Americans are thinking like Hindus

Examine the opening of the United States Declaration of Independence, written by our founding father, Thomas Jefferson in 1776:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. 

Now, lets modify the opening of the Declaration of Independence and state what we Hindus believe in:

Hindu Vedas hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and are part of Brahman and are given the right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Lisa Miller writes an article titled, We Are All Hindus Now, and quotes  Stephen Prothero, religion professor at Boston University, who has long framed the American propensity for "the divine-deli-cafeteria religion" as "very much in the spirit of Hinduism.  You're not picking and choosing from different religions, because they're all the same," he says. "It isn't about orthodoxy. It's about whatever works. If going to yoga works, great—and if going to Catholic mass works, great.  And if going to Catholic mass plus the yoga plus the Buddhist retreat works, that's great, too."

Lisa Miller writes that there is another way in which Americans are becoming more Hindu: 24 percent of Americans say they believe in reincarnation, according to a 2008 Harris poll !!!   If 24% of Americans believe in reincarnation, then they believe in Bhagvad Gita and Lord Krishna too.

There are many Americans who believe that abortion is not right and so do Hindus.  

Sexploitation of Yoga

Hindus are upset at what they call as “sexploitation” of yoga.

Rajan Zed

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that yoga was a serious mental and physical discipline by means of which the human-soul (jivatman) united with universal-soul (parmatman). But for mercantile greed, market seemed to be flooded with books, magazines, DVDs, and other media showing yoga as some kind of potion to enhance sex life.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, stressed that it was simply misuse of age old and revered system of yoga.

Rajan Zed listed some of the popular titles selling in the market: “Better Sex Through Yoga” (Greaux, Langheld, Rich), promising “Easy Routines to Boost Your Sex Drive, Enhance Physical Pleasure, and Spice Up Your Bedroom Life”; “Sexy Yoga” (Barrett), giving “40 Poses for Mindblowing Sex and Greater Intimacy”; “Sex Yoga” (Brighton), showing “The Seven Easy Steps To A Mind-Blowing Kundalini Orgasm . . . No Partner Required!”; “Intimate Yoga for Couples” (Mishabae); etc.

Here is sampling from some well known magazines: “Yoga Positions for Better Sex” (Prevention), “Want Better Sex? Do Yoga” (Psychology Today), “Workout: Yoga for Hotter, Better Sex” (Men's Health), “Yoga for Better Sex” (Women's Health Magazine), “The Great Sex Yoga Workout” (Fitness Magazine), etc. Even Harvard Health Publication of Harvard Medical School gave "Examples of yoga poses to enhance sexual function". Playboy.com shows a "Playboy's Naked Yoga" free video depicting Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood doing various yoga poses on a yoga mat totally naked.

Criticizing portrayal of yoga as erotica, Zed pointed out that yoga, referred as “a living fossil”, was one of the six systems of orthodox Hindu philosophy and was highly revered in Hinduism.

Rajan Zed further says that some sages have described yoga as the silencing of all mental transformations, which leads to the total realization of the Supreme Self. Some have used yoga attempting to gain liberation by removing all sensory barriers. According to Patanjali, author of the basic text, the Yoga Sutra, yoga is a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical.

Zed argued that just for plain mercantile greed, companies and individuals should not attempt to distort the esteemed ancient yoga tradition as it would hurt the devotees.

About 16 million Americans, including many Hollywood and other celebrities, reportedly do yoga. Hinduism, which introduced yoga, is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about billion adherents and “moksh” (liberation) is its ultimate goal.

Laxmi Swimsuit by Lisa Blue

Laxmi Swimsuit by Lisa Blue

Laxmi Swimsuit by Lisa Blue

WTF, looks like the marketing departments of corporations have figured out a cheap method of getting publicity for their products.  Put the picture of a Hindu god or goddess on their product and later on plead guilty to stupidity, ignorance and issue a token apology in response to protests.  In the age of Google, how stupid would it be for a corporation to plead guilty to stupidity?  Verbal apologies, even with sincere intent, from corporations are meaningless. 

There are a lot of stupid folk in India and its hard to believe that even they would consider the idea of placing the figure of a non-Hindu god for generating publicity for a commercial product or making money.