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| July 21, 2010 | City of Phoenix appreciates Zed's Hindu prayer | |
Nevada:City of Phoenix, fifth most populated city of USA,
has appreciated acclaimed Hindu leader Rajan Zed's invocation from ancient Sanskrit scriptures opening the City Council meeting on July seven, reportedly for the
first time since it was incorporated in 1881. Mario Paniagua, Phoenix City Clerk,
in a letter to Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, wrote:
"Your invocation was greatly appreciated and we hope we may call upon you again
in the future...We feel it is important to recognize the contribution you make
to our City..." In this invocation, Rajan Zed recited from Rig-Veda, the oldest
scripture of the world still in common use, besides lines from Upanishads and
Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures. He started and
ended the prayer with "Om", the mystical syllable containing the universe, which
in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work. Zed sprinkled few
drops of sacred water from river Ganga in India around the podium before the prayer.
Reciting from Brahadaranyakopanishad, Zed said, "Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma
jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya", which he then translated as "Lead me from
the unreal to the Real, Lead me from darkness to Light, and Lead me from death
to Immortality." Reciting from Bhagavad-Gita, he urged Councilors to keep the
welfare of others always in mind. Rajan Zed met with Arizona Secretary of State
Ken Bennett and Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon just before the historic prayer and
presented both of them with copy of Bhagavad-Gita. Zed is one of the panelists
for "On Faith", a prestigious interactive conversation on religion produced jointly
by Newsweek and washingtonpost.com. He has been awarded "World Interfaith Leader
Award" by National Association of Interchurch and Interfaith Families. Hinduism,
oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents
and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. Spread out about 2,000 square miles
and having hottest climate of any major city in the nation with over 300 sunshine
days, Phoenix offers top-notch professional sports, major museums and world-class
golf. One of the vision/value of City of Phoenix is: "We Learn, Change and Improve". |
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