Top Jesuit university in USA teaches Vedas

Poush Amawasya, Kaliyug Varsha 5112

From Our Correspondent

Georgetown University in Washington DC, oldest and prestigious Catholic and Jesuit institute of higher learning in USA established in 1789, is offering various classes in Hinduism.

Courses include Hindu Religious Tradition, Hinduism Today, Modern Hinduism, and Hindu Dharma; involving study of Vedas, Upanishads, Gandhi, Ramana Maharshi, sadhus, gurus, yogis, rituals, festivals, worship, devotional poetry and music, family, healing practices, pilgrimage, storytelling, Kabir, Mirabai, Laws of Manu, etc.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, described Georgetown’s approach as “a step in the right direction”.

Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, argued that religion was a complex element of our lives and religion comprised much more than one’s own individual experience or specific tradition. God, as a sign of God’s munificence and benevolence, constructively wished presence of different faiths.

Rajan Zed urged the schools/departments of religion and philosophy of major world universities to strengthen their Hinduism sections. Hinduism being the oldest religion with rich philosophical thought and a vast array of scriptures needed more exploration. Zed especially asked the Harvard, Cambridge, Yale, Princeton, Oxford, Stanford, Columbia, McGill, Australian National, Tokyo, Copenhagen, Heidelberg, Uppsala, and Utrecht universities to further enrich their Hinduism resources.

Georgetown University is one of the world’s leading academic and research institutions with 16,437 students representing 135 countries, out of which over 73 percent are Christian. Its library holds over 2.3 million volumes and its annual tuition per student can be up to about $46,000. Dr. John J. DeGioia is President; Paul Tagliabue is Board of Directors Chair, while Terrence P. Reynolds is Theology Department Chair.

Roman Catholics, headed by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, are the largest denomination of Christianity with about 1.17 billion adherents out of which Jesuits form the largest single religious order of priests and brothers. Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about a billion followers and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal.

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