Tattva

Namaste,

As always, we are pleased to present to you the latest edition of Tattva. Hope you all enjoyed reading the previous edition. The January edition of Tattva had a record number of visits, with nearly 22,000 hits. In this edition, we have a variety of articles, including an editorial on interreligious marriags, a poem written by a college student, and a video interview of an Ekal Vidyalaya coordinator. As always, we look forward to your feedback and contributions. If you woud like to submit an article for next month’s issue, please send it to tattva-editor@hinduyuva.org. Jai Shri Ram!

Please visit http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2009/02 to read the February 2009 edition of Tattva.

Ekal Vidyalaya is an organization that initiates, supports, and runs non-formal one-teacher schools (popularly known as Ekal Vidyalayas) in tribal villages all over India. With the participation of numerous non-profit trusts and organizations, this program has now become the greatest non-governmental education movement in the country.

Mr. Mihir Vaidya, Vice President of Ekal Vidyala, North-west America, spoke to University of Washington students about the organization.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Self
That in which all these worlds seem to exist steadily, that of which all these worlds are a possession, that from which all these worlds rise, that for which all these exist, that by which all these worlds come into existence and that which is indeed all these - that alone is the existing reality. Let us cherish that Self, which is the reality, in the Heart.

The essence of Sri Ramana’s teachings is conveyed in his frequent assertions that there is a single immanent reality, directly experienced by everyone, which is simultaneously the source, the substance and the real nature of everything that exists. Read the rest of this entry »

Deep in the dirth of the lonely corner,
Alone burned courageously speaking of the vast histories
Dressed in the clothes of purest white
Once bathed from the sea of adulation
Unraveled in the purely saffrony silk
Like the innocence of a child
Playfully spreading the luminance of happiness
Looking upward with widened conviction
Begone the gloominess
As the aura arises atop
With a guiding glare,
Vanquishing adverse airs
To rise above to the higher divine

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Introduction by Stephen Knapp: I want to thank Dr. Dilip Amin for putting this thoughtful information together. Interfaith marriages are becoming an increasingly important topic among Dharmic parents. Personally, when it comes to interfaith marriages, I have seen only a few of them really work out. When a Hindu marries someone of another religion, often the spouse who is Muslim or Christian expects the Hindu to immediately or eventually convert. This may be due to a number of factors that are not always obvious at the beginning of the marriage, such a family pressure, or the birth of children, etc. This is especially the case when a Hindu girl marries an Abrahamic spouse. Even if the spouse does not expect conversion, then at least the children are expected to be raised to become Christians or Muslims. Rarely is this otherwise. Even if the children are exposed to both religions and left to make their own decisions about which religion to follow, it is generally found that within one, two, or at most three generations, that family is no longer connected to the Vedic tradition.

However, I have seen marriages work out nicely when, for example, a converted western Hindu male or Dharmist marries an Indian Hindu female, or vice versa, and plan to raise their children in the Vedic tradition. Or even when two converted Hindus marry each other. But when a Dharmic follower marries a person of the Abrahamic faith, the future can be turbulent with unexpected consequences and problems, especially when children are born. Therefore, I do not advise anyone who wants to make sure their family continues in the Dharmic tradition to enter into an interfaith marriage. You simply cannot be sure of what is going to happen and much heartbreak and turmoil can result. The following two articles below by Dr. Dilip Amin will make this clearer. Read the rest of this entry »

There are religions and religions, and there are philosophies and philosophies connected with them. Invariably all religious philosophies are centered around the concept of Ishwar. But has anyone seen this Ishwar? How can we see or feel Ishwar? I am sure there are no convincing answers to all such ‘inconvenient’ questions. Billions and billions of human beings have lived on this planet before us and probably billions will follow us. Many divine personalities belonging to different regions, races and religions have claimed to have seen or felt or realized Ishwar, but none of them could show Ishwar to another individual. It is said that Swami Vivekananda once challenged Sage Ramakrishna Paramahamsa to show him Ishwar and the Sage could go as far as giving him a feel. Experiences of those who claim to have seen Ishwar vastly differ and even those who claim to have felt Ishwar’s presence have much varied experiences. One thing is very clear – that Ishwar has no permanent form nor feel. Read the rest of this entry »

Ideally morality should be looked upon as the mechanism by which societies tackle existential constraints and limitations to promote creativity for social evolution and avoid destructive tendencies arising from narrow self-definition. This view would seem to restrict morality to secular or worldly life.

Hinduism takes a broad view of secular (loukika in Sanskrit) human activity. Creativity and social evolution are the goals that are collectively known as Dharma. Read the rest of this entry »

Since the beginning mankind has been suffering from foolish customs that have nothing to do with awareness of God. There were schisms and foolish customs in the past, and they are with us even today. There were also divisions and such customs in Sri Krishn’s time, and Arjun was a victim of some of them. This is seen from his four arguments, namely that war destroys the eternal Sanatan Dharm and that it produces varnsankar, an unholy intermingling of disparate classes and ways of life. Obsequial offerings of deceased ancestors will cease and that we shall by being engaged in destroying our race, invite great curses on us. Let us discuss here about what is the real concept of “Varnsankar” as preached in Bhagwad Geeta. Read the rest of this entry »