According to Hindu traditional wisdom, the universe consists of three Gunas. They are Sattva, Rajas and Tamasik. Sattva inherently represents all effort that leads to knowing oneself, Rajas represents action and Tamasik represents inaction.

As we look within, inside the larger Hindu society, what do we see today? Are we busy in finding out who we are? Are we action oriented? Or are we self-centered, happy in our own little existence and be peacefully inactive?

Despite our individual brilliance, our collective state is inaction i.e., Tamasik. This is because we keep our "individual self" above all else and our Dharma and our society does not make it to the list.

When we look outside, we find forces that are attacking us from all directions. There are non-Hindus telling us how to be Hindu. We are told that we must be dismantled. Routinely our festivals are attacked and banned, our places of worship are defaced, attacked, and taken over, our pujaris and sanyasis are killed, murtis of our Ishwar are routinely desecrated, our girls are targeted, trapped and killed, our children are targeted and converted. It is heartbreaking and traumatizing. Sometimes it feels there is no end and no dignity in sight. It feels that we have become undesirable and have been abandoned.

As we gaze both inside and outside, we find ourselves in a state of Mahabharat that has begun and we have not yet woken up to it. What do we do? What is the common minimum program or a manifesto around which all of us can rally? What are the common themes that will unite us and prepare us to face the situation head on? What can we start doing now so we don’t lose what we hold closest to our hearts?

It is my opinion that we must unite and take coordinated actions towards specific outcomes. For this purpose, I present a manifesto for today's Hindu. It is an outline that must be debated, expanded and agreed upon by everyone who cares for Hindu Dharma.

Strength comes from unity. This unity is realized only when we feel pain of every Hindu on this planet. Since there are many ways, we are divided, which common features can bring us together? Here is a short list:

• Our open Dharmic architecture: It means we are free to explore ways to realize the divine or "Atman or self". That is why there are many realized masters and as many paths. Key amongst all of them is to seek the truth.

एकं सत् विप्राः बहुधा वदन्ति

• Our library of scriptures - We are not the people of the book, instead we are the owners of the wisdom of the largest library of humankind. As we seek truth, we have to keep in mind that we respect scriptures and Gurus that follow our open architecture, share our ideals and respect Vedas. That which goes against Vedas must be scrutinized and questioned.
• Our parampara (tradition) and forms of worship: All Dharmic paramparas that take us toward the ultimate Hindu goal of Mukti. Those tradition that may outwardly reject Vedas but follow similar principles of Dharma e.g., Purushartha, Karma, Punarjama, Shauch/purity, Sewa, Daya, Aparigrah, self-control of Shad-ripus must be respected. All forms of worship are ok as long as they don’t go against our core Dharmic principles.
• Forms of Ishwar - Ishwar is only one and is formless. Ishwar is also called Brahma (not Brahmaa), Paramatma, Bhagavan etc. Ishwar takes various forms to sustain "Prakriti". Five basic forms of Brahma, Vishnu, Shiv, Shakti and Ganesh and all associated Avatars and forms are worshiped. All other forms are welcome as long as they forms don’t contradict or go against the formless or the five basic forms. This is the framework through which all the new sampradayas and Gurus must be scrutinized. Those who fail this scrutiny must be rejected.
• Varna and Jati: Jati is dependent upon individual. Jati is fine, jativad that discriminates is not. Understand that Jati is a social construct and has nothing to do with Dharma. There is no reason for anyone to attack us on "caste". Varna on the other hand is a framework within which all societies are broken whether they use this nomenclature or not. Varna is not hierarchical. We must understand these concepts deeply enough to not be defensive or apologetic about them. These systems have helped us in various ways and continue to do so even today.

Here are the attributes of a Dharmic Person. A manifesto to live by:

We must commit to continuous self-improvement. Since we are the people of the biggest library in the world, there is a lot to learn. We have to learn the core concepts of our Dharma, worthy objects of human pursuits (Purusharthas), and our goals (Mukti).

Once we know about our own Dharma, we must also learn about others i.e., we must do a poorvapaksha of major religions of today such as Christianity and Islam. We must know about these religions more than their common adherents do. We must know their core principles and how they plan to dominate the world. We must know the differences between their value systems versus ours.

We must also learn to collaborate with fellow Hindus. Since we have million paths to truth, we also have million differences. It makes it hard to collaborate. Learn and celebrate these differences and find ways to work together. Set clear expectations and hold each other responsible but learn to achieve together.

We must also learn to identify the wolf. It is so common to see new people rise and then turn to join the rival camp. It is critical to identify the hidden wolf in the clothing of sheep. Understand true nature and the motivations of people. Generally looking for short cuts, money, fame, selfish behavior all indicates concerns.

Talk is cheap, learn how to get things done. Strong people finish what they start and know how to get things done. It is okay to seek help from others but giving up too soon means ineffective collaboration and bringing down the whole team. This is the most important skill, we must master it.

Finally, when we figure it out, we must keep the cycle going and teach others how to do it. Giving back to the community is the best way to ensure we succeed in long term.

We must defend what is right! Outcome of our learning is that we gain the power to differentiate between right and wrong. This also means we know what is critical to our Dharmic survival and we must defend it. Core of our values are not only critical for our own survival but also to the survival of good, humanity, truth, freedom, love, art, skill, hard-work, honesty, selflessness, and Dharma. We are the representatives of everything that is good in this world and we must defend it at the cost of everything else.

We must defend everyone who is working for Dharma and we must defend our traditions. We must defend all Hindus and especially the weak. We must work to remove barriers among privileged and under-privileged and support those who work on the ground.

We must defend against those who are working to break us. These not only include forces that are targeting us for conversion but also those that seek to create differences among us. There are those who create misinformation, create divisions where none exist, create deception to lure us, those who seek our destruction through both overt and covert means. It our fundamental right to defend ourselves against all types of aggression and we must become activists in this fight of survival.

There must not be a public fight amongst Dharma warriors. We must commit to unity and support in public. Our grievances must be addressed in private. We must not only look united but also be united.

Do not be like Prithviraj Chauhan! We must learn the rules of the enemy and fight them at their level. Any Ghori must not be let go by a Prithviraj Chauhan.  The Kurukshetra has changed. The rules have changed and giving a chance to the enemy only ensures a certain defeat later on. Chanakya Neeti tells us - "

शठे  शाठ्यं समाचरेत". It is high time we listen to our great Gurus.

In some ways our times are different from our ancestors but in some ways they are still the same. We cannot resort to violence and this is no call for it, there is a system and however broken it is, a rule of law. Yet the tools of the enemy have not changed drastically. Enemy still utilizes similar tools to attain the same goals in even more overt and covert ways. That part has not changed in thousand years.

It means we must evolve and build sharper tools. This means unity. This means building ecosystem where on the ground troops have strong support from those that cannot be on the ground. This is where our Kshatriyatva must shine, our above tapasya must lead from inaction or Tamas to Rajas or action and then to full awareness of Sattva.  We must seek to dismantle, discredit and disarm the enemy wherever they are. They must not be allowed to return stronger to fight us later.

We must reclaim what is ours. Nothing must be brushed under the carpet and we must seek reparations from those who are responsible for the historical harm. 

We must not leave anyone to fight for themselves. We are in this together.

We must awaken our Sattva to know ourselves and awaken our Rajas to be destroyer of all evil forces. Be Arjuna who is focused, has the strongest work-ethic, and is never defeated. When we are like him, Krishna will be with us!

Image Source: Om Swami