Subject: [world-vedic] Mother's Day, Hindu Style From: Vrn Parker Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 09:11:57 -0700 (PDT) To: vediculture@yahoogroups.com Mohan Gupta wrote: From: "Mohan Gupta" To: Subject: Unsatisfactory programs on Mother's Day Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 00:26:24 -0400 Mother’s Day and Father’s Day Mother's Day, Hindu Style http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/ 8629246.htm?1c PHILADELPHIA, USA, May 12, 2004: On Saturday, Savita Patel got the usual Mother's Day treatment from her three children: flowers, dinner and a gift certificate to a spa. Yesterday, Patel, a Langhorne resident who was born in India, was honored in a very different way. She, with 50 other mothers, was the focus of a Mathru puja - a prayer for mothers - at the Chinmaya Mission Tri-State Center, a Hindu temple in Langhorne. During the hour-long religious ceremony presided over by Swami Siddhananda, a Hindu teacher who lives at the temple, the children knelt in front of their mothers. They symbolically washed their mothers' feet with a sprinkle of water, gave them each a gold coin and fruit, and anointed their foreheads with a vermilion paste. The children bowed their heads to the floor in reverence and were in turn blessed by their mothers, who touched their foreheads with grains of rice that had been soaked in oil and turmeric, a ginger-like herb. There was candle lighting and a song chanted in Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language that the Hindu holy texts are written in. The ceremony was "a chance to show your mom how much you appreciate her, but in a more traditional way," said Savita Patel's daughter Amika, a senior at Neshaminy High School. "It's not just gift-giving." Her mother agreed. The other Mother's Day treats were welcome, she said, "but this is something extra-special to me." Members of the Langhorne temple, a converted house on Bridgetown Pike, said there was no exact equivalent to Mother's Day in India. Yesterday's ceremony was adapted by Swami Chinmayananda, the founder of Chinmaya Mission, from ceremonies that honor the Hindu gods. "Mother is next to the God" in importance, said Bensalem resident Ramesh Choksi, one of the board members of the mission. In Hindu prayer ceremonies, "usually, we invoke the Gods to the seat of honor and offer our respect," said Nagaraj, a temple member from King of Prussia who goes by one name. "In this case, we invoke the mother to the seat of honor and offer her our respect." The words in the Sanskrit chant that the children sang to their mothers bore out that sentiment: "By mother's blessings alone men become worshipful in this world and happy in the other world," it said in part. "He who sees God in his own mother, he alone sees Him everywhere as well." Hari Pillai, 21, a Drexel University student from Upper Darby, said that it was important to him, and especially to his mother, to add the religious element to Mother's Day. "You can say, 'Mom, have a good day,' but you can also pray for her, too," he said. "You need to connect with her more spiritually... it's adding Hinduism to make it more special." Malaysia Hindu Sangam Announces Hindu Dharmic Son and Hindu Dharmic Daughter Awards http://www.dharmicaward@hindusangam.org.my MALAYSIA, September 15, 2004: Datuk A. Vaithilingam, President of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam, spoke at a recent press conference to give more information on the Hindu Dharmic Son/Hindu Dharmic Daughter Award to be held on January 16, 2005. "This award is in our opinion, a very timely one, and we hope that this will go further in encouraging our youths to see that they care for their beloved aged parents. Of late, there is a trend of many youths after marriage of moving apart and away from their parents, sometimes even to the extent of sending their parents to homes for aged people," said Vaithilingam. "The Malaysia Hindu Sangam hopes that the Hindu Dharmic Award will highlight the fact that there are still many youths who have gone out of the way to look after their parents who had brought them up to a good life in this world through lots of sacrifices," he added. "Although we have the intention of awarding one Hindu Dharmic Son and one Hindu Dharmic Daughter Award, we wish to assure that there is a possibility to make more awards if it is proven that there are other equally able applicants," added Vaithilingam. Media and commercial people do not present Program about Mother’s Day satisfactorily All the Bharatiya media people present western point of view and western way of celebrating Mother’s Day. All western festivals including Mothers Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day have been created from commercial point of view. Getting delivered greetings cards, flowers, fruits, sweets, Pizza etc. is western way of celebrating a festival, which is purely commercialization. Even many western people do not appreciate or like such a concept or such a way of celebrating a function. All the Christian festivals like Mother’ Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day are based on two facts, spreading Christianity and Commercialism. These festivals have got no religious importance. The western society is based on selfishness where as Indian society earlier was based on sacrifice and care. Western people give respect and gifts to their parents on particular days of the year, and ignore and treat them like slaves for the rest of the year. Though philanthropy does not lack in western societies, there is hardly any respect for family system. Every second woman now days you can find divorced in western countries like US and Canada. Our Bharatiya youth is getting spoiled very fast due to western culture and western system. One western father living in Canada, due to this commercial aspect of western festivals, deprived his son millions of dollars of worth property and other assets. His wife has already died and he has only one son who lived in another city. His only son use to get delivered Pizza, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Flowers etc. instead of visiting him. He used to live only about one and hours drive away from his father, but at most of the time at festival occasions, he was busy with his own family and friends. The western father wanted his son’s personal presence, he wanted to talk to him, and he wanted that his son should pay him his personal respect. The western father was not short of money, nor was he expecting any favor or gift from anybody. At one Christian festival occasion he got so annoyed with his son that he deprived his son from his inheritance and made a new will, where he gave his all assets to a person who was looking after him. That man was not related to him. In Bharatiya concept, everyday is Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Valentine’s Day. On Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, media people should tell the audience to respect their parents throughout the year, look after them in their old age rather than putting them at the Old Age houses, do not use their parents as servants or Ayas for looking after their children. Saint Asha Ram Bapu in his one discourse says that in Hinduism one person wanted that the skin of his body be used for making the shoes for his mother. Without going into detail, I would like to say to media people. “Try to create good Sanskars in Bharatiya community rather than promoting western concept of everything, including English language. Also stop making or giving commercial aspect to festival by promoting delivery of commercial goods and do not confine yourself to related film songs concerning festival”. Like Soap operas Young and Restless, Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, you people can give lots of programs about Mothers Day, Fathers Day, by telling stories about Shravan Kumar and other episodes from the Hindu religious books and be quoting examples of daily life. Hindu religion can provide lots of material for creating respect for parents and other human beings. Many people desert their mothers in their old age on religious places in stead of looking after them in their old ages. Media people should broadcast such programs that inspire people to look after their parents in their old ages. Reasons why you do not want Indians especially Hindus ape the west and follow their cults!! 1. They always insult us saying that we worship false gods, devil worshippers, and we are in darkness. 2. They spit on our temples and gods and refuse to eat our temple Prasad!! 3. Western countries never gave validity even for Hindu marriages. 4. Western countries never celebrate our festivals and then why should we be so cheap to celebrate their festivals? 5. Whenever we have our festivals, Christians cook up their own festival so that they followers may not celebrate ours. So that the children may look after their parents in their old age and pay respect to them throughout their life, they should take the following steps: Helping You Celebrate Your Cultural Heritage http://www.MeeraPublications.com USA, February 11, 2005: Here are some suggestions from Meera Publications ("source") to give your child's birthday celebrations a Hindu touch: 1) Add "OM" or another Hindu symbol on the birthday cake along with Happy Birthday. 2) Light a lamp instead of blowing out candles. (Hindus symbolize lighting a lamp with a new life, a new beginning, or spreading knowledge. According to one source, blowing out candles was a purely commercial symbol introduced by the Kodak Company in order to have a "photo moment"). 3) During your next trip to India register your child's birthday in one of the temples of your choice. This will bring a special something - usually a bili patra or a flower as a Prasad - to your child on or around the birthday to mark the day. 4) Visit the temple on the birthday. If you can do this on every birthday, this small gesture will be ingrained in a child's memory forever. 5) Teach your child to take the blessings of the elders - parents included - in the family by touching their feet. If grandparents are away, have your child call them to seek their blessings. Of course, just like everything else in child rearing, this is much easier if you start when the child is young. Some of the other topics discussed in this newsletter are: Traits of a Happy Family; Vasant Panchmi - the spring festival and Book of the month. To subscribe to this free newsletter write to mail@meerapublications.com Quality of programs presented in Hindi services All the Christian festivals like Mother’ Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day are based on two facts, spreading Christianity and Commercialism, These festivals have got no religious importance. Valentine’s Day is a vulgar festival, which many Christians themselves say. On one Mother’s Day, one lady announcer of a world Hindi service of a foreign country on a program heard world wide said that her children took her to dinner and she has got good time. She gave the details of having her good time with her children. I would like to ask the lady announcer and the producer of international Hindi Radio program which is hard all over the world, is it the right way to present the program to Hindus, for whom every day of the year is mother’s Day, Father’s Day. The right way is broadcast some songs, which depict the importance of mothers in Hindi or go to some saints or ashrams and ask them what is the Hindu way of celebrating Mother’s Day. Another way is ask the general public, how they celebrated Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. Some people quit their lucrative jobs to look after their old parents. Go and interview such people. Every year thousands of old women are deserted by their children at religious places to die or beg. Go and interview such old ladies and ask them what they did wrong in bringing their children. Go and interview those people and organizations who, look after these deserted women. On Mother’s Day or Father’s Day give suggestions and advise to your listeners to look after their old parents so these people may be looked after in their old by their own children. This would be the right way of presenting Mother’s Day or Father’s Day to Hindus. Hindi media people are providing snake oil to their listeners, which are just like free drug to Hindi listeners, but the real purpose is to destroy Hindi language and Hindu culture.