Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 32

Introduced by Senator Corbett

April 2, 2013

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 32—Relative to Hindu American Awareness and Appreciation Month.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 32, as introduced, Corbett. Hindu American Awareness and Appreciation Month.

This measure would designate the month of October 2013 as California Hindu American Awareness and Appreciation Month to recognize and acknowledge the significant contributions made by Californians of Hindu heritage to the state.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, California and the nation have been influenced by
the extraordinary cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity
of its residents; and

WHEREAS, Of the over one billion Hindus worldwide, more
than 2 million Hindu Americans live across the nation, and the
State of California is home to the largest Hindu American
population in the United States; and

WHEREAS, Hindu Americans in California represent diverse
ethnic backgrounds, including individuals of Indian, Pakistani,
Bangladeshi, Malaysian, Indonesian, Afghani, Nepali, Bhutanese,
Sri Lankan, Fijian, Caribbean, and European descent; and

WHEREAS, California and our nation have greatly benefited
by Hindu Americans, especially through yoga, meditation, Vedanta
philosophy, ayurvedic medicine, classical Indian music, art, and
dance; and

WHEREAS, Swami Vivekananda is credited with officially
introducing Hinduism to the United States in 1893 at the World
Parliament of Religions in Chicago, and in 1900 he arrived in San
Francisco and founded the Vedanta Society; and

WHEREAS, Hindu Americans and the Vedanta philosophy
have significantly influenced notable American intellectuals such
as Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman,
J.D. Salinger, Christopher Isherwood, Aldous Huxley, Huston
Smith, and Joseph Campbell; and

WHEREAS, Hindu Americans believe in promoting knowledge
and education for all and as a group have the highest education
rate in the nation; and

WHEREAS, Almost three-quarters of Hindu Americans are
college graduates and nearly half of Hindu Americans have
postgraduate degrees; and

WHEREAS, Hindu Americans share the entrepreneurial spirit
of America, have been pioneers and leaders in Silicon Valley, and
have particularly excelled in the fields of information technology,
science, medicine, law, and business; and

WHEREAS, Hindu Americans have founded roughly 10 percent
of Silicon Valley start-ups in California, while comprising less
than 1 percent of the United States’ population; and

WHEREAS, The first Hindu American elected to Congress,
Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, is a United States military veteran and
took the oath of office on January 3, 2013, on a copy of the
Bhagavad Gita, which is the most well known and widely read
text of the many sacred texts of Hinduism; and

WHEREAS, The first Hindu temple in the United States was
built in San Francisco, California, and at the dedication of the
temple on January 7, 1906, it was proclaimed to be the “First Hindu
Temple in the whole Western World”; and

WHEREAS, There are now over 50 Hindu temples throughout
California, and the San Francisco Bay Area is home to over 20
Hindu temples; and

WHEREAS, Hindu Americans in cities throughout California
celebrate numerous holidays and festivals, such as Diwali, which
celebrates the victory of good over evil and knowledge over
ignorance;

WHEREAS, Hindu temples, organizations, and individuals in
California actively engage in seva, or selfless service towards their
fellow human beings through charity, public service, and the
provision of free medical and legal services; and

WHEREAS, Ahimsa, which is the Sanskrit word for noninjury
or nonviolence, is a central principle for Hindu Americans in
California, and it provides the ethical foundation for vegetarianism,
environmentalism, and harmonious living; and

WHEREAS, Hindu Americans have helped promote the shared
American ideals of tolerance, pluralism, and religious freedom,
which are inherent to their beliefs and respect the diversity of all
faiths, and the Vedas, the 5000 year old texts of Hindu Americans,
provide the basis for these core principles: “Truth is one, the wise
call it by many names” [Ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanti]; now,
therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the
month of October 2013 as California Hindu American Awareness
and Appreciation Month; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature recognizes and acknowledges
the significant contributions made by Californians of Hindu
heritage to our state, and by adoption of this resolution, seeks to
increase awareness and understanding about the Hindu American
community; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.