FIRST MEETING OF HINDUS OF SPAIN

HINDUISM HAS ITS NATIONAL
MEETING IN MADRID, SPAIN

www.elfarodigital.es - Madrid, Spain. The priest Juan Carlos Ramchandani, of Ceuta, successfully concluded participation in the first meeting of Hindus of Spain last month in Madrid, where he served as coordinator. The conference, one of the great aspirations of the community in recent years, benefited from presentations and panel discussions by leading personalities of that religious denomination in Spain.
The meeting of the various schools of Hinduism took place in the Jhulelal Temple, which selflessly lent its facilities for the two-day event. A commemorative poster, with text in Castilian and Sanskrit, was created for the event by the artist Hari Chaitanya. The program began with a puja (ritual) to welcome the participants and the Mangalacharan, an invocation with recitation of mantras to favor an auspicious beginning.

Then, it was Ramchandani who opened the meeting with a presentation on the state of Hinduism in Spain, and called on other groups to seek unity in diversity. Among the speakers was the writer and editor Alvaro Enterria, resident in India for 30 years, whose exposure to Orthodox Hinduism and integration of foreigners mainly revolved around his personal experience as a Hindu believer of Western origin in that country.
The monk and scholar Swami Satyananda spoke about teaching the Hindu tradition in a world that doesn't value spiritual life and a return to the fundamental principles of Vedic cultural heritage. Philosopher and teacher of Yoga, Oscar Montero, Swami Omkarananda, from the Sivananda Mandir Hindu Temple of Valencia, and doctor of philosophy and writer Javier Ruiz Calderon also were among the speakers.

Last June was held in Madrid the First Meeting of Hindus of Spain. It was by invitation only for those very committed to Hinduism in Spain, and next year they are planning a congress open to the general public. The audience was made up entirely of Hindu practitioners of one of the four main schools. The following topics were discussed: What is Hinduism?, Who is a Hindu?, Hinduism and media and interreligious dialogue Hinduism and Hinduism and academics, among others. Among the guests were personalities of great erudition, as the founding director of the Purusa, Pedro Soto. There was also time for silent meditation, for an arati (worship ceremony) and also a kirtan (devotional music). Hinduism is more than a religion, but a way of life.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Hinduism is pluralistic. In other words, it does not claim any one prophet or savior; it includes all aspects of God; it does not subscribe to any one philosophy or dogma; it includes various schools of thought and ways of understanding spiritual Truth; it includes a variety of religious rites or sacraments; it does not exclude any particular scripture that can help a person understand more about God and spiritual Truth; and it does not say that you have only one life in which to become spiritually perfect or you will go to eternal damnation. Thus, Vedic philosophy is more of a way of living and an outlook on life than a religion. Because of this, Hinduism and the path of Vedic culture includes a variety of customs, ideas, and philosophies.

Dr Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
“Vedic Culture / Hinduism: A Short Introduction”
“What is Vedic Culture / Hinduism”
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/books_by_stephen_knapp.htm
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/vedic_culture_hinduism_a_short_introduction.htm

Published by dasavatara das - “Vedic Views on World News”
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/