NJ Hindus Awaken to Hinduism's Science, Denigration, and `Digestion' at 10th March Hinduism Summit

NJ Hindus awaken to Hinduism's science, denigration and 'digestion' at 10th March Hinduism Summit

Bridgewater, NJ. Over 150 Hindus from the NJ-NY-PA tri-state area attended the Hinduism Summit (Dharmajagruti Sabha) held in Balaji Temple Community Hall in Bridgewater on Saturday, 10^th March. The audience listened raptly as the speakers addressed the threats to Hinduism from direct assaults, denigration and 'digestion', and provided practical solutions and guidance on the Hindu spiritual way of life. Many attendees commended the organizers, Balaji Temple and Forum for Hindu Awakening, on the event's quality and educational value. Some offered to host similar events in their temples, while others want to promote the event's video recording, yet others would like to join hands to understand, live and preserve Hinduism.

Inauguration of Hinduism Summit by lighting a wick lamp

The Hinduism Summit commenced in a traditional Hindu way, with blowing of a conch, Vedic recitations and the speakers lighting a wick oil lamp. During the presentations, Hindu activist and avid reader of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, Jitendra Oulkar warned about the adverse impacts of denigration that most people are unaware of. He urged, "Do not condone the spiritual pollution caused by denigration in the name of freedom of expression, just as you do not condone noise or air pollution !"

The next speaker, Shilpa Kudtarkar presented Spiritual Science Research Foundation's research performed with dowsing, Polycontrast Interference Photography and DDFAO that respectively indicate the relative strength of subtle energies obstructing Dharma, highly positive vibrations from a Hindu Saint's handwriting and prayer's beneficial impact on the chakras. She emphasized the importance of spiritual practice (saadhana) and Saints' blessings to effectively counter the threats faced by Hinduism.

Rajiv Malhotra at the Hinduism Summit

Rajiv Malhotra, Indian American researcher and the main speaker at this Summit spoke on the subjects of his latest books, 'Breaking India - Western Interventions in Dravidian and Dalit Faultlines' and 'Being Different - An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism'. Malhotra outlined his research findings that alarmingly point towards India's balkanization by a nexus between the Christian missionaries and communist groups operative in India, and the academic and funding institutions operative in USA and Europe. As well, he explained the importance of stressing the 'non-portability' and 'non-translatability' of Dharmik concepts, to prevent their appropriation by Western individuals and institutions. In Malhotra's words, "You are either being different or being digested !"

Bhavna Shinde Hurley, spokesperson of Forum for Hindu Awakening, concluded the presentations with a speech on 'Understanding, living and preserving Hinduism'. She explained how the various presentations were interconnected – the greater strength of subtle distressing energies relative to that of a spiritually average individual is often seen in the gross. For one successful attempt at stopping some denigration, there are tens of new denigrations; for one selfless Hindu researcher like Rajiv Malhotra, there are hundreds of scholars of Hinduism actively undermining Hinduism in academic circles ! Amidst applause, Bhavna encouraged the audience to offer some time daily towards learning about Hinduism and issues it is facing, and to complement these efforts with saadhana for greater success in overcoming the issues.

From Left: Jitendra Oulkar, Shilpa Kudtarkar of SSRF, Breaking India author Rajiv Malhotra, and Bhavna Shinde Hurley of Forum for Hindu Awakening

This event, 13^th in the series of Hinduism Summits held in North America, Europe and Australia since mid-2009, concluded with passing of a resolution requesting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to evaluate how the US can use its leverage as Bangladesh's 3rd largest trading partner to influence the Bangladeshi government to stop human rights abuses against its Hindu citizens. This was followed by a lively hour long discussion between the speakers and attendees. It addressed thought provoking questions like, 'Do we need a Hindu nation ?'  'How to raise our children from the age of 5 itself to understand Hinduism's importance ?', 'By including the Buddha as a Hindu Avatar, has Hinduism too, digested Buddhism ?', 'What is the significance of two consorts of Deity Balaji ?' The attendees spent the rest of the evening over the exhibition of posters and books on Hindu spirituality, history and science, and Rajiv Malhotra's research.