Namaste and a very happy Diwali to all. Most of you know Diwali is the celebration, with family and friends, of the awakening and awareness of the Inner Light and compassion for all mankind through selfless service. The festival of lights is important to all of us Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhist Americans. Through UtsavSeva, Festivals of Service, we honor those in service.
In this changing American landscape, we have seen a paradigm shift of inclusion occurring. . The Faith Glass ceiling has cracked in America and is resounding around the globe. The doors for the people of eastern traditions, not only the Hindus but the entire the Dharmic Americans have opened! And we have demonstrated how we strengthen this country we love and call home.
During the last four years together with the White House we have laid a strategic road map to bring the values of transformative seva, of social justice and karmic empathy to the forefront and connected the community with the federal agencies. We have succeeded in creating a national Dharmic voice where there was none. We are identifying ways to reduce poverty across the country and spur economic development. We appointed our first Hindu American chaplain and honored the Dharmic military. Together we are promoting the values and benefits of yoga, nutrition and Ayurveda.
We are working to strengthen security for our places of worship and greening of our temples and gurudwaras. We are strengthening the Next Generation Seva Leaders with the President’s Interfaith Campus Challenge and are increasing access to AmeriCorps VISTAs. Within 24 hours of our recent August conference the attack on the Milwaukee Gurudwara took place. Our discussions on “your pain is my pain” became prophetic as we found common ground and came together in solidarity. Our seva proves we are ready to tackle difficult tasks facing our country, every step of the way.
And, our values have resonated well with those of both the President and Vice President Biden.
Even as a senator from Delaware, Vice-President Biden recognized the contributions and traditions of our pluralistic Indian-American communities. He understands our philosophy of non-violence and self-reliance and self-governance. We appreciate the Vice President’s support to our community. His values have led him to fight for many causes important to us Dharmic Americans including drafting of and fighting to reauthorize Violence Against Women’s Act, rebuilding our economy, and serving our military families through Joining Forces.
It is my honor and privilege to welcome our, Vice President Joe Biden to speak to us on Diwali.
Anju Bhargava served on the President’s Inaugural Advisory Council for Faith Based and Neighborhood partnerships and founded Hindu American Seva Charities, a progressive American organization advancing seva (community service), interfaith collaboration, pluralism, social justice, sustainable civic engagement to ignite grassroots social change and build healthy communities.
