Archives for 2012

I do not apologize for opting for universalism over tribalism, and an affirmation of all our experiences.Note: I was recently at the American Academy of Religion's Annual meeting in Chicago and had a chance encounter with one friend and a deliberate engagement with another. Both are what I am not: Ph.D.s, scholars in academia, experts in Hinduism studies. Yet we are all three Hindu. When I ran into Deepak Sarma, he shared with me his recent essay on White Hindu converts. I wanted to … [Read more...]

Diwali celebrates the victory of good over evil, a victory of recognizing the divinity in each of us, being open to dialogue, listening, and trying to find compromise.The weekend before the election, I was at an interfaith conference in Omaha, Nebraska. As a member of the Hindu American Foundation, I was invited by Project Interfaith to be a panelist at The Stained Glass Ceiling: A Community Conference on the Successes and Challenges of Women's Religious Leadership. I was part of a group … [Read more...]

Hindu temples sustain community while pushing the next generation into new appropriations of the dharma.In a recent essay on Beliefnet.com, Manhattan-based journalist Shoba Narayan says "Stop Building Hindu Temples." She does however offer an explanation for these rather strong words, suggesting, "In their zeal to erect temples, America's Hindus aren't asking who will maintain them years from now." She sums up in a single paragraph the difficult journey an American Hindu immigrant makes, … [Read more...]

We have a vision of a beloved community, and must strive toward it. We each have a contribution to make in achieving this vision.Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois convened a Senate hearing on hate crimes and the potential threat of domestic extremism this week as a response to the most recent attacks on those from the Dharmic community who are most easily identified as "the other." The Hindu American Foundation was one of over 150 religious and civil rights organizations that called for … [Read more...]