Sanatana Dharma - Aka Hinduism (3rd Bin)

[Husky]

<b>^ Bodhi's posts 97-100 are very important.</b>


Thanks so much for posting all this, Bodhi. I read it yesterday and again just now. Very important stuff. Where did you obtain it?

Am in agreement with Sandhya and Radha. (The one exception is that I am not opposed to all conversion: I think reconversions to Dharma inside ancient Bharatam is a must and ethically both acceptable and imperative.)

Also completely agree with Sandhya when she says that Hindus who voluntarily ended up outside India (and their progeny) should stay out of the business of Bharatam's Hindu Dharma. Do the crime, do the time. And yes, I consider it a great crime to have ever moved out of Bharatam into countries ruled by terrorist ideologies. Fortunately, we are an extincting species - the timer was set when we moved - and we'll live for a while where we are and then disappear into thin air. Good.


1. Sandhya wrote:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->r    Some of my specific objections to the Vatican meeting are:-
1] It specifically endorses "the freedom to embrace another faith out of one's own free choice." In my understanding of Hindu Dharma, the family and not the individual is the smallest unit of the social organism, and this cannot be ripped apart by giving individuals the right to be brain-washed or bribed by an evangelist and leave the religion and culture to which he or she was born. This is the basic tenet of all native traditions in the world, and by agreeing that individuals can be weaned away from non-monotheistic faiths, the Hindu leaders SECRETLY signing this declaration were violating the tenets of the faith. The failure to respond to this charge is a self-indictment.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Sandhya is very correct in perceiving how this Vatican clause is entirely christian, very anti-Hindu. Note how those of the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha who signed the agreement with the Vatican have conceded to the same anti-Hindu <i>christianist</i> objective which the fraud swarmy uglyface has been peddling as well:
newstodaynet.com/newsindex.php?id=11599%20&%20section=26
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Freedom of religion would remain a mirage unless the tradition of enrolling children to the parent religion ends, Swamiji ('agnivesh' uglyface) said.
(He is advancing the christian argument: "There is no thing such as ancestral tradition. All you heathens must realise you ought to be open to baptism.")<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->While uglyface admits publicly to having marxist sympathies, his words here are particularly christian - as christian as his buddy and colleague Valson Thampu.
Crypto christianism is very hard to identify. Hindus are forced to use inferences to do the identification. But the above is a very christian statement so it identifies the leanings of uglyface quite well. The endorsement of the Vatican clause by the HDAS likewise indicates christo-conditioning, christo-infiltration or just plain old vanilla crypto-christianism. Hindus deserve to know who signed it.

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->2] I also questioned the need to sign any document at all in any gathering without a wider discussion of the same in the home country. If the Vatican document had been shown to any major Shankaracharya or Mathadhipathi, or concerned Hindu citizenry, it would NEVER have been signed. It could only be signed because it was kept a closely guarded secret, and the names of the signatories are still secret.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Hindus MUST discover who all signed the document. It will tell us a lot, especially about people who should never represent us but be avoided at all costs. Sandhya says it well here:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->But as the Vatican 2006 document makes clear - a major sell-out of Dharma has taken place, surreptitiously. None of those associated with that document and subsequent dialogues can now be trusted to represent Hindu Dharma in any respect, at any forums, and must cease and desist from all such secret summitry. Even governments which are notoriously secretive do not function with such non-transparency.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

2. Independent of both Sandhya and Radha, I had also understood the Hindu-Jewish meet's declaration to mean the same thing. It is the only way it can be construed:

http://hamsa.org/Historic%20Hindu%20Jewi...ration.pdf
<b>HISTORIC HINDU JEWISH DECLARATION</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Swami Dayananda Saraswati organised the first Hindu-Jewish meet in February 2007 at New Delhi. Facilitated by “The World Council of Religious Leaders” (http://www.wcorl.org), this was a great event as both the Hindu and Jewish traditions, which do not have aggressive programs of conversion, and advocated a way of life to accomplish the view.
[...]
Judaism was born of the complete repudiation of idol worship and rabbinic literature abounds with denunciation of idolatry. Due to an incomplete understanding, Hinduism has been perceived by the Jewish traditions as idolatrous and promoting many gods. For centuries, both the Hindus and Jewish people have experienced at the hands of aggressive religions extremely violent consequences of wrong perceptions.The Historic declaration made at the Jerusalem meet sets to rest the wrong notion that Hinduism is idolatrous. The declaration reads: “It is recognized that One Supreme Being in its formless and manifest aspects has been worshipped by Hindus over millennia. The Hindus relate to only the One Supreme Being when he/she prays to a particular manifestation. This does not mean that Hindus worship ‘idols’. They worship devataas who are manifestation of the One Supreme Being”. The Chief Rabbi announced that it was a matter of relief to know that their hitherto held perception was wrong. (On this declaration one can read Swami Dayananda Saraswati’s article published by the media). This declaration is indeed a hallmark declaration showing way for meaningful dialogue between leaders of different religious traditions and to help remove wrong perceptions arising from lack of understanding and / or misunderstanding.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

R. Krishnan is a bit of a confused modernist Hindu:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Your readers can judge (without your poisonous spin) whether the One Supreme Being referred to in No.1  is in keeping with the Hindu Shastras  and Sampradayas (no Vaishnava, Shaiva, Sakta or Smartha scholar or practioner that I have spoken to finds it objectionable, but perhaps in your exclusive self-created sampradaya it is).<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Much of TN views each God separately from the others and do puja to each God for their own sake.

- From the abrahamic viewpoint many of us ARE polytheists.
- The Natural Traditionalist however does not know nor understand what monopolytheism means, nor what idolatry means. Merely knows our Gods exist in those different forms that we have always known our Gods in, and that a sure, frequently-vindicated way of approaching our Gods is through puja of temple Vigrahas and home moorthis. The more we perform puja to a Vigraham or moorthy, the more our Gods make their home inside them in anticipation of our directing our devotion to them through that sacred form and material.

So, no:
R. Krishnan need not try to speak so uniformly in declaring that "One Supreme Being" finds universal acceptance among all kinds of Hindus. The lovely Sandhya Jain on the other hand does speak for a great many I personally know.

Am grateful to Sandhya for her intervention on my behalf ("idolatrous polytheist" aka ultra-kaffir as the islamist calls my kind). The Hindu-Jewish meet has entirely ignored, sidelined and actually delegitimised a numerous and ancient type of Hindu.
Am moreover indebted to her and Radha for bringing the entire worrisome topic to my attention - everything from the secret anti-Hindu agreement with the Vatican, the push by popular jetsetting celebrity swamis to have some kind of centralised Hindu 'pope', the crypto associates of HDAS such as Padma Subramaniam and S Gurumurthy who aided in the character assassination of the Kanchi Swamigal, independent confirmation about what the Hindu-Jewish meet had in fact stated, independent confirmation that swarmy uglyface's statement was peculiarly christian as I had thought (since the exact same objective was also there in the Vatican agreement).

It is good all this knowledge was made public, instead of leaving such crucial information swept up under the carpet where others had tried to keep it and then tried to silence Sandhya and Radha into keeping it. I hope in future these two will write about all such worries as soon as they have considered them as carefully as they always do. Hindus <i>need</i> to know, and have only the sincere, caring Hindus like Sandhya and Radha to keep us informed about what ought to concern us.

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Not being too comfortable with all this acrimony over Hindu-Jewish
summiteering, I must nonetheless compliment Sandhya on being every
inch an investigative journalist, a fact-finder.

So this Rabbi Metzger is a less than admirable character? Well,
maybe. If Swami Dayananda and Rajiv Malhotra invest so much in
building bridges with the Jews, it may be for better reasons than a
personal liking for controversial individuals. Hindus already don't
have too many friends abroad, for one, so an alliance with the Jews
may be useful, for both parties in fact.

I am aware that Sandhya belongs to the school that dismisses all non-
Hindu or non-Indian friends as unwanted busybodies, she thinks that
Hindu Indians can win their own war without the meddling of PIOs,
NRIs, RNIs, non-Indian converts etc. Well, I do wish them victory.
But as an outsider, I seem to be missing some key information that
she apparently has, information that warrants confidence in an
unaided Hindu victory. As merely a reader of what Hindus write, I
only notice plenty of desparation about the overwhelmingly negative
odds, the MMMM's omnipresent dominance etc. So, it seems that some
powerful friends on the outside are not a luxury you can spurn like
that.

As Sandhya will certainly affirm, American Jews have a sizable
influence on US foreign policy. Now, just imagine that with an anti-
Hindu and anti-Indian government in Delhi like the present UPA,
Washington would truly be pouncing on Delhi to release Kashmir, to
treat itself to "Azadi from Kashmir", to just hand Kashmir to
Pakistan as a sweetener to pak for a free American hand in the NWFP
and Afghanistan. After all, that's what many in Washington do
consider the required step forward in South Asia. Fortunately, there
are some in Washington who have not followed GW Bush (who in this
regard may yet turn out to be followed faithfully by Obama) in
swallowing Pakistan's mocking professions of togetherness in the war
on terror. There are some there who do think Pak deserves the
thumbscrews. Those are the Jewish neoconservatives. they may do it
for other reasons than sympathy for Bharat, but that's political
alliance-building. In my estimation of the power equation, Hindus are
at present not that strong that they can afford to spurn such
alliances.

Kind regards,

KE
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Husky]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->So this Rabbi Metzger is a less than admirable character? Well,
maybe. If Swami Dayananda and Rajiv Malhotra invest so much in
building bridges with the Jews, it may be for better reasons than a
personal liking for controversial individuals. Hindus already don't
have too many friends abroad, for one, so an alliance with the Jews
may be useful, for both parties in fact.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->It has nothing to do with avoiding building alliances with Jews. It has to do with what those claiming to represent Hindus have agreed to: that Hindus are not 'polytheists' or 'idolators' but that we all only worship 'One Supreme Being'. However, there <i>are</i> Hindus who fit the traditional Abrahamic description of what constitutes a polytheist and an idolator.

Why do we need to give up anything of who we are in order for such an alliance to be formed with Jews in the first place.
Can they not accept us for who we are, as we accept that they have but one God, will practise circumcision, will not ever do moorthy puja, do not have the conception of a female God - Hindus are willing to accept all of this and much more of the Jews without question and without reservation. It's because we accept there is difference, even as we have things in common like non-belligerence towards other religious traditions. But why must <i>Hindus</i> compromise in order for them to accept us? We never were and will never be monopolytheists. We are whatever it is that we are. And we ask to be accepted for this. Nothing less.
We are <i>far</i> from being an intolerant ideology at odds with the world. What more do they need to know to accept us in friendship? No interfaith dialoguing is necessary. No compromising should ever be necessary.
I don't know why people expect that we have no right to ask for something so basic. Especially when we give it so automatically.


I am more than looking forward to Sandhya's response to Elst.

[Bodhi]

Elst's reply was nothing, who is only questioning the wisdom of denying any role to the non-Indian Hindus and suggesting why the Hindu-Jewish collaboration may be important, without defending any specifics of the summitry in question.

Howveer consider the following rather disgustful responses from the Hindu scholar superstars from krau~nchadvIpa:

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->On Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 11:23 PM, N.S.Rajaram <nsrajaram@> wrote:

Ignore these new exclusivists. Radha Rajan is always looking for a
reason to vent her spleen. Let us not forget that it was intrepid Narayan
Kataria and his group who humbled Sonia Gandhi and her tribe in court cases
in the US. Let these braggarts who pretend to be defending Hindu
civilizations do the same to her in India.

NS Rajaram
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->From: Rajiv Malhotra

it is an unforunate fact that hindu activism has also attracted many
disturbed and cognitively dysfunctional persons. It has become an
outlet for many frustrated individuals who did not/could not succeed
in any professional pursuit and/or in personal life; hence "hindu
activism" serves as a banner to give them status as somebody. This
nuisance must not distract us.
regards,
rajiv<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Sandhya Jain's response:

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Dear friends

Without addressing any substantive issue raised regarding the objectives of Inter-Faith Dialogue, repulsive language is being used to malign "Hindu activism" as the realm of "disturbed and cognitively dysfunctional persons" (please see message at the tail end of this email).

As I do not understand the concepts invoked, I am placing some information regarding the Rabbi Yona Metzger - kingpin of the Hindu-Jewish Summitry - for the kind information of all, in the humble expectation that this may help clarify the meaning of "disturbed and cognitively dysfunctional persons."

I await your kind illumination on this score.

Warm regards

Sandhya Jain

Item 1:

In 2005, Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi suspends himself from Rabbinical Court

By Yuval Yoaz and Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondents

Israel's Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yonah Metzger on Tuesday advised the High Court of Justice that he suspends himself from his positions as religious court magistrate at the Rabbinical High Court and as member of the committee for appointing religious magistrates. The suspension will remain in place until Attorney General Menachem Mazuz decides whether to indict Mezger over suspicions that the rabbi accepted bribes from a Jerusalem hotel. Police announced last month it has sufficient evidence to try Metzger for fraud and breach of trust.

Shortly after the police made the announcement, the Omets movement for volunteering petitioned the High Court asking to suspend Meztger from the two senior positions until the end of legal proceedings. Omets also asked the court to issue an injunction to ban the convening of the committee until the court rules in the petition.

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (one of the contenders for the prime ministership of Israel: RM) said that she will not convene the committee until the High Court rules on the petition. Metzger is suspected of having accepted perks equivalent of NIS tens of thousands from the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem, where he has been staying with his family for the high holidays in recent years.

The affair broke out after TV Channel 2 released a story on suspicions that the Chief Rabbi and his family stayed during the last Passover in two rooms at the hotel without paying for their accommodation and stay at the hotel. It also emerged that the rabbi used to stay in the hotel during the high holidays in recent years, while the State funded his rent for an official residence in Jerusalem, not far away from the hotel.

The chief rabbi was first interrogated in February this year by Brigadier General Miri Golan commander of the Police National Fraud Unit for 11 hours at his official chamber in Jerusalem. He was questioned again in May, this time at the fraud unit headquarters in Bat Yam. Police sources said that Metzger collaborated with his interrogators and answered all the questions he was asked. The investigation opened after AG Mazuz approved for the first time in the country's history to interrogate a chief rabbi on allegations against him.

Item 2:

Chief Rabbi accused of sexually harassing 4 males

By Baruch Kra ( baruchk@haaretz.co.il ) Haaretz - April 25, 2003

m/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?ithttp://www.haaretzdaily.coemNo=28716sub5&contrassID=1&ContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

According to a report published in the Ma'ariv daily on Friday, recently elected chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger allegedly sexually harassed four men of various ages and from various sectors of society.

The men said that Metzger touched their bodies and fondled them. The report goes on to say that two of the men successfully passed a polygraph test, at the request of the paper. Metzger denied the allegations against him and said that that they were an attempt to sully his name.

Metzger has been tarred with scandal for years. In 1998, his rabbinical credentials were returned to him after he promised to drop out of the race for Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Tel Aviv. Charges that he repeatedly forged his driver's signature as a witness on ketubot (religious marriage contracts) in order to tie as many nuptial knots as possible per evening and demanded large sums of money from couples' families at the wedding ceremonies he conducted were never formally investigated. However, according to a close associate of supreme haredi authority Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, Metzger had the one qualification that "would bring honor to the chief rabbinate: he committed himself to consulting a greater authority." That is, with Eliashiv himself

Item 3:

Hindu Jewish Summit, Delhi, Feb 5-6, 2007

An historic event took place in New Delhi (6-7 Feb-2007), when Hindu and Jewish religious leaders met for the first time for a two day dialogue on a range of subjects. Under the aegis of the World Council of Religious leaders and the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha, the World Council of Religious Leaders and Aim for Seva, took the intiative to conduct a Hindu-Jewish leadership summit at Delhi on February 5 and 6, 2007.

Several top religious leaders of Judaism and Hindu Dharma participated in the dialogue. Chief Rabbi of Israel, H.H. Yona Metzger and Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati, convener of the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha, several Jewish community leaders in India, and the Ambassador of Israel in India with his senior staff were present. ..

END OF MATTER<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Bodhi]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->  From: Krishnan R
  To: sandhya206@
  Subject: More Facts regarding your Open letter to the Acharyas


  Dear Ms. Jain,



  In my last letter, it was demonstrated that your charges against the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha and its venerable members, our traditional Acharyas, had no merit and only served to sow confusion. When your readers read the substance and tone of the Hindu-Jewish declarations for instance, they will discover that your accusations about the Hindu Acharyas' having disparaged Murti Puja and Hindu prayers and karmas were pure fabrications.



  In your response, you ignore all these facts, and raise yet another accusation which you say is the crux.  You claim, again without any substantiation, that the Acharya Sabha had "secretly" signed a "binding agreement" with the Vatican in 2006 that explicitly endorses the Vatican's Christian Supremacist agenda on conversion.  You lay a very serious charge on some very dedicated and revered people, who are a beacon of hope for many Hindus.



  I will demonstrate below that every element of your new charge is false and misleading.  Again I speak only for myself, as a concerned Hindu. (I have been a long term supporter and admirer of the Infinity Foundation, & Rajiv Malhotra, but I do not speak for them or anyone else).



  You briefly tell your readers that this 2006 Vatican "agreement" is prominently featured on the Acharya Sabha website, but do not provide a link so that they can see for themselves what it says.



  Well, here is the link:  http://www.acharyasabha.org/index.php?opti...id=34&Itemid=40



  The report on the Acharya Sabha website (originally posted in 2007) makes it clear that various Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, (and Muslims !),  and others participated in a discussion with Catholics and Protestants to express their opposition to the Christian program of conversion and world hegemony.  The Vatican had called the meeting to get input on why the Christian conversion program was considered unethical and objectionable by so many people, and to help inform further intra-Christian discussions leading to them drafting a code of conduct with regard to their conversion agendas.  This is disingenuous on the Vatican's part surely, but to many non-Christian minorities in the world, the options are stark- either absent yourself from these meetings and have your point of view ignored and your basic human rights trampled upon by a behemoth, or engage in dialog and hope that decency and the human element of empathy will enable even the blindly fanatical to restrain their supremacist impulses over time.



  The report notes that the dissenters against proselytization made some powerful points against it, and the Christian establishment, predictably defended it.  At the end of it a summary of the discussions and recommendations was issued by the organizers, where the Christian demands and contentions rest uneasily next to the some of the issues raised and recommendations made by the others.  This is all it is, a summary - a very bad and self-serving summary to be sure- of the discussions issued by the Vatican office that organized it.  It is NOT a "secret agreement" and is NON-BINDING.



  This report was posted (in 2007) on the Acharya Sabha website and it has always explicitly stated: 



  "Furthermore the organizers clarified that the document is just a summary of discussions and recommendations of the first meeting on conversion, and one must NOT view them as a policy document, which would be binding at the level of action, in any manner."[My emphasis]





  You do not tell your readers that there was NO binding agreement, there was NO "secret" agreement (how can something posted on a public website be "secret"?), indeed the conclusion is that there was NO agreement at all, just a bad summary document.



  If you had informed your viewers of this, your entire case would have fallen apart.  If you have evidence showing that the Vatican is claiming there was a binding agreement, you should expose the Vatican, not attack revered Hindu Acharyas or the individual Hindus who attended the meeting.



  Now as to the second part of your slander: that the Acharya Sabha  (or key members of it) were involved in this meeting and non-existent "binding" agreement.  Again, this is completely wrong.  The Acharya Sabha was not invited, nor did it send a representative. 



  From publicly available sources, on the web, it is very clear that 3 Hindus attended the meeting on the invitation of the Vatican.  Two were academics: Prof Anantanand  Rambachan (of St Olaf college, Minnesota) and Dr.Vrinda Chaitanya  (lately of  Stanford and Berkeley), and a third was one Sudheendra Kulkarni (variously described as an assistant / or secretary to the Indian politician LK Advani). 



  I do not think an Indian political operative or Prof. Rambachan has any connection to the Acharya Sabha.  But Dr. Vrinda Chaitanya has a very tangential connection- she studied Vedanta with Swami Dayananda Saraswati (a simple web search will reveal as much). The report on the Acharya Sabha Website was clearly identified since its posting in 2007 as prepared by Dr. Vrinda Chaitanya  and posted on "behalf of the convener" of the Acharya Sabha, Swami Dayananda.  It appears she informed her teacher of the discussions, and he had her post her report on the website publicly. The intent seems to have been purely to inform the Acharya Sabha and the public about the substance of this meeting, nothing else.



  So was Dr. Vrinda Chaitanya invited as, or attending as a representative of the Acharya Sabha, or of Swamiji? My information, readily obtained by reaching out to some of the attendees and to a highly placed "lay" official at the Acharya Sabha (I have not spoken to any of the Sadhus) shows that she was invited by the Vatican as an individual Hindu, and neither the Acharya Sabha nor its members were invited and did not send her or anyone else as a representative. 



  The report on the Acharya Sabha website has never said that they sent a representative nor that they were invited, nor that they endorse anything in the report- I am not sure why you claim this. Perhaps you were confused by the report being posted "on behalf of the convener"- I think the Acharya Sabha volunteers who maintain the website have realized this is somewhat confusing and as of yesterday have made one single change to the website- the report is now identified as prepared by Dr. Vrinda Chaitanya  "and submitted to Swamy (sic) Dayananda Saraswati, convener Acharya Sabha).



  It is indeed regrettable that you continue to make wild and unsubstantiated accusations against Hindu Acharyas rather than investigate and expose the powerful forces that wish to harm all Hindus.  Please turn your attention to real issues that endanger us- we cannot afford the luxury of crying wolf.



  Greetings



  Krishnan Ramaswamy
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->From: Sandhya Jain
19 February 2009

Dear Krishnan ji

Namaste.



To hear from you 17 days after your missive of 2 February 2009 was unexpected, and in my view, quite unnecessary.



1] You are an American citizen, and as I have explained both to the Acharyas and to the non-Indian Hindus in the West, you have NO locus standi in affairs and debates INTERNAL to this country and society.



Any observations made by you can only be as an external observer, like a foreign journalist or tourist. You will appreciate that this need have no merit or weightage with Insiders.



2] Your last letter proves your contentions only in your own imagination, and if the venerable Swamis who have hijacked the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha to an unknown agenda had the capacity to answer my queries, they would have done so directly. Despite a direct letter addressed to Swami Dayananda Saraswati ji, there has been only a studied silence.



3] A private letter of admonition by a respected Swami ji also failed to answer any substantial issue.



4] If you are going to defend the Acharya Sabha leadership, you must know that it has consistently refused to tell us who went to the Vatican and WHY a document was signed without knowledge and debate in India. Merely amending the website to deflect criticism is inadequate.



5] You fell into a trap when you came out with the names of Prof Anantanand Rambachan (of St Olaf college, Minnesota) and Dr. Vrinda Chaitanya (lately of Stanford and Berkeley), and one Sudheendra Kulkarni (assistant or secretary to Indian politician LK Advani).



We had privately learnt about the latter, and we wanted the other names, and WHY Acharya Sabha had put this Vatican declaration on its website if it was not endorsing it? Now the presence of two American academics technically being distanced from the Acharya Sabha only makes matters worse, not better.



The meeting was in 2006 and the original Acharya Sabha website posting was also in 2006, which was seen by some of us when we started asking questions, so the 2007 posting by Dr. Vrinda Chaitanya on "behalf of the convener" of the Acharya Sabha (i.e. Swami Dayananda ji) is clearly an amendment.



It is in extremely bad taste that a foreigner like you can reach out to some attendees as well as a highly placed "lay" official of the Acharya Sabha to establish what was concealed from Indian Hindus, namely, that Dr. Vrinda Chaitanya was invited by the Vatican as an individual and not a representative of the Acharya Sabha. What is her status to be there? If she did go as an individual known to the Pope - why is Acharya Sabha hosting her report? Constant fiddling with the website language will impress no one in India. However, we HAVE noted that her so-called report to Swami ji has NO dissent vis-à-vis the recommendations signed at the Vatican.



By the way, is Dr. Vrinda Chaitanya an Indian or foreigner who has taken an Indian name - I suspect the latter.



6] I have nothing to say about Mr. Rajiv Malhotra, but you might like to ask him if his reference to "disturbed and cognitively dysfunctional persons" applies to Rabbi Yona Metzger, under self-suspension from the Rabbinical Court on charges of accepting bribes, and under police investigation for charges of homosexual abuse.



The American Jews posing as Hindu bhaktas in American ashrams would have been aware of the scandals associated with the Chief Rabbi, so why was he brought to India for Inter-Faith Dialogue? 



7] Please do not bother me with your letters again. It is a waste of time to read them, and quite disgraceful that Swami Dayananda ji is using foreigners to answer the domestic constituency.



8] There is no common danger to Hindus of India and Hindus of America. The American Hindus are part of the danger to Hindus of India, and Swami Dayananda ji is too intelligent not to understand this.



Warm regards

Sandhya Jain
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Bodhi]

But Sandhya Jain should have easily found Dr. Vrnda Chaitanya on web.

Here she is:

<img src='http://www.ddm.org.tw/event/2007/Asia-Africa/images/people/003.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

I can not say if she is a foreigner or an Indian. Looks like the former.

Her intro says:

Current position

• Resident Spiritual Director & Head Monk, Arsha Vijnana Mandiram ( www.avmandiram.org )

• World-renown teacher of Vedanta and Sanskrit.

• Vedic monk, and the disciple of Pujya Sri Dayananda Saraswati Swamiji

Experiences

Sadhvi Vrnda Chaitanya has taught Vedanta at several institutions of higher education including the University of California, Berkeley, University of Oregon, Eugene, and Valdosta State University. She has participated in several UN and international NGO initiatives for world peace and social justice, and is the convener of the Global Diversity Coalition, an international non-profit organization that is engaged in organizing interreligious dialogues between indigenous spiritual traditions and mainstream religions.

http://www.ddm.org.tw/event/2007/Asia-Afri...noredguests.htm

[Husky]

This matter grows more troubling by the nanosecond.

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Sandhya Jain wrote: By the way, is Dr. Vrinda Chaitanya an Indian or foreigner who has taken an Indian name - I suspect the latter.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteBegin-Bodhi+Feb 19 2009, 01:49 PM-->QUOTE(Bodhi @ Feb 19 2009, 01:49 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->But Sandhya Jain should have easily found Dr. Vrnda Chaitanya on web.[right][snapback]94724[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->I think it quite possible that Sandhya could have already found that page. The data you've posted does not say whether the Vrinda in question is Indian or not.

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->I can not say if she is a foreigner or an Indian. Looks like the former.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Personally, upon seeing the picture I assumed she was an Indian...

[Bodhi]

yes, she is a tamil migrant to US, and in all likelihood has recited the "Star-spangled banner over the land of the free..."

[Guest]

<b>Will Ganga ever exist ?</b>

http://www.dailypioneer.com/157524/Will-Ga...ver-exist-.html

[acharya]

<b>History 2D: Science, Magic, and Religion, Lecture 1, UCLA

SINCE IN HISTORY
Lecture Title: "Course Introduction"</b>

March 31st, 2009

Professor Courtenay Raia lectures on science and religion as historical phenomena that have evolved over time. Examines the earlier mind-set before 1700 when into science fitted elements that came eventually to be seen as magical. THe course also question how Western cosmologies became "disenchanted." Magical tradition transformed into modern mysticisms is also examined as well as the political implications of these movements. Includes discussion concerning science in totalitarian settings as well as "big science" during the Cold War.

Spring 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3Zx-qcNZf4

[Capt M Kumar]

Why All Religions Are Not the Same http://www.stephen-knapp.com/



By Stephen Knapp (Sri Nandanandana dasa It is often said by some Hindu gurus and leaders that all religions are the same. But is this really the case? Naturally, anyone who studies religion can see many similarities between them. And if we are talking about getting closer to God and increasing our understanding and love for God, then what religion is not trying to do that? Who cannot go to a church, mosque, or temple and worship and bow to God in prayer? It is what many of us do no matter where we may be. So, what is the difference? Are not all religions the same?

[Bharatvarsh2]

Examining Emily Blanchard West’s thesis



EBW, a classicist, published a paper presenting evidence for an evolutionary link via descent from a common ancestor between the Homeric Cyclopeia narrative of the Greek world and the three great rAkShasa-vadha episodes of the mahAbhArata, namely the killing of baka, hiDiMba and kirmIra by bhImasena. We have always supported the possibility of this evolutionary connection, and we think EBW has certainly presented case in a much better way than we had worked it out. So we were a bit amused that someone else out there had thought very similarly and presented this case so strongly, especially from the Greek side of the affairs. However, we must remark that being outside the Indo-European heathen tradition EBW falters in her interpretation of the narrative under the theoretical framework of a “brahma-kShatra” conflict. Nevertheless, her core thesis should certainly be closely examined as it offers important information on the development of the IE mythological motifs. Any student of Indo-European mytho-historical narratives realizes the persistence of several distinctive motifs. But in our opinion formed after our initial researches over 15 years ago the yavana-s and Arya-s share special synapomorphies which include not just the detailed motifs but also the style of the epic narratives and the knowledge systems transmitted therein. An example of a synapomorphic motif is the one common to the tale of kunti and karNa in the Hindu world and that of Creusa and Ion in the Greek world. Synapomorphic features of the narrative include the tense in which epics are narrated and several words (iShu:eis; vajra:uagros etc.). In terms of ideas the parallels between Greek and Hindu scientific thought have been outlined by us before. In this context one may also study Bharat Gupt’s comparative study of Greek and Hindu theatrics. This is very important to understand the development of Indo-European, especially the interaction between the Greeks and Aryans probably after the Balto-Slavics had branched off from the Aryans.



We do not wish the rehash EBW’s article here, but discuss the issues in a larger context of the parallel motifs running through certain epic heroes, rAkShasa-s and narrative constructs describing particular incidents. Several of these points were noticed by EBW and others apparently not. Some these have been independently noted by the yavana Kazanas in his article on a similar topic and by some others.



Heroes: In Odysseus the Greek composers chose to combine the images that might be separated into separate heroes in the Indo-Aryan world – as Campbell had put it a hero with a 1000 faces. Odysseus is characterized by metis – a certain skill or craft that overlaps with mAyA of the Indo-Aryan world. This facet is primarily developed in kR^iShNa in the great epic. Both advise their protégés to use trickery to gain the final victory in their respective wars. Both are not the primary leaders of the military expedition in which they are involved (the Trojan and the kurukShetra wars), though both are great warriors of their own right. Yet they are central to their party gaining victory. But on the other hand Odysseus is also a brutal warrior characterized by bloody and fierce deeds (krUrakarman) – in this capacity he occupies the facet of the hero typified by bhImasena in the Mbh. bhImasena and hanumat in the other itihAsa are the sons of vAyu, and both are characterized by immense strength and specialize in killing rAkShasa-s. It is this aspect of Odysseus that comes to the fore in his Cyclopeian adventure. He too has his connection with the deity of wind. He is said to have been the descendent of the deity of the wind Aeolus and in Odyssey 10 he is supposed to have received the favor of Aeolus, who gave him a balloon of winds to help his voyage. Finally, the Odysseus is also the archetypal bowman, a type of hero shared specifically by the Aryans and Greeks. In this resembles the facet of the hero occupied by arjuna. A specific motif shared by them is the archery contest for a wife involving stringing of a heavy bow and shooting arrows through a narrow aperture. The bowman hero and the stringing of the bow for winning a woman is a persistent motif that in the Hindu world also appears in the context of the hero of the rAmAyaNa.The encounter of the heroes with the rakShasa-s or their homologs always occurs when they are on a dangerous journey while they have been forced out of their homeland or kingdom.



The rakShasa-s: Central to EBWs thesis is the homology between the rAkShasas and the yavana Cyclopes. While there are many specific similarities between the narrative of the Cyclopeia (Od. 9) and the rAkShavadha-s in the Mbh, these similarities are not limited to that epic – it actually has cognates, which in some cases are even closer, in the rAmAyaNa. The key points of note are: 1) Both the rAkShasa-s and Polyphemus are eaters of human meat and are described as eating up their victims. This is very apparent in the case of baka. In the case of the rAkShasa virAdha, vAlmIki informs thus:

dadarsha giri-shR^i~NgAbhaM puruShAdaM mahAsvanaM |

2) This leads us to the second point of note. The yavana composers describe Polyphemus thus:

“For he was a savage marvel, not resembling a bread-eating man but the wooded peak of the lofty mountains, when seen apart from others.” (Od. 9.190-2; EBW ‘ s translation). Again the same phrase is used in describing the Laestrygonean ogress in Od. 10.113.

This phrase is remarkably close to the giri-shR^i~NgAbhaM seen above. In the bhArata we again encounter the same again in the description of baka: adri-kUTa-sadR^ishaM; in the description of kirmIra: girir ivAchalaH or mainAka iva parvata.

3) In both the account of Polyphemus and those of the rAkShasa-s they tend to be ghastly and deformed and might have some ocular peculiarity. Here, the rAkShasa-s of the rAmAyaNa, encountered by rAma and lakShmaNa in the forest, are much more cyclopean in their disposition than those encountered by vR^ikodara in the Mbh.

For example vAlmIki’s account of virAdha emphasizes it thus:

gabhIrAkShaM mahA-vaktraM vikaTaM vikaTodaraM | bIbhatasaM viShaMam dIrghaM vikR^itaM ghoradarshanaM ||

His irregularities and ghastly nature along with the huge eye are emphasized (though it is not clear if it was one or two). However, in the case of the second rAkShasa, kabandha, encountered later in their journey his homology with the cyclopean Polyphemus is very clear:

romabhir nishitais tIkShNair mahAgirim ivochChritaM | nIla-megha-nibhaM raudraM megha-stanitaniH svanaM ||

agni-jvAlAni-kAshena lalATa-sthAne dIpyatA | mahApakSheNa pi~Ngena vipulenaayatena cha ||

ekenorasi ghoreNa nayanena sudarshinA | mahAdaMShTropapannaM taM lelihAnaM mahAmukhaM ||

Here again we note that kabandha is compared to a great mountain. But more importantly he is said to be cyclopean with single large circular eye on his forehead which is endowed with a great eyelid and blazes forth like a fire. Then kabandha goes on to seize the two ikShvAku heroes to try to eat them, just as Polyphemus seized pairs of Odyesseans and ate them. Thus, the cyclopean imagery is clearly an ancestral motif inherited by the yavana-s and Arya-s. Hence, the omission of this important point that only further supports this case by EBW is surprising.



Several rAkShasa-s in Hindu lore are known by the name virUpAkSha, e.g. the friend of the crane killed by the fallen brAhmaNa, the charioteer of ghaTotkacha (also called gabhIrAkSha, just like virAdha), a general of rAvaNa. The yakSha who kills the pANDava-s at the lake is also termed virUpAkSha and also a baka or a crane. EBW translates virUpAkSha as one-eyed. There is no support what so ever from the Sanskrit sources for this claim. However, it does suggest that the rAkShasa-s were routinely characterized as having an ocular irregularity even if not being cyclopean. EBW notes the repeated reference to cranes in the context of rAkShasa-s: 1) the name baka,2) the yakSha of the death-pool being called baka; 3) the crane friend of virUpAkSha. Based on this she theorizes that the one-eyed nature is related the crane which in profile might appear one-eyed. Somehow, this does not seem sensible at all, though we agree there might have been some connection between rAkShasa-s and cranes. Further, she also connects the name ekachakra of the village conquered by baka with word “Cyclopes”. Indeed chakracyclos are orthologous terms. Opes is from eye and eka means one; while this part of the compound is different she believes that the compounds as a whole are comparable. A tantalizing connection but we are on tenuous grounds here.



Finally, both the rAkShasa-s and the ogres of the yavana world come in two types. We have those like baka, hiDiMba, kirmIra, virAdha and kabandha who rove the forests and live as individuals or with a small group of attendants eating animals and humans. For example hiDiMba is described as living in a shAla tree and kirmIra roaming carefree in the forest eating whomever he can catch. Similarly, Polyphemus is described in the Od 9 as a carefree herder who does not cultivate any plants lives of what ever the gods might bestow on him. In contrast rAkShasa-s like rAvaNa, vibhIShaNa and meghanAda live as rulers in an island kingdom. Likewise, in the Greek world we have the Laestrygones living in a more organized fashion in an island kingdom under a great ogre king Antiphates. Thus, it appears that even ancestrally two types of ogres were distinguished. From all this information we can reconstruct the ancestral ogre of the Indo-Greek world.



Additional motifs: There are a bunch of additional motifs that appear to link the encounters between heroes and rAkShasa-s/ogres in the Hindu and Greek worlds. These include:

1) Food and/or drink is taken from the house of one belonging to the priestly caste to the place of the rAkShasa by the hero. In the Hindu world this is the brAhmaNa family with whom the pANDu-s had sought refuge supplies the food and drink for baka. In return for the brAhmaNa’s hospitality the pANDava-s agree to help them by slaying baka. In the Greek narrative Odysseus helps a priest of Apollo, Maron and his wife and son. In return Maron gives him a flask of wine which Odysseus takes with him to Cyclopean island.

2) The hero eats the food of the ogre/rAkShasa. Both Odysseus and bhImasena devour the food of the rAkShasa before their encounter with them.

3) There might have also been a motif of people taking turns to be eaten by the rakSha/ogre in both the epics.

4) A tree is used as a weapon in maiming/killing the ogre/rAkShasa in both epics. While both Odysseus and bhIma are great bowmen and might also be famed in the use of other weapons like the sword or the mace in these encounters they primarily depend on a tree trunk as their weapon.

5) The dying or wounded ogre/rAkShasa utters loud yells and his attendants come out to see what has happened.

6) The concealment of the hero’s name: In the case of Odysseus he tells the drunken Polyphemus that his name was nobody. In the case of bhIma, the pANDu-s instruct the brAhmaNa to tell everyone that some unknown brAhmaNa had come and slain the rAkShasa.

7) Polyphemus laments that his blinding at the hand of Odysseus had been foretold by a soothsayer known as Telemos. While such a prediction is not there in the encounters of bhIma, we do encounter such predictions in the case of both virAdha and kabandha in the rAmAyaNa. This prediction of them being killed by rAma is a central aspect to the story in both those cases. EBW tries to force fit a prediction into the Mbh encounters, but clearly there is no evidence in the Mbh for such a thing.

8) EBW believes that there are several sacrificial motifs in the form kirmIra being killed like a pashu in a yAga, or the araNi-s being stolen by the deer in the encounter with the yakSha baka of the deadly pool. She compares them with the sacrifice to gods performed by Odysseus on entering the realm of Polyphemus. None of these speculations are supported by the available evidence and I do not think there was any sacrificial motif in any of this.



In conclusion it is not just the Mbh rAkShasa encounters, but also those in the Ram that share motifs with the Greek Cyclopeia. We believe that both the Indo-Aryan itihAsa-s and the Greek Odyssey drew from a common pool of ancestral motifs concerning the encounter of a hero with a rAkShasa. This encounter had some specific elements and that were reused along with a more general set of features concerning the players in the narrative. In any case the ancestral rAkShasa/ogre was seen as one with some ocular irregularity, large in size (compared to a mountain), ghastly in appearance, a cannibal and often a freebooter living in the forest. There were other such entities who lived in island cities.



http://manasataramgini.wordpress.com/201...9s-thesis/

[Capt M Kumar]

The Uttarakhand Government would do well to take a leaf or two out of the books of veteran administrators like Jagmohan and Lieutenant General SK Sinha. The former, who was also a prominent Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government, has permanently etched a place for himself in the pilgrim folklore for extra-ordinarily upgrading facilities on the route of Vaishno Devi shrine.



The improvements made by Jagmohan increased the tourist traffic to the shrine manifold. This helped the shrine board increase income several times. Today a professionally managed board takes care of the deity and pilgrims and has remained a major source of revenue to the terrorist-hit state. The tourist traffic has also become a major source of livelihood for the poor local population of the region. http://www.dailypioneer.com/259429/Hindu...-mess.html

[Bharatvarsh2]

An Indic Reflex of the Homeric Cyclopeia

Emily Blanchard West



http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1U4EH93Y



or



http://pdfcast.org/pdf/an-indic-reflex-o...-cyclopeia

[Capt M Kumar]

[color="#2E8B57"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ8QSVvu2bw&NR=1[/color]

[narindar]

Ever since independence many important and famous mandirs have been taken over by state governments. It makes most common folks wonder. On take over the BABUS enjoy lavish perks. When other highly placed VIP'S visit they are extended extraordinary treatment and commoners those already present that day are mistreated even harassed to accomodate the inordinate services most often being rendered to the VIP's.

Ordinary Mandirs are laced with age-old rituals: male & females must sit seperately, must squat on floors, pay they homage to their lord, do perkrima and take pershad and charnamat. Pujaris repeat the same ritual each morning and at night. The only addition is the electronic noise makers and electrical lights.

Even age old casteist rituals have not changed. In most villages our poor brethern (DALITS)and scheduled castes are refused enterance. It is the same in our modern cities.

Our PUJARIS perform services for which they were never hired i.e., astrology and doing special havans for their believers.

Writer is not an expert scholar of Hinduism and seeks forgiveness for hurting anyone's feelings.

Narindar Sabharwal

[Capt M Kumar]

http://www.speakingtree.in/users/2x79z9t...DUISM_8953

my blog

[rcscwc]

[quote name='Narindar Sabharwal' date='04 January 2011 - 01:01 AM' timestamp='1294082591' post='110099']

Ever since independence many important and famous mandirs have been taken over by state governments. It makes most common folks wonder. On take over the BABUS enjoy lavish perks. When other highly placed VIP'S visit they are extended extraordinary treatment and commoners those already present that day are mistreated even harassed to accomodate the inordinate services most often being rendered to the VIP's.

Ordinary Mandirs are laced with age-old rituals: male & females must sit seperately, must squat on floors, pay they homage to their lord, do perkrima and take pershad and charnamat. Pujaris repeat the same ritual each morning and at night. The only addition is the electronic noise makers and electrical lights.

Even age old casteist rituals have not changed. In most villages our poor brethern (DALITS)and scheduled castes are refused enterance. It is the same in our modern cities.

Our PUJARIS perform services for which they were never hired i.e., astrology and doing special havans for their believers.

Writer is not an expert scholar of Hinduism and seeks forgiveness for hurting anyone's feelings.

Narindar Sabharwal

[/quote]

[size="-1"]Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.[/size]

[HareKrishna]

edit

[acharya]

Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan



Bharatamata Gurukula Ashram &



Yogi Ramsuratkumar Indological Research Centre



Sister Nivedita Academy



'Sri Bharati Mandir', Srinivasanagar, Krishnarajapuram



Bangalore 560 036, INDIA



(Phone: 091-80-5610935 / 5613716; Cell: 9448275315;



e-mail: sadhurangarajan@vsnl.com)















11-3-2004







Dear and Respected Prof. Asnani,







Vande Mataram! Jai Sri Ram! Jai Yogi Ramsuratkumar! My Master blesses you!







Thanks for your message. We appreciate the views that you have expressed. We would like to express our views on those matters:







i) You have been fortunate to hail from Sindh, the land of the Vedas, where, perhaps, there has been the least pollution by the post-Pauranic superstitious beliefs and customs, especially those like casteism and untouchability. In the South, these evils have been so predominant that Swami Vivekananda even called Kerala a "mad house". Even in this twenty first century there are people who blindly follow these customs and practices. We ourselves have witnessed such cases.







ii) The word "Dharma Acharya" means one who imparts Dharma to others by himself living those eternal and universal values of life. "Aacharanaat"—"because of practice"—one becomes an Acharya. In that sense, many of the so called Acharyas in the Hindu society do not deserve the title. Simple living and high thinking are the hall-marks of a hallowed spiritual life. That is what you cannot find in most of the Acharyas today. Very few such great persons could be found in the country.







iii) It is a total distortion of our Dharma Shastras to say that an Acharya must necessarily be a celibate renunciate. The great rishis in the past were mostly Grihastas turned into sages. Renunciation is not running away from family and giving up all actions. "Anaashrita karmaphalam kaaryam karma karoti yah, sa sannyaasee cha yogee cha na niragnir nachaakriyah"—"He who does the work without expecting the fruit of actions is a Sannyasi and Yogi; not the one who simply renounces all actions and sits idle." (Bhagavd Gita—VI-1). Today, even the Sannyasins who run big educational institutions, old age homes, etc., expect from the beneficiaries hefty donations and returns for all the work they do. Even Sadhus and Sannyasins who get crores of rupees by way of donations set apart only a very insignificant part of it for free services to the poor and downtrodden, that too for eye-wash, and charge very high fees for every kind of service, thereby catering to the needs of the rich and well-to-do.







iv) The Chaturvidha Purushaarthas—Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha—and the Chatur Aashramas—Brahmacharya, Garhastya, Vanaprastha and Sannyasa—constitute the spinal chord of the Hindu way of life. Today, there are hardly any Hindus who live the true Hindu way of life. Western culture, education and way and values of life have all destroyed Hinduism in our homeland. What we have today is only a skeleton of the Vedic Hinduism. It is the duty of our Dharma Acharyas to revive the Sanatana Dharma through institutions of the ancient Gurukula type instead of running colleges and organizations in the western model with business motive.







v) Hinduism is "Sanaatana Dharma"—a set of universal and eternal values of life evolved by the great sages and seers of the most ancient land of Bharatavarsha. Because it evolved in this sacred land, it became the nationalism of the people occupying the land. Therefore, "Sanatana Dharma is Indian nationalism" as Mahayogi Sri Aurobindo proclaimed. Its other name is Hindutwa or Hindu Rashtravad. The saints, sages and seers of this land have also proclaimed different religious paths for spiritual sadhanas. All these sampradayas—Shaiva, Vaishnava, Shaakta, Baudha, Jaina, Sikha, etc.—that have emerged in this land, put together, go by the name Hindu Religion. Hindu religion is part and parcel of Hindu nationalism. They are inseparable. In this matter, we need not accept the concepts of religion and nationalism propounded by the westerners. A Muslim or a Christian can never be a national of this country unless and until he accepts the national ethos and live by them. Mere residency in a geographical territory for a particular period of time cannot give one nationality. The moment a Muslim accepts Hindu or Indian nationalism, he ceases to be a believer in the original Islam which considers Mecca as the holiest land and Allah alone as the only God and all other believers in other gods are Kafirs either to be converted to Islam or annihilated. The moment a Christian accepts Hindu or Indian nationalism, he ceases to be an original Christian who considers Jerusalem or Rome as the holiest land and Jesus and Father in the Heaven as the only Gods to be adored and worshipped. Only in India that is 'Secular Bharat' we can find Muslims and Christians remaining as citizens even after opposing 'Vande Mataram' of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, which inspired millions of our patriots to perform untold sacrifices at the altar of the Motherland and recognized by the Government itself as a national song. In any other country the Government would have deported them or the patriotic citizens would have dumped them into the sea along with the 'secular' government that supports these traitors. Islam is an Arab national movement, as Anwar Shaikh has rightly pointed out in his masterly work, to bring the world under the dictates of the Imams, Moulvis and Mullahs of Mecca and Christianity is a national movement started by the Romans to bring the world community under the dictates of the Pope of Vatican. They cannot be accepted as religions. They are all corruptions of the Vedic religions that spread to distant lands in the remote past and formed the Pagan religions which existed there, as research scholars have pointed out.







vi) The moment we call Hinduism just a religion like Islam and Christianity, we will be committing a great folly of equating Hinduism with these perversions that call themselves as religions and our perverted leaders will become right in singing the song of sarvadharma samabhaava—equality of all religions. A Muslim or a Christian cannot become a Hindu or Indian national simply because of his birth in this land. Unless and until he accepts that this land as his matru bhoomi, pitru boomi, karma bhoomi, dharma bhoomi, and moksha bhoomi, and proclaims, "all the Gods and Goddesses of this land are my Gods and Goddesses" as Swami Vivekananda did, he cannot be a national of this country. The Chinese Government has expelled foreign missionaries and the Chinese Christian Church does not accept the suzerainty of Pope Paul. Why should Government of India finance the Haj pilgrimage of Indian Muslims at the cost of the Indian, that is the Hindu, tax payer? If the Muslims find Mecca as the holiest of the holy places, let them go there at their own cost and settle down there itself. Why should we give funds? Do America, England, France, Italy and Rome finance Haj pilgrimage of the Muslims in those respective countries? The Government of India should actually finance pilgrimages of the Hindus within the country so that adoration and worship of this holy land will take a deeper root in their hearts.







vii) We cannot just close our eyes and say that there are no evils in the Hindu society. The casteism and untouchability are still prevalent among even the educated people. So also the superstitious beliefs like warding off sins by killing some poor dumb creatures or transferring sins by feeding a low caste person with food mixed with hair and nail are still found not only in the remote villages where illiterate people live, but even in towns where educated people reside. A kilometer away from our Ashram here in Bangalore, there is a temple where low caste people are not allowed to go in and worship. We opened the doors of our Ashram for these low caste people and they gladly congregated here for their prayers. Some of them expressed the doubt whether the Swamis of upper caste would take food in their homes and we immediately arranged for our Bhiksha in their houses. How happy and joyful they were! The Christian padri and Muslim moulvi walk into the houses of these poor people and convert them to their respective religions. Why not our so called Dharma Acharyas visit these houses, take Bhiksha from them and encourage them to remain in the parent religion. Giving discourses that all are "children of immortality"—Amritasya putraah—will not do. Our Acharyas must see the children of immortality in the poor and downtrodden. Acharyas covering their legs with a piece of cloth when these children come and prostrate to them for taking their blessings are doing greatest disservice to the society. If by their touch, these unfortunate people might transfer their sins to the Acharya, why not the Acharya accept their sins and suffer for them, relieving these poor people of their sins? Millions of rupees are poured into the temple hundis and the money is looted by the government for secular activities or the trustees and officials of the temple enjoy a luxurious life. Millions of rupees are received by Mutts and Hindu missions and how much of it really goes to the poor and downtrodden Hindus? The Christian missionary comes with foreign funds, sets up the best hospital or the best educational institution and gives all out help to the converts from Hinduism while looting the well-to-do Hindu families. Why not our Acharyas run such institutions for the poor and downtrodden in our own society?







viii) Someone has rightly said, "Politics is the last resort of a scoundrel!" Even good, dedicated and honest people who enter into the political field get corrupted in course of time. In the fifties, when Bharatiya Jan Sangh was founded, millions of Swayamsevaks of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, an organization for moulding the youth into patriotic, characterful and ideal citizens of this country, extended support and even the best among them joined the party to serve as whole time workers. In the sixties, this sadhu who was just a penniless youth from a poor family who dedicated himself for the Hindu cause, was projected as a candidate for a legislative assembly election by the party. Where is such a party today? If you are a popular cinema actor, scion of a royal family, heir of a big politician who has been in power, or a big industrialist or agriculturist with lot of money to spend on elections, you can get a ticket, whether you have any ideals or not, whether you are a person of character and integrity or not. All that is needed is capacity to grab power by hook or crook. Hardened criminals form alliances to loot the people. Under the leadership of great men like Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal and Madan Mohan Malaviya, the Congress once upon a time emerged as the mouthpiece of the Hindus in this land and the Britisher also recognized it as the representative of the Hindus when they initiated discussion with it and the Muslim League representing the Muslims on the two nation theory. The lure of power turned Congress into a 'secular party' on the eve of Independence and caused the very vivisection of this nation. In the post-Independent India, in the name of secularism, even people of foreign origin can aspire to rule over this Hindu Nation! Why? Hindus have forgotten Hinduism and forsaken the Hindu Nation. What goes as Hinduism today is a commodity in much demand, especially in foreign countries where people who are fed up with materialistic way of life and seek short-cut methods to attain spiritual salvation and our Indian gurus and swamis and their mutts and missions are adept marketers doing a lucrative business! True Hinduism will re-incarnate when, and only when, all the gods, goddesses, religious cults and institutions, gurus and acharyas are pushed to the back seat and the Hindus adore the Motherland—Janani Janmabhoomi—as the only deity to be worshipped and service to the people is considered the greatest form of worship. No political party existing today has any such agenda at present. Let us look forward into the distant future for such a day to emerge! Mother knows how and when to manifest Herself! Vande Mataram!







With love and blessings, Yours in Bhagavan, Sadhu Rangarajan