Inspiration & Meditation - New Spiritual Channel on Mogulus

On this Channel you can find inspiring videos and recitations of texts and poems by spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy (1931-2007). 24 h a day an Online program is available. Just click on the "ON-DEMAND" button and the clip starts playing. You can also choose your favourite clip, click on it and it starts streaming right away. For German speaking viewers there is a live broadcast every evening at 10 pm CET (Central European Time).

Inspiration Channel on Mogulus

On this new Channel you can find inspiring videos and recitations of texts and poems on spiritual thmes by spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy (1931-2007).

Inspiring News from around the World

I created a new Blog called "Inspiring News from around the world", which is replacing this one. Here is the URL:

http://inspiringnews.wordpress.com/

Many thanks for visting my site and enjoy my new one with at least one new post every day!

Martin Vosseler crosses the US by foot

To draw the attention to the alarming energy crises 59-year old Swiss doctor Martin Vosseler crossed the US from January 1 to the end of July 2008. He started in Los Angeles and finished his "Sunwalk" after 5200 km in New York City. Here is an excerpt of his noble visions: "WE are responsible for the present threat. WE have heated up the atmosphere. WE have poisoned the biosphere with dangerous chemicals and radioactivity. We have polluted the rivers, lakes, and the sea. We have exploited the soil and made it unfertile. WE are also able to return to the natural life cycles. WE can also create life conditions that enable the planet to be healed. All solutions are ready. We just have to implement them: Together, Together with the Sun. Now."

President Mandela turns 90

Nelson Mandela, the man credited with ending apartheid in South Africa, has marked his 90th birthday by calling for the rich to do more for the poor. "If you are poor, you are not likely to live long," he said at his village house in Eastern Cape province for a birthday interview. He isexpected to spend the day at home with his family. His predecessor as president, FW de Klerk, described him as one of the greatest figures of the last century.

Mr Mandela was jailed for 27 years for his part in the ANC campaign against white minority rule but went on to become the country's first black president in 1994. Since stepping down in 1999, he has become South Africa's highest-profile ambassador, campaigning against HIV/Aids and helping to secure his country's right to host the 2010 football World Cup. In 2004, at the age of 85, Mr Mandela retired from public life to spend more time with his family and friends and engage in "quiet reflection". Today, he appeared before reporters to say: "There are many people in South Africa who are rich and who can share those riches with those not so fortunate who have not been able to conquer poverty".

Mandela met many luminarities among them
spritual teacher and peace advocate Sri Chinmoy in 1998

Volcanos on Hawaii and Sicily again active

As the BBC reports today, lava is continuing to flow from the world's most active volcano, Hawaii's Mount Kilauea. The flow is so large that the heat image was picked up by satellite and reported to the US Geological Survey. You can watch a video of the volano on the BBC site, where also a video of a current erruption of Mount Aetna in Sicily can be viewed. For all who are fascinated by volcanos like me watch my LIFE Voices interview with Swiss expert Peter Diethelm on srichinmoy.tv.

Interview with Erich von Däniken

Author Erich von Däniken is certainly one of the most famous and also most controversial authors of our time. He has not only written 29 books in 32 languages with a total circulation of 63 million, but he also traveled the world all over, explored many unknown isssues and gave uncounted talks in universities, congress forums and many TV programs in Europe as well as abroad. With this exclusive interview I would like to present some aspects of this colourful personality. I could touch on themes like his biggest discoveries, his opinions on UFO and crop circles as well as his vision of the year 2012 and his latest book and film projects. This is episode 16 of the interview series called LIFE Voices, published on the 13th of each month by kedarvideo, Switzerland. You can download the Quicktime file on vimeo to enjoy it in full H.264 quality!

Japanese drum performance on vimeo

In July 2004 I visited Barcelona to attend a huge environmental exhibition and discussion FORUM together with the Parliament of the World's Religions. Among many cultural events the "Shumei Taiko Ensemble" gave an outstandig live performance for school children in their courtyard. I got the permission to film this event. Watch this powerful performance and revive the atmosphere of this Japanese drum group that practices music and meditation as part of their daily spiritual training... and download the Quicktime file on vimeo to enjoy it in full H.264 quality!

Interview with Sister Madonna

LIFE Voices Episode 15:
Running triathlons with the age of 78

I had the privilege to meet and interview an extraordinary woman in New York. Sister Madonna is a 78 old catholic nun from Spokane, Washington, who was not only dedicating her life to her religious life but also made history in the running scene. At 52 she ran her first race, soon after she completed a marathon in less than 3 1/2 hours. Since then she has participated in 20 Hawaiian Ironman races and 300 Triathlons throughout the world. At 78 she is by far the fastest in her age category. The whole interview lasted for almost one hour and it was amazing and fascinating to hear her stories and learn about her experiences. It has never been so hard for me to edit an interview because each sentence expresses a feeling and reveals her passion for God as well as for the triathlon world. Therefore I tried to condense the highlights into this 13-minute version illustrated with video footage from HBO as well as from members of our Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team. This video is also available in HD quality on srichinmoy.tv (Quicktime), on vimeo (Flash) and on Miro. I also did a longer version of over 40 minutes for those interested in the subject matter. This version is only available on srichinmoy.tv.

WHO wants total ban on tobacco advertising

Yesterday, the WHO urged governments to protect the world’s 1.8 billion young people by imposing a ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. The WHO's call to action comes on the eve of World No Tobacco Day, 31 May. This year’s campaign focuses on the multi-billion dollar efforts of tobacco companies to attract young people to its addictive products through sophisticated marketing. Recent studies prove that the more young people are exposed to tobacco advertising, the more likely they are to start smoking. Despite this, only 5% of the world’s population is covered by comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

"In order to survive, the tobacco industry needs to replace those who quit or die with new young consumers," said WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan. "It does this by creating a complex 'tobacco marketing net' that ensnares millions of young people worldwide, with potentially devastating health consequences."

"A ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship is a powerful tool we can use to protect the world’s youth," the Director-General added.

Since most people start smoking before the age of 18, and almost a quarter of those before the age of 10, tobacco companies market their products wherever youth can be easily accessed – in the movies, on the Internet, in fashion magazines and at music and sports venues. In a WHO study of 13 to 15-year-olds in schools worldwide, more than 55% of students reported seeing advertisements for cigarettes on billboards in the previous month, while 20% owned an item with logo of a cigarette brand on it.

But it is the developing world, home to more than 80% of the world’s youth, which is most aggressively targeted by tobacco companies. Young women and girls are particularly at risk, with tobacco companies seeking to weaken cultural opposition to their products in countries where women have traditionally not used tobacco.

"The tobacco industry employs predatory marketing strategies to get young people hooked to their addictive drug," said Dr Douglas Bettcher, Director of WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative. "But comprehensive advertising bans do work, reducing tobacco consumption by up to 16% in countries that have already taken this legislative step."

"Half measures are not enough," added Dr Bettcher. "When one form of advertising is banned, the tobacco industry simply shifts its vast resources to another channel. We urge governments to impose a complete ban to break the tobacco marketing net," he said.