Five days from today, a letter will go under an auctioneer’s hammer. No big deal about this except that this letter was written by one of the world’s most influential scientists to one of the world’s well-known philosophers. The content: views on god. The opening bid: $3 million, though it could fetch many times that amount. Read more

Not sure whether it’s serendipity or destiny, I’m inclined towards the latter. Over the past few months, I have been thinking actively about learning Sanskrit. The reason is just one: having read almost every volume written in English, finally I want to be able to read and enjoy the Mahabharata and the Vedas in their own language, perhaps even attempt a translation of my own. It is difficult for me to call it the language of the Gods, but there is something magical in the power of its words. Read more

As the power of organising societies evolved from primitive groupings based on fear and incentives to complex networks powered by science and reason, the role of religion has for all practical purposes become irrelevant to public discourse. Read more

In the week beginning today, 106 events in as many cities will bind the world of faith, religion and spirituality together. Under the aegis of World Interfaith Harmony Week (WIHW), people, organisations and cultures will join hands to convert differences of faith into harmonies. Read more

For a Chinese official to publicly espouse the cause of spirituality in the country is a return to the past. Read more

With science and its adherents, rationality and its advocates, taking up greater space in all dimensions of life, from the natural to the social, it’s getting harder and harder to be a saint in India. Read more

As theoretical astrophysicist Martin J Rees wins the 2011 Templeton Prize, he further blurs the boundaries between spirituality and science. Read more

They were never enemies. But the followers of the two mega-trends that have brought our planet to where it stands today — organised religion and its more evolved, more individual form spirituality, and science — and have created artificial walls that seem rigid, impenetrable, permanent seem to think so. Read more

Across religions, dogma — the chief characterisation and biggest enemy of truth — has gathered momentum and it’s only a matter of time that its power to organise society reduces. Read more

It’s easy to write on religion and spirituality.

It’s not quite as easy to practice it.

When disaster strikes, out goes spirituality with it. Read more