Posted on 06/29/2002 7:38:01 PM PDT by Illbay
An interactive marriage of modern communications and ancient spirituality cost more than $400,000 and five years for the Hindu faithful of Chinmaya Mission Houston.
The Journey to the Truth, a multi-media CD-ROM set, contains not only the Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism's most sacred writings, but presents the Scriptures in user-friendly formats suited for children, adults and even for those who can manage only a few minutes a day.
It also includes a Sanskrit glossary with English definitions, meditation instructions, cyber notebooks for spiritual journaling and other digital features.
"This is primarily for people who do not have a background from India and who have not read the Scriptures but are very interested to know what the message is," said Punam Malthora, one of a score of project volunteers.
The "mother" of the project was Darshana Nanavaty, the mission's education director. Several years ago she considered cyber education to reach the mission's youth with the spiritual principles integral to Hindus.
"We are very strong here in Sunday school," said Nanavaty, who directs a program that has 35 teachers and 300 students. "Sunday school means children. We want to pass the message to them. They are the future generation."
The message is the moral and ethical principles contained in the Gita. The holy book, composed of 700 verses and comparable in size to the New Testament, is regarded by many Hindus as the revealed word of God speaking through his incarnation as Krishna.
The Chinmaya ("Pure Consciousness") Mission also promotes the spiritual principles of their founding guru, Swami Chinmayananda who died in 1993.
The California-based U.S. national board of the mission asked the Houston temple, 10353 Synott Road, five years ago to undertake the blending of the Gita with cyber technology. The Houston Mission, which has about 400 families, is one of 22 temples in the United States.
Nanavaty assembled a team of volunteers who started making the cyber Gita a reality.
"It had to give the message absolutely clearly and very simply," she said. "Unless the message comes out clearly, people are not really going to study."
Easier said than done.
"If someone at first had told me what I was getting into, I would have thought twice," said G.V. Krishnan, a University of Houston professor and computer expert.
Among the technical problems was designing a program that could operate in different systems and that was easy for all ages. Moreover, computer technology was constantly evolving, creating a never-ending set of technical challenges.
"It was a battle," Krishnan said.
Nanavaty surveyed religious and biblical computer products, selecting features she wanted. She especially wanted to include children's materials including illustrated summaries of the Gita and interactive activities that test religious learning through games and puzzles.
The mission commissioned special art from an artist in India to illustrate the Gita. In Houston, Smita Turakhia took on the challenge of producing computer Gita illustrations using Indian folk art.
It took her four months to create the illustrations, "but it was working around the clock," she said.
Jamuna Murali, a singer and a member, was asked to compose music for all 700 verses of the Gita.
"Singing and music is my hobby, it is my passion," Murali said. But she was overwhelmed when Nanavaty asked her to compose the music. "I had never done anything as enormous as this," she said. It took her more than two years.
A professional singer in India recorded many of her compositions. An Indian musician recorded the background music for the program.
Krish Ravishankar, an environmental engineer, wanted the holy book to appeal to fellow "engineer" types who like logical patterns and easy information.
He created a "flow chart" Gita format. He divided the Gita's chapters into blocks that provide the user a short summary with a click of the mouse.
But with each addition and innovation came technical difficulties and problems. The national Chinmaya Mission board reluctantly withdrew from the project after two years, citing the time and mounting expense. The Houston Mission decided to continue.
"We felt this would be extremely useful to the society at large, not just the Indian society, but the entire society," B.N. Murali said. "We felt it was the right thing to do and one way or another we were going to get it done."
Last year, the project concluded. Avinash Malhotra, who oversees the marketing, said it is drawing interest from communities across the nation.
"Especially in Texas, a lot of people don't have access to (Hindu) materials or books," Malhotra said.
Purchasers of the $101 set can save the cost of Scriptures, dictionaries, books and other materials for in-depth study.
"It was truly a labor of love," said Punam Malthora, who said she had not studied the Gita as deeply as she did during the project. "It made me think totally different. I am so much better and a very different person as a human being from this learning. If it can change me, it can change anyone who wants it."
For information on The Journey to the Truth set, call 866-867-2002 or visit www.myholygita.com
They're mostly good Baptists down that way.
I haven’t noticed an increase in Hindus, I have a family of them living across the street from me. But I get a paper, the China Times thrown in my drive way at least once a week. I have the phone number and email address in NY and they are going to hear from me soon.
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