Write Comment     |     E-Mail To a Friend     |     Facebook     |     Twitter     |     Print

Hindus welcome Baptist Health offering free yoga at multiple sites in Miami area
 
Hindus have commended Miami (Florida) headquartered Baptist Health South Florida (BHSF) offering various free yoga classes.
 
These classes by BHSF ( which describes itself as “a faith-based organization guided by the spirit of Jesus Christ…”) are reportedly held on various days and times in Miami (Kendall Branch Library, Bayfront Park and A.D. Barnes Park), Pinecrest (Village of Pinecrest and Pinecrest Library), Coral Gables (William H. Kerdyk Jr. Park) and Pembroke Pines.
 
Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, termed it as a step in the positive direction by BHSF to make multi-benefit yoga available free of cost.
 
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged all US healthcare organizations to offer free yoga classes to patients and communities.
 
Yoga, referred as “a living fossil”, was a mental and physical discipline, for everybody to share and benefit from, whose traces went back to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization, Rajan Zed noted.
 
Zed further said that yoga, although introduced and nourished by Hinduism, was a world heritage and liberation powerhouse to be utilized by all. According to Patanjali who codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical.
 
According to US National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress. According to a “2016 Yoga in America Study”, about 37 million Americans (which included many celebrities) now practice yoga; and yoga is strongly correlated with having a positive self image.  Yoga was the repository of something basic in the human soul and psyche, Rajan Zed added.
 
“Yoga combines physical exercise with meditation to help you reduce stress while increasing flexibility, balance and strength”, a BHSF announcement points out. BHSF website also states: Research supports the many health benefits of yoga, including increasing strength and flexibility, improving lung function and lowering blood pressure.
 
A not-for-profit BHSF describes itself as “largest healthcare organization in the region” with eight hospitals and 579,492 patient encounters in 2016, and claims to having been recognized as “one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies”. William H. Dickinson and Brian E. Keeley are Trustees Chairman and President respectively.

UNESCO blamed of hypocrisy for heritage status to island where women are forbidden
 
Hindus have blamed United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) of hypocrisy over granting Okinoshima Island of Japan the World Heritage Site status where the women are not allowed to set foot.
 
UNESCO World Heritage Committee, whose 41st session is meeting in Krakow (Poland) on July 2-12, endorsed Okinoshima Island of Japan for inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage List; it was announced on July nine.
 
Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that it was clear betrayal of the cause of UNESCO where “Gender Equality” was one of the two “Global Priorities”. He urged UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova to resign for insincerity to the ideals of UNESCO.
 
It was a blatant case of promotion and providing official stamp of approval to “gender-inequality” by UNESCO and its two-facedness, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, noted.
 
UNESCO, which “considers gender equality as a fundamental human right, a building block for social justice and an economic necessity”, should be embarrassed of its actions of placing this Island even on its Tentative List of heritage sites. It seemed that UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and Executive Board Chairperson Michael Worbs and other concerned officials failed to really read and grasp the priorities and goals of the organization, Rajan Zed indicated.
 
Zed stated that UNESCO should not be in the business of rewarding the monuments/sites which refused to treat women with equality and respect they deserved. Women were entitled to equal rights and opportunities and this gender discrimination at the Island needed to end right now as it was highly inappropriate and out-of-line.
 
Rajan Zed, quoting scriptures, explained that ancient Manusmriti said: “Where women are revered, there the gods are pleased; where they are not, no rite will yield any fruit.”
 
Men and women were equal in the eyes of God; Zed said, and urged His Holiness Pope Francis and other world religious leaders to strongly speak on this gender equality issue. How could the “men-only” island be on the UNESCO World Heritage List? Zed wondered.
 
“Okinoshima Island and Related Sites in Munakata Region” was on the Tentative List under Japan in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention since 2009. A description of Okinoshima Island on UNESCO website includes: “where from the fourth to the tenth centuries national religious rituals were conducted to supplicate the gods” and “where gods descended to live in this world”. A “Nomination Dossier” was prepared by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs for this site in January 2016.