Hindu Council Initiative

[Guest guest]

HINDUSTAN TIMES

 

80 US Organisations Launch Hindu Council Initiative

 

Lalit K Jha

 

New York, August 18, 2005

 

In an effort to present a united voice in an alien country and to

shape the "future and destiny" of the Hindu community in coming

decades, leaders of as many as 80 important Hindu organizations and

temples in the U.S. have come forward to constitute a Hindu Council

Initiative (HCI) of North America.

 

A result of the Dharma Summit-2005 that concluded early this week, the

Hindu Council Initiative has mandate to create a network allowing all

Hindu religious organizations to work together and provide necessary

resources on continuing basis to all temples and other religious

organizations in the U.S.

 

The conference general secretary, Ved Chaudhary, told The

HindustanTimes.com: "The Hindu Council Initiative would address only

issues of concern to the Hindu community in North America."

 

Prominent among them include promoting changes to enhance the

participation of new generation, correcting biased and distorted views

of the Hindu traditions in educational institutions and media,

improving temple management, developing resources, enhancing the role

of temple, and helping temples and religious organizations to reach

out to larger community with voluntary services and education,

Chaudhary said referring to resolution passed by the Dharma

Summit-2005.

 

In fact, this was probably for the first time that such a large number

of Hindu religious leaders and institutions had come together on one

platform.

 

This was also for the first time that prominent American academicians,

intellectuals and believers in Hinduism also joined mainstream Hindu

platform.

 

Among these were the world renowned Hindu-scholar, David Frawley;

Stephen Knapp, who has written more than a dozen books on Hind and

Hinduism; Dr. Frank Morales, who is recognized as one of the leading

authorities on Hindu philosophy, yoga and meditation in the US;

Jeffrey Armstrong, a Vedic astrologer, and Beth Kulkarni, who is the

only American Hindu on board of various Hindu temples in the US.

 

The concern many young generation Hindus in the U.S. are not learning

and maintaining Hindu traditions was clearly evident throughout the

conference, which brought together heads of trustees of temples,

spiritual institutions, and organizations together with many

intellectuals and committed volunteer leaders from throughout the USA.

 

Prominent Hindu religious institutions to attend the conference were

the Arsha Vidya-Vedanta Gurukul, PA; Arya Pratinidhi Sabha America;

BAPS-Swaminarayan Temple; Barsana Dham, TX; Gayatri Pariwar; Hindu

Monastery in Hawaii; Hindu University of America; Sadhu Vaswani

Center; Sringeru Vidya Bharati Foundation; Sri Ganesh Temple in NY;

Sri Venkateshwara Temples; Sri Meenakshi Temple, TX; Vraj Dham, PA and

ISKCON.

 

Other Hindu groups included, Educators Society for Heritage of India,

Gayatri Pariwar, Hindu American Foundation, Hindu Intl. Council

against Defamation, Hindu Society of NE Florida, Hindu Students

Council, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, Hindu University of America, Jain

Associations in North America, Swadhyay Pariwar, US Hindu Alliance;

Vishwa Hindu Parishad-America., American Institute of Vedic Studies,

Vedic Friends Associations and the Vedic Foundation.

 

Chaudhary said, the rich mix of swamis, intellectuals, temple trustees

and youth leaders provided a unique opportunity to exchange different

viewpoints, thoughts and ideas and share experiences on how to impart

spiritual and cultural education to future generations.

 

Theme of the summit was: "The Future of Dharmic Traditions in North

America."

 

Giving details of the conference, Chaudhary said workshop was

organised by the Hindu University of America which is starting a

program to train Hindu priests in the USA to meet the needs of temples

in America for priests who can communicate with the younger generation

and with the interfaith community.

 

 

 

 

drmoraleslist/