Multi-Religious Cooperation: Myth, Reality, or Possibility for Indonesia?

Mar 27, 2010 | Media

There is a beautiful Sufi saying that, earlier “Sufi” did not exist as a term, but there were practicing Sufis everywhere. Now, the term “Sufi” exists, but there is hardly any true practitioner. The same can be said about “multi-religious co-operation” and “interfaith...

Aceh Must Look to Its Glorious Past If It Hopes to Avoid an Inglorious Future

Nov 16, 2009 | Media

Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam is once again in the news. This time it is not because of a tsunami or any separatist movement, but because of the “ qanun jinayat ” (“ fiqh ” in Arabic), or religious jurisprudence-based law, passed by the regional legislature on Sept. 14....

Meditations on an Island

Nov 10, 2009 | Latest News, Media

Interview with Anand Krishna, Founder of the Bali Meditators Conference November 14-16, 2009. Bali News: Meditations on an Island (11/7/2009) As reported on balidiscovery.com, Bali will host the First Annual International Bali Meditators Festival in downtown Ubud...

Finding Yourself

Jul 7, 2009 | Media

Mulat sarira, an expression oft quoted by the Balinese, has been chosen as the theme for this year’s Bali Arts Festival. Meaning self-introspection, mulat sarira is not just a concept, religious dogma or doctrine, but a call for all human beings irrespective of their...

Great Entertainer Left Religion Unanswered

Jul 7, 2009 | Media

People adored him, worshiped him, but also despised him. Michael Jackson, born a star, was an enigma in life and remains an enigma in death. A day after the star’s death, a religious group in Jakarta displayed a banner, called him “brother” and bade him goodbye....

An ‘Independent’ vs. a ‘Dominated’ Nation

Mar 7, 2009 | Media

“I have traveled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such caliber, that I do not think we would ever conquer this...