Yoga's "Father in the West" Still Defining Our Spirituality and Celebrity 100 Years Later

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UNITED STATES, September 16, 2020 (RNS by Tara I. Burton): One hundred years ago on Sept. 19, the Indian yogi and guru Paramahansa Yogananda arrived in Boston as the Indian delegate for the Unitarian Conference of Religious Liberals. Yogananda's arrival, along with an earlier visit by another Indian teacher, Swami Vivekananda, began yoga's rise on these shores into a major industry, as well as one of the most significant examples of syncretism -- a religious and cultural mashup -- in the history of the West. Yogananda's contribution to the growing diversity of America's religious landscape in the 20th century was to adapt yoga's poses for an American audience. But his deeper influence was to pioneer a vision of wellness in which spirituality and self-help converge.



His Self-Realization Fellowship eventually offered as many as 800 temples, ashrams and retreats in 60 countries. Its blend of traditional Hindu practice with the American self-help culture resulted in the flowering of earlier movements such as transcendentalism and New Thought. Humankind's goal was "knowing in all parts of body, mind, and soul," he wrote, "that you are now in possession of the kingdom of God; that you do not have to pray that it will come to you; that God's omnipresence is your omnipresence; and that all you need to do is improve your knowing." A century on, Yogananda's project of self-realization, this vision of a unifying spiritual force, is more powerful than ever. Indeed, as more and more Americans join the ranks of religiously unaffiliated, or spiritually remixed, it might be our new civil religion.



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Hinduism Today's Latest History Music Video Published:

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KAUAI, HAWAII, September 18, 2020: "Six Key Hindu Concepts," just published at "source" above, is the thirteenth song in Hinduism Today's History of Hindu India Music Video series. It is a song for children intended to complement the fifth chapter of our popular History of Hindu India documentaries, "21st Century India." The documentaries and songs neatly supplement the study of India and the Hindu religion in American middle schools. This music video covers six key Hindu concepts that have influenced the world: religious tolerance; God's presence in everyone and everything at all times; ahimsa, nonviolence; profound reverence for the Earth; the law of karma or cause and effect; the goal of life is spiritual liberation.

Daily Inspiration

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The atman in you is that which indwells all things." "Tell me, Yajnavalkya, about this atman that indwells all things." "It is that which transcends hunger and thirst, sorrow and delusion, old age and death."

-- Brihadaranyaka Upanishad III, 5A Restoration of Centuries-Old Raghunath Temple in Srinagar Begins Almost 3 Decades After Terrorists Vandalized and Burnt It Down

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JAMMU/KASHMIR, September 12, 2020 (Opindia): A year after the effective abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A and the administrative reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir, the government has decided to restore the lost glory of the centuries-old heritage shrine -- Raghunath Temple situated near Fateh Kadal in the heart of Srinagar city, reported the Hindi daily, Jagran. The renovation work of the temple has been entrusted to the State Tourism Department. Along with the temple, the ghats of river Jhelum will also be beautified. This long-pending decision has lifted the mood of the Kashmiri Hindus in the valley who have remained devoid and oppressed for years due to adverse circumstances, created by radical Islamists, which also compelled many Hindu families to migrate from Kashmir.



The historic temple which was one of the most revered by Hindus was vandalized and burnt down by Islamic terrorists in the early 1990s -- the time when the valley witnessed mass genocide and exodus of Kashmiri Hindus at the hands of the blood-thirsty Islamic terrorists who were ready to do anything to convert Kashmir into an Islamic state. Raghunath Temple which is dedicated to Lord Ram is one of the most revered temples in the valley. The temple was constructed by Maharaja Gulab Singh who was the founder of the kingdom of Jammu & Kashmir and the work on the temple began in the year 1835. After his death, the work was completed by Maharaja Gulab Singh's son, Maharaja Ranbir Singh in 1860. The main temple's inner wall was covered with gold sheet on the three sides of the temple.



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Daily Inspiration

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When culture is flooding out of the temple, our actions are productive and our minds are creative, our speech is pure, our hearts rejoice and we become good citizens. Religion makes us good citizens, because we are peaceful inside and want peace in our land. Peace comes first from the individual. It is unrealistic to expect peace from our neighbors unless we are peaceful first, unless we make ourselves peaceful through right living, right worship and right religious culture in the home.

-- Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of Hinduism Today