Hinduism

Hindu women look to ancient goddesses for guidance on modern feminism

March 13, 2024

(RNS) — Preity Upala has lived more than a few lives. After a career as an investment banker in Australia, Upala moved to the U.S. to pursue her dream of attending film school, eventually landing roles in major Bollywood films like “Bahubali” and in the Hollywood production “Sex and the City 2.” Now, in Los Angeles, Upala is a film producer and podcast host. And if her resume is not varied enough, Upala is also considered a global strategist, called upon by news organizations worldwide for her expertise in international diplomacy and foreign policy.

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How sacred images in Asian cultures incorporate divine presence and make them come ‘alive’

December 6, 2023

Walking into a favorite restaurant here in Knoxville, Tennessee, I was immediately greeted by a golden statue of Buddha, its sparkling gemstone eyes meeting my own as I made my way through the door. The aromas of Thai curries beckoned, but as I was led to a table, I kept thinking about those glinting eyes.

Sacred objects are everywhere: Statues and paintings of gods fill museum galleries and catalog pages alike. You might also see them gracing a neighbor’s yard or upon an altar in your friend’s home.

Some dazzle in bejeweled splendor. Others may appear more humble,...

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Newly completed Hawaiian Hindu temple opens after 33-year build

December 4, 2023

The Hawaiian Tourism Authority touts incredible natural beauty to entice visitors to the island of Kauai.

But some visitors venture to Kauai into a forest to find a place they say is an extraordinary source of spirituality.

"People often describe it as a peace or kind of a joy or a sort of a divine essence," said Hindu monk Sannyasin Tillainathaswami. "And it seems to be generated not only by the nature here, the land, the location, the peaceful, beautiful island, but also by the temples and...

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Vegetarian or vegan? What about lab-grown beef? Hindus follow scriptures for diet advice

October 25, 2023

 

(RNS) — Animal rights activists and ecologically concerned citizens may have led the charge into veganism — a lifestyle that continues to gain prominence for its sustainability — but more and more Hindus are adopting modern ideas about plant-based diets to the ancient principle of ahimsa, or nonviolence against all living beings.

“For me, being vegan was the best option to have the least carbon footprint,” said Karthik Ramkrishnan, a construction manager who moved from India, the world’s most vegetarian-friendly nation, to the East Coast in 2009. “And...

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Religion Among Asian Americans

October 11, 2023

Like the U.S. public as a whole, a growing percentage of Asian Americans are not affiliated with any religion, and the share who identify as Christian has declined, according to a new Pew Research Center survey exploring religion among Asian American adults.

But the survey also shows that 40% of Asian Americans say they feel close to some religious tradition for reasons aside from religion. For example, just 11% of Asian American...

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Hindu and Jewish Americans foster kinship through shared traditions, connections to homeland

September 11, 2023

Hindu and Jewish Americans gathered in San Francisco last Thursday to celebrate Janmashtami and Rosh Hashana together.

In the inaugural event, held by the Hindu American Foundation and the American Jewish Committee, about 40 people gathered in the AJC building across from the Embarcadero to learn about each other’s traditions, build upon similarities and share plenty of food.

Source: https://religionnews.com/2023/09/11/hindu-and-jewish-...

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Vivek Ramaswamy and the Christian language of Hinduism

July 31, 2023

Like many Republican presidential candidates, Vivek Ramaswamy has been outspoken about the role of faith and society. An enthusiastic second-generation Indian American, Ramaswamy also isn’t shy about talking about his own faith.

“I’m a person of faith. Evangelical Christians across the state are also people of faith,” he said in a July interview with NBC News. “We found commonality in our need to defend religious liberty, to stand for faith and patriotism and stand unapologetically for the fact that we are one nation under God.”

To reach evangelical Christians, the...

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NYC will add Diwali as a public school holiday. But there’s a catch this year

June 26, 2023

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City will add the festival of Diwali to the list of public school holidays in recognition of the growth of the city’s South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities, Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday.

Diwali, known as the festival of lights, happens October or November, depending on the lunar calendar.

However, this year it falls on Sunday Nov. 12 — meaning the 2023-2024 school calendar will not be affected by the change.

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Seattle: Why US city's ban on caste discrimination is historic for South Asian Americans

February 22, 2023

On Tuesday, Seattle became the first US city to ban caste-based discrimination after a vote by the local council. Ahead of the vote, several South Asians stood in line for hours to share their stories with council members.

Academic Prem Pariyar was one of them. He says he fled to the US from Nepal in 2015 after his family was brutally attacked by a group of upper caste people for speaking up against atrocities.

But that didn't stop the discrimination he faced because of his caste. Once, he says, he was invited to lunch at a friend's house in the San Francisco Bay...

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Utah House bill recognizes Diwali, but still no fireworks allowed

February 17, 2023

A bill meant to recognize Utah's growing Hindu, Sikh and Jain communities and one of their most momentous holidays — Diwali — passed the state House Wednesday.

Lawmakers voted 71-1 to pass SB46, which would make Diwali a state commemorative day. However, lawmakers also voted to eliminate a portion of the bill that would have allowed fireworks during the celebration.

The five-day festival of Diwali, also known as Festival of Lights, celebrates the triumph of light...

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'Christmas Mubarak': For many South Asian Americans, the holiday is a cultural celebration

December 19, 2022

For the Hazrati family, Christmas Day typically includes a lit-up tree, gifts and a dal lunch. 

But after the wrapping paper remnants were cleared from around the tree, the Punjabi Sikh family living in Jersey City, New Jersey, didn’t always know what the rest of the day should entail for a family like theirs — so a few years ago, they started spending Christmas Day at the local gurdwara, a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs. 

With no extended family nearby nor religious service to attend, and lacking the colorful parades that would flood India’s...

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US court dismisses Hindutva group's defamation case against academic Audrey Truschke, four activists

December 21, 2022

A United States court on Tuesday dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by the Hindu American Foundation against four activists and academic Audrey Truschke for two articles published in news website Al Jazeera.

The court noted that it “cannot plausibly infer that any of their [Truschke and others] statements were made with actual malice”.

The US-based Hindutva advocacy group had filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on May 7 last year. Besides Truschke, it had sued Hindus for Human Rights co-founders Sunita...

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An 'old-school Hindu' takes on the future of climate

December 5, 2022

Nearly two decades ago, at the age of 21, Gopal Patel moved into an ashram on the banks of the River Ganges to study the Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism’s foundational Scriptures.

One of just a handful of Indian students at a “very racist” high school in England, he said, Patel, now 39, found comfort in the epic conversation between the sacred text’s warrior prince Arjuna and the god Krishna.

“It made me go into myself and try to discern who I was as a person, my identity and my cultural background,” Patel said. “By the time I finished reading it, I was like, ‘I want...

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Asian faiths try to save swastika symbol corrupted by Hitler

November 27, 2022

Sheetal Deo was shocked when she got a letter from her Queens apartment building’s co-op board calling her Diwali decoration “offensive” and demanding she take it down.

“My decoration said ‘Happy Diwali’ and had a swastika on it,” said Deo, a physician, who was celebrating the Hindu festival of lights.

The equilateral cross with its legs bent at right angles is a millennia-old sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism that represents peace and good fortune, and was also used widely by Indigenous people worldwide in a similar vein.

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