Excellent article by the author. This was a colonial tactic to make Hindus feel ashamed of who they were. However the inherent strengths of the Vedic religion ensured that Hinduism continued. This is exactly why Hinduism has endured for 5000 years despite relentless assaults by haters.
To Yeal9: Please explain to me why the word “caste” comes from Portuguese “casta” and was used throughout South and Central America for the Christian hierarchical casta system. Why did the Christian Slave system continue, was it due to rational thought? Also why was the first application of the word caste by the British to India actually in reference to Anglo-Indians (half white, half Indian) who were categorized as half caste, i.e they could not hold the jobs reserved for pure high caste Whites and were not allowed in pure White only buildings/towns.
Also, Hindus have created affirmative action schemes to help underrepresented ethnic groups, however in the UK, the head of state is caste based on the Royal Family. Why is the head of state of UK, Canada, and Australia from the Royal family caste. Also why are the upper castes of White Christian UK, landed gentry castes still have the "house of lords"?

This is a WAKE-UP CALL for Hindus.

Please let us ALL: Americans generally and Hindu Americans in particular pass the message that the habitual and 'loose' use of the term "Extremist Hindus" is Highly Offensive to the majority Hindus.

[1] We also need to seek a judicial injunction to stop news media from using the term Mythology and Hinduim as Synonimous. It is so insulting, like religious racism.

[2] Hindus do not go around killing people in religion's name [with bombs or suicide bombers]!

[3] So, because we are the most peaceful religious community in USA, please let us wake up from our slumber and proudly and peacefully shout that: "Yes, We Are Hindus And We Are Proud To Be Hindus".

[4] If we want our children to really grow up as Hindus, then charity begins at Home - we ve to instill Hindu-ness and Hindu Pride in them.

OM
mg222@hotmail.com

As soon as you show any disagreement with Deepak Chopra, Wendy Doniger, and their likes, immediately you are labeled as fundamentalist and supporter of extreme right wing. Further, you get this additional tag of internet hindu.

So what exactly they want us to do, hear all their stories and never criticize it or expose the faults in it? Doesn't sound much like democratic approach here. If one has right to offend then other should have right to defend.

I would concur with the author that the problem of Hinduism lies in Western definitions of it. In the West, we wear religion, or lack of it, on our sleeve; it has become a part of our daily discussions, our family life, even our politics. What differentiates Eastern concepts of spirituality from Occidental versions is that the former sees spiritual growth as a natural extension or an improvement to life's experience, rather than a dogma that one to which one must adhere, in spite of one's life, in order to attain salvation. In trying to force-fit Hinduism to Abrahamic rules, we lose sight of this sense of abstraction and aesthetic that makes it such a meaningful and defining force in our lives.

I think it is time that we begin to recognize Hinduism as a racial/cultural experience, rather than making it a dogma that we can argue for or against.

Re: clearthinking1 | May 9, 2010 3:51 PM

The author's rant has nothing to do with duty. He has violated the yamas and niyamas as I indicated and therefore is not doing his duty but rather is exercising his ego, which, again, is anti-Hindu. He is violating purusha-artha and estranging himself from Hinduism and Brahman. He needs to understand Hinduism itself in the practice of his life. Right now, he is the one who is denying Hinduism as a vital life expression.

I could suggest you read The Raja Yoga Sutras 2:15 but do not want to get into a scripture war as that would be anti-Hindu as well. Vamsee Juluri is not practicing Dharma but rather Adharma. He is rajasic instead of sattvic.

OMPREM108,
You wrote, "demands for recognition of Hindu spiritual practices as Hindu is anti-Hindu."

You don't seem to get it, but that's OK.
You need to read the Bhagvad Gita Ch. 2 with a good teacher, and you will see through your current ignorance. Read Ch.2 verses 6 & 7, and you will realize what "I am overcome by faintheartedness and confused about my duty" means. There is a reason why this is in the Gita at the critical moment when the real teaching of Hinduism begins. The reason is that confusion can occur in Hindus who have an incomplete understanding of Dharma & Ahimsa.

Life must be very different in the U.S. for Vamsee Juluri than it is for me here in Canada. I have encountered none of the conditions the author describes. Perhaps the U.S. is just more polarized and argumentative than Canada.

If there is not a Hindu section in the bookstore it is because the bookstore is not aware of that market. Make them aware of it and the Hindu section will appear. It certainly appears in the Chapters bookstores in Canada.

There may be a problem with people saying Namaste without mentioning Hinduism but that is likely the problem of having uncertified former aerobics teachers trying to teach what they call Yoga. These people have not a clue that Hatha Yoga is a deep spiritual practice and are just after money. But the students who go to these teachers are not likely to be interested in either spiritual development or Hinduism. This is a non-issue as far as I can see.

And what is the difference whether someone picks up core elements of Hinduism and applies them to their lives without acknowledging Hinduism? To insist on such acknowledgment is an exercise in ego which is goes against all the tenets of Hinduism.

To attack such people is to violate the cardinal precept of Hinduism, Ahimsa, or non-violence, and also to violate Asteya and Aparigraha, both of which deal with the ego's covetousness and expectations. There is also a violation here of the Niyama of Santosha, contentment, and Tapas, austerities. All in all, such demands for recognition of Hindu spiritual practices as Hindu is anti-Hindu.

Secular,
You wrote,"Frankly nobody is that concerned about Hindus."

Does that make you a nobody. You are not only the smartest person on earth, but also the most caring, moral, & ethical.

Relax. Life is meaningless & purposeless anyway. Otherwise, you'll start sounding like a fanatical fundamentalist muslim who can't control his emotions and needs to convert others to his belief system.

Are you sure your way is better than all others? It may work best for you. Remember, Mao, Stalin, and Hitler were not religious and were secular. Nazis were quite scientific and methodical. Nazis killed 6 million Jews (methodically, rationally, and scientifically) & WWII killed 61 million total. Stalin & Mao get credit for about 20 million murders each.

One could argue that a unique, pluralistic and tolerant tradition like Hinduism has something to offer humanity, beyond what science and prophet-centric religions have to offer.

It's not that simple, is it?

Haveaheart,

Your honesty, open-mindedness, and empathy is appreciated.

Sadly, many (probably most) Hindus feel ashamed of their own parents religion & culture. This is the consequence of humiliation. A humiliation that lasted 200 years at the hands of the British Christian Colonists. The extent of this sometimes difficult to fathom. The British understand this psychology of ridicule. Here is an example today. Nobody likes terrorists so ridicule may be acceptable as a weapon in this case. However, the history of Hindus is full of unfair and malevolent ridicule and humiliation. Take a quick look at this article in the Financial Times from April 15:

Ridicule is a weapon against terrorism
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8677f26a-48c6-11df-8af4-00144feab49a.html

"...any debate about Hinduism turns into a single-issue fight about fundamentalism... Over the decades Hollywood and Washington had made Hindus synonymous in the American mind with Indiana Jones-style depravity. Hindu children faced this contempt in school..."

I'm sorry to say that I haven't been aware of this kind of oppression developing against the Hindu community.

In my mind, Hinduism has always registered as the oldest continuous belief system in human history; Hindu people I've always thought of as gentle and unassuming (yes, a stereotype, I know). It's never occurred to me to equate Hindus with the negative kinds of fundamentalism we see in the Christian and Muslim -- and occasionally in the Jewish -- traditions.

Most of all, I don't understand why many people of Hindu background attempt to conceal their Hindu identity. But then, I haven't really been paying attention.

I do know that mainstream religious America is violently allergic to faith traditions of the East. Non-Abrahamic, multitheistic religion is a place that Christians, especially, don't want to go. Yes, they love all the "ayurvedic healing" from India and the "traditional medicine" of the Chinese -- mostly because a shallow dip into these teachings allows them to focus (of course) on themselves and their health (which they like very much). But the spiritual complexity of not having a specific, defined deity and a set of laws or rules to follow (i.e., the bible) is way too threatening to try to comprehend.

I am sorry to hear that Hindus face such disrespect in the U.S., and I can't help but believe that much of this must result from the entrepreneurial successes of hucksters and frauds like Deepak Chopra, who have no respect for, nor feel any obligation to, the traditions they commercialize for personal gain.

It also obvious that god did not inspire/write the OT/Torah, NT or Koran.

ex.

The New Torah for Modern Minds

"The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, which represents the 1.5 million Conservative Jews in the United States, has just issued a new Torah and commentary, the first for Conservatives in more than 60 years. Called ''Etz Hayim'' (''Tree of Life'' in Hebrew), it offers an interpretation that incorporates the latest findings from archaeology, philology, anthropology and the study of ancient cultures. To the editors who worked on the book, it represents one of the boldest efforts ever to introduce into the religious mainstream a view of the Bible as a human rather than divine document. "

Jesus was an illiterate Jewish peasant/carpenter/simple preacher man who suffered from hallucinations and who has been characterized anywhere from the Messiah from Nazareth to a mythical character from mythical Nazareth to a mamzer from Nazareth (Professor Bruce Chilton, in his book Rabbi Jesus). Analyses of Jesus’ life by many contemporary NT scholars (e.g. Professors Crossan, Borg and Fredriksen, On Faith panelists) via the NT and related documents have concluded that only about 30% of Jesus' sayings and ways noted in the NT were authentic. The rest being embellishments (e.g. miracles)/hallucinations made/had by the NT authors to impress various Christian, Jewish and Pagan sects.

The 30% of the NT that is "authentic Jesus" like everything in life was borrowed/plagiarized and/or improved from those who came before. In Jesus' case, it was the ways and sayings of the Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Hittites, Canaanites, OT, John the Baptizer and possibly the ways and sayings of traveling Greek Cynics.

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html

For added "pizzazz", Catholic/Christian theologians divided god the singularity into three persons and invented atonement as an added guilt trip for the "pew people" to go along with this trinity of overseers. By doing so, they made god the padre into god the "filicider".

-Mortal
Thank you for the nice post.
I like the message of Christ also along with that of Krishna, the Buddha and from other quarters. I like what Ganesa, Shiva, Durga and the Bodhisattvas stand for along with the saints in the Catholic religion. I do not see anything wrong in accepting a good message from which ever part of the world it comes from.
I guess that makes me a Hindu more than anything else.
Being a history buff, I like to also look at the source and history. I do not want the rich history of Hinduism or sanatana dharma diluted, diminished, altered or diffused. Enjoyed reading your post!

I am quite happy being a Catholic, and have no intention to be anything else, but I'm on the record as saying that, if Catholicism didn't exist, I'd probably be a Hindu. I have the greatest respect and admiration for the religion.

Followers of a fair and rational god have not always been fair - from crusades, to persecution of Jews, to slavery, priest and pastor abuses, scare tactics and demonizing of other belief so as to promote their business (religion).

The caste/laborer system, reincarnation and cow worship/reverence are problems when saying a fair and rational God founded Hinduism.

Thank you Vamsee for an insightful article! Hinduism is one of the oldest continuous living religions in the world with the largest body of texts than any religion (both in Sanskrit as well as other vernacular Indian languages from Kashmir to Kanyakumari & Gujarat to Bengal). The dharma shastras, ithihasas, puranas, tantras-(vaishanava, shaiva, shakti, yoga, darshanas…) are an integral part of Hinduism — still valid and still used today. There is so much material here that to deny all of this to Hinduism is to deny the history, belief system & faith of a billion people and it serves an excuse to insult, and to plagiarize and use all this valuable information without giving credit to Hinduism. The present Indian government (leave alone the academic divisions here) is playing an active role in promoting this denial.

Well said! It's tragic when all of the philosophical beauty of the Hindu faith is usurped and all that remains is the "caste, cow, and curry" stereotype. Hindus are as much to blame as the academics and new-age yogis.

Hindu priests have taken all invaders, spiritual and secular and given them a hip throw into their pantheon or caste. This has been an effective way to keep the Brahmin's in power, but it is hardly a way to claim that Hinduism has a distinctive voice.

A very tragic story about one of the most ancient faiths in Earth.

The misrepresentation of Hinduism is not just inaccurate and unjust. It is destructive and mean-spirited.

Yes, Deepak, Yoga Journal, America Yoga Association,etc...
DESTRUCTIVE & MEAN-SPIRITED.

Delink yourself from these two characteristics, instead of unfairly delinking Hinduism from Yoga, Meditation, and its profound philosophy.

Hinduism (from an online Hindu site) -

"Hinduism cannot be described as an organized religion. It is not founded by any individual. Hinduism is God centered and therefore one can call Hinduism as founded by God, because the answer to the question ‘Who is behind the eternal principles and who makes them work?’ will have to be ‘Cosmic power, Divine power, God’."

The caste/laborer system, reincarnation and cow worship/reverence are problems when saying a fair and rational God founded Hinduism.

Learn more about Hinduism at Hindupedia.com, the encyclopedia of Hinduism.

http://www.hindupedia.com