2017 LinnMar Diversity Event - HINDUISM

On April 20, 2017, I had the opportunity to represent Hinduism in LinnMar High School. There is always a first and the 3 hours of off-and-on explanation of Hinduism to eager teenage minds was surely my first and an exciting, lovely experience!

True to the teenage spirit, as soon as my camera was focused on the interactive audience, another happy friends group swarmed from nowhere in a spirit of revelry!

I regret not having the opportunity to captures all my audiences.  

        I was also happily surprised with a lightening visit from none other than Akash Gururaj, our dear friend Padmanabh’s elder son who is budding into an accomplished Carnatic musician..!  Suddenly out of the blue, I hear “Hello Aunty” and I spin around to a tall (I remember he was definitely shorter than me last time) beaming Akash who had 15 mins in between classes to check out the happenings in the gym.   

      Between attending my adult or young audiences, I was happily engaged in lively discussions on Vedanta by the young couple Balaji and Varshika representing the Hindu Temple of Cedar Rapids.

     Keeping my young audience in mind, I came up with the following PowerPoint presentation on the theme: Hinduism. The detail of this presentation with captions are available at:

Hinduism-Culture & Philosophy-An Intro  

This presentation encompasses both the Philosophy (Vedanta) and Culture. 

The highlight was on: (1) how Philosophy (Vedanta)-centric the Hindu culture is and (2) the commonalities between Individual and Community practices.

     Of all the slides, the most popular idea that struck the chord with most of them was that everyone is praying to the 1 God and all religions are valid.
The theme on this slide#2 was based on the eternal principle of Vedanta as explained in Mundaka Upanishad (rivers meeting the ocean) extrapolated by Sri Ramakrishna: “All religions are valid paths leading to the same goal”.

   It is indeed a freshening experience when dealing with open-curious minds..!

HINDUISM-Culture & Philosophy -An Intro

     Keeping an young audience in mind, I came up with the following PowerPoint presentation on the theme: An Introduction to Hinduism -.  

This encompasses both the Philosophy (Vedanta) and Culture. 

The highlight was on: (1) how Philosophy (Vedanta)-centric the Hindu culture is and (2) the commonalities between Individual and Community practices.

    This was presented at LinnMar High School in their Diversity event on April 20th, 2017. 

     Of all the slides, the most popular idea that struck the chord with most of them was that everyone is praying to the 1 God and all religions are valid. The theme on this slide#2 was based on the eternal principle of Vedanta as explained in Mundaka Upanishad (rivers meeting the ocean) extrapolated by Sri Ramakrishna: “All religions are valid paths leading to the same goal”.

    Hinduism, the most ancient of all religions (10000+ yrs), also known a Sanatana Dharma (Eternal Righteous Living) is not propounded by one single Individual (like Buddha or Christ or Mohammad) but is a collection of Truths n teachings from Sages and saints. Hence the number of scriptures are uncountable out of which Bhagavad Gita (Divine Song) is the most famous with a close following of Upanishads.
YOGA means union with the Divine. Religion is a path to practice the philosophy. Thus any religion will fall under any one of the 4 major paths to God Realization.

The crux of Hinduism is the famous Upanishadic saying " Ekam Sat, Vipra Bahudha Badanti" (Truth is One, Sages call it by various Names). The following slide represents this concept which is also the Holistic approach.

 In Hinduism the many names and forms of the one God translates to the following scenario. Some of the popular names are incorporated here:

 Some of the names and forms of the one God mentioned in the above slide are represented with their corresponding attributes are follows:

 Vedanta philosophy permeates the culture of Hinduism such that it is a way of Life. This fact is illustrated by some commonly practiced examples cited in Individual as well as Community (God-centric) culture. Main idea of Hindu worship is thanksgiving as everything belongs to God. Thus a New House, a New Car, Life partner and even the first step to knowledge are all started with worship in thanksgiving to the divine. These events are just a few cited as examples.

 Even at the community level, all festivals are centered around Divinity. The most famous are the Festival of Lights, Colors,  Harvest and New Year

 In Hindu Religion, full freedom is given to individuals as to the method of practice. No mandate is ever dictated and thus a visit to temple is NOT mandatory at all. However, most of the Hindus do maintain a shrine in their dwelling place. Those who have a shrine in their home, steadfastly practice their rituals at dawn and dusk and bow in reverence before leaving the house and for any important events be it good or bad.