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Re: ARTICLE : Biased Reuters news reporting again ! .. is it any surprise ?
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Subject: Re: ARTICLE : Biased Reuters news reporting again ! .. is it any surprise ?
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From: "Jaldhar H. Vyas" <jaldhar@braincells.com>
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Date: Sat, 7 Sep 1996 04:04:29 GMT
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Apparently-To: soc-religion-hindu@uunet.uu.net
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Newsgroups: soc.religion.hindu
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Organization: Consolidated Braincells Inc.
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References: <ghenDwqLwI.BKK@netcom.com> <ghenDwt2DL.MG9@netcom.com> <5077j0$rd0@news.ececs.uc.edu> <ghenDx64F4.19H@netcom.com> <ghenDx7vpM.5DJ@netcom.com> <ghenDx9t0L.Bp1@netcom.com> <ghenDxBv26.3zu@netcom.com>
dchakrav@netserv.unmc.edu (Dhruba Chakravarti) wrote in article
<ghenDxBv26.3zu@netcom.com>...
> Would you not agree that the sanAtana dharma must be relevant to the new
> generation of Hindus?
When I was about 15 I decided to go to the Ramakrishna Mission in New
York. I'd heard that those people also believe in Advaita Vedanta so I
thought this might be interesting. Imagine my horror to find out people
came into the place wearing shoes. They sat in pews just like a church.
There was even organ music! And this wasn't a Christmas celebration or
anything, this was the Durga Puja service! Said service included no arati
or anything else one would associate with a puja. There wasn't even a
murti of Mataji just a marble bust of, I assume, Ramakrishna. And the
majority were Bengalis not foreigners. Then the "minister" as they called
the resident swami droned on a while with some nonsense about the
philosophy of Shakta worship which I could tell even at that age was utter
rubbish. I've never set foot in that place since.
Flash forward to yesterday. As it was Janmashtami I went at midnight for
darshan at the mandir i usually go to, Govinda mandir in Jersey City where
I live. This mandir follows the Vaishnava Pushti Marg of Vallabha which
is the religion of many Gujaratis. At that time there were about 300
people squeeezed into a space that holds about a 100. About as many were
outside. The president of the mandir told me he estimated about 1,500
people had been for darshan throughout the day. While I was there I saw
many people my age (I'm 25) and younger enthusiastically taking part.
Even though some found it hard to follow Gujarati bhajans they did the
best they could and I heard elderly people comment very favorably on the
bhakti they showed. The rites were conducted strictly according to the
shastras and all the tradition Gujarati customs were followed too.
Several people had done nirjal upvas (as did I) for that whole day.
There are many young people who grew up here and hardly remember India yet
follow Dharma with a zeal that their grandfathers would be hard put to
match. What can silly modern philosophies possibly offer them?
I've heard people say all these "relevant" babblers are part of some
"Hindu Rennaissance". I completely reject this notion. We've never been
in a dark age so we have no need for a renaissance. It's you people who
do.
--
Jaldhar H. Vyas [jaldhar@braincells.com] o- beable .-_|\
Consolidated Braincells Inc. / \
http://www.braincells.com/jaldhar/ Perth Amboy-> *.--._/
"Witty quote" - Dead Guy finger me for PGP key v McQ!
