Arya Prathinidhi Sabha Amercia held the 23^rd Arya Maha Sammelan in Markham, Ontario, Canada on 1^st August, 2013.  The theme for this year was “Role of Arya Samaj in the Modern World.”  Several local and international Vidthvans, dignitaries, samaj representatives and youths spoke related to the theme. I was given the task to summarize the sessions. Before I begin, I just wanted to clarify one thing. The speakers had 20 minutes (just long enough for a summary) to talk on preselected topic and they also published their speech in the wonderful souvenir book, which was published on this occasion. So how can you summarize something that the speaker himself had already summarized? I hope you don’t read this article as a summary. This article simply captures few words, phrases, statements and sentences that keep bouncing on the wall of my mind, which then leads my curious mind to either read the speaker’s article or start researching further to satisfy the hunger to know more. I hope this article raises the same curiosity for you as it does for me.

 

Let us begin with the question; what is the role of Arya Samaj in the modern world? Everyone from the keynote speakers, Acharya Gyaneshwarji & Dr Devbala, to the youth speakers unanimously answered this question, the role of Arya Samaj in today’s world is to first become an Arya – the noble one. Swami Dayanand Saraswati gave us the slogan “Krinvanto Vishvam Aryam”, make the whole universe noble. But this dream cannot be achieved unless we first become an Arya. This was the primary focus of every speaker and along with that they gave us the Vedic view on how to become an Arya, so that we can achieve the goal to make the whole universe noble. There were discussions on how to retain and promote our ancient yet practical cultural values (sanskars and sanskriti) in present and future generations.

 

The day started with yoga-sadhana and yagna.  Gyaneshwarji and Surya Nandaji reminded us Havan and Sandhya are not merely rituals, which they seem to have become today. Yajna teaches us to embrace the qualities of fire - light, motion and heat. In life one needs to be:

·         Continuously learning (gaining knowledge) to remove ignorance and thus enlightening himself and others

·         Be in motion (performing deeds) all the time. Only good deeds can make you rise like the fire.

·         Provide comfort and pleasure to others, just like heat gives us a soothing feeling during the wintery cold weather.

 

Perform Havan with an attitude of sacrifice; nothing belongs to us in this universe except our actions. If nothing belongs to us, it is our primary responsibility to show gratitude towards Ishwar who gave us all that we enjoy. We will only be happy when we share and care for everyone.

In his keynote speech Archarya Gyaneshwarji mentioned the first role of an Arya is to achieve peace and freedom from suffering. However this objective can only be achieved in two parts; first limited peace and freedom that one achieves through satisfying physical needs. Second unlimited peace and freedom (purna ananda) can only be achieved when one transcends beyond the physical needs. In adhyamic terms he was referring to “para” and “apara” vidya. Both are essential to progress in life. He reminded us Swami Dayananda Saraswati had already outlined the role of Arya Samaj at the time of its establishment. Swamiji said the biggest initiative is to fight “blind faith in God” and “Nastikvad (agnostic)”. Today’s generation is no different than Swamiji’s times. There is still a major section of society which suffers because they do not understand the true nature of God. Their deep faith leads them to believe God is some magical figure and simply praying to Him will fix all problems of life. While others (so called the modern generation) do not believe in God and looks for scientific proof & explanation or they do not care. Archarya Gyaneshwarji said, “Our future is dark unless we can stop this generation from sliding into these wrong beliefs. However there is no need to be discouraged, Vedic Chakarvati Raj will return. But it requires a herculean effort from all Aryas and now is the time to put that united effort.”

 

It seemed like Acharyaji was counting on the youths to put forth this herculean effort. A young speaker, Havishkrit spelled out for us the role we need to play by saying one needs to follow the yamas and niyams to become an Arya. Nobility cannot be achieved if you indulge in harmful acts. Learn from the people of character and focus on everyone’s goodness. While Havishkrit focused on how to become noble, Neel Velani’s presentation on “Destiny a Choice” was a challenge to a generation that is giving away to agnostic behavior. With logic and examples he explained Vedic concepts, such as doctrine of karma and theory of rebirth. He concluded by saying we are accountable for our actions and Ishvar is the Karamphala datta, giver of fruits of our action. Don’t leave your destiny at anyone else’s mercy. Anup Chandora and Trisha Gupta opened everyone eyes by saying being present at the Sammelan does not make you an Arya. Being Arya is about daily practice and practice what you preach; your personality and character play an important role. They gave us an account of what a youth needs to be equipped with to face the reality of the world beyond the walls of our mandirs. Youths need to be empowered with the understanding of current issues and awareness of our religion as well as other religions. Puneet Gupta and Kavya Gupta said being a Hindu is following the 10 principles given to us by Swamiji. Being Hindu is about code of conduct rather than a specific dogma laid down by one particular person or organization. Rishi and Rohan Bagga gave us numerous ways to the expand message of Arya Samaj; they said educate youths in colleges through clubs, publish books in simple languages, promote ourselves via celebrities, motivation, competition and charity and make social media a tool for communication.

 

Dr. Virendra Alankar re-emphasized yagna is performed for everyone and all our prayers are for peace for every living being and not for any one individual. Nothing belongs to us, hence consume with respect. Dr. Sudhir Anand picked up the same thread when explaining the significance of Yajna and Yajnopaveet. He said yajna is virtuous karma thru thought, action and deed for the entire life. Yajna is a word derived from root “yaj” which has three meanings:

 

Devpuja: Worship to one who is generous. God is the Giver to all givers.

Sangatikaran: Keep the company of virtuous noble persons/scriptures that promote truth.

Dan: Donate for worthy causes in a selfless manner with no desire for fame or recognition.  

 

He also explained the yajnopaveet is sacred only because it reminds us, Yajna is to be performed throughout the life. The ultimate purpose of all yajnas in life as per the Vedas is attainment of God realization.

 

Sri Amar Erry when speaking on “Simplifying Scriptures for our youth” started by questioning:

1.       Simplify to what extend?

2.       Which scriptures?

3.       Who is a youth?

 

I really enjoy the speaker when they awake my thinking and that is exactly what these questions did. He said Swamiji has already given us the key to open the window to understand the Vedas. Swamiji has already simplified the Vedas. Let us not repeat the things that are already done. What we really need to do is “Swadhyay” and this has to be regular. Only you can satisfy your thirst, no one else can satisfy it for you. His message was Arya Samaj teaches us to build character without compromising the truth. Pandit Dharampal Shastri listed various Vedic scriptures after saying it is important to read them because these are the only scriptures that will shake off the ignorance and will lift you up. Sri Peeyush Sharma when taking about “How to increase outreach and presence of Arya Samaj?” reinforced understanding of our mantras and self-study is the key to answering this question. He said be proactive – take the first step and you will impact the society by setting an example or rather living it. Srimati Saroj Mukhi brought to light how even today Swamiji’s acts and deeds can help us live a noble life.

 

On the second day keynote speak Dr. Devbala while speaking on “Women’s education and empowerment” requested Arya Prathinidhi Sabha to take the initiative to celebrate “Women’s International Day” on 8^th March. She jogged our memories that all of us are indebted to Swami Dayanada, who fought to uplift and give equal rights to women. She recalled various examples from history and present time where women have made great sacrifices and contributions to the society. But after Mahabharat there has been a consistent decline towards respect for women. Even today, in so called modern world, there is a clear distinction and discrimination towards baby’s gender – the society is prejudice towards male genders. She made it clear, it is Arya Samaj’s responsibility to keep fighting against such discrimination and restoring equal rights and respect for women. Furthermore she did not shy from mentioning, in race for embracing the modern times women cannot erode our sanskar and sanskriti; our aadharsh and charitra have to be preserved.

 

Balvir Acharya took the first mantra of Ishopanishad to explain how Upanishads supports the concept of trinity – God, soul and matter. He recalled the significance of balance between material and spiritual growth (“para” and “apara” vidya) and concluded by saying, for most of us salvation is only possible by going through the four stages of life (Brahmacharya, Grahasta, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa).

 

Dr. Suryanaryan Nanda gave us hilarious examples on superstitious beliefs from both Eastern and Western society. He defined superstition as a takeover of a weak mind that starts by following the crowd without reasoning and trusting a person instead of God. Eradication of superstition is only possible if one uses his mind and intellect; develops a mind to inquire and think rationally.

 

There was lot of talk about following the yamas and niyams; Swami Sampooranand nicely explained the co-relation between yamas and niyams.  He summarized niyam to be by-product of yama. He concluded by demonstrating ahimsa as key to following all the yamas and niyams.

 

Dr. Ramesh Gupta’s presentation on “Vedic Teachings for Healthy Living” gave us a view of how medical science supports the benefits of yoga and meditation. It is evident spiritual progress results into calm mind and healthy body. On the other hand Dr. Deen Bandhu Chandora and Ashwini Kumar gave us the Vedic view of creation and calculation of time; both these sessions were logical and detailed to appeal a scientific mind.

 

The final presentation of the Sammelan, “Simplifying the message of our scripture for the youth” by Pandit Vidthyarthi Sri Ram, answered the concerns and offered solutions many of us have being discussing for a long time. His presentation was interactive and engaging which brought out the following message for adults and youths alike:

·         Seek to inspire rather than inform

·         Allow them to self-discover

·         Avoid contradiction to life-style

·         Embrace the technology

·         Give them opportunity to practice

·         Do not dilute the original message

 

Pandit Vidthyarthi presented a slide with a coin with two sides. In my view that was the take home message. One side of the coin is “Our Rights” while other side is “Our Responsibilities”. Isn’t that the role Arya Samaj needs to play in the modern world? It is not only about the “rights” we want to enjoy, but also about the “responsibilities” that we bare to make the world noble. Every speaker in one way or other eluded towards this fact.

 

I have made a sincere effort to express every speaker’s thoughts. Despite of that if I have misrepresented anyone’s views it is due to my inability to understand them or capture them in its entirety.  Please accept my sincere apologies for any such errors or misinterpretations.