|| एकं सत् विप्राः बहुधा वदन्ति || There is only one truth that the wise articulate differently ||

 


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The Hindu Identity Crisis

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The word "Hindu" seems to have become a bad word today. Our own people shy away from using it as if confessing to having a disease. Hindus here in the west almost seem to be leading double lives, where they are a devotional and traditional Hindu at home, but then they take off all signs of being a Hindu, wipe off the tilak or bindi, change out of their traditional clothes into western ones and step out making an attempt to "blend in". To be honest, have been there too so this is not to criticize any way of dressing, but simply trying to get us to think and be our natural selves without going out of our way to fit in. Others wear their faiths and beliefs with pride, then why not us? In a country where diversity is respected, why are we afraid of being different? It seems to point to a deep inferiority complex, a deep rooted belief that being Hindu and wearing it on one's sleeve is not a good thing. This is "sanitization", a scrubbing off of the Hindu-ne
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Jaati and Varna ≠ Caste!

Translating Jaati /जाति  and Varna/ वर्ण as caste is not only incorrect, it is completely misleading. Here's why. The Sanskrit texts refer to two words, one is  Jaati / जाति  which defines your or your familial profession/occupation which could be an engineer, doctor, jeweler, businessman, soldier etc. in the contemporary context.  Varna/ वर्ण  on the other hand is something entirely different. It has nothing to do with the family you are born in or any other aspect of your physical identity, but everything to do with your mental setup or Vrutti /वृत्ति.  Vrutti /वृत्ति  is loosely translatable as your mentality that makes up your  personality  that forms your  aptitude .  Vrutti /वृत्ति  is formed from your Sanskaar /संस्कार  and the karma /कर्म you do and these  Sanskaar /संस्कार feed back to shape your  Vrutti /वृत्ति forming a continuous loop .  Sanskaar /संस्कार  itself is a loaded term which essentially is everything that you take as an input from the world and makes you who
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Naaree Shakti - International Women's Day

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Today is International Women's Day. Seeing friends and colleagues wish each other, I cannot help but reflect on my roots and feel a sense of pride.  I'm proud that I belong to a civilization where women have always been honored. From the over 20 women rishikas who contributed to the writing of the Vedas, the foundational texts of the Hindu Dharma, to the 9 day festival of Navaratri celebrating the feminine divine, women have always been respected, cherished and celebrated in Bharat.  She is revered as mother, our first guru, from even before we are born. She is cherished as a sister or wife or daughter. She is worshipped as Saraswati (the goddess of wisdom & learning), Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth), or Bhavani (the goddess of power) or the benevolent mother of the universe, Jagadambaa who pervades every last particle in the form of energy. Even the gods are known by their mother's or wife's names as Devaki Nandan, Yashoda Nandan, Kausalya Nandan, Sitaram, Janakina
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