HMEC Conference

The Samprajña Institute was represented at the Hindu Mandir Executives Conference, 2010, by president Krishna Kirti Das. The conference was held on a weekend from October 22 – 24 in Houston, Texas at the Sheraton Hotel near the George Bush International Airport. Krishna Kirti along with Divya Selvakumar of the American World Hindu Services co-chaired a panel discussion titled Hindu Public Policy.

The discussion sought to achieve two things: inform conference attendees about the practice of public policy and explore the as the role of dharma as first principles guiding political thought and action. Speakers at the panel included representatives from the US-India Political Action Committee (USINPAC), the Hindu-American Foundation (HAF), and the US-Hindu Alliance (USHA). Dr. Surabhi Garg of USINPAC discussed women’s role in the public policy process; Jay Kansara of the Hindu-American Foundation discussed cultural sensitivity and described the basic aspects of the public policy process, and Gokul Kunnath and Dr. Basant Tariyal discussed public policy and education. The discussion was followed by a lively question and answer session.

The purpose of the HMEC conference overall was to bring together mandir executives and other concerned members of the Hindu community to find ways to improve their own local operations at mandirs and to explore issues common to everyone. The Samprajña Institute wishes to thank the Vishwa-Hindu Parishad of America for organizing the conference—especially principal organizers Shri Abhaya Asthana and Shri Sant Gupta, for their tireless efforts in making the conference a success. The Samprajña Institute will continue to support the efforts of the HMEC and looks forward to sending representatives to next year’s HMEC conference.

Radio Interview

Radio interview with Krishna Kirti Das, President of the Samprajña Institute, and Thara Narasimhan, host of "Voice of Sanatan Hinduism" on KBRZ Radio, AM 1460, Houston. 31 October 2010. Time: 10:35 Central Time. Krishna Kirti talks about the recent Hindu Mandir Executives Conference in Houston and explains why public policy is important to the Hindu Community. The interview can be downloaded at http://samprajna.org/sites/default/files/radio_kbrz_20101031.mp3

Dialectical Spiritualism Project

The Dialectical Spiritualism Project is the Samprajña Institute’s present effort to produce a Vedic critique of Marxist philosophy and practice. The critique itself will be in the form of a book in which contributions of various scholars—both traditional and academic—will address Marxism in four different aspects: (1) pre-Marxist philosophers, (2) classical Marxism, (3) 20^th century Marxism, and (4) Maoism. The book may also have an optional fifth section that focuses on practical solutions to some of the problems modern-day Marxist movements pose to society and government in India and elsewhere.

Shri Saurav Sarmah, a post-graduate student in Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Chinese Studies Program, chairman of the Samprajña Institute have been meeting scholars on behalf of the Samprajña Institute and others to solicit their help and support for the project.

More information about the project can be found at http://samprajna.org/node/57.

Chairman Basu Ghosh Das Visits Albuquerque

During the month of August this year, Shriman Basu Ghosh Prabhu and his good wife Mata Ji Anandi visited Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA—home of the Samprajña Institute. They stayed for one month with Samprajña Institute president Krishna Kirti Das. During their stay, Basu Ghosh and Krishna Kirti met with representatives of the Hindu community in Albuquerque and with local political representatives as well. Basu Ghosh Prabhu also conducted spoken Sanskrit seminars at the Hindu Temple Society of New Mexico, where his classes were enthusiastically received by the community. Basu Ghosh Prabhu also travelled elsewhere throughout the country informing members of different Hindu mandirs of the Samprajña Institute’s work and about its Dialectical Spiritualism project.

Pictures of Basu Ghosh Prabhu’s visit can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/106959775035518989656

About the Samprajña Institute

The Samprajña Institute is a public policy research center registered as a charity under 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. The Samprajña Institute focuses on areas where dharma and public policy meet. The institute strives to conduct public policy research at a high professional standard, and its objective is to make lasting contributions in a number of public policy areas, including: immigration, marriage and family, economic development, education, defense, health, and community media relations. The Samprajña Institute was incorporated in the State of New Mexico, USA, on May 5th, 2008.

Please visit our site at http://samprajna.org.