- Dr. BABU SUSEELAN (speech for GHHF annual cultural program on 12/6/2009 in NJ)

1. RISE OF SANATHANA DHARMA

Over the millennia Santhana Dharma has developed a universal, all inclusive and rational culture, which was not identified with any prophet or philosopher. Through a process of self-activation which involves perpetual innovation and periodic renovation, universal philosophy of Hinduism spread far and wide.

Hindu culture has spread from Persia to Bali with its magnificent philosophy, all inclusive life style and spiritual values. King Kanishka built temples in Afghanistan. The Hindu king Surya Varman built the largest Hindu temple in the world known as Angkor Vat. Sanathana Dharma spread  in all Asian countries including Indonesia, Java, Malaysia, Bali, Cambodia, Thailand, China, Sri Lanka and Singapore. The Pallavas, the Cholas, the Pandayas , the Nayaks and the Vigayanagar kings built magnificent Temples in South India. Several north Indian Hindu kingdoms were responsible for constructing famous temples in Bhubaneswar, Puri, Konarak, Orissa, Kashi, Mathura, Dwaraka, Manipur, Bengal and Kashmir. India became a splendor of the world with its opulence and vibrant community. Art, science, music, literature, and architecture have flourished.        

Since 8th century Islamic invaders have poured into India searching for wealth. Islamic fanatics have destroyed thousands of Hindu temples and plundered temple wealth from Afghanistan to Kerala. The fanatic Islamic invaders have destroyed our learning centers, cultural institutions and forcefully converted millions of Hindus under the Islamic sword. Islamic invaders forcefully ruled parts of India for hundreds of years. In spite of Hindu Temple destruction and forceful conversion of Hindus, our Santhana Dharma prevailed. Great Hindu reformers and our Bhakti movement were instrumental in retaining our spiritual tradition and spreading our Vedic Dharma in India and abroad. Today Hindu temples across the globe spread our cultural tradition, philosophy and values.

2. PAST GLORY AND PRESENT CRISIS

Ancient civilizations like the Sumerian, Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Hellenic culture had collapsed under the heavy onslaught of Islamic fanatics and Christian dogmatists. In spite of repeated Islamic invasion, Christian Colonialism and secular assault, Sanathana Dharma survived through its inclusiveness, openness and its capacity of self renewal and its built in resilience.

The natural wealth of India also attracted crusaders, invaders and plunderers from Europe. Some came as merchants and stayed on. Some came, conquered, plundered and left. The crusaders came one after another: the Portuguese, the Dutch, the French and finally the British. Starting as traders, they developed political ambitions and ruled India for long. They brought weapons, parochial western culture and language and planned for the de-construction of Hindu society. Christian colonialists have introduced educational and administrative system to produce westernized Indian coolies. They were successful in creating a class of intellectual zombies who were willing to perpetuate the discrimination against Hindus. With the help of converted Indians and brainwashed intellectuals, Christian colonialists have obscured, neglected and suppressed Hindu cultural expression.

How did Hindu civilization declined from its triumphal march to its present deplorable condition? Have there been fatal turns and losses of direction in our progress?

3. STUDY THE PAST.CARE FOR THE FUTURE

We cannot begin a discussion of the present context unless we review the rise and fall of Hindu civilization. At one time or another Sanathana Dharma dominated the foundations of ancient, medieval and modern thought system. Whether it is Philosophy, Metaphysics, Epistemology, Mathematics, Algebra, Physics, Astronomy, Ayurveda, Music, Literature or Poetry, our contributions cannot be ignored. Worlds most distinctive doctrines reveal the imprint of our Sages.

Our Rishis held that the universe reveals the workings, the development, the unfolding of the absolute (Brahman).  Our Vedas proclaimed the universe is spiritual. The explanation of human actions, human growth and development as well as changes in human behavior may be grasped once we recognize how they are imbedded in the Cosmos, how they are directed by the absolute, how we play our part in the worlds realization of the spirit.

The essence of Santhana Dharma is spiritual freedom. Hindutva is the ideology devoted to safeguarding this eternal spiritual freedom. Hinduism is not a creed, or blind faith like Christianity or Islam. It is not a closed, rigid, non compromising political dogma like Marxism but a code of conduct and a value system that has spiritual freedom as its core. The basis of Hinduism is not blind faith in a fictitious God residing up in the sky. The foundation of our eternal Sanathana Dharma is the quest for cosmic truth. Our Rishies tried to learn the truth about the universe, explored our place in the cosmos. They saw nature-living and non living things-as part of the same equation. The Vedic system is beyond time. It is eternal. Other religions are historical religions associated with individuals. These dogmatic religions are frozen in time.

4. LOOKING BACK

The plan for the destruction of our Sanathan Dharma is conceived and ordered and called out long time ago. Attempts have been made from time to time by Islamic invaders and Christian colonialists to impose their monolithic design on the multifarious manifestation of our Vedic ethos.

Even after independence, we have retained our secular leaders who were atheists, moral agnostics and those who were hostile to Hindutva. They moved the destructive plan created by Christian colonialists further. These smooth talking, phony secular political leaders ignored the brutal oppression, and brutal facts of history. They have deliberately ignored the aggressive impulses of the Islamists, Marxists and Missionaries and blamed Hindus.

In this context, I am reminded of the speech by Alexander Solzhenitsyn at Harvard University in 1978 with a speech entitled A World Split Apart. He characterized the current conflict for our planet as a physical and spiritual war that had already begun and could not be won without dealing with the forces of evil.
The real crisis Hindus face today is the conflict between spirituality and dogmatism. This is the root. It is a test of our Sanathana Dharma and our will to preserve it, practice it, protect it and promote it. The crisis of Hindus exists to the degree in which we are indifferent to our sacred values. The crisis is deepening because we are dazzled by the logic of the secular interpretation of sanathan Dharma, indifferent to political participation, and our incapacity to grasp the functioning of the atheists, communists, Jihadis, missionaries and secularists. Islamists, secularists, and Marxists and our westernized nemeses who rule India can be defeated if we show faith in our sacred Dharma, and act with courage, determination and conviction.

Marxists want the supremacy of the proletariat through class war, Islamists want Dar-Ul-Islam through Jihad war, and Missionaries want India controlled by the Church through coercive and deceptive conversion.

Now we have to face the challenges. Hinduism is now like a big fallen crippled elephant. A Hindu proverb says: When an Elephant is in trouble even a Frog will kick him. We have lost a major part of our East and west. Kashmir is gone, Nagaland is gone, Meghalaya, is gone. Kerala, the land of Sankaracharya, West Bengal the land of Chaithany Mahaprabhu, Prabhupath, Tagore, Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda is under the anti Hindu Marxist government. Missionaries and Jihadis have a field day in these states. Non Governmental missionary organizations with foreign money is tearing apart our cultural fabric and converting Hindus with impunity. Jihadi terrorists are roaming the country with guns and bombs without fear. Corrupt political leaders are looting millions from our treasury without any guilt or reservations. Law and order situation is in a mess. The schools, colleges and the media have a demoralizing effect on Hindus.                                                                    
This present scenario requires a continuing search for rebuilding and strengthening our Hindu community. The source of our strength is in our eternal Vedic Dharma. It is spiritual. It has no beginning, no end and no limitation and we shall triumph over those who enslaved us. We are guided by the open ended, all inclusive, eternal spiritual truths of our Sanathan Dharma.                                                                                                   
 
5. KNOW OUR ENEMIES

This victory cannot happen in a vacuum. We need to unite and stand up and must have the ability and will power to know our friends and enemies. We must know our opponents, who want to destroy us, dismantle our country, destroy our temples, and deconstruct our society. We must know the deviant amplifying Islamic ideology and the sinister plan of missionaries and the evil intent of our phony secularists. Once Hindus see this clearly, we can defeat the bigotry and despotism of islamo fascists, misguided policies of Marxists, anti Hindu games of secularists and dogmatism of Missionaries. These dangerous enemies must be exposed and opposed. We must work on to establish a Hindu Rashtra on the basis and principles of moral values, spiritual tradition on sanathana Dharma. We cannot regain our nation, practice our Dharma, free our temples, and promote our spiritual freedom if we always turn inward. If we are passive, indolent and apathetic and interested in relaxing in our own comforts and stop protecting our Dharma, evil will have its way.

There is a criminal axis exist in India against Hindutva. Instead of opposing the criminal axis, our leaders have fallen in love with our enemies. They try to appease our distracters and enemies with special privileges, Hajj subsidy, economic incentives, political rights and special status. Like an Ostrich, our phony, corrupt secular political leaders do not want to see anti Hindutva brigade destroying our country and they are unwilling to confront the enemy. Our moral agnostic political leaders and bogus liberal intellectuals have a difficult time seeing threatening moral issues clearly because most of them are moral relativists. They reject our Dharma, standards of good and bad, right and wrong. In their view, dogmatism of Islam is perfect, Jihad war is noble, coercive religious conversion is liberation, subversive activities of Maoists is acceptable social protest, illegal money making through Hawala and corruption is revenue enhancement, and terrorism is path to enlightenment. Our sadus and sages are primitive-phony secularists and mindless Marxists are modern. Jihadi terrorists and people war groups are freedom fighters. Mullahs and Missionaries are social reformers and peace makers. Seva Bharathi, Mata Amritananda Mai, Sankaracharya, VHP and RSS are communalists. Those who blow up Hindu temples and murdering Hindus are fighting for justice. Love Jihadis are real lovers exercising their freedom. The Hindu victims of terrorism are seen as causes of the problem. Criminals who destroy our sacred temples and steal our deities, Jihadi terrorists who torch our trains and buses and mercilessly kill Hindus are seen as innocent and exploited.  The immoral secular political leaders believe that heinous anti Hindu acts must be blamed on Hindu society or psychological and economic circumstances.

6. BREAK THE EXCUSE INDUSTRY AND DESTROY THE WALL OF DENIAL

India is the only country in the world where anti Hindu criminals and Jihadi terrorists are glorified and Hindu victims are demoralized. We need to identify our enemies, make distinction between friend and foe, right and wrong, good and bad. We need to move away from moral relativism to moral absolutism. Evil facing Hindus is real and it must be confronted. Indifference, denial, apathy, compromise and tolerance are not reasonable alternative. Our corrupt political elite are busy churning out excuses for Hindu temple take over, looting of temple wealth, confiscating temple land and denying our rights. They coddle our enemies, instead of confronting them, they feed them.  Indias anti Hindu forces advancing politically in accordance with their proclaimed intentions, with the help of enemies within.

7. THE LIMITS OF TOLERANCE

Our extraordinary preoccupation with tolerance encourages secular political leaders to peddle self-deception and self-delusion as realistic. Indias leftist intellectuals, Islamized media, and alienated academicians seek refuge in irrational tolerance as a recipe for moral uncertainty.

Our God Sri Krishna and Sri Rama did not tolerate or negotiate with Asuras. They did not sweet-talk with them, nor did they compromise with them. Our inept politicians see moral issues in shades of gray. In their twisted minds, Hind organizations provoke Jihadis for committing homicide bombing and torching trains.
To ensure our future, we should realize the perils of tolerance. In the name of tolerance, we should not allow Jihadi terrorists, communist fascists and bogus secularists to impose their intolerant ideology on our throat. Its time to realize the limits of tolerance and move away from moral paralysis. When we think of the attitude shift necessary to regain our strength, we should remember the message of Voltaire We must cultivate the spirit of tolerance in our hearts, but we should not allow the policy of toleration to be exploited and abused by fanatical sectarian groups which are subversive political movements in ecclesiastical disguise.

8. ALL RELIGIONS ARE NOT THE SAME

Some Swamijis and mindless political leaders spread the message that all religions are the same. They frequently quote the Vedic verse (Rig Veda 1.164.46)  Ekam Sad Viprah Bahudha Vadanti (It is one existence that the wise ones speak of diverse ways).The full Mantra reads as follows:

Indram Mitram Varuna Agnim Ahu,

Atho Divya Sah Suparnah Garutman,

Ekam Sad Viprah Bahudha Vadanti,

Agnim  Yamam Matatishvanam Ahu.

(They hail it as Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni; also as that divine and noble-winged Garutman, It is of one Existence that the wise ones speak in diverse ways: whether as Agni or Yama or Mata Rishhvan).

Misguided secular politicians and mindless Universalists quote only one-fourth and not the full mantra. The frivolous misquote of the pseudo cultural elites are destructive existentially and psychologically.

 The excuse industry in India is real and powerful. The excuse industry promoting mindless universalism has destroyed individual responsibility, destroyed critical thinking and made citizens into passive zombies. They dont want to see the moral decay caused by Islamo fascists, Marxists, phony secularists and Missionaries.

The banality of the bogus secularists and excuse industry want to shackle Hindus permanently. They prevent Hindus from gaining freedom from the shackles of slavery.

Colonial administrators have produced as many experts as the field of Hindutva. These mindless experts claiming special knowledge of our country and Vedic Dharma have roused so much controversy and misdirected Hindus with meaningless political ideology of all religions are the same, tolerance is a positive virtue, and compromise with enemies is a noble gesture, Ahimsa Paramo Dharma, and bogus secularism. They misinterpreted these concepts for defeating and subjugating Hindus. Indian leaders were brainwashed and use these concepts in reasoning, decision making, concept formation, and so forth. This distorted cognitive process has entered into the behavior of common man. If we ever to come to grips with the seeming illogic of our corrupt secularism and oppression of Hindus, we must first to come to terms with the various illogic of such cognitive distortions.

And now, Hindus are awakening, and many of us are aware of our weakness. This secular way of thinking, which was imposed on us did not help us to admit the existence of evil elements among us nor did it help Hindus see any higher task than the attainment of personal happiness. Hindus lost interest in identifying or confronting enemies to protect our limb and liberty. Hindus were hypnotized to believe that spirituality and dogmatism could peacefully coexist. Islamic fundamentalists and dogmatic missionaries had nothing but contempt for our all embracing, comprehensive value system or our concept of vasudevakudumbakham .

9. RECALIBERATING OUR SOCIAL COMPASS: THE ROAD AHEAD

Our battle is between spiritual freedoms and closed, rigid, reductionist political dogmas paraded as religions under ecclesiastical disguises. Our fight is between darkness and light.

Swami Vivekananda reminded us Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life-think of it, dream of it, live on idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body fill that idea, and just leave every other ideas alone. This is the way to success.

Hindus should realize that there could be no substitute for victory and political power. Even today Hindus have no political clout. It is a mistake to think that the intellectual movement to achieve Hindu unity and implement an action plan is without difficulties. There is no shortcut to achieve our objectives.  Hindutva is our permanent fuel and ideological powerhouse. If Hindu consciousness is awakened, Hindu unity is possible.

Hindus need to change. Change has considerable impact on the human mind. To be fearful of goal directed political activism is threatening our survival because it means things may get worse. Hindus have to identify challenges and act with assertive confidence because it makes things better.

10. A BLUEPRINT FOR HINDU ACTIVISM

Ignoring our enemies, refusal to confront our hangmen and deadly mind viruses can lead to our demise. Hinduism is blessed with abstract and functional concepts for building personal, family and community life. What we lack is strategies and action plan for preserving, practicing, and promoting our Dharma.

What we need is a new paradigma new vision of reality; a fundamental change in our thoughts, perception and values (FRITJOF CAPRA, The Turning Point, Bantam, 1984)

Indian political system is corrupt, discriminatory and oppressive to Hindus. Hindus are bewildered, perplexed and confused under the muscle power of Islamists, missionaries, mind manipulators and psychological warfare experts. Psychological manipulation and political oppression of Hindus made them lose much of their drive and sense of urgency for a new mission and political activism Hindus should have. Hindus must become active, assertive, and must change their passive attitude, increase commitment, and behaviors as well as improve their competencies. Hindus have to shed their long entrenched ineffective culture of pacifism, tolerance, indifference and apathy. We have to replace it with a culture of political activism, social participation, community involvement, and assertiveness. ..

11. CREATING ACTIVIST HINDUS

To respond more effectively to emerging conditions whether it is love jihad, deceptive religious conversion, political corruption or evil design for taking over temples, Hindus need to get out of the frozen mindset and act. The frozen, outdated appeasement culture and the self-absorbed mindset and lack of understanding on the political reality are suicidal. Activism will allow responding swiftly and finding ways to take effective goal directed action.

Hindus are known for risk aversion, apathy, indifference, irrational tolerance and delusional adjustment with adversaries. Hindu groups should not show aversion for risk taking, breakthrough ideas, critical thinking, and self-initiative against mind manipulators, mindless anti Hindu media, jihadis, conversion mafia and corrupt anti Hindu politicians. Hindu temples should also be used in educating Hindus on the sacred Vedic philosophy. Changing Hindus belief, behaviors, commitment and values is a paramount goal for changing passive Hindus into active Hindus. Without this change in attitude and behaviors, our goals cannot be achieved.

Many Hindus are not just comfortable in letting go of the status quo. The status quo is not conducive for Hindus because the pseudo secular politicians, Islamo fascists and the conversion gang will use their power and authority to keep their turf and privileges. Hindu empowerment process is not a onetime program with definitive end point; we should not shelve it away until we reach for our goal: that is HINDU RASHTRA.

We have an immense opportunity, responsibility to generate new knowledge and strategies and action plan based upon a rigorous and disciplined assessment of our present psycho-social- political situation. Then, we can provide a better future for all Hindus.

Swami Vivekananda said No great work can be done without sacrifice. The Purusha himself sacrificed to create the world. Lay down your comforts, your pleasures, your names, fame or position-nay even lives. Make a bridge of human chains over which millions will cross this ocean of life. Bring all the forces of life of good together. Do not care what banner you march. Do not care what be your colorgreen, blue, or red-But mix all the colors up, and produce that intense flow of white, the color of love. Ours is to work. The results will take care of themselves

Swami Vivekanandas clarion call is still relevant today Practice of Hindu Dharma will unite the divided self of man, societies and nations. Hinduism will reestablish man in his rightful position and encourage to him to exert for attaining divine heights of his latent personality.