Hindu Prayer Opens US Senate

[Guruvani]

Three protesters disrupted a prayer by a Hindu chaplain Thursday at the opening of a Senate hearing, calling it an abomination and shouting slogans about Jesus Christ. <!--startclickprintexclude--> <!----><!--===========IMAGE============--><!--===========/IMAGE===========--><!--===========CAPTION==========-->Chaplain Rajan Zed, left, and Sen. Robert Casey looks toward the Senate's public gallery during the protest.<!--===========/CAPTION=========-->

 

 

 

 

<!--endclickprintexclude--> It was the first time the daily prayer that opens Senate proceedings was said by a Hindu chaplain.

[Guruvani]

Of course, some "christians" had to protest.

 

they said it was praying to the devil.

 

If it would have been a Muslim they wouldn't have made a peep, because they know the Muslims will walk in their church with a suicide bomber.

[zjj]

Let them protest, it only shows them up to be bigots with no sense of the American ideals that they go on and on about.

 

I'm simply very impressed that the Senate saw fit to use a Hindu priest to say the prayers in the first place. Bravo Senate!

 

Haribol!

 

Jai

[zjj]

We should all be happy that Hindus in the USA are getting some recognition by the government.

 

Northern Nevada, eh? I'll have to see it I can visit them at some point. I'd love to meet this brave priest.

 

Jai

[Guest guest]

 

Of course, some "christians" had to protest.

 

they said it was praying to the devil.

 

If it would have been a Muslim they wouldn't have made a peep, because they know the Muslims will walk in their church with a suicide bomber.

 

Yes you're right. n I can also figure Lrod Krsna playin the flute on the preiest's gamchha. This was wonderful of the priest to come forward with the Hindu prayer. The shouting folks, know nothing about Christ or about God anyways. They are narrow minded fools subjected to their church's propaganda. No scriptures, no realization. They just repeat a few lines from the Bible, without understanding it even.

[suchandra]

 

Yes you're right. n I can also figure Lrod Krsna playin the flute on the preiest's gamchha. This was wonderful of the priest to come forward with the Hindu prayer. The shouting folks, know nothing about Christ or about God anyways. They are narrow minded fools subjected to their church's propaganda. No scriptures, no realization. They just repeat a few lines from the Bible, without understanding it even.

When Prabhupada spoke in public he would never show weakness of such kind to give some Christians the chance to attack. But even when there's a verbal attack, a genuine Vaishnava preacher would quickly turn that interjection into souvereign preponderance and not display speechlessness or confusion.

[Guest guest]

When Prabhupada spoke in public he would never show weakness of such kind to give some Christians the chance to attack. But even when there's a verbal attack, a genuine Vaishnava preacher would quickly turn that interjection into souvereign preponderance and not display speechlessness or confusion.

Well there are Vaishnavas who are very humble n not the fighting type. Doesn't mean they are not "genuine" not pure in their heart or are not bhaktas or love Krsna or Rama. It also depends on individual character. But I agree that the genuine cause should be protected. The Hindu priest seems very humble and good and not a fighting type. And probably he didn't want to shout back to the shouting lot. It wasn't a civilized discussion. Just some bunch of fools shouted.

[theist]

Was this 'hindu" a Vaisnava? if not who cares for his prayer anyway, just because it's called Hindu? Not enough to rock my boat.

 

Reminds me of reading an account from a brahmana who headed a certain Hindu temple in Calcutta. When he first saw Mother Theresa come to his neighborhood to serve the poor and destitute he tells of how he threw rocks at her. He later can to accept her saintly qualities.

 

Sectarianists are all the same no matter what costume they are wearing.

[Guruvani]

 

 

 

Sectarianists are all the same no matter what costume they are wearing.

 

 

so true......

[Ganeshprasad]

Jai Ganesh

 

 

Was this 'hindu" a Vaisnava? if not who cares for his prayer anyway, just because it's called Hindu? Not enough to rock my boat.

 

 

I do care, do you have problem with that? What’s wrong with his prayer does he not have rights? Sorry I forgot Shree Ganesh does not exist according to you.

 

 

 

Reminds me of reading an account from a brahmana who headed a certain Hindu temple in Calcutta. When he first saw Mother Theresa come to his neighborhood to serve the poor and destitute he tells of how he threw rocks at her. He later can to accept her saintly qualities.

 

Sectarianists are all the same no matter what costume they are wearing.

 

Why don’t you check your own sectarian traits in your own statement, are you above being sectarianism? Stop trying to make as if the majority Vaisnavas do not identify them self as Hindu. Who care if some newbie’s do not think they are following Hindu Dharma

 

Jai Shree Krishna

[Guest guest]

 

Was this 'hindu" a Vaisnava? if not who cares for his prayer anyway, just because it's called Hindu? Not enough to rock my boat.

 

 

 

How ignorant and foolish of you even as a Vaishnav if thats what your are. Im a vaishnav and such words you state are not of a true Vaishnav.

[Guest guest]

 

Was this 'hindu" a Vaisnava? if not who cares for his prayer anyway, just because it's called Hindu? Not enough to rock my boat.

who cares if he was a Vaishnava, a Saivite or a Smarta.. it is very sad what these fundamentalist Christians did.. and I felt sorry for the 2 million American Hindus and all the rest of us who appreciate freedom of religious expression... it's intolerance straight out of the dark ages, what these zealots were screaming. Did you watch the video?

 

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[moderator's note: a direct link to the youtube video posted by guest has been added]

 

 

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Sectarianists are all the same no matter what costume they are wearing.

says the guy who says: "Was this 'hindu" a Vaisnava? if not who cares for his prayer anyway"

 

practice what you preach, brother. You denounce sectarianism, and then preach your own?

[Guest guest]

 

When Prabhupada spoke in public he would never show weakness of such kind to give some Christians the chance to attack. But even when there's a verbal attack, a genuine Vaishnava preacher would quickly turn that interjection into souvereign preponderance and not display speechlessness or confusion.

 

This was NOT a speaking engagement. This was the opening Senate Prayer.. where the Swami gave a prayer reading from the Vedas and Upanishads. For him to start fighting back, would have been out of place.

 

He was the first non-Christian/Jew/Muslim ever allowed to give the opening prayer in the Senate. It was an historic event.. and it's a shame these intolerant bigots had to behave like this. But hey, they only made themselves look bad...

[Murali_Mohan_das]

Won't it be cool when Guruvani gives his first "State of the Union" address in January '09 in full Vaishnava regalia, with theist presiding over the joint session of the House and Senate as Vice-President?

[theist]

 

Won't it be cool when Guruvani gives his first "State of the Union" address in January '09 in full Vaishnava regalia, with theist presiding over the joint session of the House and Senate as Vice-President?

 

 

Whoa whoa baby. Hold up there. VICE president behind Guruvani????? Are you trying to curse me?

[theist]

Yes only a vaisnava should lead prayer for any nation. Afterall a mayavadi or voidist (buddhist taoist) don't believe there is a personal God there to even hear a prayer so to whom do they pray to.

 

As far as polytheists go Krsna tells us in the Gita that their prayers and worship to the demi-gods are really meant for Him alone but are being offered in a wrong way.

 

So that leaves the monotheists as the only ones that should lead prayers for the nation.

 

I offer my respectful obeisances to Bhaktivedanta Srila Prabhupada the servant of Saraswati Prabhupada who has kindly come to this western world to deliver us from impersonalism and voidism.

 

This is not sectarian religion because without God as the center THERE IS NO RELIGION TO Begin with.

[gHari]

First they'll think we're cool. Then they'll find out we are vaisnava. Then their prejudices and preconceptions will be defeated. But first we gotta get cool, the outlander undercover saints on the trim.

[Ganeshprasad]

Jai Ganesh

 

 

The height of ignorance, is there a limit to it. It is true a sectarian can not see, he is blind by its own dogma, refuses to see anyone else has any rights. I mean hello who did Gautam Budhha meditate and prayed to? Has ShankrAcharya given us any prayer I wonder. Chetnaya Mahaprabhu took sanyas from so called mayavad.

 

Vedic chants and prayers are not sectarian, there are no defined boundaries in them.

 

What does Krishna say

 

devan bhavayatanena

te deva bhavayantu vah

parasparam bhavayantah

sreyah param avapsyatha

 

Nourish the Devas with Yajna, and the Devas will nourish you. Thus nourishing one another you shall attain the Supreme goal. (3.11)

 

jnana-yajnena capy anye

yajanto mam upasate

ekatvena prthaktvena

bahudha visvato-mukham

 

Others, who are engaged in the cultivation of knowledge, worship the Supreme Lord as the one without a second, diverse in many, and in the universal form. (9.15)

 

yajante sattvika devan

yaksa-raksamsi rajasah

pretan bhuta-ganams canye

yajante tamasa janah

 

Men in the mode of goodness worship the devas; those in the mode of passion worship the demons; and those in the mode of ignorance worship ghosts and spirits. (17.4)

 

 

Those who are in ignorance makes foolish judgement on devas and various Vedic practice.

 

Jai Shree Krishna

[theist]

 

TRANSLATION Gita 9.23

Those who are devotees of other gods and who worship them with faith actually worship only Me, O son of Kunti, but they do so in a wrong way.

PURPORT

"Persons who are engaged in the worship of demigods are not very intelligent, although such worship is offered to Me indirectly," Krishna says. For example, when a man pours water on the leaves and branches of a tree without pouring water on the root, he does so without sufficient knowledge or without observing regulative principles. Similarly, the process of rendering service to different parts of the body is to supply food to the stomach. The demigods are, so to speak, different officers and directors in the government of the Supreme Lord. One has to follow the laws made by the government, not by the officers or directors. Similarly, everyone is to offer his worship to the Supreme Lord only. That will automatically satisfy the different officers and directors of the Lord. The officers and directors are engaged as representatives of the government, and to offer some bribe to the officers and directors is illegal. This is stated here as avidhi-purvakam. In other words, Krishna does not approve the unnecessary worship of the demigods.

[suchandra]

At this lecture in Paris you hear in the background people several times applaud.

 

Prabhupada: In the beginning of creation, sound is the origin of all creation. That is admitted in the Bible also. Where is that paper? Yes. Read it.

We are reading a passage from your Bible.

 

Nitāi: The Gospel according to St. John, Chapter One. “In the

beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word

was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were

made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was

made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the

light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.”

 

Prabhupāda: Where it is? So the same thing explained in the Vedic

literature. Here it is said that “In the beginning was the word, and

the word was with God, and the word was God.” So God being

Absolute Truth, there is no difference between God, His form, His

qualities, His words and everything relating to God. That is also

God. Just like in the material world the name and the subject, or the

substance, they are different. Just like when you are thirsty, you

simply utter the word “water, water,” it will not quench your thirst.

But in the spiritual world, the name “God,” or “Kṛṣṇa,” and the

Supreme Personality of Godhead, They are the same. Just parallel to

this Bible passage I’ll quote one Sanskrit verse from the Vedas.

Therefore it is said,

 

nāma-cintāmaṇi-kṛṣṇaś

caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ

pūrṇaḥ śuddho nitya-mukto

’bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ

 

Namely, the name of God is as powerful as God is Himself. It is

called pūrṇa. Pūrṇa means complete. And śuddha. Śuddha means

without any material contamination. Pūrṇaḥ śuddha nitya. Nitya

means eternal. Abhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ means without being

different from the person whose name we are chanting.

 

The idea is that when we chant the holy name of God—just like

“Kṛṣṇa”—Kṛṣṇa is present there. As soon as you chant God’s name…

Not necessarily that he will have to chant the name Kṛṣṇa… Any

other name which you know that it is God’s name, you can chant it.

God has got many names, and they can be chanted by different

languages in different countries. The effect is the same. Practically,

God has no name, but His name is given according to His activities.

Just like we are chanting God’s name “Kṛṣṇa.” Kṛṣṇa means “all-

attractive.” So God is all-attractive. We can have the idea how we

consider attractiveness in this material world. One is attractive in

this material world if he is very rich, if he is very powerful, if he is

very wise, if he is very beautiful. In this way, in six ways one

becomes the most attractive. The statement is there in the Vedic

literature:

 

aiśvaryasya samagrasya

vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ

jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva

ṣaṇṇāṁ iti bhaga ganā

 

Means God is all-attractive by six features: that He is the richest of

all, He is the strongest of all, He is the most beautiful, He is the

most wise, He is the most renounced order, and He is most famous.

 

So our position, we all living entities, all the living entities or the

human being who are sitting in this hall, we are all sons of God.

(someone calls out “No,” and there is a little applause, Prabhupāda

chuckles) It is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that… You find out this

verse,

 

sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya

sambhavanti mūrtayo yaḥ

tāsāṁ mahad yonir brahma

ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā

[bg. 14.4]

 

 

http://causelessmercy.com/t/t/740614LE.PAR.htm?i=1974

Lecture at the Hare Kṛṣṇa Festival at La Salle Pleyel

by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda

Paris, June 14, 1974

[Murali_Mohan_das]

 

The idea is that when we chant the holy name of God—just like “Kṛṣṇa”—Kṛṣṇa is present there. As soon as you chant God’s name…

Not necessarily that he will have to chant the name Kṛṣṇa… Any

other name which you know that it is God’s name, you can chant it.

God has got many names, and they can be chanted by different

languages in different countries. The effect is the same. Practically,

God has no name, but His name is given according to His activities.

 

So, if the Christian protesters would merely sincerely chant the names of Christ (Jesus, Iesos, Yesu, etc.) rather than making offense against the Names of the Lord from Bharat, they would make some progress.

[suchandra]

 

So, if the Christian protesters would merely sincerely chant the names of Christ (Jesus, Iesos, Yesu, etc.) rather than making offense against the Names of the Lord from Bharat, they would make some progress.

 

 

 

 

somehow people have to be informed where we really are - fully in the grip of material nature. Why not try chanting?

 

 

[Ganeshprasad]

Jai Ganesh

 

It is quite funny when we cant defend our sectarian views we then try deflect the whole issue.

 

The issue is about hindu priest and prayers in the senate, so what is it got anything to do with polytheism or monotheism

 

Further more if we read carefully no where Shree Krishna has condemned Devas worship.

 

 

Vedic Heritage

 

Prayers

 

Prayers are an integral part of Life.

Prayers, whenever offered in mass or as an Individual, make us calm and peaceful. Prayers are the simple media of expression of our faith and our surrendering to the Supreme Power. By offering prayers we ask for the soothing of sorrows and distress .By offering prayers, we ask for blessings to lead a moralistic, peaceful and meaningful life. Offering prayers also helps us to cleanse our minds and concentrate. They help us to see the God within our own heart creating insight to the Self

”Whenever we post a letter, we believe that it will reach the right person at its destination”. Likewise, it happens with our prayers.

Certain prayers are Universal. These prayers have no boundaries of religion, age or sex. They are very meaningful and Divine and have been in existence for thousands of years.

Traditionally, they are passed down from generation to generation, which conserves their purity.

Vedic prayers have direct appeal to the heart. Vedas are the oldest scriptures in the world and the mother of all scriptures. Vedas are four in number. They are –

 

1.Rig Veda.

2.Yajur Veda.

3.Sama Veda.

4.Atharva Veda.

 

In India, the first prayer is always offered to the God Ganapati or Ganesha(Elephant headed God). Ganesha is the God who helps us to remove obstacles from our lives. Ganesha is always remembered at the beginning of any ceremony or ritual. He is asked to bless the aim and function and protect us.

The traditional bowing down to Ganesha is by chanting the following

 

// OM GAM GANAPATAYE NAMAH //

Meaning,

Oh, Primal Supreme Power who is the good omen, we bow down to you.

 

Universal Prayers:

//OM BHADRAM KARNE BHIH SHRUNUYAAMA DEVAAH /

BHADRAM PASHYEMAAKSHABHIR YAJATRAAHA /

STHIRAIRANGAI STUSHTUVAAGUM SASTANOOBHIH

VYASHEMA DEVAHITAM YADAAYUH /

SVASTI NA INDRO VRIDDHASHRAVAAH

SWASTI NAH POOSHA VISHWA VEDAAH /

SWASTI NASTAARKSHYO ARISHTANEMIH

SWASTI NO BRIHASPATIR DADHAATU

OM PEACE / OM PEACE / OM PEACE //

Meaning,

May we hear only well through our ears.

May we see only well through our eyes.

May we who sing praise of you live our whole allotted span of life with perfect health and vigor.

May Indra who is praised by the devotees safeguard our existence and well being.

May the wise Pooshan grant us safety.

May Garuda and Brihaspati grant us well being.

 

 

I believe following is the prayer the priest was saying.

 

Asatoma Sat Gamaya Tamasoma Jyotir Gamaya Mrityorma Anritam Gamaya.

Lead me from the unreal to the Real Lead me from the darkness to the Light

 

 

Jai Shree Krishna

[theist]

 

In India, the first prayer is always offered to the God Ganapati or Ganesha(Elephant headed God). Ganesha is the God who helps us to remove obstacles from our lives. Ganesha is always remembered at the beginning of any ceremony or ritual. He is asked to bless the aim and function and protect us.

The traditional bowing down to Ganesha is by chanting the following

 

All well and good for you but Prabhupada didn't teach approaching Krsna through Ganesh. He taught approaching Krsna directly through His name as given by Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

 

Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught monotheism. Mahaprabhu is the universal guru. That's that for me. I have no need to try and convince you of anything.

 

The United States is based on the monotheistic principle that all rights are God given as is clear in the Declaration of Independence. Thus monotheism is the heritage of this country and what is done in India not necessarily need be done in the US.

[theist]

 

 

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

 

hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,[...]

 

Therefore keeping in the spirit of this nations founding the Senate should not have any non-monotheistic prayers opening the Senate which is the lawmaking body of the United States.

 

No Buddhists, No mayavadis, No Wiccans etc. should lead govermental functions although their rights to practice and believe as they wish should always be protected.