Hinduism Today Production Fund Newsletter
1985: founder Gurudeva sits with the great Ram Swarup. Present: publisher Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami
(right) and chief editor Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami (left).
Publisher muses on magazine's trajectory,past, present and future
Forty years on, our magazine remains true to its mission, informing
and inspiring Hindus everywhere. Gurudeva had amazing foresight.
At a time when Hindus avoided the word Hindu, Gurudeva championed
it—starting with his magazine’s very title. Today we still hear
Vedic this and Vedanta that, but the trend is definitely toward using
the word boldly and proudly.
In 1979, Hindus isolated in various parts of the world were falling victim
to unethical conversion practices which Hinduism Today exposed
with unrelenting ardor.
For decades, it urged the victims to build
walls of knowledge and intelligence around themselves while providing
them, in every issue, the knowledge and inspiration they needed.
Today, the threat is noticeably down.
Since 1979, the major trend has been the Hindu diaspora into all
parts of the world. Hindu communities that were isolated became
less so. More people came to know Hindus, understanding, respecting and admiring them. Many have been encouraged by their new
countrymen to speak out and share their valuable points of view. In
the USA, for example, several Hindus are now serving in Congress.
Many began to teach and actively support their faith. Hindu institutions
came up and became prominent, trends Hinduism Today
encouraged and, to some extent, guided. Today, our editors’ ideas are
enthusiastically sought for. The India Foundation, for example, an
NGO think tank in Delhi [sponsored] our editor-in-chief to attend
a conference on soft power in December of [2018.]
The rise of soft power is another trend of increasing significance.
Soft power is inflfuence expressed through appeal and attraction (i.e.,
culture, spirituality, music, yoga, etc.) rather than through coercion,
or hard power. We are heartened by this trend, particularly as the
government of India is very much at its forefront. It has, for example,
established a new Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy,
Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy—or AYUSH.
And who could forget the riveting moment at the United Nations
on December 2014 when prime minister Modi proclaimed June 21
as the annual International Day of Yoga, or the dynamic response
‘round the world every year since? Here was amazingly powerful soft
power! This new focus of India’s will surely create new knowledge,
new points of view, approaches and activities that we will need to
report on. This is new, and all-around good news.
Another important trend today is the growing number of young
people declaring themselves "spiritual but not religious," or SBNR
for short. Hinduism is a most apt guide for such souls interested in
spirituality, and our magazine will be there to address their needs and
concerns.
We have continued all along to follow Gurudeva’s directive to
remain at the forefront of developing technologies. Today, the magazine
has a massive presence on the Internet and exists in several
digital editions, including a mobile app.
Another global trend is the decline of print periodicals. As wonderful
as digital versions are, they cannot produce the same revenue as
print subscriptions. Publishing houses are failing or having to consolidate,
and we are feeling the same pressure. Today, we have more
readers enjoying our digital versions than the printed one, and subscription
income is dwindling.
Gurudeva anticipated this possibility and established the Hinduism
Today Production Fund to eventually keep the magazine fully funded
no matter what might happen. The fund’s quarterly subsidies are crucial;
we need to cover costs, keep improving the product and foray
into more potent technologies. And so, maintaining and growing the
Fund is one of our major activities.
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