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(RNS) — The USA’ Christian inhabitants is smaller than it’s been previously 50 years, with fewer than 65% of People counting themselves Christian. Nonetheless, greater than 90% of the nation observes the day in some mixture of attending midnight Mass, placing up a tree, exchanging presents and getting along with household.
For a lot of within the minority who don’t, some various has been promoted and even invented to supply a parallel vacation: Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or, for these jaded by the commercialization of Jesus’ beginning, Festivus, the secular celebration “Seinfeld” emphatically declared is for “the remainder of us!”
Hindus, nonetheless, don’t have any conventional counterpart to Christmas. Our faith has its personal competition of sunshine, Diwali, which celebrates the triumph of fine over evil, nevertheless it falls no later than November. On the similar time, Hinduism is so numerous, pluralistic and tolerant in our beliefs and practices, we will make room for just about any outlook — which implies we’re open to other ways of coexisting with Christmas.
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Ramya Ramakrishnan, who spent the primary 22 years of her life in India and now lives within the San Francisco Bay space, by no means celebrated Christmas whereas rising up. (Solely 17% of Hindus in India take part in Christmas.) That every one modified after she moved to the U.S.
“There’s lots of pleasure and dialogue about Christmas, so it was pure for me to begin celebrating it, particularly since each my youngsters had been born right here. I needed them to be uncovered to completely different traditions and practices,” Ramakrishnan stated. “I get pleasure from placing up the tree and adorning it. And my household can be musically inclined, so I used to sing and play Christmas songs when the youngsters had been little. It brings some vacation cheer through the colder months.”
The Shah household Christmas tree in Massachusetts. Photograph courtesy of Tejus Shah
Tejus Shah, who lives in central Massachusetts, stated his Indian Hindu dad and mom additionally didn’t observe Christmas earlier than immigrating in 1985. “We did the presents, the tree ornament, hung lights and took part in local people occasions,” Shah stated.
“Clearly being a Hindu family, we didn’t go to church, however we did lots of the non-religious stuff. There wasn’t actually a problem from a non secular perspective.”
When Shah obtained older and married his spouse, Kim, who got here from a Roman Catholic background, his personal Hindu background continued to pose no challenges to the vacation festivities, which solely obtained greater as their households have a good time collectively.
“Christmas now could be simply Christmas,” Shah stated. “In our home, there are nativity statues and all, however nothing super-religious. The youngsters get their presents. We watch the enjoyable Christmas films and chat with household. It’s a fairly low-key occasion from the religion angle.”
However for Grand Rapids’ Fred Stella, who grew up in America as a Catholic earlier than adopting Hinduism as an adolescent, even the religious side of Christmas continues to play an essential position, albeit with a considerably completely different which means.
“As a Christian, I believed the vacation was noticed to remind humanity that God himself incarnated to behave as an providing of substitutionary atonement, thus releasing me from an eternity in hell,” Stella stated. “Whereas I not imagine in Jesus as God, the necessity for salvation or the resurrection of the physique, I’m capable of venerate the beginning of Jesus as an event when an enlightened trainer appeared to deliver his understanding of dharma into the world.
“My strategy to every little thing Jesus, together with Christmas,” stated Stella, “grew to become and continues to turn out to be extra refined. And I benefit from the vacation season in a deeper means.”
These views present why some 73% of Hindus find yourself observing Christmas ultimately in America. However even those that don’t have a good time Christmas in any respect typically take the vacation to concentrate on religious progress.
The Hindu god Ganesha. Anant Nath Sharma
Easan Katir, who adopted Hinduism as an adolescent in Davis, California, makes use of the times of Christmas to commemorate Pancha Ganapati, a five-day Hindu competition that falls at about the identical time honoring Ganesh, the god of latest beginnings.
“Hindus have a good time this competition by prominently displaying a big Ganesh murti (devotional picture) in the lounge,” Katir stated. “Every of the 5 days, presents for relations are positioned close by, to be opened on the fifth day.”
Every day the picture of Ganesh is embellished in a special coloration, with every coloration representing the god’s 5 darshans, or “auspicious glimpses,” that encourage concord in a single’s household. Yellow is adopted by blue, for concord with neighbors; pink, symbolizing concord in work; and inexperienced, inspiring flourishing of the humanities, music, language and tradition. On the ultimate day, orange decorations encourage charitable giving and concord with the world.
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These values, of concord with the world and neighbors, give us an extra trace why Hindus in America are so open to experiencing Christmas with their associates and prolonged households. Whether or not an individual celebrates the vacation, or chooses to not, Hindus are capable of embrace any vacation centered round love, household and unfettered open-mindedness.
“Hinduism, not like many religions,” stated Stella, “doesn’t demand that one who adopts it as an grownup abandon or denounce each side of their former faith.”
(Syama Allard is a author for the Hindu American Basis. The views expressed on this commentary don’t essentially mirror these of Faith Information Service.)
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