BANGKOK — Thailand has denied a visa to the sister of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fearing it could upset relations with China. A top Thai Foreign Ministry official said that the Jetsun Pema [who some regard as the "Mother of Tibet," see video] and her husband had applied for visas to attend a cultural festival in Bangkok at Thailand's Embassy in New Delhi, India, but were rejected.
- Dalai Lama is "political monk," says Chinese official
- Choosing the direct, democratic approach
- Want to look rich in China, buy a Tibetan
- Dalai Lama's sister denied visa
RANGOON, Burma — The dance music thundered through a crowd of thousands of drunken fans, past the pavilions where skinny women in impossibly high heels gyrated around metal poles and into the streets filled with taxis that ferried partygoers to this free, whiskey-soaked concert in the park: See VIDEO. “Our parents don’t allow it, but we do it anyway,” said Zun Pwint Phyu, one of the dancers who endured hours of lascivious stares. 
KATHMANDU (AFP) — The former king of Nepal has hinted he hopes the country's centuries-old Hindu monarchy may one day be restored, nearly two years after he was dethroned. Ex-king Gyanendra lost his royal title in 2008 after Nepal's [communist] Maoists, who had fought a decade-long civil war with the state, won landmark polls and scrapped the world's last Hindu monarchy. "I don't think the monarchy is over," he said in a rare interview...Sanskrit mantras to open both Alaska Senate and House 
Both the Alaska State Senate and House of Representatives in Juneau (USA) will open with Hindu prayers reportedly for the first time on April 9, 2010. Rajan Zed, Hindu statesman and leader, will read the opening prayers from the ancient Sanskrit scriptures before senators and representatives. After the Sanskrit delivery, he will read the English translation. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of all Indo-European languages.
Mindfulness on the menu
“When we eat, all our senses are in touch with the food in front of us,’’ says Harvard School of Public Health’s Lilian Cheung. Eating is as much about mind as matter. That’s one of the main points of Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life, by Thich Nhat Hanh and Lilian Cheung. Ven. Hanh is a Buddhist monk who lives in France, whereas Cheung, 57, is a lecturer and director of health promotion and communication at the Harvard School of Public Health.
