| Dear All:
Thanks a lot to the forum moderators for encouraging this topic.
I look forward to more discussion of the critical issues facing Hindus, if not Hinduism itself, in the wake of the unfortunate Kanchi Sankaracharya episode. Hinduism will surely survive this episode.
I once had the good fortune of meeting and seeking the blessing of all the three seers of the Kanchi Mutt, when all three acharyas were reigning simultaneously. I also had the great fortune of meeting with the two present seers on two different occasions. The reverence they commanded was simply stunning.
However, I was shocked and pained by the manner in which Sri Jayendra Saraswati was arrested and jailed and held without bail by the Tamilnadu government. It was as if a part of me was gone forever. I even stopped reciting the Lalitha Sahastranamam, very dear to the Sri Sri Sri Chandrasekhara Saraswati, for a period of time, after that episode. I felt as if the Gods themselves had let us down.
How could this happen? Is there indeed justice left in this world? I felt deeply betrayed. But even more was the thought that the truth may be more bitter than the mere arrest of a seer.
Firstly then, what does this tell us about the separation of church and state, heldly dearly in most modern nations. Heads of states, including one currenet and two former Presidents of the US visited Pope John Paul II's funeral. Here Church and State were not separated; they were fused together in a Holy alliance. There are many issues that are of great concern to US catholics but the US government has never tried to step in and impose its will. When it tried to do, as in the Terry Schiavo case, it was soundly rebuffed by the US courts and the highest court of the land.
Do Hindus hold such principles dear? Is government meddling too much into Hindu religious affairs and places of worship? What can we do to forge a new path that cames through the next millennium? What indeed are some of the critical issues facing religion, especially Hinduism?
I can list many more questions that come to my mind but the foremost to me was the principle of separation of church and state. Let me stop here now. I look forward to you views on this and other points of interest and concern shared by Hindus across the globe. |
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Hinduism
