Religious Experiences in America

Today was celebrated as the Hindu Unity Day at the DFW Hindu Temple, Youth Center in Irving, Texas.

Being a devout Hindu and a staunch patriot I it was natural for me to be part of the celebrations. Of course this day is highly necessary in today’s scenario when Hindus across the world are being divided in the name of caste, religion, culture, deity etc by divisive forces who wish to destroy the world’s oldest religion. The invitation to this occasion was well worded to include everybody who hails from Hindu roots and follows a Hindu way of life. Anyway Hindu is just the name of our country after Sindhu river, but our religion is known as Sanatana Dharma.

“Whether we call ourselves Hindus or not, so long as we follow a Sampradhaaya that is derived from Sanatana Dharma that values the Vedas, respects the Upanishads and the Bhagvad Gita, so long as we all love and revere Bhagwan Shri Rama, as the great avatar of Mahavishnu, as Maryadha Purushotthama, as a Vigrahavaan Dharma – we have a great occasion to get together this year,” read the text on the website inviting people to join in the celebrations.

Organised by the Sanatana Dharma Foundation, the highlight of today’s talk was a talk about the efforts to save the Rama Sethu by Dr.Subramaniam Swamy, PhD, Economics, Harvard University and Former Minister of India, and Dr. Kalyanraman, PhD, Public Administration, University of Manila and Director, Saraswati River Research Center, India.

Dr. Swamy, though a politician and economist by training took on the role of an adovcate for the Hindu cause and fought with the Government of India in the Supreme Court of India to save the Rama Sethu which is the bridge built by Lord Rama several thousand years ago.

Dr. Swamy shared his insights, learnings and fight for saving Rama Sethu and also explained how the epic Ramayana and relics associated with it have to be saved because they are the unifying forces of the country. He related several coincidences which have taken place since the government attempted to dredge the canal that actually deterred them from taking further action. It is frustrating to note that the world is conspiring to annihilate Hinduism and relics associated with it from the face of the earth. But Hinduism aka Sanatana Dharma is not a culture or faith which can be killed, it is eternal and all pervasive.

Here is a video of Dr. Swamy’s speech about the Rama Sethu, it is a 9 part speech. This is not from today’s event but it is on the same subject so I thought it would be worth sharing.

The other person Dr. Kalyanaraman, spoke about the Sarasvathi river and how important the vedic river is to establish our nation’s link to its glorious past and reclaim the true glory and get global recognition as the cradle of civilisation in the world. He showed evidences from Astronomy, geology, archaeology and other scientific sources which prove that Sarasvathi river existed and on its banks thrived the Harappa and Mohanjadaro civilisations.

It was a great learning experience to listen to these two illustrious, patriotic individuals who are working towards regaining our rightful glory and put India where it was a few hundred years ago. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s programme when we talk about the challenges and threats Hinduism is facing.