of esa, the serpent on whom Visnu sleeps. His time was up too. He went directly to the river Saray and disappeared in the flowing waters.

When Laksmana relinquished his body, Rma summoned all his followers, Vibhsana, Sugrva, and others, and arranged for the coronation of his twin sons, Lava and Kua. Then Rma too entered the river Saray.

Hindustan Times via Getty ImagesKhon Ramakien (Masked played Ramayana) Thailand, during International Ramayana festival organised by ICCR at Kamani Auditorium on October 10, 2016, in New Delhi.

All this while, Hanumn was in the netherworld. When he was finally taken to the King of Spirits, he kept repeating the name of Rma. Rma Rma Rma ...

Then the King of Spirits asked, Who are you?

Hanumn.

Hanumn? Why have you come here?

Rmas ring fell into a hole. Ive come to fetch it.

The king looked around and showed him a platter. On it were thousands of rings. They were all Rmas rings. The king brought the platter to Hanumn, set it down, and said, Pick out your Ramas ring and take it.

They were all exactly the same. I dont know which one it is, said Hanumn, shaking his head.

The King of Spirits said, There have been as many Rmas as there are rings on this platter. When you return to earth, you will not find Rma. This incarnation of Rma is now over. Whenever an incarnation of Rma is about to be over, his ring falls down. I collect them and keep them. Now you can go.

So Hanuman left. (1)

This story is usually told to suggest that for every such Rma there is a Rmyana. The number of Rmyanas and the range of their influence in South and Southeast Asia over the past twenty-five hundred years or more are astonishing. Just a list of languages in which the Rama story is found makes one gasp: Annamese, Balinese, Bengali, Cambodian, Chinese, Gujarati, Javanese, Kannada, Kashmiri, Khotanese, Laotian, Malaysian, Marathi, Oriya, Prakrit, Sanskrit, Santali, Sinhalese, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan-to say nothing of Western languages. Through the centuries, some of these languages have hosted more than one telling of the Rama story. Sanskrit alone contains some twenty-five or more tellings belonging to various narrative genres (epics, kvyas or ornate poetic compositions, purnas or old mythological stories, and so forth). If we add plays, dance-dramas, and other performances, in both the classical and folk traditions. the number of Rmyanas grows even larger. To these must be added sculpture and bas-reliefs, mask plays, puppet plays and shadows plays, in all the many South and Southeast Asian cultures. Camille Bulcke (1950), a student of the Rmyanas, counted three hundred tellings. Its no wonder that even as long ago as the fourteenth century, Kumravysa, a Kannada poet, chose to write a Mahbhrata, because he heard the cosmic serpent which upholds the earth groaning under the burden of Rmyana poets (tinikidanu phanirya rmyanada kavigala bhradali). In this paper, indebted for its data to numerous previous translators and scholars, I would like to sort out for myself, and I hope for others, how these hundreds of tellings of a story in different cultures, languages, and religious traditions relate to each other: what gets translated, transplanted, transposed.

John S Lander via Getty ImagesKUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA Hanuman at Batu Caves Temple - dedicated to Lord Muruga with ornate shrines.

Obviously, these hundreds of tellings differ from one another. I have come to prefer the world tellings to the usual terms versions or variants because the latter terms can and typically do imply that there is an invariant, an original or Ur-textusually Vlmki s Sanskrit Rmyana, the earliest and most prestigious of them all. But as we shall see, it is not always Vlmkis narrative that is carried from one language to another.

It would be useful to make some distinctions before we begin. The tradition itself distinguishes between the Rma story (rmakath) and texts composed by a specific personVlmki, Kampan, or Krttivsa, for example. Though many of the latter are popularly called Rmyanas (like Kamparmyanam), few texts actually bear the title Rmyana; they are given titles like lrmvatram (The Incarnation of Rma), Rmcaritmnas (The Lake of the Acts of Rama), Ramakien (The Story of Rama) and so on. Their relations to the Rma story as told by Vlmki also vary. This traditional distinction between kath (story) and kvya (poem) parallels the French one between sujet and rcit, or the English one between story and discourse (Chatman 1978). It is also analogous to the distinction between a sentence and a speech act. The story may be the same in two tellings, but the discourse may be vastly different. Even the structure and sequence of events may be the same, but the style, details, tone, and textureand therefore the importmay be vastly different.

Here are two tellings of the same episode, which occur at the same point in the sequence of the narrative. The first is from the first book (Blaknda) of Vlmkis Sanskrit Rmyana; the second from the first canto (Plakntam) of Kampans lrmvatram in Tamil. Both narrate the story of Ahaly.

Seeing Mithila, Janakas whiteand dazzling city, all the sagescried out in praise, Wonderful!How wonderful!

Rghava, sighting on the outskirtsof Mithil an ashram, ancient,unpeopled, and lovely, asked the sage,What is this holy place,

so like an ashram but without a hermit?Master, Id like to hear: whose was it?Hearing Rghavas words, the great sageVivmitra, man of fire,

expert in words answered, Listen,Rghava, Ill tell you whose ashramthis was and how it was cursedby a great man in anger.

It was great Gautamas, this ashramthat reminds you of heaven, worshipped even by the gods. Long ago, with Ahalyhe practised tapas (4) here

for countless years. Once, knowing that Gautama was away, Indra (called Thousand Eyes),acs husband, took on the likenessof the sage, and said to Ahaly:

Men pursuing their desire do not waitfor the proper season, O you whohave a perfect body. Making lovewith you: thats what I want.That waist of yours is lovely.

She knew it was Indra of the Thousand Eyesin the guise of the sage. Yet she,wrongheaded woman, made up her mind,excited, curious about the kingof the gods.

ASSOCIATED PRESSJakarta's National Wayang Secretariat Sena Wangi stage artiste perform the 'Epic of Ramayana' in Chennai, Nov.18, 2007.

And then, her inner being satisfied,she said to the god, Im satisfied, kingof the gods. Go quickly from here.O giver of honour, lover, protectyourself and me.

And Indra smiled and said to Ahaly,Woman of lovely hips, I amvery content. Ill go the way I came.Thus after making love, he came outof the hut made of leaves.

And, O Rma, as he hurried away,nervous about Gautama and flustered,he caught sight of Gautama coming in,the great sage, unassailableby gods and antigods,

empowered by his tapas, still wetwith the water of the riverhed bathed in, blazing like fire,with kua grass and kindlingin his hands.

Seeing him, the king of the gods wasterror-struck, his face drained of colour.The sage, facing Thousand Eyes now dressedas the sage, the one rich in virtueand the other with none,

spoke to him in anger: You took my form,you fool, and did this that should neverbe done. Therefore you will lose your testicles.At once, they fell to the ground, they felleven as the great sage spoke

his words in anger to Thousand Eyes.Having cursed Indra, he then cursedAhaly: You, you will dwell heremany thousands of years, eating the air,without food, rolling in ash,

and burning invisible to all creatures.When Rma, unassailable sonof Daaratha, comes to this terriblewilderness, you will become pure,you woman of no virtue,

you will be cleansed of lust and confusion.Filled then with joy, youll wear againyour form in my presence. And sayingthis to that woman of bad conduct,blazing Gautama abandoned

the ashram, and did his tapason a beautiful Himalayan peak,haunt of celestial singers andperfected beings.

Emasculated Indra thenspoke to the gods led by Agniattended by the sagesand the celestial singers.

Ive only done this work on behalfof the gods, putting great Gautamain a rage, blocking his tapas.He has emasculated me

and rejected her in anger.Through this great outburstof curses, Ive robbed himof his tapas. Therefore,

great gods, sages, and celestial singers,help me, helper of the gods,to regain my testicles. And the gods,led by Agni, listened to Indra

of the Hundred Sacrifices and wentwith the Marut hoststo the divine ancestors, and said,Some time ago, Indra, infatuated,

ravished the sages wifeand was then emasculatedby the sages curse. Indra,king of gods, destroyer of cities,

is now angry with the gods.This ram has testiclesbut great Indra has lost his .So take the rams testicles

and quickly graft them onto Indra.A castrated ram will give yousupreme satisfaction and will bea source of pleasure.

People who offer itwill have endless fruit.You will give them your plenty.Having heard Agnis words,the Ancestors got togetherand ripped off the rams testiclesand applied them then to Indraof the Thousand Eyes.

Since then, the divine Ancestorseat these castrated ramsand Indra has the testiclesof the beast through the powerof great Gautamas tapas.

Come then, Rma, to the ashramof the holy sage and save Ahalywho has the beauty of a goddess.Rghava heard Vivmitras words

and followed him into the ashramwith Laksmana: there he sawAhaly, shining with an inner lightearned through her penances,

blazing yet hidden from the eyesof passersby, even gods and antigods.

(Sastrigal and Sastri 1958, knda 1, sargas 47-8; translated by David Shulman and A.K. Ramanujan)

NurPhoto via Getty ImagesPaintings depicting scenes Hindu epic Ramayana at the Sita Amman Temple (Seeta Amman Temple) in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka, on 5 Septermber 2017.

They came to many-towered Mithilaand stood outside the fortress.On the towers were many flags.

There, high on an open field,stood a black rockthat was once Ahaly,

the great sages wife who fellbecause she lost her chastity,the mark of marriage in a house. [Verse 547)

Rmas eyes fell on the rock,the dust of his feetwafted on it.

Like one unconscious coming to,cutting through ignorance.changing his dark carcassfor true formas he reaches the Lords feet,

so did she stand aliveformed and colouredagain as she once was. [548]

Rma then asks Vivmitra why this lovely woman had been turned to stone. Vivmitra replies:

Listen. Once Indra,Lord of the Diamond Axe,waited on the absence

of Gautama, a sage all spirit,

meaning to reach outfor the lovely breastof doe-eyed Ahaly, his wife. [551]

Hurt by loves arrows,hurt by the look in her eyesthat pierced him like a spear, Indrawrithed and cast aboutfor stratagems;

one day, overwhelmedand mindless, he isolatedthe sage; and sneaked into the hermitagewearing the exact body of Gautama

whose heart knew no falsehoods. [552]

Sneaking in, he joined Ahaly;coupled, they drank deepof the clear new wineof first-night weddings;and she knew.

Yet unableto put aside what was not hers,she dallied in her joy,but the sage did not tarry,he came back, a very ivawith three eyes in his head. [553]

Gautama, who used no arrowsfrom bows. could use more inescapablepowers of curse and blessing.

When he arrived, Ahaly stood there,stunned, bearing the shame of a deedthat will not end in this endless world.

Indra shook in terror,started to move awayin the likeness of a cat. [554)

Eyes dropping fire, Gautamasaw what was done,and his words flewlike the burning arrowsat your hand:

May you be coveredby the vaginasof a thousand women!In the twinkle of an eyethey came and covered him. [555]

Covered with shame,laughingstock of the world,Indra left.

The sage turnedto his tender wifeand cursed:

O bought woman!May you turn to stone!and she fell at once

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How Hundreds Of Ramayanas, Across Languages And Cultures, Relate To Each Other - HuffPost India

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Exponential technological and cultural progress have given us the opportunity to more fully realize our potential.


Speech by Jason Silva

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"If the universe began in the past, when that happened it was Now. And it trails off like the wake of a ship from Now and just as the wake fades out, so does the past. Things aren't explained by what happened in the past. They're explained by what happens Now"
-Alan Watts

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