*
I accept all religions that were in the past, and worship with them all; I worship God with every one of them, in whatever form they
worship Him. I shall go to the mosque of the Muslim; I shall enter the Christians church and kneel before the crucifix; I shall enter the
Buddhistic temple, where I shall take refuge in Buddha and in his Law; I shall go into the forest and sit down in meditation with the
Hindu, who is trying to see the Light which enlightens the heart of everyone... Always look within, never without. Such is the God
that Vedanta preaches, and such is His worship. - Swami Vivekananda
Ekam Sat Viprah ahudhaVadanti
(Truth is Onet, Paths are Man y)
What is Hinduism?
Hinduism is one of the world's oldest surviving
religions. Hinduism does not date from a priua
point in time, and has no particular founder I '~i~
upon the wisdom and spiritual experiences of a Lrqe..:
number of sages, saints, and seers. It is essentiallya) a
of life, known in Sanskrit as Sanatana Dharma (Eternal or
Universal Righteousness). There:is ~n estimated
population of almost i ik indus<E toay:: primrily
residing in tnda but dipersed a l over te wormd as weil,.
Hydimecopse ariouss choalsf re s...:ou
psp~ y I.cno ~ r p~nt d b salt surce o
religious tkraitionand Uah : re s e the
philosphy upo h ch attra d itin:S> I::::, ::.:.....
containd withn the r Hnuep1cof the
Mahabharata nd amay a4te teachings and
allegories that. many Hinds beieve in.
What are the aims of Hinduism?
There are four life goals associated with Hinduism.. :
They are dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth), ,k,.ma'<
(pleasure), and moksha (salvation). Dharma ptov(de
moral and ethical guidance for accomishngmaera
and spiritual goals and for thie gro f e r id f
and society. Artha is not an enin itself, but amean to
raise a family, maintain a householdand cre f Or
one's dependents. Karna efrto the uflfnrtn
moderation) of one's desIr s, pS.On ,~r~ mtiosns
ao sha can best be explaine a the ultimate goal-..
°bean of the soul from the bndage of te ehand
c, liitations of the finite bod. To Hindus r , This also.:;:.
me D nt- cliberation from the cycle.of birth::.::..:.....
W34hat are the means of attaining
these goals?
Hinduism hs§::outlined four basic paths to moksha
(salvat onll.. These are known as the four yogas, and are
desighled to be fco-Owe~according to individual
strengths andinclinatiois ama yoga (yoga of action)
is the path of lifless servicc fr T:h elfare::Qf mankind,
Bhakti yoga i tepal cofe ledvi woship,
Passag hsrmthe lBhagavad (iita
Thy ju ridicion is in action alone;
Never it he faits at any\, time,
Never shold thefuisof action t Ie thy motive,
.n tien~ds that knowedge in the self. :....
Oehould pifhe pelf bythe self;
Oneshul not de-grade the seW :.
Tuth self rlne canea rend t he self,
Afc th secf aI'one can be an enemy to the self. (6.5)
Fith is in acQordance
With the. true nature of each,
Man is made of faith.
Wha !tetver faith he has, thus he is. (XVI,3)
Reflections
Te !Kural, Truvalluvar
It is compassion. thermost gracious of virtueswhk
moves the world. 57 1)..
Those who d esi, e fame with honor wil l not sacrifc
hono;r for fame . 4 X6 f
Aiil virtues are said to be natura to those who acqire >
character as a dut. 9 i
The W .i of Kitngs.
Ifyufeel satisfied with-yor accompi lishments <<te
reflecting upon your methods, you have achieved the;::
highet succss.
People of Wisdom and char acter are devoted to action.
People without strength and eonviction depend on
dest hy.Prcsp r' , forsakes those who rely on destiny
ad favors those who act.
Ouyt f and others i$ the principle concern, not
pcrsorla! gin. Act for the benlefit of all.
The history of the world is the history of a few people
who had faith in themselves. That faith calls out the
divinity within. You can do anything.
This life is short, the vanities of the world are transient,
btthey alone live who live for others, the rest are more
iead than alive.
Reiion is not in doctrines, in dogmas, nor in intellectual
a *rgumentation; it is being and becoming; it is realization
No: 0w :e ~ ~ilr; hr 1 osuch thing as failure in
theunvere hudrd tme ma wll hurt himself, a
realze tat h is one ithilod
The 0.5t s r Hk nt~ du contri.ut .: .t:p ::i ::.:,.
pR1hcihy has been the doctrine ot n rl1rice6
.11 M di- .-ppibd the Hindu concept of.: .i:.' :.:::::.:::
: ; : rgtrnsformed it into apeactfI m i1
> f empoweent and political self-determ.nat~
The irstprciple of non-violence is that 6f no......-.
evryhig f espeand honor cannot be proteced b others,
.Theyre for each individual himself or herself togrd
nehato speak out and stand up for oco nvictios
In ation at a time of conflagration is. inexcuablc,
No government on earth can make pole who hae
rliz: .freedom in their head:- slUte, inst teir wll
God wh issitin9in he ears f allhe :red, hite,
yelfw, liv ad blac ppls:f tewrd
The ear ~td esenc oftheIndianexperience isto
be fondin:a onsantThtitin f the unity of life, and
the instincrveandiqea-iabe conviction that the
recognition of this unity is the highest good and the
uttermost freedom .. .If it be asked what inner riches*
India brings to aid in the realization of a civilization of
the world, then, from the Indian standpoint, the answer
must be found in her religions and her philosophy,
and her constant application of abstract theory to
practical life.
Swami Vivekananda
.a
0I
reverence, self surende rand adoration ofyGod:. Jnana arb
yoais the intellectualpa A naVling. the destrdnof SyaalBb
ignorance by conteml :t~r ofh.a o~i et the diffrks faiths Eit, let them flourish and let the
scientific ad yteatcpt hh;. le:.n ospr goyo o esn in all the languages and in a
consciousness. These paths arenot:duse .banye ftue.That should be the Ideal. Respect the
mean, bt ae mrel inendd *o gve veue or<ifr r::c btween tefih and recognize them as
different personalities and preferences. _...valid as long as they do not extinguish the flame of unity.
0l
Thank you for your contribution and support.
IDe wesh Agarwal
DiInesh Agarwal
5ar ;ayBaliga
Cht-andan Bandopadhyay
Ka n chan and Hlaimanti B anerjee
Dee:pak hakta
Hectal Bhakta
B'hart! Family
Prashanth IBhatt
Shalini Chandra
Deshmukh Family
Su.nir Garg
Anupam Goel
Ratm and Pushpa Goswamni
Z. G4.vindarajulu
Kameshwar and Pushpalata Gupta
L.C. and Alankar Gupta
Parul Gupta
Priyanka Gupta
Rashmi Gupta
Samir Gupta
Uma Hariharan
April Hilger
Siva Hota
Ruchi Jajoo
Kalavar Family
Srikant Kondapaneni
Atri Lachman
Jwalant Lakhia
Mukesh Mangla
Swarna Manian
Ravi Marur
Mihir Meghani
Soumya Mahan
Srikanta Mcookerjee
Nikesh Munidra
Venkatesh Murthy
Sudhir Nagaraja
Nagaraju Family
Sunita Palakodeti
Bhavik Patel
Divyesh Pade
Maganbhai and Surekhaben Paed
Sangeeta Patel
Kamlesh and Deepika Parekh
Ashok and Shakuntala Parikh
Viraj Parikh
Deepa Prahalad
Surender Purohit
Vivek Rajagopal
Samir Rajan
Radha Rao
Kedar Raut
Saloni Raval
Mohar Ray
Punami Sachdev
Diganta Saha
Ajay Sanan
Pramod Sanghi
Shatul Shah
Sheetal Shah
Vishal Shah
Raj Vardhan Singh
Latha Ravi and Ravi Somasundaram
Alpa Soni
Mukesh and Purnima Soni
Neeta Soni
Ramesh and Saroj Soni
Sandip and Dimple Soni
Sneha Soni
Sandhya Srinivasan
Mahesh Subramaniam
Yogesh and Hemalata Trivedi
Muneesh Tewari
A. Vallabhanath
Michelle Vallabhanath
Panil Vashi
Kris Vezner
Naresh Vyas
Subhash Vyas
i
Schedule of Events
1000 -1 0* 0 Introduction & invocation
1010 -025 Welcome and Blessings
Sri f om Patel
Conference Chairman
1 0 25 1 0,55 Keynote Address
Prof Ralph Williams
English Dept.
I1055 =11 25 Dr David Frawley
American Institute for Vedic Studies
1 125-1 1 55 Elder George Martin
Native American Spiritual Elder
1 205 1 250 Discussion Session I
Group A- Science and Spirituality
Group B Nature, Environment, and Spirituality
1250- 220 Lunch Break
Sponsored by:
Hindu Students council
presents
74 1$ Akzece G £ku~t&ow
?w&4 ~ct O me, Aar& aye w
March 19, 1994 10 am -5 pm
Michigan Union - Kuenzel Room
Free Admission
Hindu Students Council
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Chapter
Supportingi Organizations:
I