2ND HINDU MANDIR PRIESTS’ CONFERENCE-NY

by Press Coverage

Hindu Mandir Executives’ Conference (HMEC)

2ND HINDU MANDIR PRIESTS’ CONFERENCE-NY

May 31 – June 1, 2013

Media Statement

The 2nd Hindu Mandir Priests’ Conference concluded today at the Shri Surya Narayan Mandir at 92-17 172nd Street, Jamaica, NY 11433, amidst joyful expressions of congratulations and handshakes for a highly successful event. “It was a highly informative two days”, was the general refrain.

Following the success of the 1st Priests’ Conference held in Pittsburgh, PA last year, the Organizing committee which was comprised of seasoned HMEC sevaks and members of the local Queens, NY Hindu community, justifiably felt a strong sense of accomplishment by Saturday evening. The Conference was hosted by the Shri Surya Narayan Mandir, in collaboration with the Bhavaanee Maa Mandir, the New York Sanatana Mandir and the United Community Mandir.

The Inaugural Session of the Conference got underway on the evening of Friday May 31 at 7:00 pm. In attendance were more than 130 Hindu devotees, Pandits and Swamis. First, the more than 50 Priests in attendance joined in chanting the Ganesha Atharvashirsha, and then Pandit Ram Hardowar, the Spiritual Leader of the Shri Surya Narayan Mandir extended a warm welcome to all the participants.

The stage was now set for the presentations by the erudite speakers who followed. As the audience listened in rapt attention, the speakers made very thoughtful presentations that covered the challenges facing Priests in the community by Amrutur Srinivasan, the work of the USA Pandits’ Parishad in Guyana and here in the USA by Pandit Parasram, and Swamini Svatmavidyananda’s talk on Devotion, Dharma, Prayer and the Priesthood. The Arya Spiritual Center’s Dharmacharya Pandit Ramlall also spoke about the challenges facing the Hindu in hostile societies.

Saturday started at 6:00 am with yoga, pranayama and devotional singing by young Hindus of the community. After a mouthwatering breakfast served up by the host Mandir, it was back to the serious business at hand. There followed six business sessions ably emceed by youthful Sarika Persaud, assisted by rotating moderators who introduced the various speakers.

The sessions covered topics such as Priests’ Role: Issues & Concerns; Community’s issues & Concerns: Devotees’ & Executives’ Inputs; Sharing resources, the GOTO Group; and Education & Training. The appreciative audience was treated to some very scholarly and passionate presentations covering issues as varied as the role of Priests and their assimilation in the North American society to Hindu Chaplaincy in the University setting, and continuing education and skill development strategies.

In the third session dealing with Community’s issues and concerns, young Aneesh Bairavasundaram stole everyone’s hearts with a polished presentation of “My story: Growing up in a Priest’s family”. Aneesh spoke about the expectations of parents for young Hindus “to blindly follow rituals” laid down by their elders, and that in the “North American context, blind faith is looked down on”. As this young man walked away from the podium, he was treated to loud and prolonged applause for the simple and articulate manner in which he shared his story.

One outstanding feature of this conference was the number of youthful Hindus who made presentations. In addition to Aneesh, there was also Austin Ayer who spoke about the training available at universities in the Maharishi Organization, Devi Mehotra who spoke about the Hindu Students Council at Yale University, and Dr. Anand Ramnarine, who called for a “national Hindu Voice, as a means of solidifying our Hindu identity.”

There were lively Q&A segments after some sessions, which demonstrated that the members of the audience shared strong concern about the topics and presentations, and confirmed the need for this Conference to be organized on a regular basis. The scholarly presentations should find a place on the desk of every serious Hindu Leader. They would prove to be very valuable in devising strategies to resolve difficulties faced by our priests and the devotees they serve.

After all the presentations, the participants unanimously approved 2 resolutions for action:

• Recognizing the need to enhance communication among priests in North America with the sole object of building a Dharmic Bridge between priests and the community they serve, resolves to establish a Pandit Sabha, a communication network.
• That the Conference Committee resolves to resolve to develop a Priests Training Workshop Model that includes development of a Guide Book.

At the close, Dharmacharya Rishi B. Misir of the Federation of Hindu Mandirs, Inc. and the USA Pandits’ Parishad thanked the Conference Committee for its vision and dedication to solving Hindu issues by organizing the event.

It was a conference with all of the ingredients that one could hope for. Brilliant and well received presentations were made by Swamis, Pandits, Mandir Executives, and our Youths, all sharing their perspective on every conceivable issue facing the Hindus in North America. Yes, it was a highly successful 2nd Hindu Mandir Priests’ Conference!

HMEC is an an initiative of World Hindu Council of America (VHPA).
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) of America (VHPA), founded in 1970 and incorporated in the state of New York in 1974, is an independent, nonprofit, tax- exempt and volunteer-based charitable organization serving the needs of Hindu community in USA. It aims to build a dynamic and vibrant Hindu society rooted in the eternal values of Dharma and inspired by the lofty ideal of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, i.e. the entire creation is one family.

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Priesthood: Pittsburgh Hosts First Priests’ Meeting

by Press Coverage

Our editorial team did not originally plan to fly 5,000 miles from Hawaii to Pennsylvania to attend the short (day-and-a-half) First Hindu Mandir Priests Conference, April 27-28, 2012. But a last-minute examination of the program convinced us we needed to be there. Thirty-two priests and 40 adult and youth delegates representing over 20 US and Canadian temples explored the conference theme, “The Role of Priests in Sustaining Dharma in America,” from four disparate viewpoints: temple management, Indian priest tradition, Caribbean and other diaspora pandit traditions and Western-raised youth. The conference was a project of the yearly VHP-organized Hindu Mandir Executives’ Conference and was organized with the local support of Pittsburgh Hindu Jain Temple and the Sri Venkateshwara Temple.

This is not a comprehensive report on the conference, but an examination of two key issues it addressed: 1) the employment and treatment of the priests and 2) the evolution of Hindu temples in the West as they move beyond the functions of the typical temple in India. Dr. Sheenu Srinivasan, founder of the Connecticut Valley Hindu Temple Society, stated the latter issue succinctly: “While we have succeeded in building temples with attractive architecture and sculptures and staffed them with priests on visas, we have failed in the more important aspect of organizing these temples as centers of authoritative learning and spiritual support.”

THE PRIEST’S LOT

Pandit Chandrashekar Kashavajjala of the Bharatiya Hindu Temple, Columbus, Ohio, was given the task of enumerating all the problems faced by priests who come to work in America. In a good-natured manner, he explained the gulf between what the priests thought would happen in the US, and what actually did happen–the inspiration for our editorial cartoon at right. It was a rare moment for the priests to “get everything off their chests” before an influential group of temple trustees.

Chandrashekar’s list of issues was extensive, including low salary, low yearly raises, poor housing, overwork and inadequate health insurance. In particular, the priests resented management’s holding their passport–which is actually illegal under US law. Some temples have restricted priests from marrying within a certain number of years, usually two or three, after commencing work–and once they are married, temples have failed to provide housing for the couple or health insurance that covers the wife. Sometimes priests have been used as pawns in disputes between trustees, making them insecure. Finally, said Chandrashekar, “proper encouragement and appreciation needs to be given to the priest at a regular interval or after performing major rituals.”

Forty-three percent of Hindus in the US earn more than $100,000/year. Most temple trustees are in this category, while the priests might be offered as little as $23,000/year to start–a huge disparity. Several speakers explained the priests want to attain the same standard of living as most of the temple devotees–to be able to “take care of their families,” including providing a good education for their children. A priest at Tirupati temple in India, one of the richest religious institutions in the world, earns $3,600/year. He can be forgiven for thinking $30,000/year is a decent salary in the US. In fact, it is barely above the poverty line–$24,000–for a family of four. This income disparity was clearly an important issue for the priests, both practically and emotionally.

Such a disparity does not exist for Christian pastors, who are regarded in US communities as professionals on the level of lawyers or doctors. The average salary of a pastor is $85,000/year as of 2012. He or she usually holds a master’s degree and has extensive responsibility for the church’s operation.

THE TEMPLE’S EXPANDING ROLE

In his keynote, “Elevating the Profile of Priests,” Pandit Roopnauth Sharma said the priests should be key figures in sustaining the spiritual and cultural element of North American Hindu society. He urged temples to provide opportunities for the personal development and growth of the priests as a teacher/counselors, mandir executives and community leaders.

These various roles are required because, as you’ve read in the previous article, community needs have pushed temples into new areas of service, such as teaching and counseling. Pandits from the Caribbean, such as Roopnauth, have already been well trained to fulfill these functions. The priests from India have not been trained, and it was not at all obvious to those at the conference that they should be so trained.

On a spiritual level, the duty of the temple priest is to serve the Deity and perform the worship for the benefit of the community–the same task the priest’s ancestors have done for generations. A priest may rightly regard any other duties as outside his responsibility. On the practical level, these expanded roles require a command of English many priests do not have, and which would take years to acquire. Some attendees suggested the priests become teachers of the youth and learn to lead the congregation in singing. Again, these are talents they may not have.

Expecting the priests to expand their functions into these areas is likely short-sighted and impractical. It would inevitably weaken their puja performance and add to their stressful schedule. A broader analysis of how to meet the needs of the congregation is required, balancing the skills and availability of priests, trustees, employees and volunteers. This analysis could be undertaken by the think tank that was proposed by the conference: the Hindu Mandir Pandit Sabha.

CLASSIFIED AD: “POSITION AVAILABLE: CHIEF PRIEST,NEW HINDU TEMPLE IN AMERICA”

A question-answer period in the conference examined the gulf that has existed between the expectations of priests coming to America and those of temple management, especially for new temples. Sometimes the priest is the temple’s only full-time employee, responsible for everything about the temple–not only the puja but also all the cleaning, lawn mowing, accounting and repairs.

High on the list of symbolic issues for a newly arrived priest is the car–just as for any American teen. Before arriving here, the priests envision moving about in a Mercedes. But they can’t afford anything in that price range, at least at the beginning, and must settle for purchasing a low cost clunker.

The car can create other issues, as well. If it is too nice, devotees who have spent large portions of their income to build the temple may complain that they are paying the priest too much. But one priest was humiliated–true story–when a temple trustee asked him to move his old, decidedly unprestigious car from the front parking lot to the back of the temple, where it would not be seen!

The car issue does provide a benchmark: once the priest can finally afford a Mercedes, he knows he’s achieved the American dream.

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Seventh Annual Hindu Mandir Executives Conference (HMEC)- 2012, in San Jose, CA

by Press Coverage

Over 350 adult and youth delegates representing over 102 Mandirs (Temples) and Hindu organizations, from across the world, attended the seventh annual Hindu Mandir Executives’ Conference (HMEC), from August 17 through 18, 2012 in San Jose, CA. The Seventh HMEC was hosted by the Fremont Temple and 22 other co-hosts temples from around the Bay Area in California. Participants came from all across the United States, Canada, India, Trinidad and New Zealand. Addressing the participants by video-conference, Swami Dayananda Saraswati said, “This get-together is bound to create better bonds and good networking among the people connected to the Hindu Mandirs in America.”

The conference was a result of over ten months of preparation by a national team and an enthusiastic host team in the Bay Area led by Dr. Umesh Shukla, Dr. Romesh Japra and Rajesh Verma. The program consisting of over 25 sessions and 100 speakers & moderators was meticulously composed by a national program committee led by Sant Gupta and Govind Pasumarthi.

“I would like to commend HMEC for conducting perhaps the best seminar of its type that I have ever attended,” says Robert Arnett, author of India Unveiled. “Speakers provided a wealth of information on a wide array of subjects that were both informative and useful. But what impressed me the most was the spirit of unity and harmony that prevailed throughout the entire conference. Everyone seemed keen on supporting each other’s goals, rather than the usual in-fighting and personal agendas found at most conferences. I actually was sad to see the conference come to an end, and know that I left having made several friends for life.”

Spiritual Guidance
A record fifteen sadhus and sadhvis (initiated monks) attended the gathering. The conference was inaugurated by Swamini Svatmavidyananda Ji who effortlessly weaves humor into her speech calling Hindu Dharma the Universal Dharma. She said, “it (Hindu Dharma) is there in every heart, regardless of whether we went to Sunday school, balavihar, or whatever, it is there.” The editor of Hinduism Today, a prominent Hindu magazine, Paramacharya Paliniswami extolled the tolerance of Hindu Dharma when he told the audience that, “Hindus are intolerant of one thing, we can’t tolerate intolerance.” Sadhvi Bhagawati said that, “Dharma is not like fossils or ancient archeological remains, Dharma is not history, it’s alive it is in the present.” Swami Nikhilanand of Radhamadhav Dham, Austin, shared his thoughts on the educational curriculum for mandirs and also his Kirtan. Swami Brahmswarupanand ji apprised the delegates about the progress and strength of Hindus in Caribbean countries and stressed the need to integrate them with Hindus in North America.

Temples and Temple Administration
Mandir issues were at the forefront of the discussion. Swami Mukundananda of J.K. Yog, emphasized the mission of mandirs, “It is important to educate about spiritual greatness and Vedic knowledge. It’s mandir’s responsibility to instill pride.” HAF’s Sunil Shukla charged the temples to be more relevant to the Hindu community and to all communities, whereas, Senthilanathaswami urged the temple trustees to resist contention amongst themselves. A special topic covered legal liabilities that can impact mandir executives and how to ensure that the executives are protected. Fred Stella, representing the Self Realization Fellowship emphasized the virtues of saatvik, organic food and advocated for better treatment of cows, saying, “Mandirs should take the opportunity to have relationships with local organic farms and educate the community on treatment of cows.”

There was a special emphasis on the role of priests at the conference. Pt. Murali Bhattar, the chief priest from Minnesota Hindu Temple, wowed the audience with his techno-savvy presentation and live demo of Vedic chants from his iPad. Pt. Ram Hardowar, Surya Narayan Mandir, NY, stressed that the priests should not be viewed as merely religious leaders but as community leaders. He also announced his temple as the host of the 2013 Hindu Mandir Priest’s Conference.

Swami Vidyadhishananda, from the Self Enquiry Life Fellowship, presented ten years of research that led to collection and preservation of spectacular, extremely rare pictures of pauranic mandirs. The presentation was unique because it connected the temples to the puranas and ancient Hindu history. Stephan Knapp urged the executives to envision temple’s “content architecture” beyond “empty rituals” and cited his newly published book “Spreading Vedic Traditions Through Temples” as a reference handbook for this process.

Youth
Members from Coalition of Hindu Youth (CHY) and CHERISH (Fremont Temple Hindu Youth group) played a prominent role in organizing the conference. The youth session’s topic was “Igniting the flame within – redefining the Hindu-American youth identity”. This session comprised of three portions: Q&A with Sadhvi Bhagawati, a break-out discussion session, and a creative hour done by the local youth. During this time the youth discussed what it meant to be Hindu AND American and how others see us and our identities. “We have an identity. We are 100% Hindu and 100% American. They are not mutually exclusive.” This successful youth session ended with group summaries of what it means to maintain our combined identity, and a presentation of each group’s discussion and resolutions. The California youth then showcased the different activities and insights of their mandir youth group.

Mihir Meghani of Hindu American Foundation urged the temples to involve the younger generation in the leadership positions in temples and Hindu organizations. Meghani charged the temples to become “centers of activism, not just centers of rituals.” Swami Vidyadhishananda drew applause when he told the mandir executives that the,”Youth participation in mandirs should go beyond ‘organizing the shoes’ – a deeper involvement is needed.” Youth representative and graduate student in Sanskrit, Varun Khanna explained how Sanskrit language and Samskriti (culture) are inseparable.

Advocacy
The Seventh HMEC presented an excellent opportunity for Hindu community leaders to present their activities and thoughts advocacy of issues pertinent to the Hindu community.

Dr. Rahul Jindal of Walter Reed Hospital spoke of the success of HMEC blood donation drive in which 77 temples participated, whereas, a booth at the conference enrolled bone marrow donors. Other featured seva projects included Support-a-Child (SAC), SNSOS and Ekal Vidyalaya. Ajay Shah, representing American Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD) spoke about the defamation and denigration of Hindu culture, customs, symbols and images in mass media and art. Speaking of Hindu hate group Dot-busters, Shah said, “We are going to connect the dots, but we’re going to connect them in such a way that they spell ‘Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitaha (those who protect dharma are protected by it).”

The very first born and practicing Hindu contesting to be member of US Congress, Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, shared her inspirational life story and received a standing ovation. Gabbard said that, “I am looking forward to taking the oath of office on the Bhagavad Geeta.” Community activism is not merely limited to political advocacy.

Publications and Announcement
Parmacharya Paliniswami announced availability of the booklet, “Visiting Hindu Temple – A Beginner’s Guide” at the conference. HMEC announced publication and availability of “The Hindu Prayer Book – For Patients, Caregivers, and Chaplains.” This book will fulfill a unique void and help hospital counselors and families in grief. Recognizing the importance of Hindu Chaplains in the community, HAF and HMEC seek to formalize the education of Hindu Chaplains via a newly announced initiative called Hindu American Chaplaincy Program. Sanatana Dharma National Scholarship was announced at the conference. This scholarship will be awarded to students ranging from elementary school to college. The next volume of Samskar book is planned to be released in 2013.

Resolutions
The seventh HMEC unanimously passed the following 4 resolutions:

1. Expressing condolence for the victims and the families of attack on the Sikh Gurudwara in Wisconsin.
2. Condemned the persecution of Hindus in Northeastern India, especially Assam due to the demographic change in the Assam population resulting from illegal immigration from Bangladesh.
3. Urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate the condition of Hindu temples and forcible abduction and conversion of Hindus in Pakistan.
4. By all means support purification of Yamuna River in India – a river considered holy by Hindus that is now infused with sewage.

HMEC Initiative Updates
Sanjay Mehta, Jt. General Secretary of VHPA, updated the participants on the ongoing HMEC projects and announced upcoming activities. Hindu Women’s Network, the Bal Vihar Network and Hindu Mandir Priest’s Network all held their conferences this year. HAVAN, a network of Hindu retirees, announced upcoming conferences at the Cincinnati Hindu Temple and Shakti Mandir of Atlanta.

Conclusion
The concluding program started with a special candle light tribute the victims of violence at the Sikh Gurudwara in Wisconsin. Gurudwaras from the Bay Area participated in the concluding program and addressed the audience. The cultural program depicting Hindu spiritual dances and a skit on the Hindu life enthralled the audience. Dr. Romesh Japra, convener of the seventh HMEC, thanked the Mandir Executives for their participation.

The HMEC concluded with a special address by Shree Ashok Singhal Ji, Patron and Past President of VHP Global. He apprised the delegates about the persecution of Hindus in India, particularly North East India in Assam due to illegal immigration of Bangladeshis. He requested financial help from Hindus in North America in rehabilitating Hindus in Assam. He also urged the need to put a stop to persecution of Hindus and Hindu Mandirs in Pakistan. He also proposed creation of a Global organization of Hindu temples and a conference of Hindu temples from all over the world to be organized in 2014 in the USA. He invited the delegates to a special program from Feb 6-12, 2013 during the Kumbh Mela, the largest gathering of Hindus, in Prayag (Allahabad) from Feb 6-12, 2013.

Dr. Nachiketa Tiwari invited everyone for 2014 World Hindu Congress in Delhi.

HMEC & VHPA
The vision of HMEC is to be the network of Hindu Organizations for effective leadership generation to generation In North America. Representatives from Hindu temples meet to deliberate and solve issues collectively. This conference provides a great opportunity to all of us to learn from each other and ultimately grow as one community. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) of America (VHPA), founded in 1970 and incorporated in the state of New York in 1974, is an independent, nonprofit, tax- exempt and volunteer-based charitable organization serving the needs of Hindu community in USA. It aims to build a dynamic and vibrant Hindu society rooted in the eternal values of Dharma and inspired by the lofty ideal of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, i.e. the entire creation is one family. For more information on VHPA, please write to media@vhp-america.org.

Chief priest of the Hindu Jain Temple welcomes the swamis from Hawaii and all the priests from around the US

First-ever Hindu Mandir Priests Conference

by Press Coverage

PITTSUBURG: Over 32 Pandits and 40 adult and youth delegates representing more than 20 Hindu Temple and Hindu organizations, from across the county, participated in the First annual Hindu Pandits’ (Priest) Conference from April 27 through 28 in Pittsburgh, PA.
It was the First Hindu Mandir Priests Conferecne (HMPC) hosted by The Hindu Jain Temple (HJT) & Sri Venkateswara Temple (SVT), Pittsburgh PA and organized by World Hindu Council of America (VHPA) and Hindu institutions.
Delegates ranged in ages from teenagers to those in their seventies and came from a variety of ethnic and career backgrounds. The theme of the conference was ‘Role of Pandits in Sustaining Dharma in America’.
The objective of the HMPC is sustainability and advancement of Sanatan Dharma by making the modes of worship meaningful and relevant for the younger generation of Hindus. The conference provided an opening for better understanding between the Hindu Pandits in North America and Hindu devotees in terms of mutual support and empowerment.
The conference began with group-chanting of Ganesh Atharvashirsha by all the Pandits. Krishna Sharma, Chairperson of HJT and GG Hegde, Chairperson of SVT welcomed the delegates.
In his keynote address Pandit Roopnauth Sharma of Canada said, “The mandir belongs to the devotees, who come to the mandir.”
In keeping with the age-old Hindu tradition, he proposed to honor the Pandit, a key figure in the sustaining of spiritual and cultural element of Hindu society and providing the infrastructure and opportunities for personal development and growth within the organization and community.
He stressed the role of the Pandit as a performer of religious functions, as a teacher/counselor, as a mandir executive and as a leader.

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Hindu Mandir Executives Conference Day 1

by Press Coverage

Two of our swamis, Paramacharya Sadasivanatha Palaniswami and Sannyasin Senthilnathaswami, are attending the Sixth Annual Hindu Mandir Executives’ Conference (HMEC) in Columbus, Ohio, today. This year, about 250 people are attending, representing Hindu organizations of all kinds from around North America, even one all the way from Australia. The messages here are more mature and relevant than in past conferences. Youth are more seriously engaged, telling us their uncles have been listening and are now giving them full responsibilities in their mandirs instead of orders. There are over 70 youth delegates at the conference this year!

Sadhavi Chaitanya of the Arsha Vijnana Pitham gave the keynote address on how to look at the temple during the opening session last night. It was rousing, delightful, so witty and deep.

In the plenary session before lunch, Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami gave a presentation on the “14 Questions People Ask About Hinduism,” our revised edition of “10 Questions” with four new questions and answers: “Is Yoga a Hindu Practice?,” “How do Hindus view other religions?,” “Why do some Hindu Gods have animal features?” and “Why do Hindus cremate the dead?” As Paramacharya controlled and read the graphic-rich presentation via wifi on his iPhone, everyone in the hall was captivated. The presentation was received well, with dozens of people coming up afterwards, thanking the monastery for providing these tools, especially “14 Questions.” One gentleman from Orlando, Florida, said he has purchased 3,000 so far and used them as the central element for youth study sessions he holds at his temple and for distribution in the local community. Our supply of 14 Questions pamphlets, just off the presses and shipped directly to the conference, was devoured within thirty minutes, some 500. Volunteers had put them along with a copy of the magazine on every station in the conference hall, and extras that were piled on a table outside disappeared within minutes after the session broke. The appreciation for what we do, the magazine, the resources of all kinds, is repeated again and again as we try to walk the halls–emphasis on try–stopping every 20 feet for another discussion with an inspired follower of Hinduism Today.

One of those hallway conversations was with Sadhavi Chaitanya. She told us about how they use so many resources from the monastery’s website at her ashram, from the panchangam to the yamas and niyamas booklets and just about everything else that can be downloaded. We asked her to write up her wonderful talk from last night for an “In My Opinion” piece in Hinduism Today.

Another wonderful meeting took place with Swami Nikhilanand from JKP Radha Madhav Dham in Austin, Texas, whom we met at last year’s HMEC in Houston.

 

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HSC Discusses Stronger Collaboration Between Youth and Temples at the Fifth Annual Hindu Mandir Executive Conference

by Press Coverage

Houston, Texas, Oct 22, 2010 – Over 90 mandirs and organizations from all over North America gathered for the fifth annual Hindu Mandir Executive Conference 2010. Hindu Students Council sent three of its members, Priya Radhakrishnan, President of HSC, Siddharth Jain, Public Relations Coordinator and Arjun Pradeep, an officer at HSC’s UMBC chapter.

The purpose of HMEC 2010 was to promote the development of networking between executives of all Hindu mandirs in North America and to discuss ways of ensuring the sustenance of Hindu dharma.

The three-day event consisted of twelve sessions with multiple presentations for each session. With mornings beginning at 6 AM, attendees had the option of either the devotional singing of Bhajans or Yoga and Meditation hosted by Art of Living. Big names present at the event include Hinduism Today, Chinmaya Mission, Hindupedia, B.A.P.S., Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation, ISKCON, just to name a few.

“Wonderfully put together event with the myriad Hindu groups and temples represented with inspirational words from Swami Nikhilananda and Swami Tattvavidananda. Most interesting was the session for youth discussing the issues impacting young Hindus and how we can work together to forge strong and cooperative leadership for tomorrow while also working towards laying the groundwork for the upcoming years. Overall, a great collaborative performance that showed how important it is for Hindus in America to work together and how successful we can be in what we do,” quotes Siddarth Jain.

Day One of the event began Friday night when the Inaugural Session took place lasting two hours. Swami Nikhilanand closed out the session with a moving address to all the delegates entitled, “All Religions are not the Same.” The speech left listeners with room for thought for the night and set the tone for the rest of the weekend.

Day Two sessions began after the yoga, bhajans and a delicious breakfast. Session topics before lunch were regarding collaboration, project updates, and Festivals. In the collaboration session, moderated by Arjun Pradeep, the Coalition of Hindu Youth (CHY), made their conference debut. CHY’s message was to be the umbrella of unity of Hindu Youth for all temples.

Post lunch, Priya Radhakrishnan of HSC had the opportunity to present the topic “Senior Youth mentoring Younger Youth” and discussed how stronger collaborations can be made between youth and mandir organizations. Other sessions also discussed topics of seva, education, making the mandirs and priests more effective, services offered at mandirs, Hindu public policy, women in programs and management, the assimilation of non-Hindus, and most importantly Youth Integration. In the Youth Integration session, several debatable topics where discussed among conference youth ranging from middle school to grad school students.

The cultural program followed the B.A.P.S. catered dinner in which several beautiful bharatanatyam performances from Meenakshi Temple excited the audience. Young high school student Tejas Dave shared his powerful welcome remarks with the conference as he quoted and explained several Sanskrit quotes from the Vedas. His speech awed the audience as only utter silence was heard in the background. Krishna Maheswari, creator of Hindupedia, presented on developing the next generation of youth leadership several eye-catching statistics that caught the attention of the crowd. Maheswari, founder of the Cornell University Hindu Student Council has proven to be a successful role model and Hinduism activist. Maheswari went on in his speech to talk about his childhood and the adversities he faced growing up in an area where Hindus were not common and in a world where Hinduism was always misunderstood. His shared experiences were those of which many audience members could relate to as well, a moving close to the end of the long day.

The final day began at 8am where summaries of the youth and workshop sessions were shared and management and community involvement drew the conference to a close. Swami Parmeshanandji shared his parting thoughts and blessings with everyone and Columbus, Ohio was announced as the host location of HMEC 2011.

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Hindu Mandir Executives Conference (HMEC) – 2009

by Press CoveragePress Release

Hindu Mandir (Temple) Executives representing 111 Temples and Hindu Organizations from more than 25 states of US and Canada converged in Lithicum, MD,
a suburb of Washington, DC, to attend the Fourth annual Hindu Mandir Executives Conference (HMEC), from September 11, 2009 through September 13, 2009.

The temples and Hindu organizations were represented from British Columbia-Canada, Hawaii, and California on the West Coast to Florida, Carolina, and New-EnglandStates on the East Coast including many
states in the heartland of America.

This extremely successful fourth annual HMEC-2009 was another step in the development of network and relationships
between Mandir executives to meet the goal of creating a cohesive and focused Hindu American community with Mandirs as its nucleus. The participants were focused on
developing programs to provide leadership to nourish, protect and sustain Hindu Dharma in North America.

Participation by several large Hindu organizations like Art of Living, Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Arya Samaj, BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, Chinmaya Mission,
Gayatri Pariwar, ISKON, Yogi Divine Society, Kauai’s Hindu Monastery, JKP and JK Yog, Bharat Sevashram Sangha, Sikh Center of Virginia, Devotees of Narayani
Peetam and Sadhu Vaswani, and Hindu temples all over North America made HMEC an inspiring experience for the attendees.

The Mandir executives represented a wide cross-section of the Hindu community. These attendees, who numbered over 250, were physicians, scientists, businesspersons,homemakers, engineers, etc., by profession
besides being temple executives. They displayed a deep commitment in fulfilling the spiritual and social needs of HinduAmerican community and an urge to create a legacy for the next generations that they can be proud of.

The group was diverse in terms of age, race, generation, as well as national origin. HMEC 2009 had a strong participation from the youth. Conference had some parallel sessions for the youth representing temples from across the nation. Pooja, Shaily and Jemin representing ‘Shri Mangal Mandir’ in Silver Springs , MD , were happy to have met youth just like them and said, “We gained new perspective within our own religion, we learned things that we can
implement in our Mandirs and help our community”

Addressing the temple executives from across the country, Swami Dayananda Saraswati of the ‘Arsha Vidya Gurukulam’, who was the keynote speaker, emphasized that the Hindu Mandirs are “forms or manifestations” of tradition that can be handed over to the next generations. These ‘forms’ are very important and the next generations should be made aware of these
to preserve ancient traditions. Swami Mukundananda of JK Yog talked about the Application of Management Science in Mandir development in his inaugural
address.

Hindu Mandir executives collectively deliberated on the evolving social, religious, cultural, spiritual, and next-generational needs of 2.5 million strong, confident, diverse and vibrant Hindu-American community. Dr. Michael Busch of the Bramhananda Saraswati Trust mentioned, “It is very inspiring to see the depth of understanding and devotion to the Vedic tradition of India. The cohesion and cooperation among all the temples to strengthen the enlightenment of Vedic knowledge in North America is encouraging.”

Hindu perspective of SERVICE was discussed through ideas shared by Anju Bhargava of the ‘Hindu American Seva charities’ and Divya Selvakumar of HinduNGO, ‘American Hindu World Service (AHWS)’. Hindu-Jewish dialogue wascontinued through presentation by AJC.

This conference was striking in its use of Multimedia presentations. A multimedia video presentation by Dr. Michael Busch of ‘Brahmananda Saraswati Trust’, IA, on ‘ Maharishi Vedic City ’ was awe inspiring for its effort, ideals and objectives. Another moving presentation was made by Mrs.Cathy Wenuk a devotee of ‘Narayani Peetam’ of Sripuram Golden Temple and its beautiful soul-nourishing environment and surroundings.

Houston, TX ran away with the honor to hold the 2010-Hindu Mandir Executives’ Conference(HMEC), after a tough competition between many cities which were interested in replicating this years’ success and grandeur of 2009-HMEC. Dr. Sharma Tadepalli, of Meenakshi Temple, Pearland, TX, while accepting the honor of holding the next conference in Houston said, “HMEC is uniting Mandirs while resolving issues and challenges facing the Hindu community. We want to unite temples in Texas and create a united front of all temples in Texas”.

In the concluding session of the Conference, the delegates agreed on a series of Action items which emerged as a consequence of the deliberations and presentations:

  •  Hindu Seva Diwas: Conduct Seva(service) activities in large number of Mandirs on a single chosen day.
  • Develop software and e-services for Mandirs. Apply readily available state of the art software technology to streamline routine Mandir operations
  • Develop Training Camps for Hindu Ambassadors in Mandirs, training Mandir adults & youths on essentials of Hindu Dharma and Hindu society, so hat they can effectively articulate the richness of our traditions to larger public.
  • Distribute Hindu Text Book Supplements to US School Districts on the history of India prepared by Hinduism Today.
  • Develop Samskar Manual for Young Couples. Write a clear, simple and attractive book on Vivah Samskar.
  • Establish Hindu Mandir Youth Network in USA.
  • Establish Hindu Mandir communication channel, through Hindu Mandir News Letter. The delegates also agreed, and unanimously passed the following resolution for consideration of their temple’s boards, in the concluding session of the Conference

Resolution:
We the delegates of the Hindu-American Mandirs at HMEC will help in all material ways possible to accelerate the restoration process of Hindu heritage sites world over.In particular, we appreciate and whole heartedly support Dr. Animesh Sinha efforts in preserving and restoring the sites of Braj.

 

hmec

Hindu Mandir Executives Conference, 2009, and some related thoughts

by Press Coverage

Greetings, Medhavis. Namaste! And Jaya Shri Krishna!

This past weekend, I had the great pleasure to attend and even greater fortune to meet Medha Journal’s own Ravi Joshi at the Hindu Mandir Executives Conference, 2009, in Linthicum, MD (USA).  Raviji is a man after my own heart–a deep thinker and a true activist! There were many other great souls in attendance at the conference, too. But I think that in the great order of the universe, the conference was a pretext for me to finally meet Raviji.

So, let me tell you how the conference went. Unfortunately, on account of a literally sleepless overnight journey from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Linthicum Maryland, caused by bad weather and a somewhat careless airline (they lost my bags, so I had to do some shopping), I missed a number of the events and presentations. But I still got to attend many others. At the very least, I got there in time to deliver my own presentation, titled Multiculturalism and Marriage. If you want to read the edited speech and view the slide presentation they are published over at the Samprajña Institute site (click here for the presentation).

I was one of four speakers who addressed the topic of interracial marriage in a two-hour workshop. With regard to our panel discussion, Hindu youth was the conference’s hot topic, and that helped make the workshop a lively event. Basically, the issue that seemed to carry the most concern among conference attendees was that as first generation immigrants in America were retiring, second generation did not appear to be all that interested in carrying on their parents’ traditions and way of life. As one of the guest speakers said in another session in the conference, “When we built these mandirs, we said they were for our own children. But now that our children have shown little interest in them, we are saying the mandirs are for something else, now.” So topics like marriage, youth education, youth involvement–any topic with “youth” in it–was predisposed to generate much interest and participation.

Raviji delivered an excellent presentation on media bias against Hindus and Hinduism in America. Unfortunately, his presentation was part of a panel presentation scheduled near the very end of the conference, when something like half the attendees were focused more on checking out of the hotel before they got charged for another day’s stay than they were. At that point, the organizers were trying to rush things along. Even though several of us stood up to ask the panelists questions, the organizers gave no one a chance to ask questions to the panelists. (I think they may have allowed one person to ask a question, but I cannot remember for sure.) And since the theme of the conference itself seemed to be more focused on youth issues than any other issue, the conference focus might have also contributed to Raviji’s presentation getting less of a hearing than it should have.  In any case, the problem of the media in America vs. the Hindu community here is not going away. For now, we’ll just have to keep our powder dry for the right moment.

Other than that, here are a few other random thoughts that ran through my mind during and after the conference:

The conference organizers, basically, the VHPA, seem to be pretty much in tune with what’s going on in the Hindu-American community. This is interesting because social scientists who study the Hindu-American community think they have some radically unnatural agenda and hence aren’t legitimate leaders within the Hindu-American community. Right now, I’m reading Prema Kurien’s book A Place at the Multicultural Table, which is, basically, the type of book many Hindus feared she would eventually produce–an anti-Hindu screed dressed in academese. Of course, Dr. Kurien would probably characterize her own work as a warning against as the Hindutva radicalization of otherwise innocent Hindu immigrants in America, but her perspective seems to be a party line among her and her colleagues, which to me was quite unrecognizeable among the VHPA organizers. By any reasonable measure, the conference organizers were normal people with the same normal concerns that I think pretty much most Hindus living in America have. And the conference was focused on those normal concerns.

Certainly, many of the issues that concern the conference organizers and attendees concern me, too. But Kurien starts off her work with making what is, practically, an a priori distinction between peaceful Hindus and dangerous Hindutva radicals.

Over time I began to realize that in the United States, Hindutva supporters were becoming the central authority and hegemonic voice that Hinduism had so far lacked, defining Hinduism, Indian identity, Indian history and culture, and the obligations of good Hindus. Thus many elements of the Hindutva discourse were manifesting themselves in the self-definitions and explanations of lay Hindu Indian Americans, even those who were uninterested in or opposed to Hindu nationalism. I also began to see how the American context and the functioning of Hindu organizations within this environment was indirectly responsible for this development. In this way, I was drawn into studying immigrant politics, much the way that apolitical Hindu Indian Americans have been drawn into the Hindutva movement.

Reading and hearing about the death threats and harassment that scholars (many practicing Hindus themselves) who have been critical of the Hindutva movement or aspects of Hinduism have received has made me pause during the course of my research to ponder whether I should stop and turn to a less controversial project, whether I should write a book and thus risk drawing unwanted negative attention to myself and my family or play safe and write articles for scholarly journals (read primarily by other scholars), and whether I should focus on only the more innocuous aspects of American Hinduism.

Prema Kurien, A Place at the Multicultural Table (New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2007) x – xi.

Now, I want to be clear that I am not an apologist for the VHPA, the VHP, or any of the sangh-parivar organizations. And certainly, there are many Hindus who do not identify with the sangh parivar. But to me it is quite clear that she and her ilk tars with way too broad a brush concerns that many many “lay Hindus”, as she calls them, have. It seems to me that practically any Hindu, under any affiliation, who becomes politically active is likely to be tarred in much the same way her intellectual peers have tarred the sangh parivar. If what I have surmised is reasonably accurate, then the problem they have is not as much with political activism in the name of Hinduism but more with Hinduism itself.

With regard to the anti-religious/anti-Hindu stance of a number of social scientists (Christians too in America have taken a good, prolonged whipping from this group), I would like to mention that Ravi-ji and I are conjointly working on a response to a recent article in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs (GJIA), in which a small group of scholars recommended the ear-marking of Title VI funds for creating alternative, academically vetted supplemental materials about Hinduism and for fighting future court cases, such as the cases surrounding California’s school textbooks.Title VI here refers to Title VI of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, in the context of the article in question, means defining Hinduism, as it is understood by many Hindus, as a fundamentally unfair, discriminatory, and hence biggoted religion. These scholars seem to have taken great exception to many of the changes that were finally approved of by the State of California, and this seems to be the motivation for their article in the GJIA.

At the conference, I spoke with some other attendees who knew about the article, and we discussed briefly some strategies for dealing with this. A key premise underlying much anti-Hindu scholarship is that politically active Hindus are, fundamentally, considered ethnonationalists. One of the strategies we discussed was that of having more persons who are not Hindu by birth stepping up against them would seriously challenge the ethnonationalist presumptions many of these scholars harbor. At the very least, a successful implementation of such a strategy would keep these scholars off balance if not divide them.

I’ll have more to report later. In the mean time, please contribute some of your time, talent, and money towards our efforts here or towards someone else’s efforts in this vein. At the very least, Raviji could use a new pair of glasses.  Otherwise, there is always the comments section!

hmec

Large GTA contingent at Detroit Hindu event

by Press Coverage

More than 300 participants from 113 temples across North America attended the 3rd Hindu Mandir Executive Conference held at Romulus in Detroit, Michigan, Sept. 26-28, 2008.The conference, which was organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, sought to further develop and strengthen networking among the executives of all Hindu mandirs of North America. It also highlighted activities of the Hindu Sabha school and its various operations.The event attracted representation from many of the GTA-based Hindu temples. The Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton was represented at the conference by Mahendra Gupta, Ajit Pahwa and Sat Malik.Other prominent GTA-based community members in attendance included Dr. Budhendra Doobay of the Vishnu Mandir in Richmond Hill, Roopnauth Sharma from Mississauga Ram Mandir, Anil Goyal from Vaishno Devi Mandir in Oakville, Naveen Tiwari from Datta Yoga Centre, and Dwarka Prasad from Guelph.Participants acknowledged the growth of the Hindu dharma in North America depends to the extent of the youths' involvement in temples.Some the workshops held alongside the conference included Securing a Site for Ash Immersion in Canada, Role of Temples in Positioning and Strengthening Hindu Dharma, Sustaining Hindu Dharma, Endowment Act and Hindu Mandirs, Health Shared Pool, and Antyeshti Sanskar publications.Navratri celebrationsMeanwhile temples through the GTA are gearing up for Navratri celebrations, conducted across nine nights.Both the Mississauga Ram Mandir and the Hindu Sabha, Brampton's biggest temple for the Hindu community, are gearing up to greet the crowds that traditionally converge on the temple for the festive celebrations.Hindu Sabha is also preparing for a jagran (night vigil) Saturday, Oct. 4, with the celebrations to include the ritual burning of a 60-foot effigy to signify the victory of good over evil.Navaratri is celebrated in different ways throughout India. In North India, Navratri is celebrated with much fervor by fasting on all nine days and worshipping the Goddess Parvati in her different forms, including Goddess Durga, with Durga Pooja being among the biggest festivals in West Bengal.In the South Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, Navratri is celebrated by setting up of Golu or Bombegalu (dolls). It is believed that this was a means to invite people home to celebrate the festivities with them.In Karanataka, particularly Mysore, the enacting of destruction of evil (Ravana destroyed by Rama) is displayed with the lighting of dolls representing Ravana and the forces of evil.