News of the Day: HEADLINES

U.S. is most religious in industrialized world
With 89 percent of the population religious and 62 percent highly so, the U.S. is the most religious nation in the industrialized world, according to the Bertelsmann Foundation's Religion Monitor, an international survey released this week. Religiosity remains high among all adult age groups. And large majorities of Catholics and Protestants say that their religious beliefs affect their political views. Faith plays a far less significant role in developed European countries such as Britain, France, and Germany. The Religion Monitor asked 21,000 people in 21 countries nearly 100 questions about their interest in religious topics...

Buddhist monk eyes opening kung fu world
The sacred temple where kung fu was born some 1,500 years ago to spawn centuries of undefeated masters is at last surrendering to the almighty buck. Critics were kicking and screaming in outrage yesterday over plans to sell stock in the ancient monastery and turn it into a garish tourist attraction to cash in on the sport's popularity. (According to the AP, the local government entity in charge of managing the 1,500-year-old Buddhist temple's tourism-related assets plan to join with China Travel Service in a venture that will seek to raise up to 1 billion yuan or $146.4 million).

The Rise of Robots, What Would the Buddha Think?

While the ability of inanimate objects to have a soul is common to Buddhism, other religions, especially those that insist that human beings were created in the image of God, tend to disagree with the chance of robots being equal to people. "Even if robots have intelligence, they will never have a soul. Robots will never be equal to people...(RT) The Buddha taught that all life forms exist because of relationships. He taught that consciousness arises from various interactions without an eternal, independent soul.

Dalai Lama says Obama's Nobel "a little early"
As President Barack Obama prepares to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, the Dalai Lama told Sky News he believes the award is "a little early" and cautioned the U.S. president against relying too much on his advisers. The exiled Tibetan leader won the Nobel prize 20 years ago for his peaceful opposition to Chinese rule in his country.

Dalai Lama to teach "Heart Sutra" at IU

The Dalai Lama will visit Bloomington in May for the second time since he appointed Arjia Rinpoche as director of the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center. He will give three teachings in the IU Auditorium. He has called the cultural center – which was established by his older brother and former IU professor, Thubten J. Norbu – the Kumbum of the West, or the religion’s monastery of the West. “People might think he only comes here because of his older brother. But even though his older brother has passed away, he’s still coming to visit the center,” Rinpoche said.

The Mystery of the Breath Nimitta

As the title suggests, there is a significant puzzle to be solved by any meditator or scholar who tries to clearly understand the qualities of experience that accompany the transition from mere attention to respiration to full immersion in jhanic consciousness... [T]here are good grounds for confusion on this matter as one traces the historical progression of the commentarial accounts...

Lindsay Lohan to seek spiritual succour in Bihar, India

Hollywood actress Lindsay Lohan will come looking for "spiritual nirvana" in Bihar. The actress, who is currently in India, is known to be "deeply inspired by Hinduism." Lohan, 23, will work on three BBC documentaries covering child trafficking. They will be shot in Bihar, sources at the BBC said. In the course of her shooting, Lohan will stay at an ashram in North Bihar -- bordering Nepal -- and will study the Hindu faith.

India's spiritual awakening
Globalization has been good for gods in the Indian subcontinent. As the region has remade itself, it has grown more devout, and its religions are becoming ever more entangled with politics.

The War Of Yoga: Bringing Our Troops To The Mat!

I posted a request from YogaforVets.com on my Facebook page the other day. It's a site founded in 2007 by Navy diver and yoga instructor Paul Zipes. He says he had the idea for the site because he wanted to support the troops and their recovery from war-related stress and injury. He says, "as a yoga teacher and a vet myself, listing free yoga classes for war vets was an easy decision."

Tibet's glaciers in danger of disappearing
Tibet's glaciers are melting at an alarming rate, scientists say. Black soot is probably responsible for as much as half of the glacial melt and greenhouse gases responsible for the rest, according to research announced Tuesday by NASA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. "During the last 20 years, the black soot concentration has increased two- to three-fold..." a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Sciences said.

With Buddhist blessing, Van Duzer finishes 130-mile Nepal trek
"Out There Guy" reaches 17,769-foot-high Thorung La pass. My high-altitude Colorado lungs are no match for the mighty Himalayas. I never knew I'd miss oxygen so much. I'm panting like a dog with every pathetic step I take. This, coupled with the fact that I haven't eaten due to a stomach bug, is making life difficult. Skip sees that I'm destroyed and offers to take my bag. I should take his offer, but I wave him off: "I'm fine, man, couldn't be better." Confused thinking is one of the symptoms of acute mountain syndrome (AMS).

Climate summit personal for Nepalese delegate

Bhola Prasad Bhattarai traveled from his native Nepal to Denmark to see how the "big people see the little people." At the Copenhagen climate summit, Bhattarai, 33, head of an umbrella organization of 15,000 community forest user groups, has withstood a Scandanavian winter's chill, police charges, an arrest, pricey lunches -- and disappointment that ultimately, the global meeting could end up achieving little.

Maoist child soldiers to be released in Nepal
Under UN accord, almost 3,000 child soldiers who served in the Maoist rebel army during Nepal’s civil war will be released from camps and rehabilitated. The United Nations plan signed in Kathmandu yesterday. The children have spent the past three years in Maoist cantonments since the rebels laid down arms under a UN-backed peace accord in 2006 that ended the decade-long insurgency.

Archaeologist Discovers Traces of Social Networking

This find was in Ancient Greece’s Peripheral Temples. A new study has found evidence to suggest that subjects who lived in the periphery of ancient Greece built their temples in a way to strengthen their ties with mainland Greece. Ancient Greeks who lived in Sicily had their temples face the rising sun not for religious reasons, but to adhere to Greek conventions and forge a stronger bond with Greece, Alun Salt, an archaeo-astronomer with the University of Leicester, discovered in his research, cited by livescience.com.

Where the Wild Things Are

Attended by about 500, the [Bigfoot] conference mixed scientific presentations with folks hoping to make a buck off the creature’s legend. In the auditorium, American Museum of Natural History primate biologist Esteban Sarmiento lectured on great apes he’d studied in Africa, Sumatra and Borneo. National Book Award-­winning naturalist-author Peter Matthiessen described a possible Yeti encounter in Tibet and said academia needs to keep a skeptical, but open, mind on undocumented species.

Bigfoot's Museum: Loren Coleman on cryptozoology

For half a century, Loren Coleman has been obsessed with unusual animals, many of which may not exist. Loren is a cryptozoologist. He studies hidden and unknown animals and the mythology, urban legends, folklore, and culture surrounding them. Sure, Bigfoot, Yeti, and Nessie are the big names, but there are countless others -- the Jersey Devil, the Thunderbird, the Mothman. Loren has written more than a dozen books on the subject and posts daily at the Cryptomundo blog. Does he actually "believe" in Sasquatch or sea monsters? No, because belief, he has said, "belongs in the providence of religion." He just tries to keep an open mind...

Minnesota Bigfoot photo: Bigfoot or big fake
A purported Bigfoot photo taken by a trail camera in north central Minnesota has researchers and the media buzzing.Tim Kedrowski, a salesman from Rice, MN, admits to being skeptical that his motion-activated camera captured an image of the legendary creature but appears to be convinced the photo is not a hoax.

Ex-CIA official: N. Ireland peace targeted

Some former members of the Irish Republican Army -- "small in number" but "ruthless" -- are trying to undermine the agreement that ended 30 years of deadly violence in Northern Ireland, a former deputy director of the CIA said.

Theatre: "Ghetto" explores void in Christian spirituality
The play teems with hip-hop slang, boasts jokes about gold teeth and Tina Turner wigs, and enhances its dramatic sequences through rap and song. Behind the modern entertainment, though, are old-school messages: Get right with God before it's too late. Don't be a part-time Christian. Spread the word to others.

Bizarre Orb UFO seen above Wales

Many UFO hunters have started using video cameras with night vision capabilities. Consequently they are coming to the conclusion that UFOs are visiting earth much more frequently than previously thought. VIDEO

Looks may buy happiness, but only in the city
For country girls, pretty is as pretty does, study shows. Women’s magazines all spread the same message: Money may not buy you happiness, but beauty certainly will. A new study has actually proven that the women’s magazines were right — so long as you live in the city. But if you’re a country girl, it’s more of a case of “pretty is as pretty does.” Researchers have found that happiness for city women is quite dependent upon physical appearance. But in the country, looks don’t count for much...

Graphic testimony in sex-for-tickets case
"DESPERATE BLONDE NEEDS WS TIX. Diehard Phillies -- gorgeous tall buxom blond -- in desperate need of two World Series Tickets. Price negotiable -- I'm the creative type! Maybe we can help each other!" The World Series is long over, but this afternoon, the legal case against a Phillies fan who allegedly offered sex for Series tickets was just going into its second inning. Susan Finkelstein, 43, of West Philadelphia, was accused in late October of offering an undercover police officer various sex acts in return for World Series tickets.

How Pedophilia Lost Its Cool

Today’s idea: The priest sex scandals and the Roman Polanski case show a shift in American attitudes against pedophilia, an essay says — after a period in which “some enlightened folk took a considerably more relaxed view of the question of sex with youngsters.”

Religion, Culture, and Domestic Violence: Buddhism
BUFFALO, NY (WBFO Public Radio) - Thirteen women were brutally killed over the past year allegedly by the men they once loved. The domestic violence murders have stunned the community and left many asking questions. Among them, why do these women stay in such dangerous relationships? Domestic violence advocates say there are many factors making it hard for victims to break free. In at least two of the murders, there was speculation in the media that religion was a factor. Today, WBFO's Joyce Kryszak continues our series exploring the potential impact of religious traditions on domestic violence victims. She talked with Jeanette Ludwig a long-time member of the Buffalo Zen Dharma Buddhist community. Listen

• Thailand, where Santa is Jesus' Dad (CBS News)
• Foxhole Atheists vs. Christian Proselytizers in the Military (Christopher Hitchens, Vanity Fair)
• The Parable of the Garden and the Question of God (Anthony Gottlieb, More Intelligent Life)
• Facebook is for your public profile, not your private life (Julia Angwin, The Wall Street Journal)