This past Saturday was Hindu Unity Day, and I was invited to speak at the celebration at the Ganesh Temple in Flushing. \u00a0I was honored and humbled to share the stage with a number of eloquent and well-respected speakers, including the president of the mandir (and the only other female speaker), Dr. Uma Mysorekar, and the keynote speaker, Dr. Subramanian Swamy. \u00a0I was asked to speak on Hindu unity, and as a representive of the Hindu American Foundation, I used this as an opportunity to discuss the importance of advocacy. \u00a0Below is the text of my speech:<\/p>\n
Namaste, and thank you for inviting me to speak on behalf of the Hindu American Foundation, a non-profit advocacy group that I have been a part of for about seven years. \u00a0I\u2019ve spent the past few weeks wondering what to say about Hindu unity, because we are in serious need of some.<\/p>\n
Despite the absence of any single prophet or creed, centralized religious authority, or manifesto to convert others, a diversity of traditions and practice have not only survived, but flourished under the Hindu umbrella. Yet, even in this often staggering diversity, there is a sacred thread which unites us. \u00a0There are the eternal and universal laws of karma, dharma, samsara, and moksha that not only let us spiritually evolve as individuals, but also guide us in building peaceful and just societies. There is the teaching that all beings are vessels of the divine. \u00a0There are our beautiful Gods and Goddesses, with rituals steeped in symbolism and captivating stories that offer valuable life lessons. \u00a0And we have the wisdom of our ancient Rishis who transmitted through the Vedas the message that though the paths may be many, the Truth is One. \u00a0Yet, despite this sacred thread that unites us not only in belief, but as humans, Hindus have found ways, even where there are none, to divide — age, gender, community, language, sampradaya — you name it, we\u2019ve found it.<\/p>\n
In fact, we have even found ways to divide in the terms of how we refer to our way of life — Hindu, Sanatana Dharma, Vedic, Yogic. \u00a0How do we begin to unite if we can\u2019t even agree on a name? We at the Hindu American Foundation use advocacy as a tool to find unity and as a first step, treat all of these terms are synonymous. \u00a0We accept them all as words that describe our way of life while acknowledging that the term \u201cHinduism\u201d is the most well-known around the world. \u00a0Yet after many of our events where we describe the plight of Hindu communities in countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Malaysia, where we explain how we are working to correct misrepresentations about our tradition in the media, and where we share our efforts to uphold the separation of church and state in this country – after all of that, mixed in with the \u201cGood job, beta\u201d comments is always at least one person whose sole comment is, \u201cYou should change your name to the Sanatana Dharma American Foundation.\u201d Why do we miss the forest for the trees?<\/p>\n
About seven years ago, a team from HAF went to Capitol Hill to meet with our elected officials. \u00a0One of our board members introduced himself and said \u201cI am from the Hindu American Foundation.\u201d To which the Congressman asked, \u201cAre you Hindu Sunni or Hindu Shia?\u201d<\/p>\n
Shouldn\u2019t we be more worried when one of our elected officials – an individual who is responsible for passing laws that affect us living in this country – doesn\u2019t recognize that Hinduism and Islam are not the same?<\/p>\n
Thankfully, as HAF has continued its advocacy efforts on the Hill, these types of comments are rare to hear. \u00a0It\u2019s taken a lot of time, effort, and sacrifice on the part of all the team members to educate elected officials, journalists and reporters, interfaith colleagues, teachers, and others about our community and tradition.<\/p>\n
But the work is far from over. \u00a0Despite continuous outreach, \u00a0we still struggle with papers like the New York Times<\/em> whose India-based reporters seem hell bent on blaming any and all of India\u2019s woes on \u201cthe Hindu caste system.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0We struggle with the media\u2019s positive coverage of countries like Malaysia – which is upheld as a model Muslim democracy – and Bhutan – which supposedly ranks highest on the happiness index. \u00a0Yet in reality, these are countries are ones that have perpetrated serious human rights violations on their minority Hindu communities. \u00a0We work to change the stereotypes that Hinduism is nothing more than a superstitious faith with multiple gods that have multiple arms and heads. \u00a0\u00a0Because how will our next generation of Hindu Americans want to be a part of a tradition that has been boiled down to caste, superstition, and multi-armed gods? \u00a0\u00a0If we can\u2019t transmit appreciation for our tradition, then we can\u2019t unite as a community. \u00a0If we can\u2019t unite as a religious community, we cannot ensure Hinduism\u2019s survival in the generations to come.<\/p>\n Each of us has the power to build bridges to unity. \u00a0At HAF, we see advocacy as such a bridge.<\/p>\n What is advocacy, you may ask. \u00a0HAF views advocacy as a three step cycle. \u00a0The first is to educate both ourselves and others about Hinduism, its philosophies, traditions, and diversity.<\/p>\n The second is to speak up about issues that are affecting us. \u00a0It\u2019s important to reach out in a professional and intelligent manner to the media and academia when they misrepresent Hinduism because they are influencing the minds of readers and children alike. \u00a0As Hindus, the onus is on us to ensure our tradition is represented accurately and fairly.<\/p>\n Finally, the third step is to build lasting relationships to ensure the change is permanent. \u00a0Continued and consistent contact with reporters, Congressmen, and academics is vital to advocacy.<\/p>\n Yet, while groups like HAF can advocate our hearts out, the community must plant the seed of advocacy at home.<\/p>\n First it has to start with the basics: educating ourselves. \u00a0Parents need to teach their children about Hinduism, its philosophy as well as the manner in which it is visually represented. \u00a0\u00a0How many Hindu children know why Vishnu is depicted with blue skin? \u00a0What kid growing up as a minority surrounded by Abrahamic traditions is going to proud of worshiping a blue god? \u00a0But when we learn that blue, being the color of the sky and the oceans, symbolizes the infiniteness of the Divine, something \u201cweird\u201d is suddenly transformed into something both beautiful and logical.<\/p>\n Second, we need to utilize our knowledge to become proud Hindu advocates. \u00a0I happen to very fortunate to have grown up in a household where the value of advocacy was fully acknowledged. \u00a0My father has been an advocate for Hindus for as long as I can remember \u00a0and instilled in me his passion of advocacy.<\/p>\n I left a career in consulting to join the Hindu American Foundation full-time five years ago. \u00a0My father was obviously proud. \u00a0But what I found most interesting was the reaction from other adults in our community. \u00a0Those who were into Hindu advocacy were impressed, but secretly thankful that it was me taking the pay cut and not their children. \u00a0Others were dismissive as if I was out of my mind to leave a \u201cstable\u201d job to do some \u201cHindu thing.\u201d<\/p>\n To my Hindu peer group, I have to explain what advocacy is and why I\u2019m doing it. \u00a0And even then they don\u2019t get it. \u00a0I have one friend who still asks me, good-naturedly, \u201cHow is the cult doing? \u00a0Got any more converts?\u201d<\/p>\n Compare that to my Jewish friends. I can say, \u201cHAF is an advocacy organization,\u201d and they nod their heads. \u00a0No explanation needed. \u00a0They get it because advocacy has been ingrained in their community and instilled as a value from a young age. \u00a0And they are phenomenal at it. Granted their community came to America long before ours, so they have had more time to hone their advocacy skills.<\/p>\n But we are the most educated and wealthiest community. \u00a0So it\u2019s time that our advocacy efforts catch up. \u00a0We need to reach a point where a career in Hindu advocacy is considered to be as prestigious as becoming a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. \u00a0They are all respectable and important career paths, and so is advocacy. \u00a0Yes, making money is important. \u00a0Artha is one of the four goals of life. \u00a0But let\u2019s remember that it is not the only goal.<\/p>\n There is much that divides us – Vaishnavas and Shaivites; Advaitins and Dvaitins; Gujaratis and Tamilians — but it all adds to the richness of our heritage. \u00a0But if each division continues to view or act as if they are separate or different from our larger Hindu family, that is when Hinduism as a whole suffers. \u00a0And so, today, I hope you will see advocacy as a tool for unity. \u00a0I hope you will see advocacy as a worthy path for younger generations of Hindu Americans. I hope you will make advocacy part of our collective dharma. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This past Saturday was Hindu Unity Day, and I was invited to speak at the celebration at the Ganesh Temple in Flushing. \u00a0I was honored and humbled to share the stage with a number of eloquent and well-respected speakers, including the president of the mandir (and the only other female speaker), Dr. Uma Mysorekar, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":390,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hinduism-101"],"yoast_head":"\n