A NOTE TO MY HINDU SISTERS AND BROTHERS
Hindus must look after their poor brethren, help educate them, provide health facilities and teach them the basics of their dharma if they are to preserve the integration of their vast society and prevent its perversion in conversion to Christianity and Islam. It will not do merely to revile those who convert or those who get converted but something positive must be done to make for the solidarity of our vast community of 1.1 billion people across the earth.
These are the action plans I propose to begin with :
1. Monks must preach the Sanatan Dharma in simple language to the people.
2. All artificial divisions of caste and creed must be given up from the minds of the educated.
3. Political parties that make malefic use of caste divisions or work against Hindu interests to secure votes must not be supported.
4. The poor must be looked after in every sense of the term. They must be given the dignity they deserve as human beings. They must be fed, educated and given proper health facilities. Only if we gain the sympathy of the vast body of our poor people may we stand up strong against the challenges thrown at us by Islam and Christianity.
5. The educated Hindu must attend the lectures of monks and study the scriptures.
6. Sanskrit should be reintroduced in the school and college curriculum as an essential language that must be studied. Besides this, all educated Hindus must find ways and means to study Sanskrit in their private capacity and help others to do the same.
7. All the sects with the broad framework of Hinduism must realise that their ideological infighting is weakening Hindu society and they all lose thereby. Hence, unite and put a common Hindu front against all proselytising inroads of Christianity and Islam.
8. Make sure that you devote your Sunday mornings or afternoons to visiting a Hindu holy place such as the Belur Math or a like place.
9. Follow the fundamental tenets of the Sanatan Dharma, be scientific and modern in outlook, do not give in to superstition but preserve the reverential attitude (shraddha) towards God, holy men and their teachings.
10. Support spiritual-philanthropic Hindu organisations like the Ramakrishna Mission, the Bharat Sevashram Sangha and the like who have established their credibility over a period of time, for they are the defenders of our dharma.
11. All Hindus must work in alignment with the other great dharma traditions that have emerged from our great country, Jainism, Buddhism and the like. Sikhism is a sect of Hinduism as such and, hence, it is being included within the vast body of the Hindu dharma itself.
12. Missionaries must travel throughout the world to preach the principles of our grand Sanatan Dharma. But they must be trained in the scriptures and must be living lights of wisdom and not charlatans who eventually bring a bad name to Hinduism.
13. Above all, each one of you, my Hindu sister and brother, be zealous about your dharma and spring to its defence. This itself is your great dharma requirement of the day.
I end my note here with a good cheer and a hope that you, my sisters and my brothers, will give it a good thought and adopt the aforesaid measures to the best of your ability and emerge rightful defenders of our dharma.
Thanking you,
I remain yours in Ramakrishna-Vivekananda,
Sugata Bose
Hindus must look after their poor brethren, help educate them, provide health facilities and teach them the basics of their dharma if they are to preserve the integration of their vast society and prevent its perversion in conversion to Christianity and Islam. It will not do merely to revile those who convert or those who get converted but something positive must be done to make for the solidarity of our vast community of 1.1 billion people across the earth.
These are the action plans I propose to begin with :
1. Monks must preach the Sanatan Dharma in simple language to the people.
2. All artificial divisions of caste and creed must be given up from the minds of the educated.
3. Political parties that make malefic use of caste divisions or work against Hindu interests to secure votes must not be supported.
4. The poor must be looked after in every sense of the term. They must be given the dignity they deserve as human beings. They must be fed, educated and given proper health facilities. Only if we gain the sympathy of the vast body of our poor people may we stand up strong against the challenges thrown at us by Islam and Christianity.
5. The educated Hindu must attend the lectures of monks and study the scriptures.
6. Sanskrit should be reintroduced in the school and college curriculum as an essential language that must be studied. Besides this, all educated Hindus must find ways and means to study Sanskrit in their private capacity and help others to do the same.
7. All the sects with the broad framework of Hinduism must realise that their ideological infighting is weakening Hindu society and they all lose thereby. Hence, unite and put a common Hindu front against all proselytising inroads of Christianity and Islam.
8. Make sure that you devote your Sunday mornings or afternoons to visiting a Hindu holy place such as the Belur Math or a like place.
9. Follow the fundamental tenets of the Sanatan Dharma, be scientific and modern in outlook, do not give in to superstition but preserve the reverential attitude (shraddha) towards God, holy men and their teachings.
10. Support spiritual-philanthropic Hindu organisations like the Ramakrishna Mission, the Bharat Sevashram Sangha and the like who have established their credibility over a period of time, for they are the defenders of our dharma.
11. All Hindus must work in alignment with the other great dharma traditions that have emerged from our great country, Jainism, Buddhism and the like. Sikhism is a sect of Hinduism as such and, hence, it is being included within the vast body of the Hindu dharma itself.
12. Missionaries must travel throughout the world to preach the principles of our grand Sanatan Dharma. But they must be trained in the scriptures and must be living lights of wisdom and not charlatans who eventually bring a bad name to Hinduism.
13. Above all, each one of you, my Hindu sister and brother, be zealous about your dharma and spring to its defence. This itself is your great dharma requirement of the day.
I end my note here with a good cheer and a hope that you, my sisters and my brothers, will give it a good thought and adopt the aforesaid measures to the best of your ability and emerge rightful defenders of our dharma.
Thanking you,
I remain yours in Ramakrishna-Vivekananda,
Sugata Bose
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