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Oklahoma Senate to open with Hindu prayer
 
Oklahoma State Senate in Oklahoma City will start its day with Hindu prayers on April 30, containing verses from world’s oldest existing scripture.
 
Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed will deliver the invocation from ancient Sanskrit scriptures before the Senate. After Sanskrit delivery, he then will read the English interpretation of the prayer. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of Indo-European languages.
 
Zed, who is the President of Universal Society of Hinduism, will recite from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use; besides lines from Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures. He plans to start and end the prayer with “Om”, the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.
 
Reciting from Brahadaranyakopanishad, Rajan Zed plans to say “Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya”, which he will then interpret as “Lead us from the unreal to the real, Lead us from darkness to light, and Lead us from death to immortality.” Reading from Bhagavad-Gita, he proposes to urge Senators to keep the welfare of others always in mind.
 
Zed is a global Hindu and interfaith leader. Bestowed with World Interfaith Leader Award; Zed is Senior Fellow and Religious Advisor to Foundation for Religious Diplomacy, Spiritual Advisor to National Association of Interchurch & Interfaith Families, on the Advisory Board of The Interfaith Peace Project, etc. He has been panelist for “On Faith”, a prestigious interactive conversation on religion produced by The Washington Post; and leads a weekly interfaith panel “Faith Forum” in a Gannett publication for over seven years.
 
Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about 1.1 billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. There are about three million Hindus in USA.
 
Mary Fallin and Todd Lamb are Governor and Lieutenant Governor respectively of Oklahoma, also known as Sooner State; while Mike Schulz is President Pro Tempore of Oklahoma Senate, which has 48 seats and whose history goes back to 1907.

Upset Hindus urge Italian brewery to withdraw Lord Ganesh Beer & apologize
 
Upset Hindus are urging Palmi (Reggio Calabria, Italy) based Baffo Craft Brewery to apologize and withdraw its Ganesh Craft Beer; calling it highly inappropriate.
 
Baffo’s Ganesh Craft Beer bottle carries an image of Hindu deity Lord Ganesh holding beer mug in one hand and a bottle in another.
 
Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or concepts or symbols for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees.
 
Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated that Lord Ganesh and was highly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be used in selling beer for mercantile greed. Moreover, linking a Hindu deity with an alcoholic beverage was very disrespectful, Zed added.
 
Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken frivolously. Symbols of any faith, larger or smaller, should not be mishandled, Rajan Zed noted.
 
In Hinduism, Lord Ganesh is worshipped as god of wisdom and remover of obstacles and is invoked before the beginning of any major undertaking.
 
Ganesh is decribed in the translated version of Baffo website as moderately strong with a soft body double malt amber-colored craft beer in English IPA style, which is fabulous with meat and excellent with cold cuts (Alcohol 5.8%, IBU 56, EBC 21). Vincenzo Barilà is depicted as the owner and brew master of Baffo Craft Brewery.
 
Palmi, described as an important cultural-agricultural-commercial center in the province of Reggio Calabria in Italy, overlooking the Violet coast, is an important seaside resort, which is affectionately called “terrace on the Strait of Messina.

Williams College in Massachusetts now has “Hindu Prayer Room”
 
Williams College, the second-oldest institution of higher learning in Massachusetts established in 1793, now has a Hindu Prayer Room.
 
Reverend Gary C. Caster, Catholic Chaplain at Williams, responding to an email of distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed which asked “Is there an exclusive Hindu prayer room in Williams College?”, wrote: “I hope you are pleased to learn that we do indeed have one.”
 
According to reports, this Hindu Prayer Room is located in the basement of Thompson Memorial Chapel and other student groups on the campus have also welcomed it. Vedanta Study Group at Williams had been reportedly meeting on Sundays. Interestingly, mascot of Williams is the Purple Cow.
 
Applauding Williams for provision of Hindu Prayer Room, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, in a statement in Nevada today, described it as a step in the positive direction. Zed commended Williams for recognizing the intersection of spirituality and education, which was important in Hinduism.
 
Rajan Zed urged all USA universities, colleges and residential schools; both public and private; to respond to the spiritual needs of diverse student body and provide permanent and dedicated Hindu prayer/meditation room for rituals, quiet reflection, festivals and spiritual exercise. It would help in the personal growth of Hindu students who were present in substantial numbers on various campuses. It was important to meet the spiritual needs of these students, Zed added.
 
Zed suggested that these Hindu prayer rooms should have an altar containing murtis (statues) of popular Hindu deities like Shiva, Vishnu, Rama, Krishna, Durga, Venkateshwara, Ganesha, Murugan, Saraswati, Hanuman, Lakshmi, Kali, etc.; besides being equipped with ghanta (big metallic bell hanging from the ceiling), dholak (two-headed hand-drum), Shiva-linga, etc. He or other Hindu scholars would be glad to help, if asked, regarding the structure of “Hindu Prayer Room”, Zed indicated.
 
Williams in Williamstown offers 40 majors and concentrations and has about 2084 students enrolled in its various graduate and undergraduate programs. Although the tuition is $55,140, but Williams claims to admit U.S. students “without regard to their ability to pay”. Maud S. Mandel is President-elect, while Michael R. Eisenson is Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
 
Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. There are about three million Hindus in USA.