{"id":388,"date":"2015-05-06T06:06:38","date_gmt":"2015-05-06T10:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/seekingshanti\/?p=388"},"modified":"2015-05-12T23:47:50","modified_gmt":"2015-05-13T03:47:50","slug":"hindu-american-rites-of-passage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/seekingshanti\/2015\/05\/hindu-american-rites-of-passage\/","title":{"rendered":"Rites of Passage: A Hindu American Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Editors\u2019 Note<\/i><\/b>: This article is part of the <\/i>Patheos Public Square <\/i><\/a>on Rites of Passage. Read other perspectives <\/i>here<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

A few years ago, the temple in the metro-Detroit area that my family goes to most often started conducting a special puja to mark graduation<\/a>. I was fascinated. A puja <\/i>is a religious rite, where Hindus worship through devotion to God, offering prayers and food, often to a specific deity, performed daily or on special occasions, on holy days. \u00a0Pujas are done to mark rites of passage \u2013 and some are critical components of samskaras<\/i>, or various life sacraments, such as the Gowri puja I did before my wedding ceremony. So I appreciated the temple\u2019s decision to couple the Satyanarayana puja, a ritual done every full moon at the temple,with graduation, as a new and innovative way to engage Hindu American children in worship. As New York-based journalist Lavina Melwani said about passing on the Hindu way of life<\/a>:<\/p>\n

For Hindu children who grow up in India, their religion is all around them. It resounds from the bells of their neighborhood temple, in the stories told by grandparents and in the countless rituals and ceremonies that are a part of daily life in India. Living in a country that is more than 80 percent Hindu, they absorb their religion by osmosis, surrounded by large, loving extended families, by colorful festivals and holidays that permeate the seasons. The Hindu way of life wafts in the very air they breathe.<\/i><\/p>\n

But what about Hindu children born in fast-moving America, where there are few markers of Indian life? Religion and culture are best absorbed in childhood, yet these children do not see Hindu culture echoed in the world around them, especially if they live in Smalltown, USA, where there may be few people who look or worship like them.<\/i><\/p>\n

Samskaras<\/em> are the closest thing to a rite of passage or religious sacrament in a Hindu\u2019s life, and celebrating these traditions can help to connect Hindu American children to their religious heritage. While it may not be possible to celebrate or even relevant to conduct all of these, there are 16, which help an individual throughout his or her life, encouraging positive behavior and removing or reducing the difficulties s\/he may encounter.<\/p>\n

Many resources exist to help explain what these samskaras are, including these from the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), \u00a0a socio-spiritual Hindu organization with its roots in the Vedas.<\/p>\n