Om Sweet Om

In the wake of the horrific attack at the Sikh gurudwara yesterday, I share my deepest condolences with the families of the victims and the Sikh community at large.  Last night, the Hindu American Foundation – of which I am a part – released the following statement:

We, at the Hindu American Foundation, join all Americans in shared shock, disbelief, and outrage over today’s tragic events that unfolded at the holy gurudwara, or Sikh temple, near Milwaukee, Wisconsin earlier today. At least six Sikh Americans are dead, several are injured, including a valiant police officer who killed the assailant, and we face another day of catastrophe that is as outrageous as numbingly familiar.

Dharma traditions–the Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Hindus–hold non-violence and peaceful co-existence as paramount values. It is a cruel irony that Sikhs, donning the turban as among proud symbols of a spiritual mandate to serve humanity as defenders of dharma against all onslaughts, find themselves sought out and victimized by ignorant assailants on too many occasions.

We call on all Americans today to join Sikhs in mourning a senseless attack and to take this opportunity to not only learn about the sublime teachings of Sikh gurus, the Sikh faith, and the meanings of its external symbols, but also join hands to ensure that the gurudwaras remain sanctuaries of joyous worship and celebrated sharing of langar, or community meals, for generations to come.

Looks like the NY yoga community successfully battled its case. Tax department officials ruled that yoga is not a “true exercise.” Read more here: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/yoga-ruled-true-exercise-state-tax-department-article-1.1123779

Last night, I had the opportunity to attend an amazing talk by Swami Swaroopananda of the Chinmaya Mission.  Swamiji has a lovely way of seamlessly integrating various stories into his talk as he makes his point.  His talk was entitled “Success without Stress,” and he based it on specific parts of the Hanuman Chalisa.   For those who are unfamiliar, Hanuman is one of the most popular figures in the Hindu epic Ramayana, and he is forever beloved by children and adults for his youthful antics and energy.  The Hanuman Chalisa extols the glories of Hanuman in his selfless service to Lord Ram.

Swamiji began his discussion by explaining to us the eight siddhis (ashta siddhi) that are mentioned in Patajanli’s Yoga Sutras and can be obtained by very few through countless years of practice and devotion to all eight limbs of Ashtanga Yoga.  Siddhi can loosely be translated as accomplishment or a special power or unusual skill.  The eight siddhis Swamiji described are:

• Anima: Reducing one’s physical self to the size of an atom
• Mahima: Growing one’s physical self to incredibly large size
• Garima: Making one’s physical self so heavy as immovable by others
• Laghima: Becoming almost weightless
• Prapti: Being able to go/travel wherever one wants
• Prakamya: Being able to obtain whatever one wants
• Istva: Possessing lordship
• Vastva: Being able to control the minds of others

Hanuman not only possessed all eight siddhis, but was also blessed by Sita as “Ashta Siddhi Nau Nidhi Ke Daata,” or one who can bestow astha siddhi upon others.  When Hanuman first reaches to Lanka on his mission to find Sita, he makes use of anima so as to be discrete in enemy territory.  He uses it again when he approaches Sita for the first time – reducing his size to that of a schoolboy, so as not to scare her.  He uses mahima to outwit and overpower demons.  He uses garima to show his power when Ravana, the demon king, temporarily captures him and brings him to the main court of palace.  Not even the mighty Ravana could lift Hanuman’s tail.

The stories of Hanuman are many, and Swamiji could have continued on.  But instead, he told us that these eight siddhis are the key to success without stress in our life.  We just needed to extrapolate the meaning:

• Anima:  Reduce the ego and be humble in front of elders, parents, teachers, and gurus.
• Mahima: Think big, and aim for large goals.
• Garima: Be immovable and unshakeable in values and principles.
• Laghima: Don’t take everything in life too seriously.  Have some lightness and laughter in life. To that end, I should note that Swamiji provided us quite a bit of laughter with his amusing anecdotes.
• Prapti: Focus mental energies on achieving the goal.
• Prakamya: Always speak the truth, and don’t be afraid to express aims and goals.  Swamiji gave a beautiful example to explain his point. Most people say what they want to achieve and immediately follow it with “touch wood,” because they fear by saying it out loud, it won’t come true.  Yet, when those same people approach a Swami, their entire view shifts.  They suddenly believe if the Swami says it will happen, then it actually will.  Hinduism is replete with stories of great sages and rishis whose utterances – curses and blessings – would come true. Swamiji’s point was that while the same may not be true for us, we should still strive to be like these great rishis by always speaking the truth and having a “can do” attitude in life.
• Istva and Vastva:  Swamiji combined the last two siddhis and focused on the power of leadership, respect, and love – all of which go hand in hand.  A true leader inspires others.  And that inspiration causes people to follow and be loyal to that leader (istva).  And finally, with respect to vastva, Swamiji said that if a person truly loves you, there isn’t anything he won’t do for you.

In a short 90 minutes, Swamiji beautifully explained some key principles to being successful in life.  He also made it a point to explain that success should not be measured in terms of wealth.  Money is necessary for sustenance and “even for God’s work…temples just don’t build themselves!”  But wealth that is obtained through dishonest means causes destruction of the person and those around him.  And when one acquires wealth, he shouldn’t horde it.  It should be used to benefit society.

Hindus pay homage to wealth in the form of Goddess Laxmi, the consort of Lord Vishnu.  And Laxmi comes and goes as She pleases.  The only place She always remains is at the side of Vishnu.  In the Ramayana, Swamiji explained, Ravana captures Sita, the avatar of Laxmi, for himself only.  His greed and lust for Sita leads to the destruction of his kingdom and family, and his ultimate demise.  On the other hand, Hanuman comes to find Sita in the name of Lord Ram, the avatar of Vishnu.  And he is rewarded with Sita’s blessings – not wealth, which is of no importance to him, but the promise that he will always be in service of and near to Ram.

With a twinkle in his eye, Swamiji concluded by saying, “So, you can practice Ashtanga Yoga for hundreds of years to achieve one or two of these siddhis…or you can just worship Hanuman.”

This past Saturday was Hindu Unity Day, and I was invited to speak at the celebration at the Ganesh Temple in Flushing.  I was honored and humbled to share the stage with a number of eloquent and well-respected speakers, including the president of the mandir (and the only other female speaker), Dr. Uma Mysorekar, and the keynote speaker, Dr. Subramanian Swamy.  I was asked to speak on Hindu unity, and as a representive of the Hindu American Foundation, I used this as an opportunity to discuss the importance of advocacy.  Below is the text of my speech:

Namaste, and thank you for inviting me to speak on behalf of the Hindu American Foundation, a non-profit advocacy group that I have been a part of for about seven years.  I’ve spent the past few weeks wondering what to say about Hindu unity, because we are in serious need of some.

Despite the absence of any single prophet or creed, centralized religious authority, or manifesto to convert others, a diversity of traditions and practice have not only survived, but flourished under the Hindu umbrella. Yet, even in this often staggering diversity, there is a sacred thread which unites us.  There are the eternal and universal laws of karma, dharma, samsara, and moksha that not only let us spiritually evolve as individuals, but also guide us in building peaceful and just societies. There is the teaching that all beings are vessels of the divine.  There are our beautiful Gods and Goddesses, with rituals steeped in symbolism and captivating stories that offer valuable life lessons.  And we have the wisdom of our ancient Rishis who transmitted through the Vedas the message that though the paths may be many, the Truth is One.  Yet, despite this sacred thread that unites us not only in belief, but as humans, Hindus have found ways, even where there are none, to divide — age, gender, community, language, sampradaya — you name it, we’ve found it.

In fact, we have even found ways to divide in the terms of how we refer to our way of life — Hindu, Sanatana Dharma, Vedic, Yogic.  How do we begin to unite if we can’t even agree on a name? We at the Hindu American Foundation use advocacy as a tool to find unity and as a first step, treat all of these terms are synonymous.  We accept them all as words that describe our way of life while acknowledging that the term “Hinduism” is the most well-known around the world.  Yet after many of our events where we describe the plight of Hindu communities in countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Malaysia, where we explain how we are working to correct misrepresentations about our tradition in the media, and where we share our efforts to uphold the separation of church and state in this country – after all of that, mixed in with the “Good job, beta” comments is always at least one person whose sole comment is, “You should change your name to the Sanatana Dharma American Foundation.” Why do we miss the forest for the trees?

About seven years ago, a team from HAF went to Capitol Hill to meet with our elected officials.  One of our board members introduced himself and said “I am from the Hindu American Foundation.” To which the Congressman asked, “Are you Hindu Sunni or Hindu Shia?”

Shouldn’t we be more worried when one of our elected officials – an individual who is responsible for passing laws that affect us living in this country – doesn’t recognize that Hinduism and Islam are not the same?

Thankfully, as HAF has continued its advocacy efforts on the Hill, these types of comments are rare to hear.  It’s taken a lot of time, effort, and sacrifice on the part of all the team members to educate elected officials, journalists and reporters, interfaith colleagues, teachers, and others about our community and tradition.

But the work is far from over.  Despite continuous outreach,  we still struggle with papers like the New York Times whose India-based reporters seem hell bent on blaming any and all of India’s woes on “the Hindu caste system.”   We struggle with the media’s positive coverage of countries like Malaysia – which is upheld as a model Muslim democracy – and Bhutan – which supposedly ranks highest on the happiness index.  Yet in reality, these are countries are ones that have perpetrated serious human rights violations on their minority Hindu communities.  We work to change the stereotypes that Hinduism is nothing more than a superstitious faith with multiple gods that have multiple arms and heads.   Because how will our next generation of Hindu Americans want to be a part of a tradition that has been boiled down to caste, superstition, and multi-armed gods?   If we can’t transmit appreciation for our tradition, then we can’t unite as a community.  If we can’t unite as a religious community, we cannot ensure Hinduism’s survival in the generations to come.

Each of us has the power to build bridges to unity.  At HAF, we see advocacy as such a bridge.

What is advocacy, you may ask.  HAF views advocacy as a three step cycle.  The first is to educate both ourselves and others about Hinduism, its philosophies, traditions, and diversity.

The second is to speak up about issues that are affecting us.  It’s important to reach out in a professional and intelligent manner to the media and academia when they misrepresent Hinduism because they are influencing the minds of readers and children alike.  As Hindus, the onus is on us to ensure our tradition is represented accurately and fairly.

Finally, the third step is to build lasting relationships to ensure the change is permanent.  Continued and consistent contact with reporters, Congressmen, and academics is vital to advocacy.

Yet, while groups like HAF can advocate our hearts out, the community must plant the seed of advocacy at home.

First it has to start with the basics: educating ourselves.  Parents need to teach their children about Hinduism, its philosophy as well as the manner in which it is visually represented.   How many Hindu children know why Vishnu is depicted with blue skin?  What kid growing up as a minority surrounded by Abrahamic traditions is going to proud of worshiping a blue god?  But when we learn that blue, being the color of the sky and the oceans, symbolizes the infiniteness of the Divine, something “weird” is suddenly transformed into something both beautiful and logical.

Second, we need to utilize our knowledge to become proud Hindu advocates.  I happen to very fortunate to have grown up in a household where the value of advocacy was fully acknowledged.  My father has been an advocate for Hindus for as long as I can remember  and instilled in me his passion of advocacy.

I left a career in consulting to join the Hindu American Foundation full-time five years ago.  My father was obviously proud.  But what I found most interesting was the reaction from other adults in our community.  Those who were into Hindu advocacy were impressed, but secretly thankful that it was me taking the pay cut and not their children.  Others were dismissive as if I was out of my mind to leave a “stable” job to do some “Hindu thing.”

To my Hindu peer group, I have to explain what advocacy is and why I’m doing it.  And even then they don’t get it.  I have one friend who still asks me, good-naturedly, “How is the cult doing?  Got any more converts?”

Compare that to my Jewish friends. I can say, “HAF is an advocacy organization,” and they nod their heads.  No explanation needed.  They get it because advocacy has been ingrained in their community and instilled as a value from a young age.  And they are phenomenal at it. Granted their community came to America long before ours, so they have had more time to hone their advocacy skills.

But we are the most educated and wealthiest community.  So it’s time that our advocacy efforts catch up.  We need to reach a point where a career in Hindu advocacy is considered to be as prestigious as becoming a doctor, lawyer, or engineer.  They are all respectable and important career paths, and so is advocacy.  Yes, making money is important.  Artha is one of the four goals of life.  But let’s remember that it is not the only goal.

There is much that divides us – Vaishnavas and Shaivites; Advaitins and Dvaitins; Gujaratis and Tamilians — but it all adds to the richness of our heritage.  But if each division continues to view or act as if they are separate or different from our larger Hindu family, that is when Hinduism as a whole suffers.  And so, today, I hope you will see advocacy as a tool for unity.  I hope you will see advocacy as a worthy path for younger generations of Hindu Americans. I hope you will make advocacy part of our collective dharma.