Monday, 22. January 2007
News & Stories

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Esalen Institute: still mystical after all these years by ContraCostaTimes.
The Esalen Institute on California's rugged Big Sur coast first entered my consciousness as a teenager in the psychedelic '60s. There it flitted for 30-odd years, an enigmatic place cloaked in "alternative" jargon, secretive smiles and suggestions I couldn't quite process. What I heard about Esalen was vague and esoteric, not easily articulated. Over the years, the people I met who'd actually been here -- taken a workshop, soaked in the famous mineral baths -- talked about it with a kind of dreamy reverence that piqued my curiosity even more.

Millions of Hindus take holy bath by BBC. WITH VIDEO.
Thousands of Hindu holy men began the plunge near the town of Allahabad at dawn. Crowds were bathing until late into the night. It is thought to be the largest gathering of humanity on the planet. Pilgrims believe that bathing at the confluence of three of Hinduism's holiest rivers washes away their sins. The mass bathing is taking place at Sangam, where the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers meet. The new moon night, or Mauni Amavasya, is celebrated on Friday, making it the most auspicious day in the six-week-long festival.

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The Universe As Magic Roundabout by Science a GoGo.
Ever feel like you've been there, done that, and that the life you're living seems strangely familiar? Maybe a psychic has told you that you were once a great king or queen, or, at the very least, their eunuch. Perhaps a neurologist has told you that the déjà vu that you're experiencing is just a trick of the mind. But while these explanations may appeal to either the spiritually or scientifically inclined, physicist Peter Lynds argues that there may be a much grander account that explains the repetitiveness of life: a cyclic universe.

Stepping up the search for ET by The Paramus Post.
"I remember just looking and thinking that up there, somewhere around one of those stars, there's another little girl walking on the beach with her dad," Tarter said. How could there not be, when the stars in the sky are as common as the grains of sand beneath her feet? Tarter is now director of research for SETI - the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Based in Mountain View in Northern California, SETI is made up of 135 scientists and support staff who have committed their professional lives to searching for signals from extraterrestrials.

Death's rich tapestry by The Age.
Many of us have a general knowledge of Egyptian burial habits. Maybe it's because their corpses in embalmed form are called mummies that children from an early age are fascinated by the process. We know their organs were removed and kept in jars, and that the body was wrapped in bands of linen and then placed in a sarcophagus, usually of several layers, and embellished with images and designs. Often fabulous treasure was involved. The embalming and the storing of organs in jars is because the dead person will need them. To get safely through to eternity you need a body, a name, a soul and a life force; the absence of any of these is a disaster.

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What is a Jewish Myth? by The Llewellyn Journal.
Truth is however, that Judaism has always had its own complex, compelling mythos, starting with the Bible and extending up to today. Most Jewish myths, such as are found in the Midrash, are “spiritual” myths that incorporate divine things and supernatural times and events, but Jews also have secular myths; some of the best modern example revolves around the founding of the state of Israel. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Jewish or not, what precisely is a “myth?”

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