Your news Hindus come together for summit
On Aug. 27, the Third Hinduism Summit (Hindu Dharmajagruti Sabha) in Chicago concluded successfully at the Hindu Temple of Lake County.
Over 100 people, including Hindu parents, non-Hindus interested in Hinduism and Hindu activists, attended this public event, with 45 of the attendees online.
The presentation of Bhavna Shinde Hurley, Spokeswoman of Forum for Hindu Awakening, drew attention to various issues facing Hindus in America, such as distortion of Hinduism by American academicians, Hindu youth increasingly converting out of Hinduism, anti-Hindu bias in the media, and the rampant trivialization of Hindu Deities.
Shinde Hurley explained how Hinduism education emphasizing the unique science of Hinduism and its firsthand experience can help face these challenges successfully.
Dr. Richard Benkin, a leader in the struggle to stop the ethnic cleansing of Bangladesh's Hindus, in his speech mentioned a milestone reached in this struggle recently. On July 28, US Congressman Robert Dold recognized the oppression of Bangladeshi Hindus on the floor of the United States Congress. Benkin spoke about the Human Rights Advisory Council he has been asked to lead.
He urged everyone to contact their Senators to co-sponsor the bill, HR440, which calls for the appointment of a “Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia,” and to specifically mention the Bangladeshi Hindus' persecution.
However, he cautioned Hindus to play a prominent role early and even have some voice in who is appointed as special envoy.
Kristen Mandziuk of Spiritual Science Research Foundation showed videos of SSRF's research with dowsing and biofeedback machines to illustrate that subtle distressing forces (aasuri shakti), which obstruct Dharma, are very powerful.
The videos further illustrated that to effectively counter these challenges faced by the Hindu community, Hindus will need to gain spiritual strength by doing spiritual practice and by acquiring blessings of Saints who have the divine consciousness to counter the subtle distressing forces.
Maya Jairam, a native of Colorado, shared her firsthand account of growing up in America. Coming from a nonreligious childhood, she was unaware of the spiritual ill effects of the non-vegetarian diet, the benefits of spiritual practice (sadhana), etc. Jairam found Hinduism's spiritual science, such as the three subtle components (trigunas) to be fascinatingly clarifying of various aspects of life. It inspired her to become vegetarian and follow a Hindu spiritual path.
Hinduism supporters' contributions to make this Hinduism Summit happen were commemorated in a beautiful, informative souvenir that was published at the hands of Prabhakar Joshi, a long time local Hindu activist. The Hinduism Summit concluded with attendees enthusiastically passing resolutions about urging US policy makers to investigate the Bangladeshi Hindus' persecution, and about not supporting any product, publication or art that denigrates Hinduism.
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