Why Do We Offer Food to the Lord Before Eating It?

In the Christian tradition, food is partaken after a thanks giving prayer grace. Indians make an offering of it to the Lord and later partake of it as prasada – a holy gift from the Lord. In temples and in many homes, the cooked food is first offered to the Lord each day. Our entire attitude to food and the

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Why Are There 108 Beads in a Mala (Rosary)?

The Hindu religion has had prayer beads for a long time. Its rosary consists of 109 beads — 108 to mark the 108 names of God and one to mark the beginning of the prayer cycle, “Dancing Shiva, who shows grace, peace and creative power, and destroys and treads on the evil dwarf.”   Sakyamuni, the East Indian who was

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