C'da, I know news items like these are rather hard to digest:-)
Honestly, IMHO, I think the whole thing is a bit over the top. Hinduism (or any other religion) does not and should not need an MIT or the White House to give its blessings. I don't think it served any purpose (for Hinduism or MIT) - except maybe to cause some discomfort to the Hindu/India bashers:-) --Ram On 6/12/05, Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > At 6:34 PM -0500 6/11/05, Ram Sarangapani wrote: > Here is some interesting bit of news from the halls of MIT. Hope itdoesn't > gag those netters who find everything wrong with India orHinduism. > > *** That was very timely. > > You really delivered a 'jen-kukur-ten-tangwn' wham to these ne'er-do-good > anti_indian, hindu-bashers. Making them gag in their own bilious blabber is > too kind a treatment for them and who deserve much worse. > > I mean just look at it, even MIT has, at long last, incorporated Hindu > chants > in their convocation invocations, thus purifying, in one fell swoop, all the > sins of commission and omission of the Hindu, something that even a deep > steep in the Ganga could not do. > > Time for all good Hindus of the world to rise and rejoice and for the > hindu-bashers to, at the very least, take a bow, if not offer a > 'xastange-pronipaat' with appropriate 'dokkhina' to the Brahman so they too > can reach Brahman. > > C-da :-) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Nevertheless hope y'all enjoy it. > --Ram______________________________________Issue Date: > Sunday, June 12, 2005Shanti, shanti rings out in MIT K.P. NAYAR Washington, > June 11: Five years after a Hindu priest gave the openingprayer on Capitol > Hill for the first time in the history of the USCongress, the Massachusetts > Institute of Technology (MIT) has followedsuit. > The 139th commencement ceremony of MIT, which has produced 59 NobelPrize > winners in all, began this year with an invocation in Sanskritand English. > "May we come together for a common purpose. Common be ourprayer, common our > goal," prayed Swami Tyagananda. > "May the one and the same Divine Reality lead us. May we be grantedclear > understanding and the courage to pursue the goals of socialjustice, > non-violence, harmony and peace." > The swami, who belongs to the Ramakrishna order and heads its Bostonbranch, > is MIT's Hindu chaplain. He has been in Boston since 1998,assigned to the > Vedanta Society there. > The presence of Swami Tyagananda apart, India was all over theceremony, > reflecting the dominant presence of Indian and IndianAmerican students at > prestigious US educational institutions. Amongthe speakers was Barun Singh, > president of the Graduate StudentCouncil, who saluted the Class of 2005. > "We celebrate the hope and promise of times to come in the world weall > share. You have demonstrated the ability to reason. Be open tounconventional > solutions. Keep alive your passion and drive. The worldneeds this, and it > waits for you," Singh said. > The president of the senior class presented MIT's president, SusanHockfield, > with a senior class gift - $31,000 this year - for a newstudent lounge. The > senior class president's name is Rohit Gupta. > Senior class gift is a tradition at MIT. Since 1935, they have so farraised > $138.56 million for MIT. > An Indian American from California, Sandhya Sitaraman, a brain andcognitive > sciences major, was among those graduating this year. Shewas a resident > academic adviser for three years at MIT's women's dorm,McCormick Hall. > "When I was accepted to MIT, many boys were surprised that a girlcould get > accepted to this institution," Sitaraman said. "My fouryears here have been > absolutely wonderful in terms of helping me growas an individual, and I > leave this place with many fond memories." > MIT said in a press release that the invocation in Sanskrit andEnglish > "reflected the large international crowd's spirit of unity andgoodwill" at > the commencement ceremony of this venerable institution. > Reflecting the diversity of the occasion, the chaplain said in hisprayer: > "May the one and the same Divine Reality who is the Father inheaven of the > Christians, Holy One of the Jewish faith, Allah of theMuslims, Buddha of the > Buddhists, Dao of the Chinese faith, AhuraMazda of the Zoroastrians, The > Great Spirit of the Native Americansand Brahman of the Hindus, lead us from > ignorance to knowledge, fromdarkness to light, from death to immortality." > He began his invocation with a quote from Swami Vivekananda thatsuited the > occasion: "Education is the manifestation of the perfectionalready within > us." He concluded with the chant, shanti, shanti,shanti. > The opening prayer at the US Congress by a Hindu priest in 2000 was onthe > occasion of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's > visit.Venkatachalpathi Samuldrala, a priest from the Shiva Vishnu > Hindutemple in Parma, Ohio, was brought to Capitol Hill at the initiativeof > Sherrod Brown, a Congressman from Ohio. > During this year's Commencement ceremony, 1,094 MIT students > receivedbachelor's degrees, 1,078 received master's degrees, 257 > gotdoctorates and 12 students were given engineering degrees, accordingto an > MIT press release. > _______________________________________________ > Assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam > > Mailing list FAQ: > http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/assam/assam-faq.html > To unsubscribe or change options: > http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam > > _______________________________________________ Assam mailing list [email protected] http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam Mailing list FAQ: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/assam/assam-faq.html To unsubscribe or change options: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam
