Category: India

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Indian bishop becomes hermit

Catholic media site Aleteia reports in an item headline: ” An Indian bishop resigns his position to become… a hermit.” Monsignor Jacob Muricken, auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Pala, of the Syro-Malabar church, in the state of Kerala (southern India), left his position to enter a cave hermitage. The monsignor has a long-standing repute for asceticism, being a vegetarian eating two meals daily. He donated a kidney to a Hindu colleage . Fr. Jacob indicated that he looked forward to a life of “God and nature.”

URL: https://es.aleteia.org/2022/09/07/un-obispo-indio-renuncia-a-su-cargo-para-convertirse-en-un-ermitano/

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“Wandering … but not lost”

A recent film titled Wandering … But Not Lost features Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Master Mingyur Rinpoche. In 2011 he left the security of his monastery to live the life of a wandering yogi. His wandering lasted four and a half years (through 2015) incognito on the streets of India, Nepal and in Himalayan caves. In this film, Mingyur Rinpoche returns to share the insights he gained.  

Wandering … but not lost

URL (trailer, another source): https://tricycle.org/magazine/mingyur-rinpoche-wandering/

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India (modern) forest hermit

Rediff News (India) article titled “Hermit Living In The Forest For 17 Years” consists of two sentences, with two photographs. The article text: “A man named Chandrashekhar was found living in the forest for over 17 years. He was living in his Ambassador car parked deep inside a dense forest area between the villages of Adtale and Nekkareforest in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district.”

URL: https://www.rediff.com/news/report/yeh-hai-india-hermit-living-in-the-forest-for-17-years/20211012.htm

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The hermit and the bears (India)

An item in the Outlook (The News Scroll) of India (see URLs below for other sources) relates the report of a forest hermit who attracts wild bears with his sacred song. Article title: “Wild bears find spiritual solace in hermit’s bhajans.” Here are the first lines of the article:

A forest in Madhya Pradesh is witnessing a strange sight of a pair of wild bears along with their two cubs getting drawn to the world of spirituality, an activity generally associated with humans.

Swayed by the bhajans of a saffron-clad hermit, Sitaram, the wild bears have lent a new meaning to spirituality in the wild of Shahdol district.

The bear family has become a part of his surroundings while the ascetic strikes a communion with the almighty.

Sitaram, who has built a hut in the Rajmada forest area of the district, said the bear couple and their cubs frequent his home to listen to his hymning in rapt attention.

When the 65-year-old hermit sings bhajans and plays harp after offering puja, the wild beasts walk down to his residence near the Son river from nearby Jaitpur jungles.

These wild animals, far from attacking the sadhu, sit by side and slip into spiritual bliss hearing his bhajans.

The mammals retreat and melt into the jungles after consuming the prasad offered by him, Sitaram said.

URL: https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/wild-bears-find-spiritual-solace-in-hermits-bhajans/1734570, https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/wild-bears-listen-to-bhajan-shahdol-madhya-pradesh-589005, https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/feb/16/man-animal-camaraderie-bhajans-bring-wild-bears-closer-to-hermit-in-mp-chhattisgarh-border-forest-2104247.html, and https://www.hindustantimes.com/it-s-viral/bear-family-in-madhya-pradesh-regularly-visits-hermit-s-hut-to-hear-him-sing/story-7f3COP0dRMaxBAMjy8BjYK.html