Negative Stereotyping of Hindus

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Negative Stereotyping of Hindus

• We are not alone in denigration by the dominant
  culture. A rite of passage for all the immigrant
  groups.
• Prejudice is a universal expression of humanitys
  primal fear of the different and there is nothing
  reasoned about it. (Blasenstein)
• People are motivated to have negative stereotypes
  because they enhance their self-esteem we are
  better than them.

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Specific Reasons for Hindus

• Little personal contact of Americans with Indians
  before the 60s.
• Views before the 60s were shaped our history of
  colonization. Conquering races always denigrate
  the conquered - the vanquished were vanquished
  because they were inferior.
• The Christian missionaries demonized Hinduism.
• The post independence pro-soviet policies of the
  Indian government.
• As an open society India allowed access to the
  western journalists to scoop sensational but
  negative stories about India.
• The liberal Indian media validated the Americans
  negative views by constantly berating Hinduism
  for all the social and economic evils in the
  Indian subcontinent.

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Become an Agent of Change

• Educate yourself about yourself and those whom
  you are going to educate
• Clear, concise and relevant message
• Package the message in an appealing way
• Concise books with basic tenets of Hindu dharma
• Market the message to the dominant group
• Deliver the message

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The Message

• Clear, concise and consistent answers to
  theological questions
• What is Hindu dharma /Hindu theology
• Concept of God, self, genesis (creation),
  revelation (Vedas), eternal life through
  reincarnation, atonement through karma, ethics
  through 10 yama/niyama, purpose of life,
  salvation by self-evolution with help from a guru
• Relevant
• Separate culture, history and politics - Gandhi
• Do not get caught up in how old we or whence we
  came are but talk of what we are today and where
  we are today

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The Message (Cont.)

• Not fuzzy or vague Hinduism is a way of life
• Hinduism is universal, all religions are the same
• Spirituality is universal, religion is not
• Intellectually convincing
• Not too academic/pedantic
• Substantive, not demonstrative we are not
  holier
• Not over sanitized practice is not perfect

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Message (cont.)

• Prioritize what needs to be told
• Simple booklets
• Encyclopedia for reference
• Do not use too many allegories, stories, fables,
  parables

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Message should be Grounded in American Contextual
Reality

• For example, when I wrote about Christian
  missionaries I conjured up a Jehovahs Witness
  trying to convert me in Brooklyn.
• When I wrote about Diwali I talked of the
  importance of lighted lamps in all religions.
  Remind the Jew of Chanukah and the Christian of
  the votive candle.
• Talking about the submerged bridge of Rama or
  city of Dwarka is irrelevant in America.

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Delivery

• In English expository/persuasive writing
• Informative, not reactionary
• Not in angry tone
• Not chauvinistic or jingoistic
• Become a trained missionary or point guard of
  Hindu dharma who can educate others efficiently
  without reacting defensively

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Audience

• Know about other religions
• Hindu-Jewish dialogue
• The Sanskrit word for soul is self. Soul is true
  self according to Hinduism. I believe that the
  Hebrew word for soul, nepes also can be
  translated as self.
• Just as burial (k'vod ha-met), should take place
  within 24 hours, cremation should be done within
  24 hours.
• Ritual of vidu'I ("confession") prayer or the
  Shema ("Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the
  Lord is one") is recited by the dying person, as
  in Hinduism, to be close to the Lord after death,
  one should meditate on Him by uttering the
  one-syllabled Om. (Yam yam vaapi smaran bhavam
  tyajtyante kalevaram) (Eighth chapter of Gita).

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Learn about Indophile America

• The founding fathers their belief in one
  overarching supreme force Deism
• Thomas Paine, Jefferson, Washington, Adam Smith
• Boston Brahmins
• Thoreau, Emerson
• Others
• Keats, Isherwood, Jung, Ericson, Walt Whitman
• Sermon on the Mount according to Vedanta
• Be eclectic aa no bhadra kritvo yantu
  vishawatah
• Gandhi Ruskin, Tolstoy, Thoreau

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Points of Contact Seek out places to deliver the
message.

• Find agents of change in your community.
• Schools.
• Workplace
• Local and town newspapers.

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Points of Contact (cont.)

• Be friendly with your neighbors. Through them
  speak in local churches and synagogue.
• Put yourself in contact with the mainstream.
  Attend town meetings, school board meetings,
  Veteran Day parade, and Memorial Day parade. 
• Join local interfaith communities.
• Get involved in the local community through seva.
  Show that you are good and care.

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My debt to Maharishi Dayananda Saraswati

• Arya Samaj tradition promotes curiosity, and
  swadhayaya, a willingness to be self-critical and
  to change/evolve if necessary.
• Simple, rational, and social spirituality.
• Freedom at personal level, but an active and
  proactive approach at the collective level
• Swamiji took the common denominator and gave a
  common agenda in the ten principles

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TAKE HOME

• Learn what you are going to tell. Become
  knowledgeable about them and you.
• TELL
• SHOW
• That you are good by good behavior and actions of
  seva for a superordinate goal. Behavior changes
  attitudes.
• Do not have holier than you attitude. Do not try
  to prove that you are better, just as we do not
  want others to feel that they are better.
• Old habits die hard. As more and more Americans
  see us and intermingle with us, they will see our
  behavior as good citizens, our openness, and
  integrity, their opinion will change.

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Simple Spirituality

• One God, or an overarching Brahman
• One overarching religious book the Vedas
• Make the Vedas more appealing through an index,
  through reproduction of individual hymns, and
  appealing translation
• But respect explanatory secondary scriptures such
  as Gita
• Simple service including short yagna, bhajans,
  yoga, and meditation
• Service in colloquial language with explanation
  of Vedic mantras and rituals
• Using an eclectic group of mantras which are more
  meaningful

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Rational Spirituality

• A reasonable mixture of bhakti and gyan
• Not too pedantic
• Emphasis on dissertation than on disputation
• Not they versus us, but they and us, LOVE
• Show and not tell
• Production of books for the common grihstha or a
  brahamchari in the USA
• Speak sweetly (VAACHAM NAH SVADATU)

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Social Spirituality

• Communitarian spirit
• Sabbath, day of God
• Temple, a hub of social activity
• A session devoted to asking about each others
  problems and holding hands in love
• Identify issues facing the community and address
  them
• Social and national issues
• Discuss and develop positions on issues such as
  death penalty, abortion, domestic violence, dowry

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Packaging
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Jigyasa (urge to know a human trait)

• Vedanta athato brahmjignasa
• Then therefore the enquiry into Brahman
• Purva-mimamsa Then therefore the enquiry into
  dharma
• Cognito ergo sum

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Saadhana

• Striving to know the truth
• Finding the right teacher
• uttishtat jagrit praapya varaanih bodhat
• Learning to decide what is true
• Learning from the right sources

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Knowledge

• By which the true nature of things and phenomena
  is known proofs of nyaaya
• Universal truths, things that are common to all
  religions
• Both metaphysical (vidya) and physical (avidya)
  knowledge

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Faith and reason are not mutually exclusive.

• Shradha in the words of the guru and in the
  shastra, through whom the truth is realized.
• Shradha, contrary to viswas, is not passive/
  static but a yearning to convert belief into
  truth and conviction.
• Shradha is astikya budhi or positive-attitude-orie
  nted reason, a conviction that the Truth can be
  unearthed or realized by aspiration, discipline
  and sadhana.
• Shradha urges one to reason. It is a passion for
  truth. The two are complimentary and not
  contradictory.

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Knowledge Alone is not Enough

• It is a person who performs good deeds, not a
  knower or a believer, who never has an abysmal
  fate. Na hi kalyaankaari kaschit durgatim taata
  gacchat, (Gita).
• Knowledge is not enough without righteous action
• Righteous Conduct
• Only a person of character is entitled to
  knowledge

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Shravana Chatushya Shravana (hearing or reading)
- manana (thinking/ analysis) contemplation -
dharana (intuition/assimilation)

• Worship and rituals and other religious
  practices form useful aids, they are instruments
  of spiritual growth, not ends by themselves.
• Mere chanting of Veda mantras will not lead to
  realization, understanding their meaning and
  applying it in our life might.
• Mere reading of Veda mantras without knowing
  their meaning is like being the beast of burden
  that merely carries the load without enjoying it.
  Nirukta

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Dynamic Realism

• Faith is not a belief in a bunch of facts
• No absolutes, only constructions
• It is an onwards march of self evolution through
  many life cycles
• Change, evolve

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Realism

• Hinduism is not other-worldly
• The world is not mithya or illusory
• Vedic philosophy is rooted in life
• The purpose of life is not release from the cycle
  of life of death or jivan mukti
• The purpose of life is to become (Manurbhav) a
  noble person (Arya) - humanism

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Social Spirituality

• X principle - individuals should restrain
  themselves to follow the rules of society to
  promote the well being of all while in following
  the rules of individual welfare, all should be
  free.
• We are one of multitude, and when we prefer
  ourselves so shamefully to others, we become the
  proper objects of resentment. Resigning the
  greatest interest of our own, for the yet greater
  interest of others is love of what is honorable
  and noble. A virtuous man is always willing to
  sacrifice his personal interest to that of the
  society and the nation.
• (Adam Smith, the founder of American Capitalism,
  in his book, The Moral Sentiments, VI.2.46)

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Global Trade

• Chapter X, article 9
• Nothing can be expected except misery poverty
  and misery when our countrymen trade only in
  their own country.
• Religious imposters impose restrictions on
  inter-dining, fashion of clothes, and foreign
  trade for fear of losing their importance.

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Summary

• Simple spirituality
• Rational spirituality
• Social spirituality

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OBJECTIVES

• To promote simple spirituality
• To promote rational spirituality
• To promote social spirituality
• To promote a holistic approach to life personal,
  social, and spiritual growth
• Pragmatic balance of ethics and spirituality

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GOAL AND MISSION

• Krinvanto vishvum aryam
• TO MAKE A COMMUNITY OF
• NOBLE PEOPLE
• TO PROMOTE PHYSICAL, SPIRITUAL AND SOCIAL WELL
  BEING OF PEOPLE

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IDENTITY DIFFUSION

• WE ARE A HINDU DENOMINATION
• WE ARE IDENTIFIED AS HINDUS, HISTORY HAS CREATED
  AN IDENTITY FOR US DO NOT DISTURB THE
  APPLECART-IT WILL CAUSE AN IDENTITY CRIRIS IN OUR
  ALREADY CONFUSED YOUTH
• CONTRADICTION IN UNIVERSALISM, HUMANISM AND
  RELIGIOUS IDENTITY

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How to achieve the above objectives?

• Organization - APEX
• A secretariat with fulltime paid staff
• Permanent office with necessary tools
• Apex leadership with clearly assigned
  responsibilities and accountability
• An R and D office
• Printing press for book production
• A PR officer for marketing
• A web master
• An attractive quarterly magazine

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What is True? (Proofs)

• Pratyksha pramana (reflection of the reality upon
  mind) Sensation- perception
• Upmana (analogy) - What is inferred from prior
  knowledge or from a universal truth (vyapti)
• Shabda (testimony) - scriptural testimony or
  verbal testimony (Apta)
• Anumana (inference) - what can be inductively
  inferred based upon the evidence or empirical
  observations. It can be purvavat, from cause to
  effect, sesavat, from effect to cause, and
  samayato drista, from common characteristics

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ARYA SAMAJ IN THE NEXT MILLENIUM

• MESSAGE
• PACKAGE
• SYSTEMS
• TOOLS
• RECEIVER/AUDIENCE
• MARKETING
• MILIEU

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Proofs

• Itihas (Tradition) - what was true in the past is
  likely to be true. This proof is based upon past
  experience, not upon hearsay.
• Sambhav (Probability) - scientifically plausible
• Arthapati (Presumption) To infer something
  logically from previous knowledge
• Abhaav (Negation) - To prove that something is
  true by proving that the converse is false. This
  is similar to the scientific null hypothesis.

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ARYA SAMAJ IN THE NEXT MILLENIUM

• Uniform curriculum for adults and children
• Train the priests and teachers
• Franchising
• Electronic teaching of the Vedas
• Good books
• A good journal

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Organization - Local

• Local chapters in each state
• Leadership training seminars
• A key arya samaj with a building and a library in
  each state
• Paid priest in the key temple
• Priests to be trained as managers, PR persons,
  and to deliver the sermon in English

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A few donts

• Do not criticize, respect other beliefs
• Avoid getting embroiled in controversies
• Do not overemphasize on havan
• Do not overemphasize attire, food, Hindi
• Do not criticize Max Mueller and western scholars
  all the time
• Do not tell, show

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• I do not approve of the mutual differences that
  have sprung up between different religions. It is
  these different religions, it is these different
  votaries who by emphasizing differences have made
  man the enemy of man. I wish that these
  differences be removed, unanimity secured,
  aversion abandoned and love restored.

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Europeans (XI, 134-135)

• The advantages of Europeans are
• Absence of early marriage, good education of boys
  and girls, marriage according to the choice of
  the couple, learned preachers, acting by mutualk
  consultation, patriotism, hard work, discipline
• Religion does not depend upon eating or drinking
• Virtue is in doing good to others and vice in
  doing harm to others.

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Integration of the Six SystemsKnowledge,
Rituals, and Empirical Experience

• Vaisheshika
• Nyaya
• Samkhya
• Yoga
• Purva mimamsa
• Uttar mimamsa or Vedanta

• Anatomy and chemistry
• Pathology
• Physiology/evolution
• Medicine
• Surgery/action
• Philosophy

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EclecticismAa no bhadra kritvo yantu vishwatah

• I neither accept the demerits of different
  faiths, nor reject what is good in them.
• At present there are many learned men in all
  religions. If they give up prejudice, accept
  those broad principles on which all religions are
  unanimous, reject differences, and behave
  affectionately, much good can be done to the
  world
• All those things that are common to all
  religions are obviously true and must be
  accepted.

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Some Dos

• Be Eclectic aa no bhadra kritvo yantu
  vishavatah. I neither accept the demerits of
  different faiths whether Indian or alien, nor
  reject what is good in them.
• Emphasize the process of becoming noble or
  dharma, not the form or ritual.
• Keep dogma or creed to minimum remember that
  Arya Samaj has only ten articles of faith