Bodhinatha and Palaniswami in Delhi, Part III
That night was our last and Dr. Kartikeyan, in white, arranged a talk by Bodhinatha at the prestigious Indian Habitat Centre, an elegant and happening place in Delhi.
Bodhinatha’s topic was Hinduism in American, with an emphasis on trends he has been following.
He went back in history, to when there were just 1,700 Hindus in the US (1895) and brought them up to today, with 2.39 million. The talk was wide-ranging and full of statistics and insights.
The audience nearly rose to their feet when questions and answers were announced, challenging, inquiring, seeking further clarifications.
This woman is from Iran, and works for the UN, specializing in women’s issues and protections.
This man has relatives in the US and had much to say about Bodhinatha’s main points.
The group was highly educated
and the questions not easy.
Bodhinatha tackled them all with impressive poise and insight.
Dr. Siva Bajpai attended. He is chairing a conference on “How Deep Are India’s Roots?” Dr. Bajpai is among the world’s most respected Indian historians and has been working with Acharya Arumugaswami on the development of a new and more accurate history of India for US school texts. Long, delightful day and stay in Delhi comes to a close. Tomorrow, off to Singapore at dawn.
One Response to “Bodhinatha and Palaniswami in Delhi, Part III”
From Our Gurus' Teachings
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November 29th, 2010 at 7:07 am
Yes! I am sure the questions were not easy. I live through that, every week, among my very well educated successful, friends from India. Sorry for that!
I am really really glad that the Guru and Paramacharya, are passing Gurudeva’s soulful insights of Hinduism from the Heart, to India.
I would love to have heard the answers, for insight into how I myself can better prepare myself, for issues that my friends like to debate about.
My friends in their 30’s who are not from India are more receptive and eager to listen and truly learn about Hindusim, however the general impression that I get from my Indian friends who do have a very intellectual scientific mind, especially those who have been schooled in a very British education, system are convinced that, Hindusim, rituals, are not progressive, to people.
This I feel is very sad, as even though, the British have long since left, have left a very deep psyche among the people of India, to turn themselves against their very heart of Hindusm…sadly when I see, many of my Indian friends, I now see, someone who is more British than the British themselves…
I do think that Gurudeva, can significantly turn this around..Yes it take someone like Gurudeva and his Guru’s and Swamis to turn this around.
One of the most thankful things I am of my Guru’s teaching now, is really the education in Hinduism, that Gurudeva gave me, that transcended the Western Schooling system, which was designed to turn on against their ethnic roots beliefs and culture..That I am most thankful for as he instilled Hindusim in my heart.
He gave the shakti of Hindusim, to us that bypassed the intellect or would shatter all the long held magnetized concepts of Hinduism in the intellect from our English based Education.
As Gurudeva writes “The intellect is the biggest barrier to the Superconscious”!