AMERICAN FAITH IN HINDU GODS

SUPER BOWL WINNING QUARTERBACK 
KEEPS A GANESHA DEITY IN HIS LOCKER

www.usatoday.com - (Glendale, Arizona) Tom Brady is the quarterback of the New England Patriots American football team which had just won the Superbowl. When Tom Brady reached his locker, about an hour after victory and a series of interviews, he was done talking to the news media. But his locker spoke for him. Prominently displayed was was a four-inch bronze elephant-headed statue - Ganesha, the Hindu God. Or as Brady quietly told a visitor, "The Remover of Obstacles." 
Two team officials shielded him from the news media with the same intensity that the New England Patriots offensive line protected him from the Seattle Seahawk.

But the locker spoke. Ganesha, remover of obstacles, almost beckoned to the curious. Ganesha illustrates the spiritual side of his psyche developed with trainer and adviser Alex Guerrero. But the spiritual is coupled by mental commitment, evidence by more items in his locker. Lying next to Ganesha were five note cards and handwritten notes that included: "Bend knees more on drop." And, perhaps most important, "Be on toes", and a poster by his children Benjamin and Vivian that read "Go Patriots. Love you Daddy.''  
He was on his toes all night, shaking off two interceptions, throwing four touchdown passes and, in what was again Brady at his best, leading the Patriots back from a 10-point deficit. On his toes on a 20-yard pass to Rob Gronkowski on the game-winning drive. Brady, 37, can now rival Joe Montana as the greatest quarterback of all time.

Tom Brady, one of the greatest quarterbacks in American football, believes Ganesha as 'remover of obstacles' and who better needs obstacles to be removed than the playmaker in this rough and tumble game? Brandy keeps a four-inch deity of Ganesha, and his devotion came to light after journalists crowded around his locker after the quarterback led his team New England Patriots to a fourth Super Bowl title two week ago. More items in Brandy's locker - a poster by his children - show that his spiritual and mental commitments are joined. The Times of India newspaper said that "American fealty to Hindu Gods is not new. President Obama himself was reported keeping a small locket of Hanuman in his pocket as a lucky charm during his Presidential campaign. And the US House of Representatives now had a self-professed Hindu lawmaker in Tulsi Gabbard, whose faith comes from the Hare Krishna movement, and who used the Bhagavad Gita to take her oath in Congress." In many parts of the world, especially in all America and Europe, there are many spiritual movements, which have their roots in India but they are not Hindu. Different meditation movements, although rooted in the ancient Hindu meditation practice, are not considered as “Hindu” or even as “religious.” The same is true of the Yoga practitioners, who do not think of themselves as Hindu. Increasingly, more people have started to respect the wise knowledge, admire the open and tolerant way of living, and also enjoy the colorful traditions coming from India. (Editor's note).

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Hinduism is pluralistic. In other words, it does not claim any one prophet or savior; it includes all aspects of God; it does not subscribe to any one philosophy or dogma; it includes various schools of thought and ways of understanding spiritual Truth; it includes a variety of religious rites or sacraments; it does not exclude any particular scripture that can help a person understand more about God and spiritual Truth; and it does not say that you have only one life in which to become spiritually perfect or you will go to eternal damnation. Thus, Vedic philosophy is more of a way of living and an outlook on life than a religion. Because of this, Hinduism and the path of Vedic culture includes a variety of customs, ideas, and philosophies. It accommodates a wide range of approaches for allowing people to advance and understand our spiritual identity and transcendental Truth.

Dr Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
Vedic Culture / Hinduism: A Short Introduction
http://www.stephenknapp.info/
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/vedic_culture_hinduism_a_short_introduction.htm

Published by dasavatara das - “Vedic Views on World News”
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/