Hindu religion teaches how to co-exist harmoniously with nature, says VP Venkaiah Naidu at #WorldHinduCongress

Chicago, September 10: Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday asserted that Hindu religion teaches how to co-exist harmoniously with nature.

Notably, in his keynote address to the concluding session of the second World Hindu Congress in Chicago, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu stressed on the need of preserving the true values of Hinduism to alter ill-informed opinions and attitudes. “India believed in universal tolerance and accepted all religions as true,” he added.

The VP said that the authentic perspective will prevent the distortions and any erroneous perception gaining ground. VP Naidu said some people are spreading misinformation against the word ‘Hindu’. He asserted that Hindu religion teaches how to co-exist harmoniously with nature and called upon the delegates to preserve the true values of Hinduism as shown by sheers like Swami Vivekananda.

Venkaiah Naidu also made a passionate appeal to the delegates and urged to preserve tongue and culture. “Empowerment and respect of women is another key aspect of Hinduism,” he added. He also urged all Indians to go back to the ancient Hindu ideals of "share and care" and be guiding lights for the world.

Democracy comes naturally to those who hold the Hindu worldview, the vice president said, adding that whenever the world faced threats of fragmentation, conflict, hatred and irrational prejudices, the Indian voice had brought in soothing, inclusive perspectives. "To prevent distortions about Hinduism from spreading, Hindus of the world will have to present the most authentic perspective of their dharma to the world," he added.

The VP further said, "True nationalism is preservation of this invaluable heritage. .We have also to guard against the aberrations that have tended to creep into Hindu society. These ill informed opinions and attitudes need to be altered through wider spread of the real significance of the tenets of what Swami (Vivekananda) called, “the mother of all religions."

He said with ancient Hindu ideals such as tolerance, acceptance, unity and plurality, of love, compassion, service, charity, gender equality, poverty alleviation and protection of the environment were much more relevant than ever before.

Explaining what he felt comprised the Hindu way of life, the vice president said, for the Hindus, the whole world is a family, and that the Hindus believe that the entire universe is a manifestation of God. He, in the end said that Hinduism has always had the ability to absorb and adapt and that saints and religious reformers like Buddha, Mahavir, Basava, Dhyaneswar and Tukaram, Guru Nanak, Dayanand Saraswati and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had made Hinduism "a dynamic religion with the capability to reform, refine, reinvent its practices."

On Saturday, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Sarasanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat inaugurated the Second #WorldHinduCongress2018 in Chicago along with Acharya Dr Lokesh Muniji, Swami Swarupanandaji, Swami Purnatmanandaji and others. Mohan Bhagwat also unveiled the statue of Swami Vivekananda.

Importantly, the second World Hindu Congress marks the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s historic speech at the Parliament of the World's Religions in 1893 in Chicago.