Tattva Magazine, January 2011

[Sudharsan D.]

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. January 2011 Vivekananda's Birthday In this Edition Oh Mother, Give me Jnana, Bhakti and Vairagya! The Prophecies of Indonesia Advocating for the Atman: The Hindu American Foundation Q&A on the HAF Capitol Hill Internship Dharma is the Glue Sweet Memories of my Childhood Association with R.S.S. Symbols in Hindu Dharma Mahavidhya Sketch 6 - Chinnamasta शान्ति मन्त्र - Shanti Mantra (Peace Invocation) News and Events Support the Bhutanese refugee empowerment project! Help Sewa International win a $50,000 grant to support Bhutanese refugees in America. Vote 3 times a day between now and January 31st at www.refresheverything.com/sewausabre and by texting the message "105295" to the number 73774 (Pepsi).  Help us build a museum of ancient cultures and traditions! Help the International Center for Cultural Studies win a $250,000 grant by voting 3 times a day at www.refresheverything.com/iccsus and by texting the message "105543" to the number 73774 (Pepsi). Dr. Indranill Basuray speaks on the "Power of Meditation" at Georgia Tech  On Thursday, October 28, 2010 the newly formed Georgia Tech Hindu YUVA chapter held its first event, a Speaker on Campus program. Attended by 51 undergraduate students, this enlightening talk invited the audience to challenge the traditional notion that the human mind is immutable, or incapable of becoming more powerful through ordinary means. The speaker, Dr. Indranill Basuray, a current professor at University of Buffalo and a past medical researcher at Harvard Medical School, captivated the audience for 90 minutes on the "Power of Meditation," and proceeded to postulate that meditation is the solution to a more powerful mind. <<Click here to continue reading>> Darshan Soni Presents "A Journey through Rising India" at Boston University Twenty-seven people attended Hindu YUVA's "Journey through Rising India" event  at Boston University on Thursday, November 18th to learn about grassroots development work and service projects in India. The speaker, Darshan Soni, recently undertook a four-month long trip through India, during which he traveled through 14 states and studied various development initiatives. His presentation covered challenges and opportunities before India, and unique and effective service projects in the fields of rural development, slum development, education, and healthcare. <<Click here to continue reading>> Michigan Tech Hindu YUVA celebrates Diwali On November 7, 2010, the Houghton, Michigan chapter of Hindu YUVA celebrated "Diwali Prabhat." Almost 70 students and few faculty members attended this program. Prior to the event, other programs were held, such as skits and classical "mehfils" (poem reading sessions). One day before the event, the hall was decorated with "Akaash Diyas" and small "candle Diyas." <<Click here to continue reading>> UNC Hindu YUVA celebrates Diwali Hindu YUVA organized a Divaali Nite event, attended by 150 students from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill as well as other universities in the neighborhood. People came from Duke and North Carolina State to partake in this auspicious function. The entire event lasted from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Through the efforts of the members of Hindu YUVA, the event proved to be a fantastic occasion that connected and brought people together. The decorations, in particular, the diyas (candles), rangoli (hand-painted art), and flower garlands exuded tradition, capturing both the beauty of the festival and its significance. Highlights of the event include Puja, Performances, Dinner and Raas. <<Click here to continue reading>> From the Editor's Desk    Dear Readers,  In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Nepali citizens were invited by the Bhutanese government to take up farming and construction jobs, particularly in southern Bhutan. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, the Bhutanese government recognized that their immigrant communities in the south were not adjusting to the national culture. The Bhutanese government's disdain for this cultural heterogeneity induced a hostile environment for the Nepali immigrants, compelling them to flee to Nepal, where they settled in United Nations refugee camps. Now, 60,000 of them are in the United States, living in the poorest communities, struggling to find jobs and build meaningful lives in the middle of a completely foreign cultural environment. Sewa International has been working for their welfare since they arrived, and now they need us to help them secure the Pepsi Refresh Project $50,000 grant. Please follow the link in the news section to find out how you can vote for the Bhutanese Refugee Empowerment Project.  The International Center for Cultural Studies (ICCS) is in the race for the $250,000 grant. ICCS will use the funds to construct a Museum for Ancient Traditions and Cultures. The organization conducts research on the ancient cultures of the world - the indigenous belief systems that lasted for more than 2000 years. They have not only identified noble themes such as environmentalism, harmony, and social responsibility in the ancient cultures, but have realized that these themes are common amongst the indigenous populations, as if various sets of ancient traditions were all based on the same fundamental ideas about the universe. ICCS believes the world today has a lot to learn from our ancient cultures, and the Museum for Ancient Traditions and Cultures will be built to do just that. Please find information on how to vote for ICCS in the links section as well. Enjoy the first edition of Tattva Magazine of the new decade. The first article is in observance of Swami Vivekananda's 150th birthday today. Swami Vivekananda is a role-model for all youth.  Take care, Tattva Team   Oh Mother! Give me Jnana, Bhakti and Vairagya! As soon as Swami Vivekananda entered the temple, his mind would rise to such a wonderful state of consciousness that the whole world, including money, material comfort, and food, lost its value, and in its place there shone forth the radiant face of divine and blissful Mother, gracious enough to grant highest Jnana, Bhakti andVariragya. Who would ask for transient and useless things when Mother was ready to grant such priceless things? Who would ask for pebbles when someone was distributing the gems! Now Swami Vivekananda understood the deep meaning and significance of Sri Ramakrishna’s word, that formless God and God with form as Mother were but one.  Read the rest of this article >> Prophecies of Indonesia, by Akshay Suresh Until the end of the 15th century, Hinduism was the predominant religion in the islands of Java and Sumatra. Hinduism is said to have spread to these islands as early as the first century AD. The Tarumanagara inscriptions of the 4th century AD are the earliest evidence of Hindu influence in Java. Hinduism flourished in these Indonesian islands until the arrival of Islam in the 14th century. Indonesia is today the most populous Muslim-majority nation, with 86.1% Muslims (2000 census) and 3% Hindus. However, there is a self-conscious Hindu revival movement emerging from the Javanese society with constant reference to the famous Javanese prophecies of Sabdapalon and Jayabhaya. Read the rest of this entry »   Read the rest of this article » Advocating for the Atman: The Hindu American Foundation, by Sudharsan Dwaraknath In 2005, the San Francisco Chronicle published an article with the following statement: “In the conservative Hindu belief system that has been sweeping India for a decade, rape is considered a just punishment for various forms of misbehavior.” In regards to Rajan Zed’s opening of the 2007 California State Senate with a Hindu prayer, Ted Wildman, President of the American Family Association, made a mockery of Hindus by telling the San Francisco Chronicle, “I don’t know if he even knows who he’s praying to.” Nina Paley’s 2008 animated film, “Sita Sings the Blues,” poisons the beloved Ramayan with scenes such as Lord Rama kicking and walking on a pregnant Sita. Issues like these exemplify a disregard for Hindu sentiments and a gross misunderstanding of the Hindu civilization. And it doesn’t help that Hindu Americans have historically demonstrated a strong apathy towards issues afflicting Hinduism and Hindus around the world. But this began to change almost a decade ago. Attorneys Nikhil Joshi and Suhag Shukla and doctors Mihir Meghani and Aseem Shukla are Hindu Americans who have always stood up against the defamation of Hinduism. But in a 2002 get together in Pennsylvania, the four friends decided to team up, giving life to the Hindu American Foundation (HAF). Read the rest of this article» Q&A on the HAF Capitol Hill Internship The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) has organized their first ever Hindu American Capitol Hill Leadership Initiative. The internship is an 8-week program that will take place in Washington, DC during the summer of 2011. Interns will be trained by HAF before going to work in a Congressional office from May to June, 2011. We sat down with Pooja Deopura to ask some questions that might help you decide if this opportunity is right for you. Ms. Deopura is a recent UC Davis graduate and member of the HAF Executive Council. Read the rest of this article» Dharma is the Glue, by Rajesh Krishnamachari The mystics tell us that the word Bharat, denoting an entityillumined with divine light, has a two-fold connotation, referring as it does to both the Indian subcontinent as well as the human body. And as the human body is more than the sum of its parts, so is the land of Bharat. Composed of many states, its spiritual traditions have emerged undoubtedly through the joint contributions of all of its members, and yet today transcend them all by creating a common cultural substratum that precludes any narrow identification with a particular region. While the men and women who shaped the culture of our land did not self-identify themselves with any particular state, I shall do so below in this article for two reasons. First, I seek to illustrate the contribution of individual states to our national culture that often gets overlooked in contemporary discourse, and second, I wish to highlight the spectacular inter-connections between different Indian states that bind a follower of dharma to the modern Indian nation. Read the rest of this article» Sweet Memories of my Childhood Association with R.S.S., by Amit Kshirsagar R.S.S., or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, is a Hindu organization in India. R.S.S. is probably unknown to most second generation immigrants in America. It is not my intention to provide information about it here, but I want to write about my sweet memories of my childhood association with R.S.S. members. It all began in 1980, when I was 9 years old. My brother Rahul and I were living in India. Read the rest of this entry » Symbols in Hindu Dharma, by Dr. Subhash Kak   Who is Shiva? And what is the meaning of the Shivalinga, Shiva’s symbol or icon? Who is Parvati?Why do some people go on pilgrimage to a place like the Amaranath cave? What is the relationship between Shiva andVishnu? What is the meaning of Shiva’s dance? In Hindu Dharma, God, or Brahman, is perceived as being beyond logical and associational categories. That is why it is nameless. But it assumes various forms when the context of the inquiry is limited. This is how a single all-pervading, omniscient entity assumes the form of many names. Each name is a Deva, a bright point of consciousness, that represents different angles to the same effulgence! The essence of the tradition is knowledge. Veda means knowledge. And the traditions is called Vaidika, “Vedic,” or equivalently, Aarya Dharma, “the noble way,” Satya Dharma, “the way of the truth,” orSanatana Dharma, “the eternal way.” God or Brahman is considered to be synonymous with truth. Ordinary knowledge is supposed to be full of paradoxes because it is limited knowledge. On the other hand, true knowldege cannot be apprehended in terms of conditioned experience or language. So how do you represent transcendental notions of reality and existence? By means of symbols. These symbols must be infused with movement since the underlying reality is that of change. This is the primal dance of existence! Read the rest of this entry » Mahavidhya Sketch 6 - Chinnamasta, by Deepak Sagar Chinnamasta, or the self decapitated goddess is perhaps one of the goddess’s more disturbing and frightening forms. She represents the power of transcendence and the state when the conscience is relieved beyond the world. She is the power of lightening, the energy of transformation that is present all across the cosmos. As lightning, Chhinnamasta represents direct perception, pure seeing which cuts through everything and reveals the infinite beyond all forms. She is the Kundalini Shakti flowing upward from the base of the spine to burst open the Crown Chakra and stream out into the infinite. She is the head that swallows the body and hence represents the Pralaya. She is shown as a young girl of sixteen, naked, who has a sword in one hand and her own chopped head in the other. She wears a number of ornaments and is flanked by two attendants Dakini and Varnini, each with a kapala and a sword. Three spurts of blood from her severed neck are drunk by her two attendants and her own severed head. Together they dance over the bodies of Kama (the god of love) and his wife, Rathi in physical union. Worshiped only by highly qualified sadhakas for absolute transcendence beyond Maya, she is often looked upon as a powerful boon granter. View the full size work here » Shanti Mantra (Peace Invocation) सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः  सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः | सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु  मा कश्चित्  दुःखभाग्भवेत् ॥ sarve bhavantu sukhinaha  sarve santu niraamayah sarve bhadrani pashyantu  ma kaschit duhkha bhag bhavet Sanskrit to English Word Meaning: sarve- all; bhavantu- may be; sukhinah- happy; niramayah- free from disease; badrani- prosperity; pashyantu- may enjoy; ma- not; kaschit- anybody; duhkhabhag- one who suffers; bhavet- may be Translation: May all be happy. May all enjoy health and freedom from disease. May all enjoy prosperity. May none suffer. Brief explanation: This is usually chanted after finishing a meeting or conference call. These are prayers for the prosperity and welfare of humanity. To achieve anything in life, one has to make an effort and await the results. In addition, many unknown factors and laws influence the outcome of that effort. By praying to the Lord, one acknowledges these laws as the natural order inseparable from the Lord, and one acknowledges the Lord as the giver of all results of action.      Tattva is an online magazine, published by Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh’s Hindu YUVA. Tattva, which means “essence” in Sanskrit, draws inspiration from the roots of Hindu Dharma. It aims to present inspiring aspects of ancient Hindu culture and history along with related current day issues. It is an avenue to gain a better understanding and appreciate the most ancient culture thriving on this planet. It also offers us an opportunity to share our ideas and inspire others. To join our mailing list, please send an e-mail once to subscrib...@hinduyuva.org. Contact the editor at tattva...@hinduyuva.org.