First, who is a Hindu?

Arguably, it depends on who you ask! 

Historically, the term “Hindu” was used to identify persons of specific cultural  practices and geography, eventually evolving into a religious identifier for those  living in India. 

Over time, Hindus became commonly defined as persons of Indian origin who  hold beliefs and practice rituals that are opposed to logic and science. Who  perform idol worship to many gods. Who makes the cow supreme, and so, do  not eat beef. Who follow the oppressive caste system and classify one’s  importance in society and their right to education by birth and lineage. 

Any real “Hindu” reading the definition above would cringe. What an atrocious,  and unfortunately, widespread misunderstanding of a most beautiful civilization,  seen from an “outsider’s” perspective. 

Through colonialism, the sad truth is that this and numerous other similar  misinterpretations became so popular that even many who saw themselves as  “insiders” to Hinduism began believing the characterization, passing it down to  future generations so that it still lives on today. 

Presently, combined with the definitions above, many associate Hindus with the  Western definitions of reincarnation, karma, and hatha yoga. 

So, what does it really mean to be Hindu? 

“Know thyself!” 

According to Western history, this fundamental instruction takes its origin from  the Coffin Texts of Egypt. The words were carved into Apollo’s temple of Delphi  in Greece. They became the watchwords of Socrates, inspiring humanity to take  a more in-depth look at its existence beyond the mundane and physical.  Spiritual gurus such as Moses, Buddha, and Jesus have all advised man to look  within himself to find this Truth. 

Who am I? From where, whom, or what have I come? And, where will I go after  this? The moment these questions form in our consciousness, life itself takes on an  entirely new dimension. We become seekers.

There is one society whose entire foundation and focus is built on answering  these questions. One civilization maps this process of knowledge of the self by  turning inwards and illuminating every aspect of life with the truths found within,  even as scientists persevere in the search outwards. 

According to Sanatan Dharma (the original Sanskrit term for the way of life that  Hinduism describes), one who follows this path is the true Hindu! In brief, the  word “Hindu” is a name given to those who adhere to the principles and  practices of Sanatan Dharma. Indeed, a Hindu inherits and applies an eternal  way of life that speaks to every aspect of how one enters the world, functions  within it, and subsequently transcends beyond it over one or many lifetimes. (We  can see the disparity in this definition of “Hindu” from those mentioned  previously.) 

With Hinduism believed to have its origins in India – the birthplace of civilization – what, then, is Hindu studies, if not an examination into the world’s history, a  search for the realization of who we are, and the pursuit of absolute Truth? 

Even if one does not acknowledge that all civilizations take root in India, there is  no arguing that 15% of the world’s population or approximately 1.25 billion  people identify as Hindu today. With the mass marketing of “yoga” as a health  and wellness tool, words like “karma” and “guru” infiltrating daily conversations,  and the popularity of names like “Maya” and “Arya” increasing among non Indian descendants, even an “outsider” must acknowledge that the impact of  Hinduism on daily norms are significant in ways that are both obvious and  obscure. Yet, the “insider” knows that the less apparent impressions go far  beyond the average person’s conscious perception. 

But Hinduism is so much more than these fragments of culture that it has  influenced. Sanatan Dharma offers the ultimate truth and brings to light the very  critical questions that spark self-discovery. Long before Socrates reminded  humanity that our search must go beyond the superficial, Yama expressed to  Nachiketa in the Katha Upanishad, “Those who realize the Self are forever free  from the jaws of death.” In Bhagavad Gita, chapter 13, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna,  “This is true knowledge, to seek the Self as the true end of wisdom always.” 

We’ve established that Hindu studies are, in fact, the study of the self, and there  is nothing more important than that for the seeker. But, is it necessary for this  study to take place in an academic setting?

The proper setting for Hindu studies

Before we answer this question, let’s go back a little further. 

What exactly is the truth? Where do we find it? Can we find it on our own? And,  when we do, how can we identify it? 

As insiders to Hinduism, many of us may be able to look at these questions and  formulate some level of intelligent response based on received knowledge. We  may have our subjective definitions of truth and might even agree on authentic  places where this truth is found, such as the Shrutis, Smritis, and today – even  Google! With a wealth of information on every secret of the universe available  at our fingertips, there is rarely an inquiry that someone hasn’t already addressed  on the internet. Can’t we read informally and interpret what is presented in the  privacy of our homes? I may have a master’s degree or a high IQ. Indeed, I am  equipped to interpret what I read without assistance! What does the  environment have to do with it? 

An academic environment for hindu studies can be defined in simple terms as the conditions  under which one undertakes study. It typically refers to a formal classroom  setting where an instructor imparts or facilitates knowledge to the student(s) in a  structured manner. 

The question put forward is: are Hindu Studies in an academic environment  important? 

The answer to this question is a resounding YES! With skewed definitions and  misinterpretations on Hinduism as colossal as the ones described above and the  enormity of uncontrolled information available to seekers, it is almost impossible  for the individual seeker to weed through with an acceptable level of clarity. 

From time immemorial, Hinduism’s traditions and the immense knowledge  contained therein have been passed on in a formal setting. Whether through  Parampara in the official Gurukulas or Satsangha in the Naimisharanya forest, an  academic environment’s characteristics were adhered to for many reasons. 

Let’s look at some of these and how they remain applicable to Hindu studies in  an academic environment today. 

1. Subject matter expertise – the concept of a qualified “Guru” or expert in  the specific field of truth is always of utmost importance. A Guru imparts  knowledge acquired either through pramana or studies through their  system of sampradaya, and this is sustained for quality control, maintaining the integrity of the information being imparted. Learners can  identify existing challenges with received knowledge or simply available  information and move away from subjective to absolute truth. 

2. Structure – There is always a logical sequence or “syllabus” for imparting  the knowledge being disseminated to make sense to the learner. When  Raja Parikshit put forward a question asking about life’s meaning, Suka  Deva explained the entire Bhagavat Maha Purana to him, discussing the  Das Avatars, etc., before getting to the heart of the answer. Suka  recognized that Parikshit needed this background information for his  ultimate understanding. Independent learning without structure or  guidance of a qualified Guru often results in misinformation, misinterpretation, and more confusion. The student does not always know  the proper prerequisites for studying a subject, especially one as  elaborate as Hindu Studies. An academic environment provides that  structure and proficiency that affords clarity to the learner’s journey. 

3. Discipline – The student is held accountable for learning, accuracy, and  proper application. We see an excellent example of this in the  Mahabharata, where Guru Dronacharya places a wooden target in a  tree and asks his students to describe what they see. He does not just  impart knowledge but tests his students’ understanding to gauge where  they are in their learning and their ability to implement in real life  situations. In a modern-day academic setting, this is done through essays,  presentations, dissertations, internships, etc., allowing the Gurus and  educational bodies to verify that the knowledge remains authentic and is  adequately understood. 

4. Clarification opportunities – In Bhagavad Gita, Shree Krishna allows Arjuna  to ask clarifying questions. In Rama Gita of the Ramacharitamanas, Rama  tells Lakshmana to listen with his mind and intellect fully engaged, ensuring  that what he is saying is understood in its entirety. Many of our Puranas  contain conversations where students seek and receive clarification  where there is doubt. This opportunity to clarify is invaluable to a novice of  Hindu studies, especially when one finds it challenging to accept that their received knowledge conflicts with what is stated in authentic  sources. 

These are just a few reasons why an academic setting is ideal for Hindu studies.  These methods were not formulated in a haphazard manner, but with great  importance given to effectiveness and integrity. They have been tried and  tested through the ages. Even though the classroom’s appearance has evolved, the benefits the academic setting provides, not just to the learner but to  preserving the purity of the subject of Hindu studies itself, is invaluable. 

In Kaliyuga, Truth is the last remaining leg of Dharma, but in a world where “fake news” is so prevalent, merely finding the truth is an arduous journey. Like the one provided by the Hindu University of America (HUA), an academic setting that facilitates genuine learning gives seekers a fighting chance.

Over the last one thousand years, at least, the Hindus did not defend themselves and their lands very well, and they were invaded, colonized, converted and impoverished and forced to live under the heel of hostile rule repeatedly. Recently, it has been estimated that over a period of approximately 200 years, the quantum of wealth drained out of India by England was around $ 45 Trillion USD[1] in current-day terms.  Writing for the New York Daily Tribune in 1853, Karl Marx, who lived in England at that time, observed that the loss of the Hindu world was perhaps a permanent and irreversible event.

All the civil wars, invasions, revolutions, conquests, famines, strangely complex, rapid, and destructive as the successive action in Hindostan may appear, did not go deeper than its surface…. England has broken down the entire framework of Indian society, without any symptoms of reconstitution yet appearing…. This loss of his old world, with no gain of a new one, imparts a particular kind of melancholy to the present misery of the Hindoo and separates Hindostan, ruled by Britain, from all its ancient traditions, and from the whole of its past history[1] Karl Marx

[1] Karl Marx, Quotations taken from articles written in the New York Daily Tribune, 1853

In his life, Karl Marx was a champion of the underdogs, the oppressed and marginalized. His entire life’s work was predicated on the passionate articulation of the inherent evils of Capitalism, and by his own judgement, the whole phenomenon of colonization was the byproduct of the search for easy wealth and capital. However, when it came to India, somehow Karl Marx was able to rationalize its colonization and reframe it, not as the unremittingly violent phenomenon that it was, but as an inevitable event of world history, i.e. it was for its own good that India was conquered, colonized, and impoverished by the British.

India, then, could not escape the fate of being conquered, and the whole of her past history, if it is anything, is the history of the successive conquests she has undergone.

Indian society has no history at all, at least no known history. What we call its history, is but the history of the successive intruders who founded their empires on the passive basis of that unresisting and unchanging society

The question, therefore, is not whether the English had a right to conquer India, but whether we are to prefer India conquered by the Turk, by the Persian, by the Russian, to India conquered by the Briton. England had to fulfill a double mission in India: one destructive, the

[1] Utsa and Prabhat Patnaik, “A Theory of Imperialism”, Columbia University Press, 2017

[1] Karl Marx, Quotations taken from articles written in the New York Daily Tribune, 1853

other regenerating – the annihilation of the old Asiatic society, and the laying of a material foundation of Western society in India[1]

[1] Karl Marx, Quotations taken from articles written in the New York Daily Tribune, 1853

By any objective empirical measure, the Hindus are primarily the victims of colonization – in fact, the Hindus have been the victims of at least two distinct eras of colonization, the Islamic and the European, both of which resulted in the conversion of millions of people from Hinduism into Islam and Christianity. However, very little academic effort has gone into investigating the cultural consequences of such sustained colonization, and answering some of the following questions: What were the repercussions of such sustained colonization and invasion on Hindu society?; How was the Hindu society transformed in fundamental ways?; What is the present condition of the Hindu society?; What is its future?; Is recovery of the old Hindu culture and civilization possible?; What is the nature of the hybrid society that colonialism has produced? and so on and so forth.

On the contrary, enormous ink is being spilled in continually demonizing and dehumanizing the Hindus, and presenting them as the aggressors and victimizers, while the so-called minorities of India i.e. Muslims, Christians, and everyone else as the victims of majoritarian aggression in the academia and the media today (See for example the statement of the American Academy of Religion, and the 10,000 signatures accompanying a blatantly false petition). Anyone, reading contemporary analysis, both in the media and the academia, will easily come to the conclusion that Hindus are the aggressors, and Hindutva as one of the greatest threats both to India and to the world today – which is the intent behind the falsehoods being enshrined in the campaign of the AAR and associated academics and public intellectuals. How is it that the inversion of the oppressor-oppressed relationship so easy to accomplish in the case of the Hindu people? How is it that the oppressed could so easily be turned into the oppressor? How is it that any effort by the Hindus to defend their culture and way of life, against sustained and systematic aggression, is itself immediately problematized, and turned into the real issue that needs intervention? And, why are Hindu voices so completely missing in contesting this in the academia and the media, both in India as well as around the world?

The Marxist Framework The Marxist analytical framework designated the capitalist class (the oppressor) and the labor class (the oppressed) as constitutive of a fundamental dialectic opposition and claimed that both possessed a class-consciousness inherently hostile to each other. This analytic template has validity within the domain of economic inequality, in the form of the irresolvable conflict of interest between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie resulting from the inherent tensions and contradictions of Capitalism, which tends to create massive piles of wealth for the very few and enormous poverty for a great majority.  His forecast of a violent socialist revolution, however, as the logical and inevitable evolutionary outcome of Capitalism, has turned out to be greatly unrealistic despite the body count of the Marxist experiments exceeding some hundred million under Stalin, Mao and Pot Pol.

[3] Karl Marx, Quotations are taken from articles written in the New York Daily Tribune, 1853

The evolution of Classical Marxism into Neo-Marxism (Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) and further into Cultural Marxism (Frankfurt School of Social Research) however, enabled the discourse of the oppressor-oppressed dichotomy to move into the social and cultural sphere, and examine marginalized groups which have been historically oppressed. Women’s studies and African American Studies are two examples, which seek to redress historical wrongs committed against a specific group of people.

We may think that similar analysis of Cultural Marxism when applied to the context of colonialism would naturally place the colonizer as the oppressor and the colonized as the oppressed, and the Hindus would be acknowledged as the victims of protracted colonization and violence. But the logic completely goes off the rails when it deliberately misidentifies the oppressed as the oppressor in the case of the Hindu people. Contemporary discourse emerging from postcolonial theory when applied to India and the Hindu culture completely sidesteps the violence of Colonialism perpetrated on the Hindu people and instead, gets fixated on showing that the Hindus are the real oppressors because of the Caste system and therefore the real problem, while the cultural consequences of Islamic invasions of India, as well as British colonization, are completely overlooked as legitimate areas of study. 

This is a mystifying cognitive mis-direction – where the oppressed is turned magically into the oppressor, without a whisper of protest from any quarter.

The Emergence of a New Field of Study

While postcolonialism has emerged as a robust and legitimate field of study in the aftermath of colonialism, a discipline such as Postcolonial Hindu Studies does not even exist today. Colonialism was not merely the economic, political and military control of Asian, African or South American people and regions, i.e. the three continents which became ‘colonies’ of European powers during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It was also the context in and through which non-European cultures and knowledge were destroyed, modified, or ‘disciplined’ by colonial rulers. It was a powerful cultural and epistemological conquest of the native populations.  The Europeans acquired knowledge over native cultures through translations, commentaries, and academic study before either destroying them completely or profoundly modifying native ways of being and thinking.[1]

[1] Pramod K. Nayar, “Postcolonial Literature – An Introduction”, Dorling Kindersley India (Pvt Ltd), 2008; The definitions and verbiage used in this section have been adapted from the first chapter titled “Colonialism, Postcoloniality, Postcolonialism”

Postcolonial Hindu Studies as a field of study must begin with an acknowledgment of the nature of the colonial encounter and its inherent violence towards the Hindu culture and civilization – epistemic, cultural, economic, political, and military. It must also address this cognitive blind spot in the field which allows for this misdirection where the oppressed Hindu is somehow magically labeled as the oppressor. Further, it must also explore the ways in which colonial narratives about Hindu culture and Hindu people generated during the colonial era by European Indologists, keep getting regurgitated and reproduced as authoritative received knowledge, without critical examination. It must seek to address the ways in which the Hindu culture has been marginalized as an effect of colonial rule and to find modes of resistance, retrieval, and if possible, reversal and reclamation of its pre­colonial past. It must seek to understand, negotiate, and critique a specific historical event i.e. colonial rule of India, while looking forward to a world order in which Hindu existence and aspirations are recognized as legitimate expressions of a colonized people. At the same time, postcolonial Hindu Studies must be a disciplinary project devoted to the academic task of intellectual decolonization: i.e. revisiting, remembering, and, crucially, interrogating the colonial discourse with a view to securing an intellectual freedom from the colonialist and orientalist narratives that have become canonical received knowledge regarding the Hindu people, culture and civilization, resulting in their relentless dehumanization.

Uma Nagarajan, Indiana, USA

Namaste! 

I just completed the first semester of the MA Sanskrit Program offered by Hindu University of America in partnership with MIT-School of Vedic Sciences. It’s offered in two-year, three-year, four-year options. I chose the two-year program as I wanted to dedicate two years for focused study. I wondered how the timing would work with full-time work and family commitments. It worked quite well, as the class timings are convenient for various time zones. There are six 1.5 hour classes in the week. We need a few more hours for studying, listening to the class recordings, assignments, etc. So, with around 15 hours of commitment each week, I was able to complete the first semester quite well. The faculty and the acharyas are very knowledgeable. They readily clarify doubts and answer questions of students at any time – in the live class, online class discussion forums, emails, and messages. What I managed to learn in the first semester is amazing. The Vyakaranam course not just introduced us to Ashtaadhyaayi but enabled us to interpret the sutras by ourselves. The Vedic Sciences Foundation course is very unique and gives a very scientific and structured perspective of our Shastras and shaastra-granthaas. Though the focus of this MA program is on learning the language and saahityam, it also offers popular elective choices to explore from the wealth of knowledge that is available in the language – the Vedas, Vedanta and the Shastras. I am very grateful to MIT, HUA and the acharayas for offering this program online with affordable schedule options.

Amit Rao, Mumbai – India

I’ve always been passionate about languages – how they work, how we use them to communicate and to represent knowledge, as well as how they reflect human evolution. My early research in artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and English-Hindi machine translation deepened this interest. I was therefore always fascinated by Sanskrit. After 3 years of self-learning, I decided to pursue a formal Master’s degree. After exploring the available options, I found the MIT School of Vedic Sciences (SVS) offered in partnership with the Hindu University of America to be best suited for my needs. It was fully online, so I could do it from home while getting an officially recognized masters degree at the same time. Above all, I liked the breadth of coverage and the modern and flexible feel of the syllabus. Now, in my second semester, I’m thrilled and deeply grateful for my choice. 

This program combines the best of both worlds – A brilliant faculty deeply trained in traditional Sanskrit knowledge systems and learning methodologies that are using the latest technology platforms to make the learning globally and flexibly accessible. The faculty are extremely approachable and committed to fine-tuning the course to the extent possible to suit the students’ best interests. A wonderful peer group of students passionate about the subject and supportive of one another was an added blessing.

The biggest surprise factor of the course for me, and the most pleasant and valuable one, was to discover the incredibly scientific, holistic and integrated nature of our Indic knowledge systems. This methodology of creating, discussing, inferring and encoding new knowledge, as well as the timeless value of the vast knowledge already encoded in Sanskrit are best learned in this language. My Sanskrit fluency has improved by leaps and bounds due to the immersive exposure to high-quality Shastric Sanskrit in which all the teachers here teach. I keenly look forward to sharing my knowledge and insights about the scientific nature of our shastras and exploring how they can be used to enrich all our modern disciplines.

I definitely and highly recommend the MIT-SVS-HUA MA Sanskrit program to anyone who wants to explore the Indic knowledge systems deeply. I find it value-for-money.

Anil Vashistha, Indianapolis

Namaste!

Having completed the undergraduate level Distance Learning Program courses provided by SamskritaBharati, I was eager to enroll in a master’s level Sanskrit Program. It sounded like a dream come true when I heard about the MA program offered by Hindu University of America in partnership with MIT School of Vedic Sciences. I quickly took the prerequisite Sanskrit proficiency test. I was quite anxious as to how the program would unfold but once the classes began, all the anxiety turned into pure joy and I had a feeling of being offered something very very special.

The timing of the classes, assignments, availability of study material – everything was very well thought out by the faculty. As for the teachers, there are no words that can express their depth of knowledge, teaching skills, and the abundance of patience. Yet these are not just any regular university lecturers. These are the best of the class Acharyas in their own fields. Beyond just prescribing a book and conducting an exam at the end of the semester, this course had hands-on, interactive sessions with the rarest of the Acharyas, all in samskritam. Assignments made us think and express our understanding in samskritam. And each and every assignment was thoroughly examined and constructive feedback was given. The course is structured beautifully – starts off with a birds-eye view of Vedic literature and then dives into the important components of our Shastras with a goal of enabling students to be able to study the original Shastras – themselves!

To know more about the courses, head to our course page

To know more in detail, and to have any doubts and questions about MA in Sanskrit course clarified, attend our Free Sanskrit Webinar this coming Sunday. 

Among the priceless treasures that India has offered to the world, yoga has captured the attention of millions across the world. As with all other systems of indigenous wisdom, yoga recognizes the inherent connectedness of the microcosmos with the microcosmic human system and strives for a balance and harmony between the inner and outer realms.

Yoga is derived from the ancient system of sankhya. One of the key founding theory behind all of the eastern schools of thoughts, sankhya propounds the concept of dualism consisting of purusha, the sentient principle and prakriti the manifested material world. Prakriti is nothing but nature with its evolutes such as mahat or cosmic intelligence; tanmatras, the attributes such as sound, sight, etc; and the basic elements of Satva (illumination), Rajas (activity), and Tamas (inertia) as the attributes of both cosmic intelligence as well as of the mind. Yoga builds on Sankhya and helps one look into the constituents of mind. Patanjali, the father of yoga, along with the sages such as Vyasa, Katyayana, and others have systematically explained mind and its states; the disturbances of the mind; the factors responsible for mind’s disturbances; the techniques and ideas to calm down the mind; and how to raise oneself to the higher states of consciousness. 

Yoga at its core also explains the concept of five sheaths called Pancha Kosha. These are the five interconnected dimensions that make up the human system — annamaya kosha (the physical body that is nourished by food), pranamaya kosha (the vital body nourished by prana), the manomaya kosha (the emotional mind), the vijnanamaya kosha (intellect sheath) and anandamaya kosha (the pure consciousness). It also explains the five prana-s, the vital forces responsible for carrying out every aspect of the physical and mental functions. When there is some imbalance or distress in any part of the body, it naturally influences the mind and conversely, any agitation or distress in the mind somatises to affect the body. It is for this reason that Patanjali, in his Yoga Sutra, emphasizes that illness or vyadhi can be a significant deterrent in our quest for clarity and discernment, and has to be addressed if one has to gain freedom from the cycles of pleasure and pain.

Yoga, in its therapeutic application, offers a wide range of strategies and interventions that are suitable for individuals of different ages, abilities, professions, and backgrounds. At the heart of yoga is the awareness that good health is not merely the absence of disease but a positive state of well being at all the five sheaths, the Pancha Kosha-s. It further states that chronic disease —Adhija Vyadhi — is the condition that results when one goes through persistent stress for long periods.  Stress is the result of one’s reaction to external circumstances. Hence, per yoga, stress is not necessarily a helpless condition that everyone must suffer.  With proper education and practice, one can learn to react in a way that inner stress can be minimal, in spite of the stressful situations. As Adi Shankara puts it “kartum akartum anyatha kartum samarthah’ — we have the freedom to react, not to react, and to react in a third way. Yoga helps in cultivation of a strong and stable mind that is able to think and reason with clarity, without being influenced by the klesa-s (impurities) that obscure judgment and the ability to have a pleasant and stable mental disposition while also having the resilience to face up to the multiple challenges presented by life.

The practices of asanas (postures), bandhas (yogic locks), kriyas (cleansing techniques), and mudras (hand gestures) help at the physical level; pranayama helps bring vitality and harmony; the concept of love and devotion which is termed Bhakti yoga helps bring peace at the emotional level and the yogic contemplation and meditation helps bring harmony at the intellectual level. Yoga is a holistic healing system that enables and empowers the individual to bring healing from within.

Yoga Bharati is a non-profit, 501 c(3) organization with a vision of enhancing Health, Happiness, Knowledge, & Peace in life through a holistic approach to yoga. We are a yoga education institution offering Yoga Teacher’s Training and Yoga Therapy courses. We are affiliated with the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation (SVYASA),  Bangalore, India, since our inception and have recently established an affiliate relationship with the Hindu University of America. SVYASA is one of the premier Yoga Universities and yoga research institutes in India with its rich background in research on yoga’s healing effects for various ailments and has published over 500 research papers in scientific journals.

For details visit: yogabharati.org

Dr. Madhu Sharma, a Hindu chaplain at Duke University, received her Doctor of Philosophy in Hinduism Degree from Hindu University of America, in front of friends, family, and community leaders from several Hindu organizations, at the North Carolina Hindu Society in Raleigh on September 28^th, 2019. Her dissertation was titled “Spiritual Solutions for Anxiety in the Vedic Philosophy: Theories and Practices.”

Dr. Sharma’s family background, her social work experience and primarily her work with students as a Dharmic Advisor / Hindu Chaplain led her to do research in the area of Hinduism and its principles to better understand the human mind. She wanted to study the ancient scriptures – the Vedas and the Upanishads, so that she could better answer students’ questions. Dr. Sharma wanted to go back to the sources of Vedic knowledge rather than rely on interpretations and summaries derived from secondary sources. She was guided in her study by Dr. Shashi Tiwari, Visiting Faculty at Hindu University of America, herself a renowned Sanskrit scholar, who was honored personally by the President of India and retired recently as a professor from the University of Delhi, India. Dr. Mugdha Thakur and Dr. Harold Koenig, both eminent psychiatrists from Duke University also served on her advisory committee. Dr. Sharma studied a range of anxiety and other mental disorders facing us, and how to address those problems through Vedic principles and practices.

Dr. Madhu Sharma’s elderly parents attended the ceremony at the Hindu Mandir, which they had helped establish, and were proud of their daughter’s accomplishment. As Hindu parents, they had encouraged and helped Dr. Sharma develop a deep understanding and appreciation of Sanatana Dharma.

Earlier this year, Dr. Madhu Sharma, opened the North Carolina State Senate with a Hindu prayer. Morrisville Councilman Satish Garimella described it as “such a proud moment for the Indian American community in North Carolina to have one of our very own deliver a historic invocation on the Senate floor and I could not have thought of any better person than Madhu to deliver it”. (from India Abroad)

In her comments after receiving her PhD degree, Dr. Madhu Sharma, author of the book, ‘Dharmic Advisor, A Modern Way’, said that “after more than 4 years of studying, working and writing, earning her PhD from HUA helped her complete one part of her life journey at the age of 65 ”. Mr. Kalyan Viswanathan, Interim President of Hindu University of America, who traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina to participate in this award ceremony, acknowledged Dr. Madhu Sharma as a pioneer in the Hindu community, in her service as a Hindu Chaplain at Duke University, where she represents Hindu Dharma, to the student community. He expressed the hope that the award of the Ph.D. degree represented a new beginning, and Dr. Madhu Sharma will continue to share and represent Sanatana Dharma in her community and beyond and be a role model for the Hindu community for many years to come.

Dr. Sharma made a plea for a permanent Hindu Chaplain in the Research Triangle area campuses to support Hindu students through their university years and called on the area temple leaders to develop funding for a full-time chaplain position to support students at the major universities in the area. Mr. Kalyan Viswanathan emphasized the need for continuing and advanced degree education in Hindu Studies through the Hindu University of America and requested the area temple leaders to get more involved in advancing both the University as well as the relationship between Hindu Mandirs and the Hindu University.

The 14^th annual Hindu Mandir Executive Conference was held in New Jersey between September 20^th and 22^nd. Hindu University of America set up a booth and had a range of productive conversations with the attendees.

On the 2^nd day of the conference, Interim President of HUA Kalyan Viswanathan spoke on a panel with a focus on sustaining our Hindu traditions, culture and identity here in America. In his talk, he addressed the relevance of Hindu mandirs for the younger generation, born and raised here in the US, especially in the age group 18 through 35. When he asked a question of the audience, “What percentage of Hindu youth in that age group actively participate in the Hindu Mandirs?”, the audience agreed that it was probably less than 10%. Whichever way we look at it, the attrition rate is severe with fewer members of the next generation participating at their Mandir. When he asked, “How much time do Mandir Board Members and Executive Committees” spend on developing strategies to engage young people, in that age group, one member of the audience responded, “Can we say below zero?”

Mandirs are being sustained largely by the devotion and commitment of first-generation Hindus – which brings up the question – How do we sustain our Hindu culture and world view in the United States if the mandir, which is such a critical infrastructure for us, becomes increasingly irrelevant for the younger generation? What are the root causes for this attrition, how can we address them, and what do mandirs need to do to remain relevant to the next generation? These were the questions that Shri Kalyan Viswanathan raised on the panel on sustainability at the Hindu Mandir Executive Conference. There was consensus in the room that while most Hindu children do participate in the Hindu Mandirs as long as they are in school if their parents do so consistently, there is a dramatic shift away from the Mandir when these kids go to college.

Can Hindu University of America engage in mutually beneficial relationships with Hindu Mandirs across the country? Mandirs already serve as community centers, but what if we took that to the next level and mandirs partnered with HUA to serve as places where university-level courses, graduate programs, and advanced studies could take place? Mandirs can be sponsors of scholarship and establish professorships and take an active role in the development of the university if they choose to do so. After all, if we look at Jesuit institutions, they have created hundreds of learning institutions around the world. Is it not time for Hindu Mandirs of North America to take on a larger role in creating and fostering at least one major Hindu University in America?  This will not be a new idea since, in former times, many Hindu Mandirs were intimately associated with Gurukulams and Ashrams in India.

This year’s HMEC was an opportunity for networking and outreach for HUA. One conversation we had with a group of young people was highlighted by their sentiment that “Mandirs don’t make sense to us, especially when they conduct rituals in a language we don’t understand, without even attempting to explain the purpose.” There is a gap of understanding of Hinduism in the next generation and mandirs aren’t very effective in filling those gaps. A creative partnership and program between Hindu University of America and individual mandirs across the United States could help to address these gaps in creative ways.

Overall, there is clearly an opportunity and need for institutions to represent Hindu Dharma here in North America. At HMEC, organizers are making a concerted effort to develop tools, materials, and resources so that best practices and successful endeavors, models and programs could be shared and made scalable with other mandirs. It is now up to us to implement such partnerships and pilot programs between Hindu University of America and our various Hindu mandirs who are ready for such innovation, to explore ways in which a University-Mandir alliance can make Sanatana Dharma more relevant and attractive for the younger generation.

Author:- Adriana Salazar, Coordinator, Visit India, and Study Abroad Program, Hindu University of America.

There is nothing in existence that is unfeeling, nothing that is profane or unspiritual, nothing without a unique value in the cosmos. Life is relational, interdependent, interconnected, a system of mutual nourishment and care, not only physically, but also psychologically and spiritually.

Dr. David Frawley

Just from the very beginning when a new baby is born, a new flower is born or any new manifestation of life is born, there is a spontaneous synchronization that naturally arises in the environment. That new form of life is completely exposed to grow within whatever environment happens to be around, and that atmosphere becomes the natural space from where all skills and faculties start developing. My effort to understand the purpose of creation and the power of evolution has brought me the realization that great attention is needed nowadays towards transforming and reestablishing the structure of our society and our way of living. Modern life´s purpose is encapsulated in a disoriented endeavor to always become ´someone´ as if we weren´t already what we were supposed to be in life. Sadly, this atmosphere that our society has built for us as the ¨natural space¨ creates and accumulates many fears within ourselves.

Traditional Indian Yoga has been preserving its sacred and spiritual heritage since thousands of years ago, when India´s ancestors contemplated evolution, development, and growth of human life as a balanced and integrated circle from birth to death, and then onto rebirth again. The journey of this progressive transformation in a single lifetime was framed in terms of four phases of life, that could potentially represent guidance for all communities today. These four phases were described by Swami Niranjanananda as Brahmacharya where “One equips oneself with knowledge and wisdom of the world to survive in the word”; “Grihastha”, where, with the knowledge acquired, one works to support one´s family, society, nation, and world; “Vanaprastha”, where one spends time in reflection, contemplation, and the discovery one´s self; and “Sannyasa”, where one reaches out to help and uplift those in need so they can overcome their physical, mental, spiritual, social and psychological limitations. By adopting these principles of life all living beings can surely begin to live in harmony and communion!

These four important stages in life were explained by the Vedas i.e. ancient Hindu texts. They said that for the beginning of life´s circle, humans should be focus on developing the Brahmacharya and Grihastha stages – Learning or acquiring knowledge and taking on social responsibilities is the central force in these two phases because naturally, our energy moves towards these responsibilities and accomplishments. Now, the process of absorbing information from the outside world, becomes a confusing stimulus to our sense organs, as the atmosphere around the world is today quite obsessed in finding more and more products and experiences that target our sensory satisfaction, to such an extreme extent that everything is being created with a business purpose that supplies newly created market needs. In fact, the market place keeps inventing new needs for us, that we never knew we had to begin with.

Vanaprastha, the following third chapter of life is a crucial and beautiful moment, where, as a revolutionary decision against our social conditioning and acquired beliefs, one starts feeling the need to discover what is behind all the purposes and activities of the preceding years of active engagement and sensory satisfaction. It is a moment when one begins to walk towards the truth, learn the art of observation newly, and embarks on re-education of the mind, in such a way that the influence of the material world reduces, and the spiritual world expands. The mind enters into a process of progressive detachment from all conclusions and concepts, previously held to be true and inviolable.

Surprisingly, our perspective towards our family, society, and career naturally starts turning into an explorative path that aligns increasingly towards an intention to become a better and more selfless person. There arises a whole spontaneous synchronization of our individual consciousness with the supreme consciousness that favors increasing attention and observation of the whole movement of life.

In the four-stage of life Sannyasa, one pool together all one´s resources, strength, creativity, and potential into a trust so the purpose of contribution and upliftment of others becomes the main priority in our lives, even as our self- observation continues. With the continued input of positive inspiration into our minds, this is an ongoing process of protecting our thoughts and negative influences of the environment.

I believe that despite the pressures and distractions of our modern world, there is still potential to embrace the richness of these four stages of life. The integration of yoga in our lives is an opportunity for a profound transformation in our being. But in order to change the materialistic patterns of our mind, we might subject ourselves to exploratory and systematic guidance in the traditional Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali.

Although yoga has become increasingly popular and being adopted worldwide, there are some visible and fundamental misunderstandings about the nature of yoga – the modern version is still too heavily focused on its material and physical benefits. The real purpose of practicing yoga represents a profound journey towards self-observation, reflection, contemplation, study, and development of personal creativity, as an integrated movement towards supreme consciousness, the oneness that equals real and total freedom.

In conclusion, traditional yoga is a lifestyle that gives us an explorative experience, where slowly we can initiate a transformation in our attitudes, awareness, consciousness, perception, and aspiration. This potential of the mind-expanding towards the universal consciousness and well-being arises through the transformation of the nature, behavior, and actions of the mind. From a wider perspective, any process of life that helps to transcend our limitations and transforms our consciousness is yoga; so everything – the way we breathe, sit, stand, eat, walk and work – can be integrated into yoga.

By Kalyan Viswanathan

August 15^th is a special day for many reasons – the foremost being it is India’s Independence Day. Here is a British Academic’s view of the economic impact of British colonization of India.

August 15^th is also the occasion to remember the birthday of two special men of India: Sri Aurobindo, the great Yogi, and Rishi of modern India, and Swami Dayananda Saraswati, the founder Acharya of Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, and the convener of the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha.

This year 2019 is special since it marks the full integration of Jammu and Kashmir with India. It has always been a peculiar law that Kashmiris could buy land anywhere in India, but Indians could not buy land in Kashmir. This claim of a “specialness” has now been abrogated. The people of Jammu and Kashmir are now just as equal as all other Indians under the Indian constitution. All those who protest this equality and claim that the loss of “specialness” is undemocratic and an act of aggression on the part of India have to come to terms with this new reality.

Just as Texas belonged to Spain from 1690 to 1821, became part of Mexico from 1821 to 1836, transformed into an independent republic of Texas between 1836 to 1845 and was annexed into the United States of America, by an act of Congress in 1845 – Jammu and Kashmir has had a tortuous history, with several possible outcomes. It could have become fully part of India in 1947, had Maharaja Hari Singh not dithered and entertained the idea of an independent state. It could have become fully part of Pakistan, if the Maharaja had not acceded hastily to India, and if the Pakistani army had fully overrun the state and annexed it by force, while a weak Indian state looked on. Alternately, had Jammu and Kashmir possessed the military ability to defend itself, it could have pushed the Pakistani rebels (a proxy for its army) back and remained independent.  But small states are by definition vulnerable, and it had to be integrated with either India or Pakistan or shared between the two in some satisfactory or unsatisfactory manner.

Now that Article 370 has been scrapped, through an act of Parliament and ratified by a Presidential Constitutional Order, it is likely that the people of Jammu and Ladakh will happily integrate with India while the people of Kashmir, majority Muslim, will protest and fight the loss of their specialness, which they could control and manage until now.

But let us look back at what happened after the American annexation of Texas. Between 1846 and 1848, Mexico and the United States of America fought the so-called Mexican American war, which was largely fought in Mexican territory.  The US fights its wars on other countries’ soil, and in this, they are proactive. President James K. Polk believed it was the nation’s destiny to expand its territory and occupy these lands, either through a financial purchase transaction or through war. After Mexico rebuffed his efforts to acquire territory through a cash transaction, he seized them through war. But others decried the war. Newspapers warned Americans: “Your Rulers are precipitating you into a fathomless abyss of crime and calamity!” But after a war fought by 78,718 troops and featured 13,283 casualties, Mexico and the US signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, officially titled the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits and Settlement between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic, which ended the Mexican American War (1846–1848). The treaty came into force on July 4, 1848, the American Independence Day, and gave the U.S. ownership of California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. Mexicans living in those annexed areas had the choice of relocating to within Mexico’s new boundaries or receiving American citizenship with full civil rights. Subsequently, the US began settling Texas with numerous Europeans and Black Slaves, (Texas retained Slave owning rights as part of its State constitution) and began to alter the demographics of the State in favor of a White majority. But history is coming full circle now and Texas is once again trending Hispanic and Latino and is set to become a Hispanic majority very soon i.e. in the 2020s.

India must steel itself and remain resolved to face any number of counter-attacks now, from stateless Jihadi forces. India is unlikely to emulate the United States, and will probably exhibit its legendary restraint and not do anything that a James Polk might have done. This softness of the Hindu Government in India which allows it to entertain the prospect of a return to peace and normalcy in Kashmir remains its principal Achilles heel when it comes to territory and security, all the while being accused of being hardline Hindutva, by the international media.

In ending this article, let us remember the clear voice of Sri Aurobindo:

“You can live amicably with a religion whose principle is toleration. But how is it possible to live peacefully with a religion whose principle is “I will not tolerate you”?

Sri Aurobindo

Beyond all the rhetoric of Prosperity or Development or its lack thereof, it is this claim of specialness, and separateness – that lies behind the State of Pakistan, the imbroglio in Kashmir, the condition of the Kashmiri Pandits and everywhere in the world, where Non-Muslims have become beholden to an increasingly Muslim majority population. This is what allows the differential treatment of Muslims and Non-Muslims in the entire Islamic world. One brazen example is the special claims and rights of the Bhumi Putras (A Hindu Sanskrit word) of Malaysia, who are defined as Malays first and who are in turn defined exclusively as those who profess the religion of Islam in Article 160 of the Malaysian constitution. But saying this is politically incorrect today and will incur the accusation of Islamophobia. This is a condition that the world has not learned to deal with yet – How do we extend the principle of equality before the law to a people who will not reciprocate and extend the same back to us?

Author- Kalyan Viswanathan