Reports on the Dharma Summit
The VFA Had a Strong Presence
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 temples, 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.
NEWS BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY, August 16, 2005: (HPI note: This report was
prepared before the above press release arrived, so there is some
overlap in the information.) After initially wondering if anyone would
attend, Dr. Ved Chaudhary finally had to close enrollment in the Dharma
Summit 2005 when it reached capacity at 400 (including representatives
from 80 Hindu institutions), in the process turning away scores. Under
the inspired and personal direction of one of today's most dynamic
spiritual leaders. Sri Swami Dayananda Saraswati, who turned 75 on the
final day of the New Jersey event, Dr. Chaudhary organized the Summit to
"bring together heads of all Devalayas, spiritual institutions, and
Dharmic intellectuals in North America to exchange thoughts and ideas,
and share experiences on how to impart spiritual and cultural education
to our next generation and remove misperceptions about our faith
traditions from the society in order to maintain our Dharmic traditions
with dignity." Quite an ambitious set of objectives. The conference
included Hindus, Jains and Sikhs.
Organizer Ved Chaudary told HPI, "The conference exceeded my
expectations in the number of attendees and organizations that
participated, and the quality of presentations from many speakers. The
conference met the highest professional standards. What I consider the
most important outcome of the conference is the spirit of unity that the
conference fostered among the attendees, the awareness and acceptance of
contemporary issues facing the community and an overwhelming desire to
undertake a collective initiative to shape the future of Hindu
Traditions in North America."
The days were long throughout the sessions: a 7:30am breakfast
gathering, 9 am starting of the formal session which went on to 9:30 or
10 pm, with breakfast, lunch and dinner (provided free by BAPS
volunteers) served at the conference venue at the Student Center at
Rutgers U niversity (one of the oldest colleges in America, founded by
none other than Benjamin Franklin in 1766, a red brick college near a
river, in a 350-year-old town.)
Major spiritual leaders graced the conference, including Swami Dayananda
Saraswati of Arsha Vidya Gurukul, PA; Swami Chidananda Saraswati (Muniji)
of Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh, India; Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami,
publisher of Hinduism Today magazine and HPI; Gurudev Chitrabhanu of
Jain Ashram, NY; Dr. Pranav Pandya of Gayatri Pariwar, Haridwar, India,
Swami Jyotirmayananda of Vivekananda Center, Mangalore, Swamini
Janeshwari Devi of Barsana Dham and others. Also many intellectuals
spoke in various sessions including Dr. Ved Nanda, Prof. Bhudev Sharma,
Dr. David Frawley, Dr. Piyush Agrawal, Sri Kanchan Banerji, Dr. Rakesh
Shreedhar, and many others. At Bodhinatha's request, Parmacharya
Palaniswami, editor of Hinduism Today, and Sannyasin Arumugaswami,
managing editor, attended the entire event and fi led this report.
We could report on the contents of each speech, but it is more useful to
outline the overall concerns and issues, many of which were touched on
by several speakers. We should confess that we missed several speeches
and may therefore not be reporting some of the important issues brought
up by speakers. We also admit that our notes are not so complete as to
include names with every idea and discussion.
Of paramount concern, as mentioned, was the transmission of Hinduism to
the second and third generation Hindus now growing up (or grown up) in
the US. Generally speaking, there were few organizations who felt they
had adequate programs for teaching the youth, though some, such as the
Swadhyaya Pariwar found by Sri Athavale, did in fact have fully
developed programs of weekly classes and summer youth programs. Several
temples directors and managers (and there were dozens there) talked
about the need for effective programs. Bodhinatha in his talk emphasized
the need for the temples to educate the parents in Hinduism, along with
the youth. He also explained the importance of the parents' setting the
example in religiousness, beginning with maintaining a strong home
shrine where the family worshipped daily. Passing on the faith has its
strongest promise in the home, supplemented by other programs such as
temple classes, summer camps and cultural training.
Youth education and guidance were foremost on most speakers' minds, with
a secondary issue being the treatment Hinduism receives in the dozens of
textbooks used in American schools and colleges. In was only in the
1980s that any religion at all was allowed to be taught in US schools.
Prior to that it was forbidden, however a court case permitted that, if
all religions were taught equally, then students could have classes in
religion, or cover religion in their history or social studies courses.
Textbooks were rapidly prepared to cover these new courses , which have
been incorporated in most schools. However, the books have given shabby
treatment to Hinduism. Different speakers explained how to approach the
local school board at the time the books were up for adoption, how to
influence the selection and even future editions of the books. There
was, many noted, a lot of room for improvement! Rajiv Malhotra explained
at length the way in which the American and European academics had
thoroughly distorted the understanding of Hinduism and ways Hindu
communities and leaders can correct this situation.
A related issue was treatment in the media, also addressed by several
speakers. The temples were encouraged to learn how to deal with their
local press through press releases, inviting the press to events and
making themselves available to respond to questions and express opinions
on subjects that arise. Improving community relations depends on the
good understanding that the public has, and this is enhanced by
thoughtfu l media communications.
Many of the speakers associated with temples touched on the subject of
integration with the majority community, pointing to the need to be more
actively engaged in their neighborhoods and communities. It was observed
that a number of Hindu communities are living a rather insular life in
America, unaware of the religions of their neighbors and not really
trying to join into the mainstream or be part of their town or county.
Various speakers encouraged the temples to reach out more, to study the
philosophy, history and practices of the faiths they are surrounded by,
get to know the leaders of other religious communities, participate
locally through charitable programs, free clinics, free feedings and the
like.
There was a strong youth presence from the Hindu Students Council and
the Hindu American Foundation. It can also be said, however, that the
youth presence was not as strong as it should have been, nor was the
participation of women.
On the third day, a new series of presentations began with a smaller
group who were focused only on the management and administration of
Hindu temples in North America. Swami Dayananda Saraswati, whose
presence was inspiring to all and who patiently sat through the entire
conference, began the day proposing the formation of a Hindu Collective
Initiative. Swamiji outlined a basic organizational structure for
continued cooperation, envisioning a steering committee which would be
formed to implement the goals of the Dharma Summit, supplemented by
hired, not voluntary, full-time staff.
On August 15th, which happened to be India's Independence Day (and
Swamiji's birthday), talks and discussions turned to a constellation of
Hindu temple issues. One is priest training. This came in two aspects.
One, the specific duties of priests with regard to the temple
ceremonies, and the duties with regard to home ceremonies, especially
funerals. Traditionally i n India, these are handled by two different
groups of priests. One performs the temple ceremonies, the other
performs all the home ceremonies. In the absence of adequate priests,
many temples have priests from either tradition performing both tasks,
one of which they are not often trained for. The second is the
recognition of the need for both teachers of Hinduism and counselors to
deal with personal problems of devotees. Priests are trained to perform
neither of these functions, though some priests have done both
successfully. Participants debated whether community members should be
trained to fulfill the role of spiritual counselor, or if the priests
should be so trained, with the general opinion favoring the former. Some
temple leaders recognized the "disconnect" between temple priests and
youth, and recommended they be trained in American cultural ways and
language, even while they are in India. It was reported there are 50
massive temples in America and over 700 smaller ones.
Media and community relations were covered, as was participation in
interfaith groups. Kathy Nanda of Denver spoke on the legal aspects of
temple management, including financial and fiduciary responsibility,
with a strong emphasis on liability, libel and defamation, even hate
crimes. She urged temple board members to clearly understand their legal
duties and responsibilities. She also urged the temples to stay out of
courts and incorporate arbitration clauses in their by-laws.
Paramacharya Palaniswami followed up on her talk with an explanation of
the difference between a religious organization and a "church" under the
501(c) 3 rules of the American Internal Revenue Service which govern
nonprofit organizations (click
here for those rules). He stressed the legal and social reasons for
achieving the more difficult church designation, which is not at all
restricted to Christians. There are Buddhist, Musli m and Jewish
"churches" under this designation, as well as the Hindu organizations of
Saiva Siddhanta Church (ours), Chinmaya Mission, Sringiri Peetham of
Pennsylvania, Barsana Dham of Texas and Swami Satchitananda's IYI in
Virginia.
Board composition was discussed, with the recommendation from one
participant that all board members be required to actively work for the
temple. That led to a discussion about what to do with wealthy donors
who wanted a seat on the board for their donation, but weren't willing
to do any of the work. One participant of a large temple said the issue
of "selling" seats on the board always comes up, but directors and
managers should resist with knowledge that money will flow abundantly in
a temple that puts Ishwar first. To assure a future based on the
founding principles, stress was given to making sure the constitution of
every temple is strong, for that is the primary guide for future
management boards. Constitutions are difficult to change, it was noted,
while by-laws can be easily altered by a simple majority.
The Bridgewater Temple of New Jersey, which is just a 15-minute drive
from the venue, outlined an interesting program called the "Traveling
Mandir." The motivation here is to keep college-age children involved in
Hinduism. Their parents organized a one-hour temporary temple at the
local college, Rutgers in this case, on Sunday during the same time
others are going to Christian services. The short program includes a
puja, prayers-meditation and scriptural study. The youth reportedly
appreciate this creative effort to give them access to religious
observances, and it should be duplicated by other temples to help
college students in their region. The importance of volunteer help,
especially under the leadership of women, was acknowledged. In fact, it
was said more than once that a strong contingent of selfless volunteers
is more essential than abundant finance to the health and dynamism of a
temple.
Future financial security was addressed in discussions about wills and
endowments. Devotees should be encouraged to include a donation to the
temple in their wills, "even if it's just 2%." The Salvation Army,
America's richest nonprofit by far, receives a majority of its donations
each year in the form of bequests from wills, the result of decades of
effort on the Salvation Army's part to encourage people to include the
Army in their will.
One director of the Bridgewater temple explained how they have created
an endowment for their temple the capital of which cannot be touched.
Only the revenue from investments can be spent. Other temples have set
up similar funds, usually in the form of a "quasi-endowment." A
quasi-endowment is one set up by a board with a decision to set aside
money in a special account. A better arrangement, explained Paramacharya
Palaniswami, is to set up a formal endowment under a separate corporate
structure, the fun ds of which are managed by third-party professionals.
The difference is that the quasi-endowment can be changed or even
revoked altogether by any future board, while a true endowment cannot be
changed.
Bodhinatha had written up a presentation for the temples encouraging
them to clearly define in their literature and on their website six
aspects of their temple: mata (their sect or denomination-- Vaishnavite,
Saivite, Shakta, Smarta, etc.); murthi (the temple's main Deity);
archaka (the temple's formal priestly lineage authorized to perform the
worship); agama (the scriptures used for the worship); darshana (the
philosophy followed by the temple); and anubhava (the vision or other
divine inspiration which sparked the temple's founding). If more temples
described themselves in this careful manner, devotees and the wider
American public would have a clearer picture of who they are and what
they represent.
Overall, it was a successful three days, as Hindus from many parts of
the country came together to share their thoughts on issues of mutual
concern. For those who would like to know about and participate in
future plans, please contact Dr. Ved Chaudhary at
[email protected].
You can also find photos of the event and Bodhinatha's participation at
our website, Today at Kauai Aadheenam, http://www.himalayanacademy.com/taka/past/2005/August/August_15_2005/index.shtml,
starting part way down the page.