It is ironic that in last week’s class we talked about Sama Buddhi, a sameness towards different types of relationship in the study of Ch. 6, verse 9 – this included enemies, friends, benefactors and acquaintances. As I read and hear the sweep of information on the Virginia Tech tragedy I am struck by the range of emotions expressed by people. The words ‘Massacre’, ‘Mad Killer’, ‘Psychotic Murderer’ are some of the frequently used words on television. And I wonder how is one to recover from this. Innocent students, who could easily be our very own children, had an abrupt ending to their lives. I feel we have to summon from the depths of our heart a compassion for the mentally ill, who behave in ways so counter to dharma. We have to forgive this madness in our society that prevents us from knowing who our neighbour is. Is continued fear and anxiety the answer to this?? I do not think so. We still have to look for the answer in our capacity for compassion and love. That cannot be legislated by any amendment to the constitution. And no law can help us discover that.
Let us talk about our children, and how they suddenly face being called adults when they have not travelled the path of childhood.
Let us talk about the real problems of isolation and the pressures on immigrant families in a multicultural, competitive cauldron. It is not a pretty picture.
Let us talk and maybe we will find a path together to create a new vocabulary of compassion and love.
From Ian McFarlane ( VT Student) after the shooting:
“
While I was hesitant at first to release these plays (because I didn’t know if there are laws against it), I had to put myself in the shoes of the average person researching this situation. I’d want to know everything I could about the killer to figure out what could drive a person to do something like this and hopefully prevent it in the future. Also, I hope this might help people start caring about others more no matter how weird they might seem, because if this was some kind of cry for attention, then he should have gotten it a long time ago.”
Love
Rathi Raja
I remember this magazine growing up. It used to have a standard yellow cover, always brimming with stimulating articles. They have had a complete makeover, over the last five years. I find the article quality quite superior. Also the sponsoring organization, The Sringeri Matha, has released a five part series on ‘Sakti Darsana’, covering each goddess in depth. I am think ing of doing a series on them during our Navaratri festival season. We could include a workshop that involves storytelling, mantra and yantra, to cover the many aspects of our spiritual heritage.
Do visit www.tattvaloka.com.
A sampling of the June 2006 issue – Maneesha Panchakam, Bhagavatam, Famous Shrines, Puranas, Abodes of Kartikeya, Book Review and a Special Feature on ‘The Upanishads and the Gita”.
An excerpt from the last article:’What is Dharma? Dharma comes from the root dhr, that which supports. In the final analysis, what is it that supports human consciousness? It is not wealth, it is not position, it is not political power. Ultimately it is the divine consciousness that suports our very existence. So Bhagavan Krishna urges us to give up all support and come to him. Speaking as the Divine, he says ‘I free you from all sins. Do not fear – ma suchah. How much love there is in those two words ‘Fear not‘ “.
Rathi Raja
The Hindu heritage of Kenya
Minakshi Ajay
Click here to view gallery, ‘Hindu Kenya’:
http://www.hinduvoice.co.uk/issues/15/GalleryKenya.htm
Most visitors to Kenya want to experience the country’s world famous wildlife. A land of great contrasts such as mountain ranges, forests, lakes, desert as well as the coastal areas, Kenya’s wilderness areasare famous world wide. The name Kenya has become synonymous with the great wilds of Africa.
But there is also another side of Kenya unknown to most visitors and
that is its rich Hindu temples and Sikh Gurudwaras which form
well-known landmarks in each and every town and city in Kenya.
Kenya has a sizeable Hindu population [including Sikhs & Jains also] of approximately 2.5 million, most of them descendants of the East African Railways labourers who were brought over by the British during the late 19th and early 20th centuries when the British colonialists also ruled Kenya and the rest of the East African region. Many of the labourers, rather than voyage back to the Indian subcontinent, simply settled in Kenya, and slowly brought with them a host of hopefuls willing to start afresh. Many Hindus took up Law as their profession and fought alongside the Kenyan Mau Mau Organisation, who committed themselves to lead a violent fight to drive out the British during the 1930s until 1963. Kenyan fighters such as Jomo Kenyatta had legal advisers who were Hindus as well as Sikhs.
The Kenya of today is very different to that of the early 1900s.
Indian businesses have been contributing to the Kenyan economy in a very substantial way over the years, and even today they are thriving with construction of roads and buildings being mainly handled by Hindus and Sikhs.
My recent trip to Kenya in January of this year was an absolute
eye-opener to the fact that Hinduism has gained immense strength in Kenya over the years. Nairobi, the capital city, alone has six Swaminarayan temples, five Shiva temples, two Ram & Jalaram temples, two temples dedicated to Mata Amba [Goddess Durga], one Gayatri temple, three Sanatan Dharma temples, one Murugan [Kartikeya] temple, one Hare Krishna temple and
many others belonging to different sects and communities, as well as the Raj Yoga Centre of the Brahma Kumaris.
Besides other Hindu organisations, the Hindu Council of Kenya which was initially formed by 80,000 Hindus associated with the Kenyan Government, works on projects aimed at furthering the cause of Sanatan Dharma within Kenya.
Nairobi’s suburb Parklands also has a Hindu shrine for shoppers to
walk in and pay their obeisance to the deities while out shopping in
the famous Diamond Plaza shopping complex. There are also several Sikh Gurudwaras built and run by the Ramgarhia Sikh community of Kenya, with the main Gurudwara that is in Makindu which is worshipped at by all Hindus and Sikhs along the ‘Mombasa – Nairobi highway’. Travellers to and from Mombasa often stop here to worship and admire the beautiful views of Mt. Kilimanjaro that can be seen from the top of this Gurudwara.
But out of all of them, perhaps my favourite temple in Nairobi has to be the Shree Sanatan Dharma Sabha Mandir where I got married. The temple was built in 1994 in a suburb of Nairobi called Spring Valley. Thirty-four beautiful Murtis of the Hindu Pantheon as well as that of Guru Nank were brought from Jaipur, India. Pran-Pratishtha or inauguration of these Murtis was done by 71 learned priests of Kenya during very colourful ceremonies held between 16th to 20th June 1994. On 20th June, 1994 the doors of the temple were opened to the devotees.
Outside within the complex, it has a large main hall at the far end
for functions such as Navratri & Diwali festivals as well as marriage
ceremonies, a Yagya Shala in the middle where my marriage ceremony was held, and immediately behind it is a typically styled temple dedicated to Lord Venkateshwara [Lord Vishnu] beautifully designed resembling the great architectures found in South India.
There is so much more to write about with regards to the fascinating
Hindu and Sikh heritage of Kenya, what I have written above is just a glimpse. To sum up, I would like to give a strong bit of advise to all
of you: if you visit Kenya, make sure it is not just for a wildlife
tour – also visit some of the great temples which have been built on
Kenyan soil. You won’t be disappointed.
