I received a comment and an message from Satyen regarding an invitation to Hindus event in Hardwar for people who converted to Hinduism from Christianity or Islam. Details can be found on the Agniveer site.
I should say that I have no connection with Agniveer, and know nothing more than I read on a short visit to the site. This post should not be seen as a recommendation of either the movement nor the event; I don’t know enough about either to recommend them personally. Just take it as a pointer for you to look and decide.
I decided to post this article after a short email exchange with Satyen. I pointed out to him that this is very short notice, and that many people who had converted from Christianity would still be visiting with family at the time of the event. His response was that he wrote:
…. as a devotee of the ultimate reality, I am duty bound to apprise all and sundry about the event without any attachment to success or failure. Those, with their Hindu samskar gathered from their previous births, may be attracted to this event. though very few will be able to make it, most of them will come to know this activity and will see the rays of an earthen lamp if not of the Sun.
…
So, try to disseminate the info as much as you can as the service of the ultimate truth. Leave the rest on Ishwar.
I can see that he is writing from a God-conscious state. So decided to follow the advice of the last paragraph of his email: disseminate the info and leave the rest to Ishwara
Aum
Western Hindu 
The above mentioned event organized by Agniveer is not only for those who have converted to Hinduism but also for those who intend to embrace the Hindu/Sanatan/Vedic way of life. For details, check the link given below.
http://agniveer.com/6087/shuddhi
OM
Regards,
Satyen
I also had a message from Satyen on my blog and have had a look around the Agniveer site. I find it all very interesting, though I have shared (in the comment section under the ‘Unity in Diversity’ article, Satyen, if you’d not yet noticed it) that I have my reservations about conversion ‘drives’ per se. But Agniveer seem very sincere, and I love their statements on the unequivocal equality of women and people of all castes and the Vedic source for those stances. Well done.
The conversion to Vedic/Sanatan/Hinduism is very different from the connotation the word ‘conversion’ implies. Usually, a conversion implies–
1. to follow a only particular religion, a prophet and a holy book exclusive to any other religion, prophet and holy books. The converted people believe that the ultimate goal will be attained by the followers of that particular religion. Any body outside the religion will not attain the ultimate goal even if they are virtuous. This is against the karmic value.
On the other hand, embracing the Vedic/Sanatan/Hinduism way of life will ensure the belief system that you have to be a good person with good karma to attain not only the supreme bliss but any good result irrespective of who you follow. And what is good ? In short, whatever is good for any living being.
So, accepting Hinduism, in fact releases you from the shackles. Now you are free to follow any of the prophets, but you have to act for the good of the living beings irrespective of the others’ belief system.
I have tried to explain the Hinduism in the above comment and didn’t intend to hurt anybody. However, I apologize if somebody is hurt in this way.
OM
Satyen — thank you for that reply. As I’ve said elsewhere, I’m researching for a blog article on ‘Conversion & Hinduism’ that I hope to post in the new year. I hope to be able to quote your comment above to add perspective on the issue. Thanks.
Aum,
I would add to your comment that the means of conversion to Sanatana Dharma is different. A good Hindu will only attempt to convert others by telling them the virtues of Hinduism itself. Other religions often resort to bribes, like medical treatment, food, or education on the condition that someone converts. Still worse, at times they resort to threats or actual violence. The beliefs of the Abrahamic religions are themselves threats and bribes. “Follow my religion and you will have eternal paradise no matter how badly you behave, don’t follow it and you will be eternally tortured even if you show goodness and kindness to all”. The Dharmic religions on the other hand acknowledge that a mean, violent Hindu is less virtuous than a kind and patient follower of another religion.
Then there is the use of deception to gain converts. The worst case that I have heard about was a missionary giving fake medicine to Hindus who prayed to Hindu Gods and real medicine to those who prayed to Jesus. Many people assume that priests of other faiths hold truth in the same value as Hindus. Of course there are individuals following those faiths who do value truth, but the faiths themselves encourage the opposite. The belief in hell for non-believers means that many of them think that lying and deceiving to “save” a person is justified, as it is in their best interest.
I would say to anyone considering conversion to Hinduism, if anyone has promised you money to convert or threatened you if you don’t then this is wrong. Convert because of the well-tested path to God-realisation. Convert because Hinduism teaches of a loving God who will bring all to moksha, and not abandon those with mistaken beliefs. Convert because Hinduism teaches goodness, treating all well. Convert because Hinduism teaches that we all have the divine spark, and you feel it in yourself and see it in others.
Converting because of promises or threats wen you feel nothing for the religion,is denigrating both to yourself and the faith you convert to.
Thanks T.A.H. Never forget that the ultimate goal of Hinduism is Moksha/Mukti (freedom or a blissful state), not the eternal heaven. You may remember the Brihadaranyak Upanishad — Sarve Bhavantu sukhinah (All be happy irrespective of their religious denominations). So, embracing Hinduism is focusing and accepting a spiritual path to attain that blissful state.
Om
Its a way of life…
Bounded by nothing..
Believe in it you will find bliss
Hi, I really enoyed reading your blog today and also the very sweet, truly earnest comments. ❤
Thanks,
I enjoyed your blog too. I will add it to my list of Western Hindu blogs
Aum Shivaya Namaha
Tandav, thanks for further elaborating the differences between the acceptance the Hindu way of life and conversion to other faiths.
OM.
please also publicize gau raksha dal(cow protection group) which is protecting cows from getting slaughtered in india. currently there is a very little support. also gau raksha dal is very small & localised group.
links are below you can watch cow protection in action in youtube.
please do the favour ur blog is quite famous
[tandava: inline video replaced by link] http://goo.gl/hb1qp
http://protectyourcow.blogspot.com/
Update on the Shuddhi Yajna,
The Shuddhi yajna is in process and so far approximately 2000 people have embraced the Vedic/Sanatan/Hindu way of life. For detail, see the link below:
http://agniveer.com/6214/shuddhi-event-updates
Keeping in mind the problems associated with the interested people living abroad and interested to attend such event, the Agniveer team is planning similar event some time in future. They will announce it well in advance. This info is available in the article accessed by the above link.
OM
As far as i know Agniveer conversions were neither based on money nor forced. The shudhi karmas were introduced by Arya Samaj and Swami Dayananda Saraswati,. Those like it can participate and it would be helpfull for a formal conversion to those who want. Agniveer is also good relatn with those who dnt believe in formal conversion.
Most of those arrived for the even were the Indian christian & Muslim whose predecessors were Fooled or forced by Christian/Islamic missionaries.
It became an event for many poor and rich people who believed they lost their tradition and culture to return to their mother,. And formally declare their return to Hindu dharma and Support to Bharat Mata. This formal conversion helps them to be Accepted back in Hindu society.
Such Voluntary acts are no danger to hindu dharma or its tolerance.
Hari Aum
Hindu Organisations functioning in outside India must be very careful.They must teach religion such way that the religion taught is Hindu+ Local customs/culture.
The new hindu religion should be ” like a native religion”.
This is interesting. I think the difficulty is separating out what is custom and culture from what essentially follows from Hinduism. For example Hindu marriage as two halves coming together as one would mean a change from the easy divorces of secular Western countries or Muslim countries.
Agniveer is indian, specially for Indians though it has lots of foreign wellwishers.
Usually local muslims who want to be hindus maynt be acceptd until they formally convert for poor locals fear its drama.
Reason is fear of Love jehad etc.
Many guys used to pretend hindu/secular, make love with local hindu girls and convert them later through threat,fraud etc .
So hindu people live in deep fear .
Agniveer’s formal conversion helps the really interestd ones. They By Leaving aback the benefits of being minority(SCHOLARSHIP , RESERVATION IN JOB, EDUCATION), join hinduism showing they are really interested.
Marriage is not just culture it is part of religion itself. Two halves are meant to march to salvatn like shivasakti or radhakrishna.
Divorces whether west or east are usually coz of selfishness and lack of ‘selfless’ love. Increasing divorce rate shows it in India too. Without ending ego and selfishness salvatn is nt possible. Wife and Husband should adjust for each other.:-)
I will only dive into this discussion on conversion to speak a bit about divorce. It is terribly unfair (and statistically incorrect) to say that divorce is due to selfishness or lack of other spiritual and moral qualities. I have volunteered in women’s shelters and other children/family charities that work with people escaping abusive relationships. Many, many, many divorces are due to abuse. No woman (or man) should be forced or pressured, by law or religion, to stay in a marriage where they or their children are viciously abused. Other issues include drug or alcohol abuse (living w/ and addict who will not or cannot change is dangerous and sometimes deadly), financial mismanagement (the kind that puts the family practically on the street) and infidelity. I also see no reason, if one partner is unfaithful (especially if repeatedly and w/out taking proper precautions), why their partner/husband/wife should stay with them, leaving themselves open to emotional, medical and other injuries.
So, while I do understand, that some people do divorce for frivolous reasons (for instance, many couples in Hollywood), I have not known one person personally who has divorced except after a long struggle to remain together and to make things work — often after years and years of selflessness and suffering. There are genuine reasons for marriages to be dissolved. And in the past, when divorce was outlawed or otherwise made unavailable, people had to remain and suffer the abuse. No reason for that now. And I don’t believe that we should be speaking about divorce as if it is always wrong or always about lax personal qualities. It really is not.
All divorces are not avoidable or SHOULD not be avoided. But many can be avoided.
DIVORCE is due to LACK OF Qualities either in ONE PARTNER or in BOTH.
DRUG ADDICT: A drug addict who cant love family is NOT spiritual.
A Person who PHYSICALLY OR VERBALLY ABUSES his wife , HIS OWN HALF CANNOT BE SPIRITUAL MAN WHO LOVES UNIVERSE.
In Such cases the AGGRIEVED PARTNER IS FORCED TO TAKE DIVORCE FROM A RELATION, and SHE MUST TAKE DIVORCE FROM ABUSIVE relation.
Eg. A keralite working in Gujrat married a girl in kerala of same caste, religion etc.
While he had maintained a relatn with a co worker whose husband is abroad. Neither his parents nor wife’s knew about it. After marriage he continued it and when wife asked about it, he Asked her to remain silent or else she would have to suffer. The poor sister was like in Prison. She had to cook for her husband and his lover. She had to silent to their abuses. She hadnt had any contact with outer world for a mönth. Then she managed to contact our organisation through a neighbour. And we informed the branch in Gujrat who forced him to release her and was brought back to kerala. He was also forced to divorce. WE HELPED FOR HER REMARRIAGE AND LIVES HERE HAPPILY now.
What a horrible thing to have happened to that poor woman. But wonderful you and your organisation were able to help her!
And, yes, we do agree there that not all divorces should be avoided – especially in the horrible circumstances you’ve just described.
I wasnt personally involvd as i am in youth wing and kerala state.
The gujrat branch took care.
This is a community org. While we have many Hindu organisations.
In states other than Kerala and Gujrat, female foeticide and resultant decrease in no. Of woman makes even worse conditions.
In some remote villages 1 guy from a family marries(others remain unmarried due to inadequate no. Of woman) and his brothers would ‘share her’. Whenever they want they take her ‘use’ her to produce their kids or to satisfy sexual urge!!
That’s really good work, it is so sad that anyone shoula have to live like that.
But shocking truth is recently 6 of my friends had to divorce because THEY DON’T DRINK ALCOHOL OR SMOKE, while their wives wanted them to be!!
This is in INDIA and in the literate state of kerala. All six were IT Professionals 10days to 8months after being married!!:-P
I agree, sometimes a divorce is sometimes the only option. My sampradaya recognises that in cases of abuse divorce is justified. I would see infidelity as a type of abuse, and in some circumstances financial mismanagement, particularly if the partner mismanaging the money refuses to let the other take control and repeats the offence. I would not count one-off mismanagement (someone trying to start a business fails then returns to employment), or mismanagement where the mismanaging partner relinquishes control (I once worked for someone who had a gambling problem, but had come to an arrangement where his wife where she managed the money and gave him a small daily allowance that he could spend on coffees, papers or gamble. They both realised that both of them were better off that way.)
Yes, many cases where wives of Gulf NRI go away with their lovers, and also take the money of his hardwork in the desert. What else can the husband do, than divorce?!
Whether bhakti, njana or advaita.
One who cannöt see brahman in his own wife and reject mistake,
a devotee who cant see god in wife and love her, how can he love world?
1st part of realization for a sadhak
1. If shaiva, wife is shakti.
2. Lakshmi or radha for vaishnava
3. Another jeeva for dvaita
4. Brahman or wife is also myself for advaita.
Anyway he should love forgive and love her.
VICE VERSA,lolz
[Tāṇḍava: Comment removed at Syamukamath’s request]
I think we should understand Agniveer viewpoints before criticizing. It must be noted that spreading the Vedic teachings among the people inimical to humanity is a noble work and should be appreciated, not abhorred. Sometimes, it’s necessary to present it in a way acceptable to the target audience, keeping the essentials undiluted. In my opinion, Agniveer is doing exactly the same. Now they are not the paper tigers by working deep among the masses, bruised and hardened in the battle field. Based on the experiences, they are developing the new technologies based on the Vedic teachings to help it propagate to the masses untouched hitherto to the Vedic teachings.
Agniveer is of the view that true Islam as propagated by Muhammad is the teaching of the Vedas but it has been misconstrued by the the writers of the present Quran. According to Agniveer, the original Quran contained only the Vedic teachings and didn’t have any anti Vedic content in it. So teaching the true Islam is a part of teaching the Vedas. It’s important to correct the followers of the second largest religion and bring them closer to the original teachings of their prophet Muhammad. Though, it may seem ironical to preach Islam infested with terrorists for peace, it’s essential to reform the existing Islam to bring it closer to the Vedas to make the Vedas acceptable to the Muslims.
For details visit the link:
http://agniveer.com/2415/agniveer-stand
The above comment is my personal understanding of what Agniveer stand for and don’t represent the Agniveer’s. I highly recommend every human being including the atheist(there is no eternal hell fire for the atheist) , not to say of the Hindus, to visit the site of Agniveer to become a better human being. For the Hindus, irrespective of their sampradaya or denomination, Vedic knowledge is not only recommended but essential(but it may be provided to them in a way they can understand as in the puranas etc.)
Love to all.
OM
Satyen,
Thanks for responding. I felt unhappy having comments critical of a Hindu organisation on my site without a balanced supporting comment. I will definitely take a closer look at their site.
I request Syamukamath to visit the following link:
http://agniveer.com/2668/good-muslims
Probably it may help dispel the doubts regarding Agniveer’s intentions.
OM
@satyen, I had contacted Agniveer, clarified my doubts.
I request admn. To delete my comments against Agniveer.
@Syamukamath, that’s the Vedic way of life – accepting the truth and getting rid of untruth without letting ego coming in the way. I salute you and others could learn from you.
OM