But Hindus are already organized, multi-organized!
Diversity being quintessential to Hinduism, bringing the one billion Hindus under a single umbrella defies the Hindu ethos. But Christian missionaries pose a very organized threat to Hinduism - if you don’t believe me, try this Scandinavian lady.
We don’t need a Pope, but perhaps we need some organization to defend ourselves and restore pride among the Hindus. When the threat is organized and united, we can’t be complacent about our diversity or be lackadaisical to unite, or rather, get organized.
Each of the billion Hindus has his/her own perspective of being Hindu - this is a beautiful aspect that should not be crushed by the urge to unite. The last thing we need is uniformity as I’ve already argued. Thereby comes the aspect of being multi-organized. In other words, having multiple organizations with different or overlapping goals to satisfy all the myriad communities.
This, we already are. We have numerous local religious organizations at the temples; spiritual organizations in the form of Bhajan groups, Veda paraayanam groups, meditation groups and cultural organizations for literature, music, dance, drama and other arts. Many of the above groups encourage social interactions amongst us. At a more global level, we have many other organizations - spiritual in the form of big ashrams, Sai Bhajan groups, Art of Living; and socio-political such as the RSS, VHP and various others that are more regional if not national or international like Hindu Mahasabha and Hindu Makkal Katchi.
It is these latter kind of organizations that are not restricted to a small area that I’m interested in. RSS does an incredible job in the sense that it is the largest volunteer organization in the world. After the Indian ocean tsunami, when the police or other NGOs did not collect and dispose of corpses, it was the RSS volunteers that did the job. VHP, time and again, brings many saints of different philosophical inclinations on one platform for a directed cause such as Ayodhya or anti-conversion. Many regional ashrams and grassroots organizations involve themselves in reconversion efforts, anti-government-takeover of temples and temple properties, and other directed help for the local poor preventing conversions in the first place.
Thus, Hindus are organized in being an organization with a hundred heads instead of a single one. This is better than an organization with a single head, such as the Vatican, because no single head can lay down uniform rules for all Hindus. Indeed, no one can lay down any rules - rules go against the grain of Hindu philosophy and practice. So, multi-organized is generally better than unorganized, and specifically the best scenario for Hinduism than totally organized.
Yet there are many Hindus out there crying for unity and being organized, when we already are. Most Hindus feel bitter over the massive conversions by Christian missionaries, but little do they do in terms of action.
I suggest that we join our local or regional ashram/organization as a volunteer and dedicate some time every week towards their work for the poor Hindus or at least donate part of our monthly earnings to these groups that are involved in helping the poor and in reconversion efforts. Shall we?
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