The Future of Hinduism: HAF Contributes to Patheos' Summer Series
St. Paul, MN and Troy, MI (June 30, 2010) - As new forms of worship and belief continue to evolve in the twenty-first century, Patheos.com asked thought leaders from a variety of religious traditions to contribute to it's summer series The Future of... and talk about the future of religion.
Check out some eye-opening and diverse perspectives, including reflections from HAF's Suhag Shukla, Mananging Director/Legal Counsel and Padma Kuppa, member of HAF's Executive Council and many scholar friends of HAF, including Christopher Chapple, David Frawley, Khyati Joshi, Vamsee Juluri, Ramdas Lamb, Anant Rambachan, Arvind Sharma and more.
A Journey Back to Basics: Cycling and Recycling Hinduism
(St. Paul, MN): It was good karmic timing, I suppose, that the same week I was scoring dozens of entries from our foundation's NextGen essay contest, I was also asked to write a piece on the future of Hinduism. The topic for this year's contest: How Do Your Religious Beliefs and Practices Differ from Those of Your Parents. Essay after essay, I read accounts that very much mirrored my own spiritual journey as a second-generation Hindu American -- journeys that started with a push but continue by a pull. It also struck me that these young writers provided not only a glimpse into the future of Hinduism in America, but showed that Hinduism's future is so very much like her past: eternal, cyclical yet dynamic.
From the mundane to the metaphysical, cycles feature prominently in Hindu teachings and practice. Human life and spiritual evolution, through birth and rebirth (samsara), is a cycle; karma, the universal of law cause and effect -- another cycle; even ritual yogic breathing (pranayama) is a cycle. Hindu history too has cycled and recycled. Times of open inquiry have lead to ritualistic steadfastness. Ages of ritual perfection have devolved into periods of blind faith. Frustration from these periods has opened up to golden ages of introspection and inquiry. These have then been followed by somewhat rebellious eras of exuberant devotion and so on. The wheels keep on turning in the Hindu world regardless of the roads that she travels and any turns, bumps, or skids she encounters along the way...
Click here to read Suhag Shukla's entry in its entirety.
Without Beginning or End: Hinduism and Pluralism as a Path to the Future
(Troy, MI): Writing on the Future of Hinduism is something very difficult to do, raised as I have been with an understanding that faith is eternal, without beginning or end, and that my faith, Sanatana Dharma, is not an "ism" as we call it today. And I also struggle since I am no religious scholar who can spout the Vedas, but a simple middle-class (middle-aged) woman torn by the lack of pluralism and the rise of fundamentalism in my community, my countries (of birth and citizenship), and my world. And yet I am a Hindu American raised with a strong consciousness of Hinduism's spiritual and philosophical strengths, which inspire both my activism and acceptance of what's been handed to me in life.
I am appalled by the nativist and Tea Party mentality in my nation, the lack of civil discourse across every continent. I read of Professor Sheldon Pollock at Columbia University, who has said, "Colonialism nearly killed India's capacity to know its past; globalization threatens to destroy its will." I see with dismay the rise of Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley, who deny their Dharmic roots, and others like them who spew exclusivist messages. I am troubled by aggressive proselytization in India and the unacceptable retaliation, and worried about the plight of Bhutanese refugees in America, and Hindus from Bangladesh and Pakistan. I am worried whether a generation of Hindus gobbled up by greed and globalization will be able to pass on values to their children. So I know that the world's Hindu community has far to go and much to do -- along with everyone else on the planet. The whole earth is one family -- so say the Hindu holy scriptures, the Vedas (Vasudhaiva kutumbakam)...
Click here to read Padma Kuppa's entry in its entirety.