A session on “India Calling” was held at the Mangaluru Lit Fest 2019 on 29 Nov at Dr TMA Pai Hall. The session was held with resource persons Maria Wirth and Henrietta Lucy Guest and moderated by Ravi Iyer. Iyer called the esteemed guests “qualified in the normal sense and over-qualified in spiritual sense”.
Maria Wirth, in her address brought out the irony in her life, talking about how she did not like India after her first visit and how she vowed to never return. She recalled how someone told her that Hinduism is a very primitive religion since they worship everything. However, she fell in love with the culture and philosophy after her second visit and has not left in 39 years.
During her second visit, Wirth visited Swami Vivekananda’s memorial in Kanyakumari and bought two of his books, reading upon which she felt like she found the truth she was always seeking for. On her way to the Himachal, she was suggested to pass through Haridvar and visit the Kumbh Mela, which was a turning point in her life. She felt that Swami Vivekanada’s philosophy of ‘Oneness of One’ was reinforced and the bhakti in her was invigorated. She saw a lot of sense in Vivekananda’s ideals.
Henrietta Lucy’s journey to seek out infinite energy in the universe began when she was young. She recalled an incident that occurred when she was 13 years old, when she questioned the nuns at her Christian school that if it is a sin to miss going to Church on Sundays, would it be okay to go on a Tuesday to make up. When the nuns answered with a firm no, she was angered and rebutted that these rules are manmade. Lucy found a repeated chanting in her mind asking her: “Who am I? What am I?”. To seek the answers she joined a Meditation group. She was suggested to come to India. Uncertain on the duration of her stay, when asked about it on bus to Haridwar, she said she’d stay for 10 years. That was 20 years ago.
Wirth said that Hindus are not aware of Christianity and Islam, and what they actually are about. “Once a conversion happens, Indian Christians and Muslims are more strongly indoctrinated”, she said. She added a heart-warming “Thank you, India”.
Lucy said that there is a lack of knowledge on Bharat and Hinduism in the West. “Bharat means that which is joined by Light, Light being knowledge. Hinduism is not a religion. A person far from violence is a Hindu. There is a terrible misunderstanding in the West. If one seeks the infinite consciousness, the light and the knowledge, one becomes Hindu by nature”, she said.
Wirth advised the youth to take interest in spiritualism and the Bhagavat Gita.
Lucy said that a spiritual life should be incorporated with Yoga and mantra. “Yoga doesn’t mean asanas, it means good wisdom. It should suit your lifestyle and you’re thinking”, she said.
“India must never be swallowed up by the two great religions, otherwise there is no humanity in the world”, said Wirth.
Ravi Iyer quoted Annie Besant who said that if Hinduism dissolves in Bharat, spiritualism dissolves in the world.
Lucy iterated that Bharat is Vishwaguru and is the only culture and philosophy that has the solutions for how life should be lived peacefully and that no other culture has this depth and skill to help any other country.
She urged everyone to stand up for and protect Hinduism for dharma.
“Average people never supported the Gurukul system with the advent of Western education. But now we are more connected to the Sanathan Dharma, which is connected to the ultimate truth”, she concluded.