Canadian Hindu Link

SPRING 2016 ISSUE

canadian hindu link INSIDE THIS ISSUE

A Free Quarterly Magazine Dedicated To Thinking Hindus Who Care About Hindu Dharma

Volume 8 . Issue 2

ISSN# 1920-9339

Apr / May / Jun 2016

From Editor’s Desk..................3 Contributions of the Arya Samaj to Hindu Society...........4 Cultural Parenting – In Context with Hindus in North America....................6

Maharshi Dayanand Sar aswati

Importance Of Camphor In Rituals................................8 The Size Of This Universe.......9

Arya Samaj Sthapana Divas

A Russian Expedition to Vrindavana.............................10

April 8, 2016

Indian Village Where People Speak In Sanskrit.....................12

Tesla And Ancient Vedic Philosophy..............................14 The Common Bases for All Hindus....................................18 Keeping Cultures Alive: Sindhis And Hindus In Chile...............22 Dharmic Activism And Work Without Proper Spiritual Foundation Is Dangerous........24 Korma In Japan.......................27

YOUTH CORNER: Embarassed

By My Indianness....................28

HOPE YOU HAD A BLESSED, HAPPY AND COLOURFUL

HOLI! March 23, 2016

CANADIAN HINDU LINK | VO L U M E 8 . I S S U E 2

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CANADIAN HINDU LINK | VO L U M E 8 . I S S U E 2

FROM EDITOR’S DESK

UNDERSTANDING THEORY OF KARMA: KEY FOR SUCCESS Welcome greetings to all readers with this first full color issue of this magazine in its eighth year. I hope you enjoy reading and gleaning through this issue. Please call, email and write to me with your comments and suggestions to further improve this magazine. Also please call all sponsors to avail their services as they are so kindly supporting the publication of this magazine.

The very reason this magazine has been published, to engage and inform Hindu families about their own religion, culture and values, is the reason for me to be involved in this and other projects. We conduct Spiritual Sundays 6-8 pm at Vedic Institute of Canada (Vedic Ashram), Ingersoll. Each Sunday a small gathering takes place in our Yoga/Meditation Hall and spiritual seekers from the Town of Ingersoll and surrounding areas come to take part in our two-hour program. We start with mantra chants, kirtan and Bhagavad Gita discourse. After that our yoga teacher leads through various yoga asanas. Then a guided meditation session takes place. After Q and A, we serve the vegetarian feast. All participants are highly enjoying and benefitting from these Sunday programs. The knowledge of Vedas is being transmitted to the local population. We are hoping more Hindus to join our Sunday Satsang. Join us if you like.

The last topic we were discussing from Bhagavad Gita was about karma. The law of karma underpins the process of transmigration of the soul. Karma literally means “action,” but more often refers to the accumulated reactions to activities. Thus we talk of “good karma” and “bad karma,” which are stored reactions that gradually unfold to determine our unique destiny.

The self-determination and accountability of the individual soul rests on its capacity for free choice. This is exercised only in the human form. Whilst in lower species, the atman takes no moral decisions but is instead bound by instinct. Therefore, although all species of life are subject to the reactions of past activities, such karma is generated only while in the human form. Human life alone is a life of responsibility.

The Bhagavad-gita categorises karma, listing three kinds of human actions: (1) Karma: those which elevate, (2) Vikarma: those which degrade and (3) Akarma: those which create neither good nor bad reactions and thus lead to liberation.

We read through to BG 4.17-23 which explains the theory in short. The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore, one should know property what action is, what forbidden action is and what inaction is.

One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction is intelligent among men, and he /she is in the transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities. One is understood to be in full knowledge whose every endeavor is devoid of desire of sense gratification.

He/she is said by sages to be a worker for whom the reactions of work have been burned up by the fire of perfect knowledge. Abandoning all attachment to the results of his/her activities, ever satisfied and independent, he/she performs no furtive action, although engaged in all kinds of undertakings. Such a man/woman of understanding acts with mind and intelligence perfectly controlled, gives up all sense of proprietorship over his/ her possessions, and acts only for the bare necessities of life. Thus working, he/she is not affected by sinful reactions. He/she who is satisfied with gain which comes of its own accord, who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady in both success and failure, is never entangled, although performing actions. The work of a man/woman who is unattached to the modes of material nature and who is fully situated in transcendental knowledge merges entirely into transcendence.

We must make a point of reading a page or two from Bhagavad Gita daily. Also encourage your kids to read BG in the mornings to get guidance and inspiration daily from this great book of knowledge.

Deepak Sharma Executive Editor, Canadian Hindu Link deepak.sharma.CHL@gmail.com Tel. 905-616-5500

“Truth can not be suppressed and always is the ultimate victor.” — the Yajur Veda Visit our website: www.hindueducationlink.com to read previous issues & more...

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CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE ARYA SAMAJ TO HINDU SOCIETY Dr. Ravi Srivastava Before we discuss the Arya Samaj and its contributions, we should ask a question. “What compelled Maharishi Swami Dayanand to establish the Arya Samaj?” He saw the degraded and debased condition of the Hindus. He wanted to unite the Hindus into one united people to cast off the artificial and self-imposed bonds that tied them to their present position. He wanted them to remove from their eyes the bandage that prevented them from seeing the light of Truth and Liberty. He wanted the society to arise pure and strong, and take the proper place among the nations of the world.

With the above goals in mind, Maharishi Swami Dayanand established the Arya Samaj on April 10, 1875. The Arya Samaj was based entirely on the authority of the Vedas conditioned by Rationalism and Utilitarianism. The sixth Principle of the Arya Samaj illustrates the main goal of the Samaj. It states, “The prime object of the Samaj is to do good to the world, to ameliorate physical, spiritual and social standards of all persons.” Since its establishment, the Arya Samaj movement has made innumerable contributions in the social and spiritual fields. I shall focus on the major contributions by the Samaj in the Social field: untouchability, the caste system and the education of women

This cause was taken up by Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress Party during freedom movement. Thanks to Swamiji, in 1950, The Indian Constitution adopted the principle of providing equal social, religious and cultural rights to the Dalits. For the last 30 years, Swami Agnivesh has been fighting an uncompromising fight against untouchability.

Caste System

The Sanskrit word for the caste is Varna, which means a group of people having a specific social rank. Varna is used in Vedas to denote social class or category, not colour. With the evolution of society, in order to maintain law and order and to govern effectively, it became essential to classify people not only in terms of their different qualities but also with respect to their different privileges. Each class thus, had a specific role to play in society as well as a unique function. The Varna of Brahmins was commonly identified with the learned. The Varna of Kshatriyas was associated with Ruler and Warriors. The Varna of Vaishyas was associated with commercial livelihood. While the Varna of Shudras, was associated with menial labour. All were interlinked and functioned in close co-operation. Yet, the hereditary caste system also institutionalized great inequality and discrimination, as seen in the notion of untouchability. There are thousands of Vedic mantras where we pray to GOD to let all live together, eat together, enjoy together, pray and progress together, fight the evil together and work for global peace together. Indeed, the Vedas also teach us that in the sight of GOD, all are equal and caste makes no difference. The Arya Samaj has been propagating and implementing this in eradicating the caste system.

The prime object of the Samaj is to do good to the world, to ameliorate physical, spiritual and social standards of all persons.

Untouchability Swamiji was deeply perturbed by the attitudes of Orthodox Brahmins towards the oppressed class of the Hindus, known as Dalits. They were not allowed to enter Hindu temples and homes nor attend Brahman rituals. They were prohibited to fetch water from the village wells. Their children were not allowed to study in the village school with other children. Swamiji was first to declare equal rights for lower castes, the right to education, right to reciting the Veda mantras, right to inter-caste dinning, right to Vedic marriage ceremony, and right to fetch water from common wells. Swami Shraddhanand (formerly known as Lala Munshi Ram) spent his whole life for the upliftment of untouchables.

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As a priest, I am delighted to say that our children are forcing the parents to break the fetters of the prevalent orthodox caste system. I have performed over 150 inter-caste marriages and over 250 inter-racial marriages during the last 10 years.

Listen to Asian Connection Radio on FM 101.3, 11am-2pm; contact Ranbir @ 416-910-2000

CANADIAN HINDU LINK | VO L U M E 8 . I S S U E 2

Education of Women During the post-Vedic period, women started losing their status in society. The women were not eligible for the study of Vedas, nor for use of mantras in performing sacraments except marriage. Manus law stated that being tender, women should be protected by father in childhood, by her husband in young age and by the sons in old age. She lost her identity after marriage. During the Mogul rule, women suffered further degradation and seclusion. All this culminated into new evils such as child marriage, Sati, Jauhar and restriction on girls’ education.

Maharishi Swami Dayanand was deeply perturbed with this sad plight of Indian women and was an early advocate of female education. Around 1870, Swamiji opened several Patashalas (schools) at Farrukabad, Kashi, Kasganj and Challsan. He also initiated a Kanya Pathshala (a girls’ school) at Meerut. After Swamiji’s death, the Arya Samaj movement under the leadership of teachers like Swami Shraddhanand, Lala Dev Raj etc., continued to establish many girls’ schools. With the success of Kanya Pathshalas, on June 14, 1896 the Samaj established the Kanya Mahavidyalay (Institute of higher education for women).

The students of this institution included a mixture of unmarried, married and widowed women. Since then the Arya Samaj has opened over 500 institutions throughout India. Indian women are indebted to Swamiji and the Arya Samaj for restoring their rights so that they can become the President, the Prime Minister of India and can compete with men as equals in every field of life.

As a whole, it can be said that the reforms of Arya Samaj are of great significance and have made huge impacts on the contemporary Hindu society. The Arya Samaj has become a major acculturative movement with its purified Hinduism.

Author: Dr. Ravi Srivastava, an Astro-physicist by profession, is the founding President of Arya Samaj Mississauga, and has been a Volunteer Priest for the Samaj for the last 12 years. He has performed hundreds of wedding ceremonies in Canada, US and Europe. He can be reached dev_srivastava@hotmail.com

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CULTURAL PARENTING – IN CONTEXT WITH HINDUS IN NORTH AMERICA Cultural parenting is simply a focus that seeks to leave the parents’ religio-ethno-cultural imprint on the next generation. Hindu parents in North America have a limited time window to do so because as the children grow up, they come under increasing influence from their peers and the mainstream culture. Hinduism holds that the parents are the first teachers (guru) to children. This is an awesome responsibility on this NorthAmerican continent, as there are no supportive social structures, languages, music and other cultural facets.

In India, the parents are not overwhelmed because religion permeates everyday life. There is much help from family elders like grandparents, uncles, aunts and others who hold parent-like influence on the children.

Also the music, dance, and diet are all around in the environment. In North America, cultural parenting, at the practical level, consists of what parents teach, how parents teach and what the parents are emphasizing in their own everyday living. Thus, every act of the parents becomes a cultural imprint for the child, particularly in the early years.

The Hindu approach to parenting starts with the assumption that children are not ‘ours’, that they have been given to the parents ‘in trust’ for ‘good and whole’ delivery to society. Hinduism also holds that the children born to a couple are likely to be their own parents, grandparents or other ancestors. Hence, it has been repeatedly suggested that the children should be treated with respect and love. Hinduism also recognizes that parents are the child’s first teachers (guru), an awesome responsibility for those ‘thin’ in their own understanding of Hinduism. The Matru and Pitru devo bhavah (consider your parents your god) status accrues only as long as they are holding the children in ‘trust’ and moving them towards a ‘good and whole’ condition. Mere biological relationship does not confer that honour.

In Hindu thinking, parents should seek to develop a number of attributes in their children: (1) Positive selfconcept, (2) Perceptive self-correction, (3) Self-control, (4) Self-confidence (5) Playful self-contentment, (6)

Humble and pious disposition, (7) Competency in conflict resolution, (8) Family solidarity, (9) Prejudice-free consciousness, (10) Meditation, breath awareness, yogic modes of stress reduction, and (11) Interest in and appreciation of classical Hindu music/ dance and related arts.

1. Positive self-concept is facilitated by unconditional love and genuine praise as well as freedom for the children to develop along their interests and apti tudes. Conditional love and comparative treatment at home promote negative self-image. Insistence that they go into areas of study not consistent with their aptitude and interest also tend to develop a negative self-concept. Similarly, suppressing, neglecting, ignoring, discouraging, putting down, demeaning and humiliating the children ensure a negative self image.

2. Perceptive self-correction is developed when mistakes are treated as valuable lessons. Since everyone makes mistakes, it is important that parents encourage the children to reflect upon the cause – effect linkages in their mistakes, and learn to correct their own behaviour. A well-known quote in this respect says ‘there are no problem children, only problem parents’.

3. Powerful self-control is the ability to restrain one’s destructive emotions such as anger, greed and jealousy.

Children learn more in this respect from observing their parents’ behaviours. Hence, parents must first learn and practice self-control, so their behaviour then becomes a model for the children. Disciplining should be positive. Time-out and ‘go to your room’ should not be used to berate the child for failing to control himself/herself.

4. Profound self-confidence is a feeling that one can accomplish tasks and reach goals. Children’s self confidence is built by giving them successively more difficult tasks, and positive reinforcements for mastering such tasks. Self-confidence and positive self-concept go together, one enhancing the other.

“All is change in the world of the senses, but changeless is the supreme Lord of Love.”

— Shvetashvatara Upanishad

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CANADIAN HINDU LINK | VO L U M E 8 . I S S U E 2

5. Playful self-contentment. When parents portray an attitude of happiness and satisfaction in life, the children grow up to be happy and cheerful individals.

If parents continuously hanker for material/external things in life, or constantly complain and are dis satisfied, the children will learn to be the same.

Parents should promote the art of living in playful contentment while pursuing goals and aspiring for ‘higher ground’ thinking and functioning.

6. Humble and pious outlook refers to the mode of interaction with others such as kindness, generosity and appreciation, a willingness to learn from others, and not being arrogant or know-it-all. Here again, parents demonstrating these characteristics results in children practicing them at home, school, and in their adult life.

7.

Conflict resolution skills. Most situations in modern life are of competition and therefore of potential conflict between individuals. People also are pulled apart internally in their own mind between competing attractions. Resolving interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts leads to full attention on task accomplishment. Parents explaining and illustrating their own conflicts and resolutions to their children goes a long way towards their children learning such orientation and skills.

8. Family solidarity. When children have ‘ownership’ in the way the family functions, the family becomes close-knit. When children are treated as one would expect them to treat you when you grow old (power less, dependent and needy), the family gains in solidarity. When parents maintain contacts with their extended family and provide opportunities for the children to interact with cousins as well as grand parents and other relatives, a feeling of rootedness and security is fostered. When the parents’ relation ship with friends or extended family members goes sour, the children go through an emotional wringer, especially if they had bonded with those parties. The children’s trust in the parents may be shaken and the emotional injury to children may well stunt their natural growth and maturation.

9. Promoting prejudice-free consciousness is very

important. Parents, often in a disapproving tone, discuss the behaviours of their friends and acquaintances. Often this is done within earshot of their young children. In social gatherings, the conversations tend to touch upon negative experiences in India, its red tape and inefficient practices. When such negative remarks are heard repeatedly, even children as young as 3-4 years, sense the emotional tone and begin to develop prejudicial negative stereotype of India and Indians. Children also pick up the negative stereotypes present in the Canadian main stream about foreigners, natives and black people. The home atmosphere should actively prevent such prejudices entering the minds of their children. Children must be taught to think that all human beings are the same regardless of their skin color, occupation, education or wealth. They should be encouraged to avoid generalizations about groupings of people. Children should be provided with opportunities to meet, interact and learn to feel comfortable with children of different nationalities, ethnicities, races and skin colours.

10. Meditation, breath awareness and stress management are something unique that Hinduism has contributed to the world at large. Hence, it must be part of Hindu cultural parenting. It also serves as an inoculation against stress that has become part of modern life style.

11. Classical music and dance are uniquely Indian/Hindu.

Children should be guided to appreciate if not learn these arts. Cultural parenting would have serious omissions if these orientations are completely left out in the pursuit of high-income/high-status professional academic education.

The kind of parenting noted above faces some real obstacles. To the extent that the two parents have different ideas and they clash, cultural parenting is jeopardized.

To the extent that the parents want to rely on their ‘parental instinct’, the parenting becomes a boat without a rudder. Some times the parents have a ‘know it all’ attitude, with ‘wisdom’ coming to them too late in life.

There are also ‘achievement oriented’ parents who want it all - upward career, higher education, higher standard of living, high status, financial/ job security, perfect children. However, they have no time and no clues for

“Meditate on him, be absorbed by him, wake up from this dream of separateness.”

— Shvetashvatara Upanishad

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CANADIAN HINDU LINK | VO L U M E 8 . I S S U E 2

cultural parenting. Parents who feel ‘thin’ on the core ideas and ideals of Hinduism tend to feel unequal to the task of cultural parenting. They may think it is sufficient to guide the children towards higher education and high income/status occupations and that will guarantee them success in life. They may also assume that their living a life with East-Indian cuisine, and socializing with other Hindus, would provide sufficient cultural imprinting on their children.

The first imperative for good parenting involves dismissing the ‘instinct will suffice’ attitude, and taking on a, Ineed-to-get-better, humble attitude. The second imperative is to engage in a serious and honest introspection of one’s own beliefs and attitudes. A third imperative is to re-orient oneself on better and cultural parenting through magazines and books as well as informative TV shows such as ‘Super Nanny’. General Hinduism related magazines such as Hinduism Today, Back to Godhead, Canadian Hindu Link and Next Future (online now) are also good resources.

Parents also need to obtain feedback on their parenting style from their friends and elders. Perhaps too they can engage in discussions with their cohorts on strategies and philosophies. When I was a graduate student and lived in married student housing that had an international character, I found such discussions to be an eye opening experience. It is true that feedback and open discussion may be felt as too threatening. Sri Aurobindo has rightly stated that the typical human tendency is to hide one’s shortcomings… (but) in all scriptures, it has been said that one must be very grateful to those who show one’s shortcomings. As one Upanishad quote says, ‘Let noble thoughts come to us from all directions’.

Some good resources are: Krishna D. Bhat et.al., Guide to Indo-American Parenting, Uma Publishing, 1999.

Meenal Pandya, The Indian Parenting Book: Imparting Your Cultural Heritage to the Next Generation, Meera Publications, 2005. Bodhinatha Veylanswami. Raising Children as Good Hindus. Hinduism Today, April-June, 2005. Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish, How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk, Avon Books, 1999. Jane Nelson & Lisa Larson. Positive Discipline for working parents. Three Rivers Press, 2003.

Source: Dr. Kalburgi Srinivas (Kalburgi.Srinivas@ gmail.com) Courtesy: NAMASKAAR, Summer 2007, Newsletter of the Hindu Samaj of Southern Saskatchewan, Regina, Canada PAGE 8

IMPORTANCE OF CAMPHOR IN RITUALS Aarti is one of the most important aspects of prayers in Hinduism which symbolizes the removal of darkness by true spiritual enlightenment. It is performed by lighting a ghee lamp in front of the deity while praying.

On many occasions, Hindus light a camphor or kapoor as an offering to God at the end of the Aarti. Although we have probably all seen this act, many of us are not aware of the importance of this gesture.

When the camphor is lit, it burns itself out, fully evaporating until there is no residue left in the prayer utensil, leaving behind a sweet fragrance in the air instead. In the same manner, it symbolizes union with God and the promise of the devotee to burn their ego completely without leaving any residue while spreading the light of knowledge to other lives that touches theirs, no matter how brief a time. Just like the scent emanating from the camphor, the devotee, devoid of his ego and arrogance, spreads goodness around themselves.

The flame of the camphor also signifies the flame of consciousness of Lord Shiva where we can surrender all our egos to be burned under the influence of God, no longer to be seen within us. We close our eyes while performing the aarti as if to look within, to our very self or Atman. Self realization can be achieved by realizing ourselves with the flame of knowledge.

At the end of the prayer, the devotee places cupped hands over the flame and touches the eyes and top of the head, symbolizing the illumination of vision and purity of thougts.

Camphor is made through an ancient Ayurvedic method by distilling the bark and wood of a coniferous tree called Camphor Laurel (Cinnamomum camphor) that is largely found in Asia, particularly in India, Sumatra, Indonesia and Borneo. White camphor is a crystalline substance with the chemical formula C10H16O, which is a fantastic anti-oxidant.

As an excellent germicide, camphor is burned to purify the atmosphere, it is also believed to remove negativity from the environment.

Absorbed through the skin, camphor produces a feeling of cooling similar to that of menthol and acts as a slight local anesthetic and anti-microbial substance. It is a decongestant and can be used as an essential oil for aromatherapy or topical application.

Used properly with medicinal understanding, it can decrease the harshness of nervous disorder as well as convulsions, epileptic episodes, nervousness, mental tension as well as chronic anxiety. It is believed to be toxic to insects and is sometimes used as a repellent and also to deter snakes and other reptiles due to its strong odor.

In this manner, camphor not only has a highly spiritual value in Hindu customs but can also be beneficial to the environment in which it is burned. Again, just like anything else, the use of camphor should be in moderation to avoid any side effects it may cause.

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THE SIZE OF THIS UNIVERSE By: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad

This phenomenal material world is expanded to a diameter of four billion miles, as a combination of eight material elements transformed into sixteen further categories, within and without, as follows. — Śrimad-Bhagavatam 3.11.40-42 The analytical studies of the material world are the subject matter of Sankhya philosophy. The first sixteen diversities are the eleven senses and five sense objects, and the eight elements are the gross and subtle matter, namely earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind, intelligence and ego. All these combined together are distributed throughout the entire universe, which extends diametrically to four billion miles.

Besides this universe of our experience, there are innumerable other universes. Some of them are bigger than the present one, and all of them are clustered together under similar material elements as described below.

SB 3.11.41 — The layers or ele-

ments covering the universes are each ten times thicker than the one before, and all the universes clustered together appear like atoms in a huge combination.

The coverings of the universes are also constituted of the elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether, and each is ten times thicker than the one before. The first covering of the universe is earth, and it is ten times thicker than the universe itself. If the universe is four billion miles in size, then the size of the earthly covering of the universe is four billion times ten. The covering of water is ten times greater than the earthly covering, the covering of fire is ten times greater than the watery covering, the covering of air is ten times greater than that of the fire, the covering of ether is ten times greater still than that of air, and so on. The universe within the coverings of matter appears to be like an atom in comparison to the coverings, and the number of universes

is unknown even to those who can estimate the coverings of the universes.

SB 3.11.42 — The Supreme

Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, is therefore said to be the original cause of all causes. Thus the spiritual abode of Visnu is eternal without a doubt, and it is also the abode of Maha-Visnu, the origin of all manifestations.

Lord Maha-Visnu, who is resting in yoga-nidra (yoga-sleep) on the Causal Ocean and creating innumerable universes by His breathing process, only temporarily appears in the mahat-tattva for the temporary manifestation of the material worlds.

He is a plenary portion of Lord Sri Krsna, and thus although He is nondifferent from Lord Krsna, His formal appearance in the material world as an incarnation is temporary. The original form of the Personality of Godhead is actually the svarupa, or real form, and He eternally resides in the Vaikuntha world (Visnuloka). The word mahatmanah is used here to indicate Maha-Visnu, and His real manifestation is Lord Krsna, who is called parama, as confirmed in the Brahma-samhita:

isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam “The Supreme Lord is Krsna, the original Personality of Godhead, known as Govinda. His form is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge, and He is the original cause of all causes.

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A RUSSIAN EXPEDITION TO VRINDAVANA

By Yadunandana Das The first Russian to visit Vrindavana was Emperor Nikolas II, 125 years ago.

On Friday, January the 4th in 1891, Hindus who were bathing in the sacred river Yamuna witnessed an amazing scene. A ship with the name of an unknown language approached.

In the morning mist, surrounded by armed soldiers, a young light-skinned man in an officer’s jacket, looking, however, not belligerent came ashore. The stranger was the crown prince Nicholas, soon to be the future last Russian emperor.

The small town of Vrindavan, 80 miles to the south of Delhi, was part of the journey of the crown prince, along with Mumbai, Delhi, Gwalior, Agra, Ellora, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Kolkata and Мadras and Sri Rangam, up to the southern parts of the Indian subcontinent, from where he viewed the outline of Ceylon.

The heir to the Russian throne liked Vrindavan. Nicholas found the town very similar to… Venice. From the travel notes made by Nicholas, one can assume that his familiarity with Vrindavan occurred in the place of Kesi Ghat, on the banks of river Yamuna. The royal guest was shown the temple of Madana Mohana. One of the “interesting” temples he visited, might have been the Jugal Kishore temple. According to some assumptions, while visiting one of the temples, the crown prince received blessings from local elders to rule his kingdom. It rather might be a beautiful legend, though. Anyway, 125 years ago Nicholas II was the first Russian “discoverer” of Vrindavan.

Researcher Esper Ukhtomsky (1861-1921) offered a detailed account of the journey of Nicholas II to the East.

Interestingly, he joined the expedition just a few days before the departure. As a diplomat and scholar, Ukh-

tomsky went to the East many times, especially to Mongolia, and was well versed in the fundamentals of Asian cultures and religions. On board of the frigate “Memory of Azov” was also the artist and ethnographer Nikolai Karazin (1842-1908) and Vasily Mendeleev, the son of the famous author of the “Mendeleyev Table”. Karasin made many beautiful drawings to illustrate his forthcoming book about the journey of the Russian tsar to Egypt, Siam, India, Japan and Mendeleyev made a photo chronicle of the journey. The unique collection of more than 200 images is stored in the National Library of Russia.

Why is Vrindavan considered a “promised land” for all Indians, like Bethlehem for the Christians and Mecca for the Muslims? During the whole year, hundreds of thousands and sometimes even millions of people come to Vrindavan eager to pay their respects to Lord Krishna. It is said that only one step on the ground of Vrindavan is equal to the pilgrimage to any other holy place.

“According to the ingenuous doctrine of flocking here from afar, if pilgrims spend one day at the home land of Krishna, it is more important for the salvation of their souls than spending years in the blissful Benares practising devotion and prayers”, – writes Ukhtomsky in his book as if confirming this truth.

In Vrindavan, one can experience all tastes and spiritual experiences: from feeling the joy of meeting with God to feeling unbearable separation from Him. These attitudes overwhelm the pilgrims not only when they visit temples, but everywhere, anytime of the day or night. No wonder – after all, this is considered to be the earthly reflection of the eternal spiritual planet of Krishna – Gokula Vrindavan, “full of knowledge and unlimited bliss,” as stated in the Hindu scriptures. The secret to understand the transcendental nature of Vrindavan is to

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go there only with pilgrims who are devotees of Krishna.

It is through these pilgrims that one can develop the right mood for the dhama to be inclined to accept someone as their own.

The history of Vrindavan dates back to more than five thousand years, when it was a pastoral village among impenetrable forests and meadows with lush grass, on which millions of cows were grazing. Some sages believe that Vrindavan includes the whole province of Vraja which is about 420 sq. km, together with Vrindavan, the sacred hill Govardhana, Gokula, Varsana, the sacred lake Radhakunda and Nandagram. The word “Vraja” means “the place where cows go to pasture”. Vraja also has 137 forests, related to the pastimes of Krishna – there are 12 principal forests.

Vrindavan was also a dense forest. It owes its name to Vrinda, a companion of Krishna, who is in control of everything that pleases Krishna and His friends.

Other sages believe that Vraja is only the surroundings of Vrindavan, thus putting Vrindavan at the center of all the events of the past, present and future. Anyway, the whole of Vraja is associated with Krishna. All Indians are most respectful towards Krishna. The word Krishna means “all-attractive” and His devotees experience him as so.

Philosophically we understand that Krishna is the most personal aspect of God. In no other way the Lord manifests such a limitless range of personal relationships between Himself and His parts and parcels. One can take on the role of dasi (obedient servant), as the famous blind poet Surdas did or become sakhi, a friend of Krishna, as the brave warrior Arjuna from “Bhagavad Gita” or beautiful Draupadi from “Mahabharata”. Vatsalah serves Krishna as a parent serves the child, such as Yasoda and many Indian mothers. The believer may be with Krishna in a conjugal relationship, like Vrindavan cow- girls. All these different kinds of relationship are thoroughly saturated with selfless love and, therefore, absolute.

Alas, despite his erudition in oriental matters, Ukhtomsky did not understand the position and the role of Krishna in the overall palette of avatars. Not all the Brahmans, versed in the Vedic mantras and hymns, are able to clearly understand and accept the supremacy of Krishna,

so what to speak of the the first Russians who sailed to Vrindavan with their limited understanding.

Here’s how a companion of the crown prince presents his version of Krishna’s origin and position. He was clearly under the influence of the European Indology but also correctly guessed the subtleties of the incomprehensible nature of Krishna: “Orientalists still cannot answer very well the question, who is Krishna and what constitutes the core of His complex world? One thing is for sure: A long time ago the pastoral tribes (Yadavas) came to Yamuna, founded the kingdom, with its capital in Mathura, and because he manifested some extraordinary qualities they deified the prince in their midst, the dark faced Krishna. (It should be noted that Buddha came out of the nation of Scythian origin and being not an aryan was sometimes depicted almost black). The good Yadava deity attracted the surrounding population from a large area. Brahmins, holding to primordial tactics of overpowering a spiritual enemy by taking him into their own pantheon, too, made up with Krishnaism, which since then has gained even more charm with masses. Worshiping Krishna, “avatar” and incarnation of Vishnu, the faithful people praised the triumph of the good and buoyancy above the despondency and despair, which partly, perhaps, a little too heavily dominated by pessimistic outlook of the Indians. Krishna is happy, naughty, marked by pure human weaknesses and passions, standing up for the weak. What else do the crowd looks for?

Gifted with the ability to fill the universe with happiness and joy, the deity of Mathura [Krishna] loved to inspire animals and birds, herdswomen and settlers, even inanimate objects with His mellifluous play on the flute. When everybody and everything gets affected by the thrill of pleasure, Orpheus transforms into a strictly thoughtful preacher of morality, in a sort of Buddha, who has comprehended the vanity of the earthly troubles, in the embodiment of dispassion and restraint. In the eyes of Krishna, it might look like two marvelous lotuses, just flickered enchantment of love and appeal to the sinful

CON’T ON PAGE 13

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INDIAN VILLAGE WHERE PEOPLE SPEAK IN SANSKRIT A village in the southern state of Karnataka where most residents speak Sanskrit is in focus at a time when the Indian government’s insistence on promoting the ancient language has sparked a debate over the role it plays in the lives of people in the country now. The BBC Hindi’s Imran Qureshi reports from the village.

Mattur, in Shimoga district, about 300km (186 miles) from the state capital, Bangaluru appear quite oblivious of the raging debate in India over the recent government order to replace German with Sanskrit in central schools.

Here, ordinary shopkeepers and agricultural labourers speak in Sanskrit - or at least understand it. Most children speak the language fluently too.

The phrases most heard on the streets here are “katham aasthi” (Sanskrit for how are you?) and “aham gachchami” (I am going).

Professor MB Srinidhi, a resident of Mattur, says the current controversy is unnecessary.

“Just like the European languages are spoken in Europe, we also need to speak in Sanskrit. The interesting aspect is that Sanskrit is a language that will help in understanding not just Indian languages but also German or French,” he told BBC Hindi.

Sanskrit belongs to the Indo-Aryan group of languages and is the root of many Indian languages.

In ancient India, it was the main language used by scholars and was sometimes referred to as devabhasha - the language of gods.

Today, it is spoken by less than 1% of Indians and is mostly used by Hindu priests during religious ceremonies.

Until the early 1980s, villagers in Mattur spoke the state’s regional language, Kannada, as well as Tamil because of the large number of labourers who settled there centuries ago from the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu.

“Then there was a movement in favour of Sanskrit. Sanskrit had been criticized as the language of [upper caste] Brahmins and suddenly displaced from the pedestal with Kannada,” said Prof Srinidhi.

“The priest of [the local religious centre] Pejawar Mutt gave a call to make Mattur a Sanskritspeaking village. It took just two hours daily for 10 days, for the entire village to start conversing in Sanskrit,” he added.

Since then, Sanskrit has been spoken not just by the Sankethi Brahmins of the 3,500-strong village, but also by communities from the socially and economically

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underprivileged sections of society.

Sankethis are a small community of Brahmins who originally came from the neighbouring state of Kerala and settled there centuries ago.

There are only around 35,000 Sankethis in India and their language - also called Sankethi - is a mix of Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and a little Telugu.

Today, 150 of the 400 students in the local Sri Sharada Vilasa school study Sanskrit as the first language, with English as the second language and Kannada or Tamil or any other regional language as their third language.

The school’s Sanskrit teacher, Ananthakrishna, asks one of his best students, Imran, a question in Sanskrit. “His interest in Sanskrit is amazing,” he explains.

“It helps me understand Kannada better,” says Imran.

The influence of Sanskrit is, indeed, strong in Mattur.

For housewife Lakshmi Keshava, who normally speaks Sankethi at home, shifting automatically to Sanskrit when she gets angry with her son or family members, is normal.

It is not very different for Tamil-speaking Chitra, an agricultural labourer: “We understand Sanskrit. Some of us cannot speak it, but our children do speak the language.”

“Sanskrit is a language that teaches you old traditions and values. It’s a language of the heart and cannot die,” says Sanskrit scholar Aswathanarayana Avadhani.

Many of Mattur’s young students have gone abroad to study engineering or medicine and I ask if Sanskrit helps in developing a mindset that aids understanding other languages, including those used in computer sciences.

Shashank, who runs an IT solutions company in Bangaluru, says, “Yes, there is a connect if you delve deep into Sanskrit. Those who have gone into Vedic mathematics [which dates back to a time in ancient India when Sanskrit was the main language used by scholars] have certainly got a logical mindset that helps in information technology.”

“I have learnt some Vedic math that has helped me.

Others use a calculator when I could just do all that without a calculator.”

Courtesy: BBC India

CON’T FROM PAGE 11 ecstasy. But suddenly from the same overbearingly attracting face something very different breathes, much higher, free from worldly filth and darkness of passions.

A mysterious supernatural being, incomprehensible twists of flaming speculation!”

Vrindavan’s revival is owed to Sri Chaitanya, who 500 years ago returned it to its former glory. Chaitanya visited Vrindavan and its surroundings, revealing by his mystic powers a lot of its forgotten sacred places. He sent the brothers Rupa and Sanatana and ordered them to restore Vrindavan as the sacred dham. These two sages were later joined by four other gosvamis.

A modern renaissance began in the late 1960s, when the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada brought his Western disciples to Vrindavana.

Seeing the enthusiasm of white sannyasis and brahmanas professing their own religion, Indians experienced a real culture shock. Hundreds of thousands of Indians came to Vrindavan only to look at the “white elephants” as they became known.

Each new day begins in Vrindavan very early. At 2 am the town wakes up and starts to rattle with the altar bells. In the darkness people rush to the temples, greeting each other with: “Radhe, Radhe!” (Radharani is the favorite girl friend of Krishna; in their heart Vrajavasis worship her even more than Krishna). Before dawn many people visit various large sanctuaries and some walk around the whole of Vrindavan.

Vrindavan would not be a holy city if it did not offer lessons of spirituality. First of all, Vrindavan is a real model of spiritual simplicity. Vrindavan is permeated with natural peacefulness. Friendliness and non violence towards other living beings reign here. The barrier of mistrust, typical for the Western world, and the rule of “what is mine is mine” dissolve there, although everyone is busy with their own daily occupation. Vrindavan is an example of a kind of healthy democracy.

No one blames you for your skin colour or faith. If you say “Radhe!”, then you are immediately everyone’s best friend.

Source: http://krishna.ru/news/15-news/4595-125ii-.html, http://iskconamsterdam.nl/2016/01/9727/ Translation: Sofiya Perfilyeva Edited by Visnu Murti das

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TESLA AND ANCIENT VEDIC PHILOSOPHY We have seen a very interesting trend (especially within the past decade) of modern-day science catching up to an ancient understanding about the true nature of reality, its make-up, how it functions and how we can work with it to bring about change on our planet. For anybody to label the merging of ‘spirituality’ and science as pseudoscience means they have not properly investigated it. Spiritual concepts of our ancient world are directly intertwined with modernday science, more so quantum physics, and Nikola Tesla was well aware of this.

“All perceptible matter comes from a primary substance, or tenuity beyond conception, filling all space, the akasha or luminiferous ether, which is acted upon by the life giving Prana or creative force, calling into existence, in never-ending cycles all things and phenomena.”- Nikola Tesla, Man’s Greatest Achievement, 1907 (1)(2).

As you can see, Tesla was aware of ancient concepts and the correlation it had with the science he was working on - using Sanskrit worlds like “akasha,” and “prana” to describe the force and matter that exists all around us. These words come from the Upanishads (a collection of Vedic texts).

“The aakaash is not destructible, it is the primordial absolute substratum that creates cosmic matter and hence the properties of aakaash are not found in the material properties that are in a sense relative. The akaash is the eternally existent, superfluid reality, for which creation and destruction are inapplicable.” – (Idham thadhakshare parame vyoman. Parame vyoman) – Paramahamsa Tewari, Engineer, Physicist and Inventor.

Nikola Tesla had correlations with Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), who was one of the most famous and influential spiritual leaders of the philosophies of Ve-

danta (one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy, the term originally referred to the upanishads, a collection of philosophical texts in Hinduism) and Yoga.

Swami Vivekananda was the chief disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and the founder of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. He is a giant figure in the history of the Hindu Reform movements.

Swami Vivekananda wrote a letter to Tesla in the late 1800’s stating: “Mr. Tesla thinks he can demonstrate mathematically that force and matter are reducible to potential energy. I am to go and see him next week to get this new mathematical demonstration. In that case the Vedantic cosmology will be placed on the surest of foundations. I am working a good deal now upon the cosmology and eschatology of the Vedanta.

I clearly see their perfect union with modern science, and the elucidation of the one will be followed by that of the other.” – Swami Vivekananda (Complete Works, VOL. V, Fifth Edition, 1347, p. 77). (1) Tesla began using the Sanskrit words after meeting with Swami, and after studying the Eastern view of the true nature of reality, about the mechanisms that drive the material world. Eventually, it led him to the basis for the wireless transmission of electrical power, what is known as the Tesla Coil Transformer. During this year he made the following comments during a speech before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.

(Given before he familiarized himself with the Vedic sincere of the eastern nations of India, Tibet, and Nepal.)

“Ere many generations pass, our machinery will be driven by a power obtainable at any point in the uni-

“Life and death, joy and sorrow, gain and loss; These dualities cannot be avoided.

Learn to accept what you cannot change.”

— the Ramayana PAGE 14 Listen to Asian Connection Radio on FM 101.3, 11am-2pm; contact Ranbir @ 416-910-2000

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verse. This idea is not novel. We find it in the delightful myth of Antheus, who derives power from the earth; we find it among subtle speculations of one of your splendid mathematicians. Throughout space there is energy. Is this energy static, or kinetic? If static our hopes are in vain; if kinetic – and this we know it is, for certain – then it is a mere question of time when mankind will succeed in attaching their machinery to the very wheel work of nature.” – Nikola Tesla.

The Vedas are a group of writings that consist of hymns, prayers, myths, historical accounting, science and the nature of reality. They date back at least 5000 years and are not so different from other ancient texts that dive into the same matters from all across the globe. The language used is Sanskrit and its origins are unknown.

“Swami Vivekananda was hopeful that Tesla would be able to show that what we call matter is simply potential energy because that would reconcile the teachings of the Vedas with modern science. The Swami realized that in that case, the Vedantic cosmology (would) be placed on the surest of foundations. Tesla understood the Sanskrit terminology and philosophy and found that it was a good means to describe the physical mechanisms of the universe as seen through his eyes. It would behoove those who would attempt to understand the science behind the inventions of Nikola Tesla to study Sanskrit and Vedic philosophy.” – Toby Grotz, President, Wireless Engineering.

Apparently, Tesla was unable to show the identity of energy and matter, this did not come until Albert Einstein published his paper on relativity, which was known in the East for the last 5000 years.

“All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.” – Swami Vivekananda Tesla’s vision of the wireless transmission of electricity and free energy has been postponed for almost one hundred years now. Which brings us close to modern research on Tesla and Vedic thoughts.

Courtesy: Hinduism and Sanatan Dharma

“Spirituality lies in what you do and how you do it and not what result you get.”

— Kapil Dev

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THE COMMON BASES FOR ALL HINDUS

By Swami Vivekananda There are certain great principles in which, I think, we — whether Vaishnavas, Shaivas, Shaktas, or Ganapatyas, whether belonging to the ancient Vedantists or the modern ones, whether belonging to the old rigid sects or the modern reformed ones — are all one, and whoever calls himself a Hindu, believes in these principles.

Of course there is a difference in the interpretation, in the explanation of these principles, and that difference should be there, and it should be allowed, for our standard is not to bind every man down to our position.

It would be a sin to force every man to work out our own interpretation of things, and to live by our own methods. Perhaps all who are here will agree on the first point that we believe the Vedas to be the eternal teachings of the secrets of religion. We all believe that this holy literature is without beginning and without end, coeval with nature, which is without beginning and without end; and that all our religious differences, all our religious struggles must end when we stand in the presence of that holy book; we are all agreed that this is the last court of appeal in all our spiritual differences. We may take different points of view as to what the Vedas are. There may be one sect which regards one portion as more sacred than another, but that matters little so long as we say that we are all brothers in the Vedas, that out of these venerable, eternal, marvellous books has come everything that we possess today, good, holy, and pure.

Well, therefore, if we believe in all this, let this principle first of all be preached broadcast throughout the length and breadth of the land. If this be true, let the Vedas have that prominence which they always deserve, and which we all believe in. First, then, the Vedas. The second point we all believe in is God, the creating, the preserving power of the whole universe, and unto whom it periodically returns to come out at other periods and manifest this wonderful phenomenon, called the universe. We may differ as to our

conception of God. One may believe in a God who is entirely personal, another may believe in a God who is personal and yet not human, and yet another may believe in a God who is entirely impersonal, and all may get their support from the Vedas. Still we are all believers in God; that is to say, that person who does not believe in a most marvellous Infinite Power from which everything has come, in which everything lives, and to which everything must in the end return, cannot be called a Hindu. If that be so, let us try to preach that idea all over the land. Preach whatever conception you have to give, there is no difference, we are not going to fight over it, but preach God; that is all we want. One idea may be better than another, but, mind you, not one of them is bad. One is good, another is better, and again another may be the best, but the word bad does not enter the category of our religion. Therefore, may the Lord bless them all who preach the name of God in what ever form they like! The more He is preached, the better for this race. Let our children be brought up in this idea, let this idea enter the homes of the poorest and the lowest, as well as of the richest and the highest — the idea of the name of God. The third idea that I will present before you is that, unlike all other races of the world, we do not believe that this world was created only so many thousand years ago, and is going to be destroyed eternally on a certain day. Nor do we believe that the human soul has been created along with this universe just out of nothing.

Here is another point I think we are all able to agree upon. We believe in nature being without beginning and without end; only at psychological periods this gross material of the outer universe goes back to its finer state, thus to remain for a certain period, again to be projected outside to manifest all this infinite panorama we call nature. This wavelike motion was going on even before time began, through eternity, and will remain for an infinite period of time.

“One ruins the mind if he or she indulges in bad deeds and ends up in misery.”

— The Rig Veda PAGE 18 Listen to Asian Connection Radio on FM 101.3, 11am-2pm; contact Ranbir @ 416-910-2000

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Next, all Hindus believe that a human is not only a gross material body; not only that within this there is the finer body, the mind, but there is something yet greater — for the body changes and so does the mind — something beyond, the Atman — I cannot translate the word to you for any translation will be wrong — that there is something beyond even this fine body, which is the Atman of a person, which has neither beginning nor end, which knows not what death is. And then this peculiar idea, different from that of all other races of humankind, that this Atman inhabits body after body until there is no more interest for it to continue to do so, and it becomes free, not to be born again, I refer to the theory of Samsara and the theory of eternal souls taught by our Shastras. This is another point where we all agree, whatever sect we may belong to. There may be differences as to the relation between the soul and God. According to one sect the soul may be eternally different from God, according to another it may be a spark of that infinite fire, yet again according to others it may be one with that Infinite. It does not matter what our interpretation is, so long as we hold on to the one basic belief that the soul is infinite, that this soul was never created, and therefore will never die, that it had to pass and evolve into various bodies, till it attained perfection in the human one — in that we are all agreed. And then comes the most differentiating, the grandest, and the most wonderful discovery in the realms of spirituality that has ever been made.

Some of you, perhaps, who have been studying Western thought, may have observed already that there is another radical difference severing at one stroke all that is Western from all that is Eastern. It is this that we hold, whether we are Shaktas, Sauras, or Vaishnavas, even whether we are Buddhas or Jainas, we all hold in India that the soul is by its nature pure and perfect, infinite in

power and blessed. Only, according to the dualist, this natural blissfulness of the soul has become contracted by past bad work, and through the grace of God it is again going to open out and show its perfection; while according to the monist, even this idea of contraction is a partial mistake, it is the veil of Maya that causes us to think the, soul has lost its powers, but the powers are there fully manifest. Whatever the difference may be, we come to the central core, and there is at once an irreconcilable difference between all that is Western and Eastern. The Easterner is looking inward for all that is great and good. When we worship, we close our eyes and try to find God within.

The Westerner is looking up outside for his God. To the Westerner, their religious books have been inspired, while with us our books have been expired; breath-like they came, the breath of God, out of the hearts of sages they sprang, the Mantradrashtas.

This is one great point to understand, and, my friends, my people, let me tell you, this is the one point we shall have to insist upon in the future. For I am firmly convinced, and I beg you to understand this one fact - no good comes out of the man who day and night thinks he is nobody. If a person, day and night, thinks she or he is miserable, low, and nothing, nothing she or he becomes. If you say yea, yea, “I am, I am”, so shall you be; and if you say “I am not”, think that you are not, and day and night meditate upon the fact that you are nothing, ay, nothing shall you be. That is the great fact which you ought to remember. We are the children of the Almighty, we are sparks of the infinite, divine fire. How can we be nothings? We are everything, ready to do everything, we can do everything, and man must do everything. This faith in themselves was in the hearts of our ancestors, this faith in themselves was the motive power that pushed them forward and forward in the march of civilisation;

“The person who is always involved in good deeds experiences incessant divine happiness.”

— The Rig Veda

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and if there has been degeneration, if there has been defect, mark my words, you will find that degradation to have started on the day our people lost this faith in themselves. Losing faith in one’s self means losing faith in God. Do you believe in that infinite, good Providence working in and through you? If you believe that this Omnipresent One, the Antaryamin, is present in every atom, is through and through, Ota-prota, as the Sanskrit word goes, penetrating your body, mind and soul, how can you lose, heart? I may be a little bubble of water, and you may be a mountain-high wave. Never mind!

The infinite ocean is the background of me as well as of you. Mine also is that infinite ocean of life, of power, of spirituality, as well as yours. I am already joined — from my very birth, from the very fact of my life — I am in Yoga with that infinite life and infinite goodness and infinite power, as you are, mountain-high though you may be. Therefore, my people, teach this life-saving, great, ennobling, grand doctrine to your children, even from their very birth. You need not teach them Advaitism; teach them Dvaitism, or any “ism” you please, but we have seen that this is the common “ism” all through India; this marvellous doctrine of the soul, the perfection of the soul, is commonly believed in by all sects.

As says our great philosopher Kapila, if purity has not been the nature of the soul, it can never attain purity afterwards, for anything that was not perfect by nature, even if it attained to perfection, that perfection would go away again. If impurity is the nature of man, then man will have to remain impure, even though he may be pure for five minutes. The time will come when this purity will wash out, pass away, and the old natural impurity will have its sway once more. Therefore, say all our philosophers, good is our nature, perfection is our nature, not imperfection, not impurity —and we should remember that. Remember the beautiful example of the great sage who, when he was dying, asked his mind to remember all his mighty deeds and all his mighty thoughts. There you do not find that he was teaching his mind to remember all his weaknesses and all his follies.

Follies there are, weakness there must be, but remember your real nature always — that is the only way to cure the weakness, that is the only way to cure the follies.

It seems that these few points are common among all the various religious sects in India, and perhaps in future upon this common platform, conservative and liberal religionists, old type and new type, may shake bands.

Above all, there is another thing to remember, which I am sorry we forget from time to time, that religion, in India, means realizsation and nothing short of that.

“Believe in the doctrine, and you are safe”, can never be taught to us, for we do not believe in that. You are what you make yourselves. You are, by the grace of God and your own exertions, what you are. Mere believing in certain theories and doctrines will not help you much.

The mighty word that came out from the sky of spirituality in India was Anubhuti, realisation, and ours are the only books which declare again and again: “The Lord is to be seen”. Bold, brave words indeed, but true to their very core; every sound, every vibration is true. Religion is to be realizsed, not only heard; it is not in learning some doctrine like a parrot. Neither is it mere intellectual assent — that is nothing; but it must come into us.

Ay, and therefore the greatest proof that we have of the existence of a God is not because our reason says so, but because God has been seen by the ancients as well as by the moderns. We believe in the soul not only because there are good reasons to prove its existence, but, above all, because there have been in the past thousands in India, there are still many who have realised, and there will be thousands in the future who will realise and see their own souls. And there is no salvation for people until they see God, realising their own soul.

Therefore, above all, let us understand this, and the more we understand it the less we shall have of sectarianism in India, for it is only that a person who has realised God and seen Him, who is religious. In him the knots have been cut asunder, in him alone the doubts have subsided; he alone has become free from the fruits of action who has seen Him who is nearest of the near and farthest of the far. Ay, we often mistake mere prattle for religious truth, mere intellectual perorations for great spiritual realisation, and then comes sectarianism, then comes fight. If we once understand that this realisation is the only religion, we shall look into our own hearts and find how far we are towards realising the truths of religion. Then we shall understand that we ourselves are groping in darkness, and are leading others to grope in the same darkness, then we shall cease from sectarianism, quarrel, arid fight. Ask a person who wants to start a sectarian fight, “Have you seen God? Have you seen the Atman? If you have not, what right have you to preach His name — you walking in darkness trying to lead me into the same darkness — the blind leading the blind, and both falling into the ditch?”

Source: This article represents an edited version of excerpts from Swami Vivekananda’s speech that he delivered in a public meeting organized by Arya Samaj and Sanatana Dharma Sabha

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CANADIAN HINDU LINK | VO L U M E 8 . I S S U E 2

KEEPING CULTURES ALIVE: SINDHIS AND HINDUS IN CHILE

By Saaz Aggarwal Punta Arenas, Chile, is one of the southern-most cities in the world. There was a time when every ship crossing from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Straits of Magellan or around Cabo de Hornos (Cape Horn) halted there.

branches of trading firms headquartered in Hyderabad, Sind, between 1890 and 1940. I felt surprised and impressed to see that it included about a dozen places in South America. How had Sindhis got so far away from home so long ago?

Navigating giant waves, deadly currents, Antarctic blizzards and icebergs, the journeys took months. Arriving at Punta Arenas, the stormbattered, scurvy-ridden sailors would stumble out of their cramped quarters in relief.

The town thrived.

Invited to meals at the homes of the Sindhi families of Punta Arenas to be told their stories, it felt like I was eleven and invited to Harry Potter’s birthday party.

We flew in more than a hundred years after the Panama Canal had changed things for Punta Arenas. At the Hotel Cabo de Hornos, we bumped into someone from our plane who had stayed over to catch his (once-a-week) flight to the Falkland Islands. Paul, from the South Atlantic Research Institute, told us that there was a post office nearby where Robert Scott, the early Antarctic explorer, had posted letters and packets.

These days too, this historic town is a base for Antarctic expeditions. The less adventurous can catch the tourist boat to a nearby island thickly populated by penguins.

Punta Arenas, like much of Chile, nestles between wooded slopes on one side and a lavish seafront on the other. Like other Chilean cities, it has well-maintained public spaces that sport sculptures of different types: traditional European, contemporary and aboriginal.

Its cemetery is said to be exceptionally beautiful and historic. We saw none of these, however, having come with the specific purpose of meeting the Sindhi families of this town.

I first saw the name Punta Arenas on a map in a book by the French scholar Claude Markovits, The Global World of Indian Merchants - 1750-1947: Traders of Sind from Bukhara to Panama.

The map marks places around the world which had

The first evening, Chile was playing arch-rival Bolivia in the Copa America, and I was learning how, one day in 1907, a Sindhi merchant, Harumal, came ashore. As the fascinating story proceeded, raucous cries rang out and vehicles revved loudly on the streets outside.

Chile had won, 5-0.

The account of how Harumal opened his first store; how it got handed over to someone else; what happened during the First World War and then the Second; how Partition affected the Sindhis of Punta Arenas, will form part of Sindhi Tapestry, the ‘companion volume’ to my first book, Sind: Stories from a Vanished Homeland.

So far away from India, and with their home here for more than a hundred years, the Sindhis of Punta Arenas still speak Sindhi and eat Sindhi food. Like other diasporic Sindhis, they have an international network.

Three household help I saw in the homes of these Chilean Sindhis were from, respectively, Nigeria, Indonesia and Burma. The homes were lavish and decorated like those of fabled Oriental potentates, thick with curios and mirrors and objets d’art.

On Sunday morning, we attended satsang in the Hindu temple of Punta Arenas, which occupies prime real estate on the seafront. It was a moving service, conducted in both Sindhi and Spanish.

Like in other Sindhi mandars around the world, many world religions are represented here. It was once an

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essential characteristic of Sind that spirituality and the inner life were revered beyond human classification.

And then, it became an irony of history that the Hindus of Sind turned out to set such store by their own religion that they were forced into exile from a beloved homeland on account of it.

In 1947, these doughty people lost more than their homeland and their possessions. In their determination to move on and make the best of what they were left with, they lost their past too. In an extreme endorsement of this easily verified fact, someone in Punta Arenas told me, “I really learnt a lot today. I never even knew that Mohenjo Daro was in Sind!”

Yet another thing that suffered a blow was the Sindhi brand identity. In new lands, and with the urgency of feeding their families, trading was a way to make a respectable living. Competing as they were with cartels entrenched for decades, and obliged to trade on lower margins to get a foot in the door, they were branded early on as ‘cheats’.

The early resentment in Bombay produced Bollywood caricatures of wealthy and villainous businessmen speaking in thick Sindhi accents, and widespread aphorisms of the “If you meet a Sindhi and a snake, who should you kill first?”

In 1947, when the Hindus of Sind dispersed and sought new homes, many settled in Bombay. However, an early foundation had been established for the diaspora by the pioneering Sindhi entrepreneurial community, the Bhaibands, who had their kothis in the Shahibazar locality of Hyderabad, Sind. As mapped by Markovits, they had branches all over the world, particularly dense in South East Asia and Africa, and even South America. This gave a base to the displaced ones. Families sent their young sons out to these outposts. They worked hard, deprived themselves, sent money home, and (some sooner than others) started their own businesses which, over the years, grew and grew. Often enough, they were displaced yet again by global politics and economics. In the 1950s, events in Vietnam sent them out to Thailand and Laos. In the 1960s, their stronghold in Indonesia loosened and Hong Kong opened up. In the early 1970s,

Africa became hostile. The story went on.

It was something that happened in Chile in the mid1970s that took today’s Sindhi population there. A government leaning to Communism was violently overthrown by the military dictator Augusto Pinochet. The new government began to nurture the Chilean economy with policies formulated by a group of young US-educated economists wryly referred to as the Chicago Boys.

One of the initiatives was the Iquique free trade zone. In came the Sindhis.

In Iquique, I stayed with Renu Melwani, in what was once Pinochet’s home in the town he is said to have loved dearly. Bordered on one side by the Pacific Ocean and on the other by a range of low hills extending from the Atacama Desert and running parallel to the Andes, Iquique’s natural advantages include an exceptionally beautiful landscape; a countryside so rich in copper that Chile is the largest exporter in the world; bountiful coastal waters that export seafood delicacies all over the world; a harbour so filled with containers that the free zone is like a mini-China.

If the Sindhis I met in Iquique could be used as a base to create a stereotype, then Sindhis are kind and welcoming; cosmopolitan, fun-loving and extremely closeknit. At the Hindu temple in Iquique, the Saturday soup kitchen has volunteers from across the town to cook and take the food out to underprivileged areas. One evening, at a potluck dinner in Renu’s home, I helped myself to an unfamiliar dish and learnt that it was gado-gado, an Indonesian delicacy. Where else but in Chile?

Chile is a beautiful country. I returned home with the unforgettable scenery of the places and of its all-pervasive public art installations implanted in my mind.

I suppose I will have to admit that I also loved Chile because, for a writer, there is absolutely nothing which compares to travelling halfway across the world and finding people there waiting for you with your book in their hand.

Source: Hindustan New Delhi Times

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DHARMIC ACTIVISM AND WORK WITHOUT PROPER SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION IS DANGEROUS

By Desh Kapoor Given how things are as dice is cast against one religious group by the media, the “Secularists” and the foreign forces, it is imperative that Hindus also find their expression. Expression to speak up against the intolerance that has been going on for many decades – starting from the colonial era (also read “Why Indian Secularism is a Euphemism for Hinduphobia”).

What has passed off as “Freedom of Expression” in India, was really “Expression Apartheid” by the forces that targeted everything “Hindu”. So the voice of Dharma is imperative.

But what is happening, the way it is happening, is that the right way? Yes, Indian culture and spiritual history has opened things up for everyone and every experimentation is important. Indeed, necessary. Those, however, who feel there is a need to put the Hindu ethos in proper perspective need more than just “passion” in the heart and a loud voice. They need to touch the Dharmic ethos itself!

Otherwise how will their work be any different from the ideological chains that the Secularists and others have bound the minds of modern India with?

Dharmic fight is not a religious fight. It cannot be. It cannot purport to replace one belief system with another and yet be Dharmic. It has to distinguish Spiritual path against Belief. That is the battle that this nation has lost as its ethos has gotten eroded over time. Let us take a look at how we need to work on ourselves first, before we contribute to the ethos of Dharma itself. Without adequate Purushaartha (or self effort) on a Spiritual

path, we may end up doing more harm than good.

Yoga Vasistha: Worship of Vishnu only possible when you are Vishnu consciousness.

In Yoga Vasistha, the celebrated book where Sage Vasistha teaches Ram about the Truth and takes him through the path of complete enlightenment, narrates something very interesting. In the chapter of Prahalad, Prahalad says: However, one who is not Vishnu does not derive any benefit by worshipping Vishnu.

One should worship Vishnu by being Vishnu. Hence I am Vishnu. He who is known as Prahalad is none other than Vishnu: there is no duality.

This statement is very significant. And, this understanding is also reiterated by Sage Vasistha himself later. In the same chapter, the Sage suggests to Ram that Prahalad attained enlightenment through the grace of Vishnu. This was after suggesting that Self Effort was more important than even God or Guru. For if, Sage Vasistha said, Vishnu could grant enlightenment without self effort, why doesn’t he do so to animals and plants?

So, Ram asked the obvious question: Holy sir, you said that Prahalad attained enlightenment by the grace of Lord Vishnu. If Everything is achieved by self-effort, why was he not able to attain enlightenment without Vishnu’s grace?

“A spirtually illumined soul lives in the world, yet is never contaminated by it.”

— Bhaskarananda

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CANADIAN HINDU LINK | VO L U M E 8 . I S S U E 2

Perfect question, right? The Sage gives the answer: Surely, whatever Prahalad attained was through selfeffort, O Rama, not otherwise. Vishnu is self and self is Vishnu; the distinction is verbal. It was the self of Prahalad that generated in itself devotion to Vishnu.

Prahalad obtained from Vishnu, who was his own self, the boon of self enquiry; and through such enquiry attained self knowledge.

What the Great Sage was saying is that at the level of consciousness that Prahalad had reached, his being / self / consciousness was no different than that of Vishnu.

So, whatever grace happened… happened from that level of consciousness. Precisely what Prahalad himself suggested, i.e., to be a Vishnu Devotee, you need to be Vishnu himself!

Just as wave is the Ocean, and the force of the wave as well as the water of the wave is part and parcel of the Ocean, but every part of the Ocean is not the wave. When the water and vibrations at a particular point reach a certain level the wave happens. Similarly, Vishnu consciousness is in the self. But self at all times does not manifest the Vishnu consciousness. When the vibration of a being is right, and the life energies are right, Vishnu consciousness happens.

So, to say Vishnu is in everyone is the truth as well as a misleading statement. It is true in potential form, but complete falsehood in manifest reality.

Unless, proper self-effort is done to raise one’s consciousness, Vishnu consciousness will not manifest in anyone. And without that, worshipping Vishnu is devoid of all benefit.

Importance of Spiritual Journey in India’s Revival Those who are convinced of the fact that India’s Civilizational strength lies in Dharmic traditions do not say so because of any Superiority Majoritarian Complex, but because Dharmic traditions have put the onus of attaining divinity on every self. It is not a history-centric (as coined by Rajiv Malhotra) event or happening. Just because Jesus was enlightened has no meaning or importance to anyone. You and you alone are responsible

for your consciousness. You suck because YOU suck.

Your being shines because YOUR being shines. No one has anything to do with it. This spiritual tradition is truly Open Source Spirituality. And in that lies the answer as to why Pakistan and India are so different despite having “everything same”.

But in the Open Source Spirituality traditions of Dharmic civilization is also embedded the criticality of attaining to Liberation yourself.

Unfortunately, over the last many hundreds of years – specially since the British tried to translate our scriptures, it has become important for Hindus to read their books and debate on that.

Is that really spirituality or just mere entertainment?

In one event in Houston some years back Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev declared that “I have not read the Bhagwad Gita”, folding his hands in love, “but I know this piece of life in completeness. From its origin to its end.”

And then he went on to say how even if the Gita was a verbatim representation of what Krishna conveyed to Arjun, Sanjay – the one who heard it on the sly to repeat it to Dhritrashtra – could not have conveyed the nonverbal conversation that went on between Krishna and Arjun.

There was a huge hue and cry by many Hindu groups suggesting that here was someone “who hasn’t read Gita and yet says Gita is distorted“. I happened to talk to a gentleman who was particularly peeved. He also told me in anger how he had completely memorized the Gita. I just smiled.

Why? Because even though he had memorized the Gita, he hadn’t understood a word of it. In Chapter 2 shloka 46, Krishna says something very significant:

yavan artha udapane sarvatah samplutodake | tavansarveshu vedeshu brahmanasya vijanatah || 2.46 yavan—whatever; artha—purpose; uda-pane—a well of water; sarvatah—in all respects; sampluta-udake—by a large lake; tavan—that many; sarveshu—in all; vedeshu— Vedas; brahmanasya—one who realizes the Absolute Truth; vijanatah—who is in complete knowledge

“Misfortune is the best fortune. Rejection by all is victory.”

— Valmiki

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CANADIAN HINDU LINK | VO L U M E 8 . I S S U E 2

What he means is – All the knowledge contained in the Vedas is of as much use to a Realized Being as water in a water tank in a large flood of water.

Basically, Arjun, who had been to one of the best “schools” in those times as a prince, was quoting scriptures to suggest what was right and what wasn’t.

Why the act of war from his side wasn’t as per Dharma.

Krishna told him to keep aside his knowledge of the scriptures and not quote from there. For, only people with limited understanding of Self start quoting something without any experiential understanding! Those who know self speak from experience and that is far above any scripture. So, move beyond all this and be established in the highest consciousness.

He takes the discussion further by stating unequivocally:

shruti-vipratipanna te yada sthasyati nishchala | samadhav-achala buddhis tada yogam avapsyasi || 2.53 shruti-vipratipanna—not allured by the fruitive sections of the Vedas; te—your; yada—when; sthasyati —remains; nishchala—steadfast; samadhav—in divine consciousness; achala—steadfast; buddhis—intellect; tada—at that time; yogam—Yog; avapsyasi—you will attain In other words, Krishna tells Arjun that — In the period, when your intellect is not swayed or confused by the theological arguments of the scriptures and has become still, and is firmly established in the Divine Consciousness, at that time you will attain Yoga. Yoga means Union.

Unlike the gentleman who has memorized the Bhagwad Gita, this is precisely what Sadhguru was explaining about his relationship to Gita. What was true of Vedas (as per Krishna himself) was also true of Gita itself!

Activism Without Spiritual Work Is Dangerous Just as there are rhetorical “Secular” (HInduphobic really) activists, there are Hindu activists of all hues.

Unfortunately, a number of them not only do not have initiation into any Spiritual path, but they denounce all Gurus and Spirituality! This is dangerous. Because it cuts at the root of Dharmic ethos.

From aeons, India has been the center of the planet when it came to Spiritual work. You know why? Not because Indians were endowed in some special way. But because we allowed diversity of work in spiritual space.

This meant thousands and thousands of unscrupulous and often useless charlatans. Yes, they aren’t a phenomenon of today. But out of those hundreds of thousands,

even millions of charlatans, one Valmiki or Vasistha or Buddha or Nanak or Ramakrishna Paramhans or Ramana Maharishi would emerge. That was enough. Ramana could do far more than those millions of charlatans could ever destroy.

It was a true “Silicon Valley culture”. A hub of experimentation, creativity and innovation. For one Apple, millions of start-ups have failed and failed miserably.

But just 5 of the top successes – Hewlett Packard, IBM, Apple, Microsoft and Google have contributed more to the society than robbed by the millions of failures.

When we seek to destroy or limit the unsuccessful by riling against “All Gurus”, we not only go for a Nirmal Baba but also subvert a Swami Vivekananda or a Ramana Maharishi. That will singularly be the death knell of Dharmic Spirituality. I am not suggesting we let the charlatans do what they want. But to at the least understand how a Nirmal Baba is different from a Ramana Maharishi and how Devotion is different from Blind faith!

We cannot save the possibility of Vishnu Consciousness by being anything less than Vishnu himself. For devotion without work on consciousness is akin to deception.

One of the critics of Sadhguru in Houston – someone whose intellect I admire greatly – once said that he was a devotee of Hanuman. His principal suggestion to me has been to stay away from having “blind faith” in a Guru. Like the gentleman who had memorized the Gita, but understood nothing, this friend had completely missed the meaning of being Hanuman consciousness altogether. One who was the highest of devotees – his consciousness can only be touched by one who is in absolute and complete submission. If we are to brand devotion as blind faith, then Hanuman loses all value altogether! With intellect, or Vivek, the ability to discern – one cannot be in devotion.

When we proclaim our love for Bhagwad Gita or for Hanuman and wage a war against Spiritual journey of raising consciousness or devotion itself, then we have missed the point. Whatever we will do, will be wrong and unfruitful.

To paraphrase Krishna Himself, let us not aim to be the water tank. Rather raise ourselves to be the vast flood.

The Ocean itself!

Author: Desh - the author, critic and analyst uses the power of his pen to create thought-provoking pieces from ordinary topics of discussion. Read his articles to know more about this charismatic writer.

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KORMA IN JAPAN Vidya Nagaraj from Tsuruoka, Yamagata, Japan writes: Dear Kurma, Wow...that is some website! I already got a few lovely recipes there. My question...

A few years ago, I attended a wedding where the bride and groom were Hare Krishna devotees, and was treated to a wonderful dinner sans onion-garlic etc. The highlight of that dinner was the awesome vegetable korma served with pooris.

Do you have any suggestions on how I can make korma without onion and garlic in the gravy?

I make the usual version with onion and garlic, but right now (pregnant and clumsy), the very smell of garlic is rather revolting, and the onions kill my appetite totally. So contrast that with very healthy cravings, but also stuck in a place where we are the only vegetarians for miles around! We’re Indians, by the way and vegetarian to boot, living in the backwoods of Japan, where our dietary preferences are considered a joke. Please do help me...

I did, and sent this recipe:

Cauliflower Korma I’ve not named this recipe after myself! Rather, the name korma, sometimes spelled quorma, indicates a fragrant braised dish often containing yogurt and sweet spices, and thickened with either ground white poppy seeds or a paste

of ground almonds. This Mogul-influenced style of cooking invariably centres around non-vegetarian ingredients.

My version features cauliflower, the “queen” of vegetables.

Serve Cauliflower Korma hot with flatbreads or rice.

PREPARATION AND COOKING TIME: 50-60 minutes YIELD: Enough for 4-6 persons

Set a heavy frying pan over low to moderate heat. When the pan is hot, sprinkle in the aniseed, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, and dry roast the spices for 3-5 minutes or until they darken a few shades and give off a strong aroma. Grind the spices to a fine powder in a spice mill or coffee grinder. Set aside.

INGREDIENTS: 1 cup blanched almonds 1 tablespoon anise seeds one 10cm cinnamon stick 6 cloves 4 cardamom pods 5 small green chilies, seeded one 1.5cm cube peeled fresh ginger 1 cup yogurt 2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons sugar 4 tablespoons ghee or oil 1 large firm cauliflower, about 1kg, cut into 16 large pieces Dry-roast the almonds on a tray in a moderate oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and allow them to cool. Grind the almonds to a fine powder in a spice mill or coffee grinder. Set the powder aside.

Place the green chilies and ginger in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process until finely chopped.

Add the yogurt, the salt, sugar, the powdered almonds and 1 cup cold water. Process to a smooth, saucy paste.

Add the ground, roasted spices. Process a little more and then remove the paste and set it aside.

Heat the ghee in a heavy 5-litre/quart, preferably nonstick, saucepan over moderate heat. Drop in the cauliflower pieces and stir-fry them for 5 minutes or until they soak up the ghee and become golden on their extremities.

Pour in the paste and stir to mix. Increase the heat, bring the sauce to the boil, then reduce the heat to very low.

You may need to add more water as the sauce thickens.

Cook for 25-30 minutes, partly covered, stirring often or until the sauce thickens to the desired consistency and the cauliflower is tender but not falling apart. Serve hot.

From the travel blog of Kurma Das, world famous Australian Hare Krishna chef who teaches vegetarian cooking all over the world and is the author of various cooking books.

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CANADIAN HINDU LINK | VO L U M E 8 . I S S U E 2

EMBARASSED BY MY INDIANNESS

By Swathi Ramprasad I was seated on the kitchen counter, my favorite perch as a four-year old. I watched my thatha, my maternal grandfather, draw a “U” shaped white figure on his forehead with what looked like a metal toothpick. Carefully, he placed a red substance with water on the heel of his hand, and with the precision of a chemist, mixed them to the perfect consistency. He washed the ever-silver rod, and, in one stroke, drew a red line in the center of his forehead. I begged him to draw one on my head as well. He simply laughed and said, “This is not for you, ma.” Seeing my wide eyes, he placed a small red line on my forehead and lifted me away.

Daily, I would watch my Ramanju thatha repeat the same process over and over again. A deeply pious man, he would bathe early in the mornings, draw his thiruman, and say his prayers for the day. The thiruman is a mark or symbol that Iyengars (members of a sub-sect of Hindus who worship Vishnu) wear on their foreheads in order to show their subservience to God. When I was eight, I had a birthday party at my school. I was more than thrilled to celebrate with my friends and my favorite teacher.

Being the bossy third-grader I was, I ordered my mom to bring cupcakes to school to share. Not wanting to anger me on my special day, she agreed to heed my wishes, but asked me to do her a small favor in return. She asked, “Swathi chellam, please can Patti and Thatha come to see your birthday celebrations? Patti would love to see your friends, and you can introduce Ms. Roberts to Thatha.”

I contemplated about this for a few days, and I came to a conclusion. My grandparents could come to my school, only if thatha erased his thiruman for the day.

“It’s too Indian, Amma, I just want to have a normal American birthday, and I don’t want my friends to keep asking questions.”

My grandfather was indignant, “Do you understand the purpose of this mark, Swathi? All my ancestors wore this on their foreheads.” I tuned out the rest of his tirade, and all I can remember is a blur of some Sanskrit phrases, and the word “God” multiple times. I never bothered to understand the significance. He never agreed to take it off.

The next day, my mom came to school at 2:00 sharp, as per Queen now-nine-years-old’s wishes. My thatha stepped out of the car, and I looked up at him. He now had a bare forehead; the first time I had ever seen this.

Pleased that my thatha had chosen my side, I skipped off to play with my friends. No one asked questions about my grandparents, and no one bothered me about my Indian-ness. I was a happy birthday girl.

The symbols of tradition, in that moment, were so insignificant to me.

They were a reminder of the past that we had left behind to come to America.

Every first-generation child of immigrants undergoes this inner turmoil, attempting to find the balance between culture and the American ideal. Whether being embarrassed about the parent’s over-emphasis of the “w” in “jewel” or bringing a peanut butter sandwich to school every day, we all go through the

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process of shunning our roots.

man you wear as opposed to a devout lady?”

Some of us find the equilibrium between the cultures, and others reject either side in favor of the other. To each their own. But these visible marks of tradition, in language, in symbols, and in food, are dog-tags that point us out as “others,” not part of the American standard. Attempting to fit in, we try to minimize the exposure of this immigrant side of us, until we can understand where we truly fit in. This innocent, albeit rude, rejection of my thatha’s thiruman was an expression of the culture wars that I faced, even at nine years old.

Again, my thatha was the poster face of tradition. All qualms I had with the culture were directed at him. He was always ready with a response, “Women wear the bindi. Wouldn’t it look weird if I wore a sari and Patti wore a veshti?” I kept quiet for a minute. Quickly, my next rebuttal came to me. It followed the rule of my family: when all hope fails, change the subject, even if ever-so slightly. “Thatha, American people treat men and women more equally, why can’t we?” Once again, I held the American culture to an executive ideal.

But, as time progressed, I learned to appreciate my heritage more and more. The simplicities of rituals and wealth of knowledge in my Indian blood mean a great deal to me now.

Last summer, my thatha and I decided to embark on a mission: to use the Silicon Valley public transportation system. We would take these, mostly empty buses, to places around our neighborhood. A bus driver one day, noticed the mark on my thatha’s forehead, and asked him what it was. With his thick accent and expressive hand gestures, my thatha said, “It is the Lord’s feet.

When we worship Him, we must remember that we are simply his subordinates who bow down to Him.”

Through many of my thatha’s visits, I began to learn more about the Hindu religion. He taught me many of the slokams and their meanings. He instilled a great sense of tradition within me, with his stories of mythology and staunch beliefs that he continues to impart to me. Although we argue about many facets of the differences between the cultures, we respect one another immensely. And as I developed a closer relationship with my thatha, I came to associate that familiar thiruman with him, his ideologies, and the tradition that he represents in my mind.

“Thatha, it isn’t just. How can you continue to be so rooted in your misogynistic ways?” At fourteen, I found each and every reason to reject the patriarchy. A number of our conversations would start and end the same way: with me criticizing the backwardness of the South Indian cultural processes.

He tried to explain to me, “Illa, ma, appidi illa. It isn’t like that. The woman was always given control of the wealth and the gold that the man brought home. She had an equal part in the control of the household as the protector of the family’s riches. Only she could decide when to sell the jewelry for money.” I, a sharp-tongued teenager, could not take this as an answer. I could not accept the inequality that continues even to this day. “How come only men can don the sacred thread or even the thiru-

I remember clearly the pride that my thatha felt that day that someone from another culture cared enough to ask about his thiruman, a symbol of our religion and his faith.

It was then that I learned that in order to be “American” or “modern” it does not mean we all have to be the same, factory-made people with no story or no heritage.

Being American means accepting and taking an interest in what each person of every background has to offer us. We are known as the melting pot, a seamless mixture of countries all over the world. Accepting the American character is having a certain blend of old and new, custom and innovation.

My thatha’s adherence to the role of ancient practices but to the acceptance of modern convention reflects this duality. As paradoxical as it may sound, my thatha’s thiruman, which I once repudiated so greatly has actually not only come to be a symbol of tradition for me but also of being American.

Swathi Ramprasad is currently a junior at Presentation High School. She enjoys being a child of two cultures.

“Feel nothing, know nothing, do nothing, have nothing, give up all to God, and say utterly, ‘Thy will be done.’ We only dream this bondage. Wake up and let it go.”

— Swami Vivekananda

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