What does it mean to partner with God? What does it mean, as the Bhagavadgita describes, to be God’s hands and feet, God’s eyes and ears? The end of the story of the Ramayana is not the defeat of Ravana, but the return of Rama to Ayodhya and the establishment of a new community. The Ramayana speaks of this community as Ramarajya or the kingdom of God. Ramarajya is not a Hindu community. If the hands of God are all hands, the community of God is an inclusive one that includes and cares for all being. It is a community free from poverty, disease and illiteracy. Hate and violence are overcome and human beings devote themselves in love to serving each other. Nature flourishes in radiant abundance.
Read MoreLead us from untruth to truth-asatō mā sadgamaya
Lead us from darkness to light-tamasō mā jyōtirgamaya
Lead us from death to immortal life- mr̥tyōrmā amr̥taṁ gamaya
Om Peace, Peace, Peace- Om śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ
Like millions of Hindus across our world, I heard and memorized this Sanskrit prayer as a child and recited it with my family during our Diwali celebrations. I never thought much about the depths of its meaning or its significance for understanding and responding to current events.
Read MoreLet us worship the Goddess Lakshmi on Diwali day, honoring and expressing gratitude to Her as the source of wealth and pleasure, but also of virtue and spiritual wisdom. Let us look not only to the hand from which coins of gold fall. Let us look also to the hands that hold the lotus flower and which proclaim the indispensable value of virtue and purity and to the fourth hand that points us to a goal that endures beyond the transiency of wealth. Let our seeing (darshan) this Diwali be complete and may it be an occasion in our homes, temples and communities for moral reflection on the significance of wealth in our lives.
Read MoreA Hindu moral response to refugees must begin theologically with the origin of all in God. The Upanishads, that is the wisdom section of the Vedas, speak of God as “That from which all beings originate, by which they are sustained and to which they return (Taittiriya Upanishad 3.1.1).” The Bhagavadgita (9:17-18) speaks of God as father and mother of the universe, and as its nourisher, lord, goal, and friend. God is not the national or tribal deity of a particular religious, or ethnic community, but the source of all life and existence.
Read MoreI started this reflection with a narrative from the Hindu tradition, because the world’s religions are among the dwindling sources of teachings that remind us of the power of words to hurt and to heal. They revere words as vehicles of truth. Such teachings come with a profound obligation. If our religious leaders do not speak against this abuse of language and the reckless and cynical manipulation of words for the attainment of power, the deep wounds inflicted by Mr. Trump may prove fatal.
Read MoreAn election should be a time when a nation engages in a process of deep discernment. As in the Upanishad prayer that I just mentioned, that discernment must be guided by the light of knowledge (jyotih) and not ignorance, by a passionate concern for seeking truth (sat) and not falsehood, and by a commitment to what ultimately matters (amṛta) and not the trivial. Sadly, what we see today is a reckless indifference to truth and an appeal to narrow self-interest. Untruths that demean others, and that stir hate and fears are peddled daily. The attainment of power, and not truth and wisdom, has become the object of ultimate value. Truth is equated with expediency and convenience and redefined as that which ensures electoral victory; the means justifies the end.
Read MoreMother’s Day is awkward for those of us whose mothers have passed away.
A day that is meant to be one of joy brings with it the poignant memory of loss. A morning of anticipation to make a telephone call across the ocean, reminds us of silence on the other side. Joyful memories are colored by the grief of absence.
Read MoreHindus organizations in India such as the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha must make equal access to Hindu temples a matter of priority and stand in solidarity with those who are denied entry. Visits should be made to every Hindu temple with a history of denying entry to Dalits. Unambiguous teachings that explain why such practices are unacceptable must be shared. Hindu leaders, not state agents, should be walking with Dalits into temples and standing and worshipping with them. It is a shame on our tradition when Dalits are excluded or permitted to worship outside of the temple.
Read MoreAs a consequence of the Supreme Court’s decision, several Hindu temples in the United States have received requests from same-sex Hindu couples for religious marriage ceremonies. However, the decision of the Supreme Court does not mandate a religious organization, like a Hindu temple, to perform same-sex ceremonies. “The first Amendment,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy for the majority, “ ensures that religious organizations and persons are given proper protection as they seek to teach the principles that are so fulfilling and so central to their lives and faiths, and to their own deep aspirations to continue the family structure they have long revered.”
Read MoreIf the light at the threshold reminds us that the inner light must radiate outwards, it also reminds us that we cannot dispel darkness if we are not awake to the light within. We cannot do much good in the world outside if our own hearts are deep in the darkness of ignorance (avidyā), greed (kāma) and hate (dveṣa). Lost in darkness, we will contribute to the world’s suffering and not help in its overcoming. The light that shines out must first shine within. Darkness does not dispel darkness.
Read MoreI am the chief ‘villain’ in Rajiv Malhotra’s Indra’s Net: Defending Hinduism’s Philosophical Unity . To Malhotra, I am ‘the leading scholar’ who is ‘destroying’ the Hindu tradition from within by promoting what he calls ‘the cancer’ of Neo- Hinduism. Moreover, Malhotra credits me for sparking the research that produced Indra’s Net. Against this backdrop, it has been interesting to observe the controversy raging around Malhotra’s work arising from charges of plagiarism.
Read MoreFew teachers have fulfilled their obligations to their tradition as Swami Dayananda Saraswati did. He has left our world richer with teachers. In 1973, after graduating from the University of the West Indies, I made a long journey from my home in Trinidad to study at the Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, the aśrama in Mumbai, India, founded by Swami Chinmayananda (1916-1993). This was my first visit to India, the birthplace of my Hindu ancestors. It was a time when few from my country traveled to India.
Read MoreHindus and Catholics have a long history of co-existence in communities across our world. Catholics and Hindus have lived as neighbors on the Indian subcontinent for centuries. Hindus also live among Catholics in many other parts of our world, including Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Fiji, Mauritius, North America and Australia. While our history together is not free from controversy and dispute, we must not overlook the friendship and mutual learning that also characterize our encounters. These are precious resources that can be too easily ignored in times of conflict and contention.
Read MoreIn his recently published book, Indra’s Net, author Rajiv Malhotra describes Professor Anantanand Rambachan as the foremost and most influential exponent of what Malhotra describes as the Neo-Hinduism thesis. This thesis, according to Malhotra, argues that Hinduism was fabricated during the British rule and that Swami Vivekananda plagiarized Western and Christian ideas. He accuses Professor Rambachan of working to fragment the Hindu tradition. In the essay that follows, Professor Rambachan contends that Rajiv Malhotra distorts and misrepresents his work. He identifies and responds to some of Malhotra’s principal allegations.
Read MoreReligious traditions that survived the colonial experience have done so with a bruised and even battered sense of self. Colonialism undermined Hindu pride and the confident profession of a Hindu self-identity. This was not just the consequence of political subjugation and economic exploitation. The religious traditions of the colonizers, with exceptions, entered as partners in empire building, reflecting the colonizers disdain for India’s indigenous traditions.
Read MoreAlthough we may rejoice at our growing percentage of the adult population, the rise of the “nones” is particularly worrying for Hindus. Hindus are not immune from these wider trends in the United States. When I was a child attending a Hindu elementary school in Trinidad, we recited a series of questions and answers about Hinduism from a small catechetical text. One of the questions was, “Why are you a Hindu?” The answer followed: “Because I was born a Hindu.” It may have been a good answer in its time, but it will not work for a new generation of Hindu Americans. Affiliation with the Hindu tradition will not be guaranteed by birth.
Read MoreThe religious map of the United States has been and continues to be radically transformed by the opening of its doors to immigrants from Asia. Diana Eck, Harvard University, Professor of Religion, describes us as the world’s most religiously diverse nation. Today, people of other religions are our neighbors, friends, colleagues and competitors.
Read MoreThe tears of our earth, poignantly described by Tulasidas, have not ceased, afflicted as she is by pollution, the rapid loss of her bio-diversity and by climate change that threatens her ability to sustain life itself. Our religious traditions must awaken and re-awaken us to a reverence for the earth and inspire energy and action to respond to her plea and to relieve her from suffering.
Read MoreThroughout the electoral campaign, however, concerns about Shri Modi's leadership were focused not so much on economic theory and policy, but significantly on the nature of his Hindu identity and the potential implications of his religious self-understanding for a multi-religious India. Discussions about religion and politics have a long and intense history in India, but the current anxiety about a leader's religious worldview seems unprecedented. The attention on Shri Modi personalizes this anxiety, but there is a sense in which what it means to be Hindu is under scrutiny.
Read MoreThe decision by Penguin (India) to withdraw Wendy Doniger’s controversial book, The Hindus: An Alternative History, has, not unsurprisingly, elicited a huge volume and range of responses. On one side are those who see the issue solely as one of freedom of expression and worry that Penguin’s capitulation undermines free speech. On the other side are supporters of Shiksha Bachao Andolan, the group that filed the lawsuit against Doniger’s book.
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