Ahead of 2022 Diwali, Buddhist, Hindu and Native American spiritual leaders sign a historic proclamation affirming the difference between sacred #Swastika & Hitler’s #Hakenkreuz. The Swastika Proclamation, which develops a common understanding among Dharmic and Indigenous communities, now signed by 13 top American spiritual leaders and endorsed by over 30 organizations (and growing).
Signatories of the proclamation include prominent spiritual leaders such as Venerable Dhammadipa Sak, a trustee member of the Parliament of the World Religions, Poojya Swami Sarvapriyananda, the Head of the Vedanta Society of New York, Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi, President of the Buddhist Association of the United States, Dr. TK Nakagaki, President Emeritus of the Buddhist Council of New York and the author of the Buddhist Swastika and Hitler’s Cross: Rescuing a Symbol of Peace from the Forces of Hatred, Poojya Swamini Svatmavidyananda, Interfaith Leader and Senior Disciple of HH Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Grandmother Mona Polacca, a Hopi/Havasuai/Tewa Elder and a member of the World Council of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, among others.
In 1940, due to the prevailing misinformation and environment at that time, four Native American tribes signed a proclamation to renounce the use of the Swastika. 82 yrs later, Native American Elders join the Dharmic communities to jointly proclaim the sacredness and the usage of Swastika as a symbol of well-being, peace and prosperity!
Please share, like and retweet widely, https://twitter.com/CoHNAOfficial/status/1582850119082180609?s=20&t=1qip6574dW3nkA-EEIGKXQ
Full press release and event replay link are available at the Swastika Awareness Coalition’s new website at https://understandingswastika.org/unveiling-swastika-proclamation-event/
Copy of the Proclamation, along with all the signatories is available at https://understandingswastika.org/proclamation/
This is a historic achievement resulting from months of conversations between these spiritual leaders as well as the coalition members and provides the Dharmic and Indigenous communities a unified way to engage with other communities on this important matter.
In response to above, Cliff Rajkumar penned:
“Indeed! our human journey from caveman to who and what we are today was built upon the sage values, mystical traditions and deep introspective inquiry into the body, mind and intellect connection and the transcendental boundless nature of the soul, by our ancestors.
Secularism and inclusivity will be better served if we all open our minds and try to understand the deep significance of the symbols and Ikons that have contributed in nurturing and elevating our civilizational progress as intelligent and discerning homo-sapiens.
Kudos to Ragini for being such a rationale and strong advocate for truth by resolutely standing up to dispel the the egregious misconceptions about the Vedic Swastika implied association with Hitler perverted #Hakenkreuz.”