Welcome to Eternal Path Musings, a weekly newsletter for the modern and curious Hindu, featuring highlights around: religious texts, practice, history, politics, people, and ways to better our engagement and personal progress.
This issue features: Short Reads, the Kinchitkaram Trust, and an aesthetic
To read previous issues, click this link.
Forward widely and have your friends, family, and congregants sign up here!
Highlights: Quick Content for the Week
Piece on Discrimination and Racism against Hindus in Western Media and Academia
Paper by Indonesian Hindus outlining the concept of divinity in Balinese Vaishnavite Hinduism
The four mathas established by Shankaracharya - A twitter thread going into depth on these great living Hindu organizations (via @entropied)
Organization Highlight: Kinchitkaram Trust
Kinchitkaram Trust is a Hindu organization out of Chennai inspired by Ramanujacharya and based in the Vaishnavite tradition. They work on a number of projects (linked) including propagating Vedanta and Azhwar traditions, serving the poor, maintaining historical sites, teaching Sanskrit, Vedas, and Agamas, running schools for special needs children, running religious tourism, and maintaining publications.
The current leader, Swami Velukkudi Krishnan, was in management at a MNC before deciding to devote his life to the organization. The Hindu has a great profile on him here. He gives talks and answers questions on religious topics in Tamil, English, and Sanskrit, and is one of the few Hindu religious scholars active on Twitter (@VelukkudiK) answering questions on the religion. For the quarantine times, he has a fantastic English YouTube series on the Srimad Bhagavatam, available here.
For those looking to delve deeper in the ancient and storied Tamil Vaishnavite tradition, the organization hosts great audio content on the Azhwars and Vaishnavite texts. They also have an app available on Google Play and the Apple Store, which hosts 5-10 minute talks, translations, video content, and documents. Additionally, they have a forum called Dharma Saneha, where members can ask questions and discuss topics relating to Hinduism and religious life.
Aesthetic: Sunda festival for Lakshmi Bhagavan
