Hinduism Today Magazine
Encyclopedia
Hinduism Today Magazine is a quarterly magazine
published by the Himalayan Academy, a nonprofit educational institution, in Kapaa, Hawaii
, USA. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally, currently in 60 nations. Founded by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
in 1979, it is a public service of his monastic order to promote an understanding of the Hindu
faith, culture, and traditions.
(Gurudeva), published by his non-profit organization Himalayan Academy. Originally The New Saivite World, the magazine was a small black-and-white periodical without a fixed publication schedule. The first issue appeared February 1979, with the goal of giving a voice to Gurudeva's worldwide fellowship in a way that was easy to read, simple to produce, mail and handle. The newsletter was to be a people-oriented paper, not so much devoted to philosophy
or teaching since the Himalayan Academy was publishing books on Hindu-related metaphysical
topics as early as 1957.
Over the years, Hinduism Today has evolved to embrace everything of interest to a Hindu. In 1996, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
upgraded the newspaper 'Hinduism Today' to a magazine. Recently, another milestone
was reached when the magazine became available online. The physical magazine now utilizes high-grade printing
material, which is dipped in an attractive glaze
. Photographs, drawings, and the magazine's aesthetically-tuned interior design further add to the magazine's unique ability to convey the sensibilities of an entire culture
through the print medium
. Advertisements are designed and placed together at the end of each issue so as to avoid any hindrance to the reading experience. The over 275,000 readers of the magazine primarily reside in North America
, Europe
, India
, Singapore
, Malaysia, Africa
and Mauritius
.
The magazine presents through a Hindu
perspective
a wide range of topics, pressing both to society and the individual. These topics include, but are not limited to, the following: education, culture, cosmology, philosophy, ethics, sociology, film, music, spirituality, food, and travel. The profound, yet simple writings of the magazine's contributors offer a sensible and inspiring variety of topics encompassing the influence of every sphere of Hindu culture
and religion
. In addition to regular writers, contributors include the magazine’s readers as well as the collective wisdom of major thinkers of both the eastern and western traditions, as captured in the magazine's regularly included quotation
s section. Informative articles also offer profound insights into modern life, with topics such as yoga, vegetarianism, meditation, nonviolence, environmental ethics and family life.
Observes Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
(Gurudeva): "Hinduism Today was created to strengthen all the many diverse expressions of Hindu spirituality
, to give them a single, combined voice because everywhere else their voices were individualized. There was nothing that encompassed the whole Hindu experience around the world. Every religious order has a mission and instead of starting an eye-clinic or an orphanage, we created a global publication to advance the cause of Hindu Dharma
."
While Hindus living in India
are surrounded by their culture and faith, Hinduism Today's mandate is to also reach the millions of Hindus who are trying to keep their faith alive in far-off places surrounded by different cultures. Specific goals of the magazine include:
As a highly objective magazine with such a diverse presentation of thought, its appeal extends far beyond the Hindu community, especially to those interested in its portrayal of Hindu culture, as well as the thought processes and sentiment used to convey this content.
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
published by the Himalayan Academy, a nonprofit educational institution, in Kapaa, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, USA. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally, currently in 60 nations. Founded by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
Sivaya Subramuniyaswami , also known as Gurudeva by his followers, was born in Oakland, California, on January 5, 1927, and adopted Saivism as a young man. He traveled to India and Sri Lanka where he received initiation from Yogaswami of Jaffna in 1949...
in 1979, it is a public service of his monastic order to promote an understanding of the Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
faith, culture, and traditions.
History and topics
Hinduism Today Magazine was launched in 1979 by Satguru Sivaya SubramuniyaswamiSatguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
Sivaya Subramuniyaswami , also known as Gurudeva by his followers, was born in Oakland, California, on January 5, 1927, and adopted Saivism as a young man. He traveled to India and Sri Lanka where he received initiation from Yogaswami of Jaffna in 1949...
(Gurudeva), published by his non-profit organization Himalayan Academy. Originally The New Saivite World, the magazine was a small black-and-white periodical without a fixed publication schedule. The first issue appeared February 1979, with the goal of giving a voice to Gurudeva's worldwide fellowship in a way that was easy to read, simple to produce, mail and handle. The newsletter was to be a people-oriented paper, not so much devoted to philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
or teaching since the Himalayan Academy was publishing books on Hindu-related metaphysical
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
topics as early as 1957.
Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
Sivaya Subramuniyaswami , also known as Gurudeva by his followers, was born in Oakland, California, on January 5, 1927, and adopted Saivism as a young man. He traveled to India and Sri Lanka where he received initiation from Yogaswami of Jaffna in 1949...
upgraded the newspaper 'Hinduism Today' to a magazine. Recently, another milestone
Milestone
A milestone is one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road or boundary at intervals of one mile or occasionally, parts of a mile. They are typically located at the side of the road or in a median. They are alternatively known as mile markers, mileposts or mile posts...
was reached when the magazine became available online. The physical magazine now utilizes high-grade printing
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
material, which is dipped in an attractive glaze
Glaze
Glaze or glazing is a thin shiny coating, or the act of applying the coating; it may refer to:In materials or engineering:* Architectural glass, a building material typically used as transparent glazing material in the building envelope...
. Photographs, drawings, and the magazine's aesthetically-tuned interior design further add to the magazine's unique ability to convey the sensibilities of an entire culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
through the print medium
Media (communication)
In communications, media are the storage and transmission channels or tools used to store and deliver information or data...
. Advertisements are designed and placed together at the end of each issue so as to avoid any hindrance to the reading experience. The over 275,000 readers of the magazine primarily reside in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Malaysia, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
.
The magazine presents through a Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
perspective
Perspective (cognitive)
Perspective in theory of cognition is the choice of a context or a reference from which to sense, categorize, measure or codify experience, cohesively forming a coherent belief, typically for comparing with another...
a wide range of topics, pressing both to society and the individual. These topics include, but are not limited to, the following: education, culture, cosmology, philosophy, ethics, sociology, film, music, spirituality, food, and travel. The profound, yet simple writings of the magazine's contributors offer a sensible and inspiring variety of topics encompassing the influence of every sphere of Hindu culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
and religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
. In addition to regular writers, contributors include the magazine’s readers as well as the collective wisdom of major thinkers of both the eastern and western traditions, as captured in the magazine's regularly included quotation
Quotation
A quotation or quote is the repetition of one expression as part of another one, particularly when the quoted expression is well-known or explicitly attributed by citation to its original source, and it is indicated by quotation marks.A quotation can also refer to the repeated use of units of any...
s section. Informative articles also offer profound insights into modern life, with topics such as yoga, vegetarianism, meditation, nonviolence, environmental ethics and family life.
Service to Hindu spirituality
Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
Sivaya Subramuniyaswami , also known as Gurudeva by his followers, was born in Oakland, California, on January 5, 1927, and adopted Saivism as a young man. He traveled to India and Sri Lanka where he received initiation from Yogaswami of Jaffna in 1949...
(Gurudeva): "Hinduism Today was created to strengthen all the many diverse expressions of Hindu spirituality
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
, to give them a single, combined voice because everywhere else their voices were individualized. There was nothing that encompassed the whole Hindu experience around the world. Every religious order has a mission and instead of starting an eye-clinic or an orphanage, we created a global publication to advance the cause of Hindu Dharma
Dharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
."
While Hindus living in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
are surrounded by their culture and faith, Hinduism Today's mandate is to also reach the millions of Hindus who are trying to keep their faith alive in far-off places surrounded by different cultures. Specific goals of the magazine include:
- 1. To foster Hindu solidarity as a unity in diversity among all sectSectA sect is a group with distinctive religious, political or philosophical beliefs. Although in past it was mostly used to refer to religious groups, it has since expanded and in modern culture can refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and...
s and lineages; - 2. To inform and inspire Hindus worldwide and people interested in Hinduism;
- 3. To dispels myths, illusions and misinformation about Hinduism;
- 4. To protect, preserve and promote the sacred VedasVedasThe Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
and the Hindu religion; - 5. To nurture and monitor the ongoing spiritual Hindu renaissanceRenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
; - 6. To publish a resource for Hindu leaders and educators who promote Sanatana Dharma.
As a highly objective magazine with such a diverse presentation of thought, its appeal extends far beyond the Hindu community, especially to those interested in its portrayal of Hindu culture, as well as the thought processes and sentiment used to convey this content.