''Hinduism Today'' is a quarterly magazine published by the Himalayan Academy, a nonprofit educational institution, in Kapaʻa, Hawaiʻi, USA. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally, currently in 60 nations. Founded by

Sivaya Subramuniyaswami Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (born Robert Hansen; January 5, 1927 – November 12, 2001) was an American Hindu religious leader known as Gurudeva by his followers. Subramuniyaswami was born in Oakland, California and adopted Hinduism as a young ...

in 1979, it is a public service of his monastic order to promote an understanding of the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

faith, culture, and traditions.

History and topics

''Hinduism Today'' was launched in 1979 by

(Gurudeva), published by his non-profit organization Himalayan Academy. Originally ''The New

Saivite Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangi ...

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 Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

topics as early as 1957. In 1996, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami upgraded the newspaper ''Hinduism Today'' to a magazine. Recently, the magazine became available online. 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. 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 quotations section. Informative articles also offer profound insights into modern life, with topics such as

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianis ...

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

nonviolence Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

, environmental ethics and family life. Specific goals of the magazine include: # To foster Hindu solidarity as a unity in diversity among all sects and

lineage Lineage may refer to: Science * Lineage (anthropology), a group that can demonstrate its common descent from an apical ancestor or a direct line of descent from an ancestor * Lineage (evolution), a temporal sequence of individuals, populat ...

s; # To inform and inspire Hindus worldwide and people interested in Hinduism; # To dispels myths, illusions and misinformation about Hinduism; # To protect, preserve and promote the sacred

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...

and the Hindu religion; # To nurture and monitor the ongoing spiritual Hindu renaissance; # To publish a resource for Hindu leaders and educators who promote Sanatana Dharma.

References

For Further Reading: ''Hinduism Today'' by R M Chopra, 2009, Kolkata.

External links

{{Commons category, Hinduism Today (magazine), Hinduism Today
''Hinduism Today'', digital version (PDF format)

Publications of Himalayan Academy - ''Hinduism Today''
1979 establishments in Hawaii Quarterly magazines published in the United States Religious magazines published in the United States Hindu magazines Hinduism in Hawaii Hinduism in the United States Magazines established in 1979 Magazines published in Hawaii