Just as all the rivers in the world eventually lead to the limitless ocean; similarly all the various Hindu groups and sects should aim to lead to some kind of realisation of the existence of this ocean. There are many such groups ranging from sectarian bodies promoting devotion to a specific deity, groups under guidance of a Guru, as well as Hindu social groups aiming to serve wider Hindu society. Many of us may belong to one of these groups or organisations.

Being brought up in a family that has been in contact with many such groups has proved vital in giving me the opportunity to develop my understanding of the limitlessness of Hinduism.

On the other hand, I have also seen first hand that several such Hindu organisations end up becoming so rapt in their own agendas and viewpoints that they lose track of the fact that they are just one single part of the wider Hindu family. They end up speaking down at other Hindu groups and in doing so, they do not take into account the damage and fragmentation that they inflict upon the overall Hindu image. It has come to the point where some individual groups are claiming to be greater or more important than Hinduism itself!

I have always given more importance to opinions and views which reflect a mainstream Hindu perspective. As such I have not really been able to connect with the views of certain sampradayas (sects) whose teachings my family hold very strongly. Thus, my search for a more mainstream and pan-Hindu teaching took me elsewhere.

Somehow I found myself weekly attending a youth group or ‘Shakha’ from the age of 17 to 20. Although my time there was initially rewarding, I always felt that there was something missing and was not able to pin point what the problem was. As I grew up and developed intellectually, I started formulating my own views, and found that my ideas came into conflict with what the prominent people within the group were promoting.

After a few years of attending Shakha I gradually started to notice that more importance was given to the organisational procedures rather than knowing even the very basics of Hindu teachings. I found this very disturbing especially seeing as this group is supposed to promote pride amongst Hindus. The organisers themselves were quite ignorant of the spiritual, political and social mores of Hinduism. Even though they were socially active, I felt as though they were not always aware of real issues concerning British Hindus today. This was sad because the organisation comprised itself of 100’s of youth who would probably have to deal with these issues sometime in their life.

I put this down to the attitudes of senior leaders up the hierarchy, who have closed theirs ears to the ideas and thoughts of the younger generation. This has led them to become static and fixed. Physically they may be moving on but spiritually and intellectually they have not really evolved, and from my understanding, evolution is crucial for survival.

There are liberal and rigid members in all organisations. This was no different with Shakha. I remember in one of the discussions a senior member said “Shakha is the backbone of Hinduism, you can follow any spiritual path but if you don’t have Shakha you will get nowhere”.

This was like the last straw! As far as I can remember none of the great Rishis or Warriors of our history had attended Shakha and they did pretty well for themselves. Hinduism is noted for its pluralarity of its views of reality, understanding that you are part of the whole and not the whole itself. It is therefore disturbing to see such behaviour from these types of groups, who have not even understood the basics of co-existing along side each other and exhibiting behaviour or views typical of the Abrahamic religions, claiming to be the sole liberators of mankind.

I saw many different types of people attending Shakha, but I always remember a few guys, who were quite different, and I could see in their manner of speaking and their actions that they were intelligent and broad minded, but too scared to think out side of the box. Shakha had not allowed them the freedom to utilise their own intelligence and develop their own understanding of our religion.

Although I have spoken of my experiences with regards to Shakha, many friends have narrated similar stories to me in their experiences with other supposedly Hindu groups and organisations. Most people who join these groups are genuine people who wish to acquire contact with other Hindus, learn about Hinduism and develop a connection with their heritage. The organisations generally subvert these noble aspirations, instead attempting to promote their own superiority and infallibility. This is one of the main things which has created so much confusion within the minds of an entire generation of young Hindus of today, so much so that many now view all Hindu groups as being corrupt fronts for political activity.

I do not wish to be entirely negative in my analysis of Hindu groups and sects of today. The truth of the matter is that we can learn a lot from Hindu groups and in some cases they do guide us in our spiritual development. But until the ‘senior’s members’ change their attitudes, the youth will always turn their backs on these Hindu organisations.

History has shown that individual Hindu groups have come and gone, and in the grand scheme of things all groups and sects should see themselves only as vessels of Hindu Dharma, which has been there since the beginning of time. Whatever path we choose, our allegiance and devotion should be towards Hinduism and not to any particular group.

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