Indians, a majority of them Hindus, have been coming to the United States in large numbers since the late 1960's. Initial immigrants were mostly professionals, and after acquiring U.S. citizenship, they sponsored members of their immediate families who became the next wave of Indian immigrants. By the beginning of this millennium, there were over a few million Indian Hindus living in the U.S., and now even the second-generation Hindu children are in their teens and twenties.
As a first order of business, these Hindu immigrants established themselves financially. Financial stability was achieved rather painlessly, mainly because of the professional background of the first wave of immigrants, and also because of the post-civil-rights liberal environment in the U.S. Then, as a part of the effort in establishing their cultural identity in the U.S., the Indian immigrants formed various local cultural organizations, usually based on their mother tongues: Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi, and others. These organizations provided a very useful and effective mechanism for satisfying the cultural needs of various groups. Consequently, these organizations have continued to flourish, although most of their yearly activities have become largely predictable. With the needs for fiscal stability and cultural identity satisfied, the Hindu community is now focusing its attention on establishing a unique religious identity for itself. Several Hindu temples have been built within large metropolitan areas. New ones are also being built, although not in large numbers, simply because of the financial resources required to build and run a temple. Understandably, both the cultural organizations and the temples are serving the interests and the needs of primarily the first generation immigrants who felt the need to establish these. Unfortunately, most of the second generation does not really understand the cultural programs and the religious services offered by these organizations. Consequently, it has, more or less, kept its distance from the activities of these organizations.
It is inherently difficult for the second-generation Hindu children to establish their cultural and religious identities in such an environment. Presently, the temples simply attempt to recreate what goes on in temples in India, and routinely present a number of conventional rituals. The children simply do not understand any of these rituals and question their benefits, spiritual or otherwise. It is quite unrealistic to expect them to blindly participate in these activities. It is, therefore, necessary for all Indians to take a strategic view on the long-term survivability of the temples and various cultural organizations. The parents must boldly face this challenge and help the future generations in their quest for a Hindu identity.
The younger generation must also confront this challenge with courage. Clearly, they will face several major difficulties in their search for religious identity. Hindu way of life, as practiced today in India and in the U.S., is full of questionable rituals. Some Hindus in Malaysia, for example, torture themselves through bizarre body piercing in service to their God. This practice is no different than the self-whipping with heavy metal chains practiced by Shia Muslims, or self-whipping practiced in Spain by some Christians. One must search beyond these rituals to understand and enjoy the logic of Hindu Thought. Unfortunately, however, many parents have not searched this for themselves. Consequently, they are ill equipped to guide their children in understanding the lofty formulations of the Hindu Thought. They ask their children to accept, not question. Hindu Thought has always asked everyone to do just the opposite - question, not accept. Finally, there is really a lack of books in English on Hindu Thought that will hold the attention of the second and subsequent generations of Hindu children. There are hundreds of books on the subject, but the style, the language, and the vocabulary of these books are all outdated and quite alien to these children. These authors also use and simply transliterate hundreds of original Sanskrit words. Frankly, this is quite distracting for someone who has not grown up in India, and makes these books difficult to read.
I have always felt that we should not leave the upcoming generations of Hindu children ill equipped and helpless in facing the identity crisis that each of them will surely face someday. This problem is not of their making, and they should not have to face it alone. It is my sincere hope that we take this responsibility very seriously and help our children in this regard. This book is written expressly with that purpose in mind. More fundamentally, however, I want them to experience the ultimate reality - Brahman. Consequently, I have presented the Hindu Thought using contemporary style, language, and vocabulary that are consistent with the state of modern scientific knowledge. I have also attempted to establish a new paradigm in explaining the complex formulations of Hindu philosophy. Furthermore, I have used, excluding proper names, a very limited set of original Sanskrit words, most of which are already in use in English language.
Ancient Hindu thinkers developed various formulations of the Hindu Thought, some dating back several thousands of years. Some of these thinkers, unconstrained by the pride of authorship and copyrights, have not even left a trace of their names with their writings. I am greatly indebted to these uncountable heroes from the past. I must also thank all the students who have asked me questions during my lectures on Hindu Thought at various American schools. These students have provided me with a window on the young American mind, and have helped me better understand their need for a spirituality that is consistent with modern science. I wish to thank Nandini Sathaye of Annandale, Virginia, a rare combination of artistic talent and spirituality, for all the excellent illustrations she prepared for this book. She is a close family friend and I am greatly indebted to her for her illustrations. Thanks are also due to Donna T. Campbell, a close friend and a colleague, for designing the beautiful cover for this book. She has truly captured the essence of Hindu Thought - individuals connecting with the universe and experiencing their identity with the ultimate reality of God. I also wish to thank a close friend, Carl Swanson of Vienna, Virginia, who read the manuscript carefully and made some very valuable suggestions.