Voices Against Hate – Episode 4: Pandit Yogeshwar Narayan on Hate Crimes & Unity

In this powerful episode of SB Life Institute Podcast, Safraz Bacchus is joined by Pandit Yogeshwar Narayan for an important conversation on hate crimes, religious harmony, and the role of interfaith dialogue in building safer communities.

Together, they explore the rise of intolerance affecting minority communities, the importance of educating young people about identity and faith, and how Hinduism and Islam both emphasize service to humanity, compassion, and respect for all people. Pandit Yogeshwar shares his personal journey as a Hindu priest, reflects on the value of standing proudly in one’s faith, and discusses practical ways communities can respond to hate with knowledge, unity, and understanding.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

We are living in a time where hate has become louder, where words are fueling division, and where fear and violence are entering our streets, schools, homes, and places of worship. Every day, people are being targeted because of their faith, race, culture, or simply because they are different. But we refuse to allow hate to define our future. This series is about more than hate crimes. It is about humanity, healing, understanding, and courageous conversations that bring people together instead of tearing them apart. Featuring faith leaders, community advocates, public officials, survivors, and voices from different backgrounds united in confronting hate and building hope. Because love must speak louder than hate. And our shared humanity must always rise above division. Join us for this powerful new series on the SB Life Institute podcast. Conversations on hate, healing, unity, and hope. Coming soon. Greetings and peace and love be with you all, and welcome to SB Life Institute Podcast. In today's episode, we continue our discourse and discussion on hate crimes and the way ways and means how we can tackle hate crime. And our objective behind these series is to sensitize our brothers and sisters and viewers about how important it is for us to have hard discussions so that our children and our community will be safe. Communities, religious communities, minority communities are all subjected to hate crime and in some way or the other uh experience some form of hate crime. And unless we have these discussions, I do not think as a religious leader and a community leader we were able to tackle these issues. It may be quite sensitive for us to have discussions of this nature, but I'll say it's vital and important. And today I am honored to have someone that is distinguished, Pandit Yogeshwar Narayan, who is a dedicated Hindu priest and a speaker, someone that is very active within our community and is committed to community to the community work. I'll say that he's serving and promoting Sanatan Dharma through spiritual education, devotional worship, and cultural engagement with the passion of inspiring individuals of all ages. As a young man, I'll say I'm quite proud of the work that he does as he combines traditional Vedic teachings with practical life lessons that resonates with today's families and youth. My dear brother, welcome to our discourse and to SB Life Institute Podcast. I know it's uh quite difficult to get community leaders to sit um in times like this. And I know for a fact that you're busy, but the work that you that you do is quite admirable. And um I want to first of all, on behalf of SB Life Institute Podcast, we would like to thank you so much for making the time to be here um for us to have this discussion. Um how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_01 3:57

Absolutely. I'm well, first of all, I must say um thank you for having me. I truly appreciate it. And like you rightfully said, we do need more of these types of engagement on forums. Yes. And just to see yourself and Imam, practicing Imam and a pundit sitting in the same panel. Yeah, and these topics are vital, critical, and very, very important. So thank you for having me here and being a part of this wonderful, excellent mission that you're you're you're putting together. So and to all the viewers who are gonna watch and listen to this, my humble Namaste, and good evening to all. And we hope that this the wider world and population can benefit from this.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

So thank thank you so much. You know, I I would like to ask you first of all, if you can tell me a little bit about yourself and the passion of the work that you do, because quite uh we don't really see that young people like engage in religious work. And if you can share very briefly what inspired you to serve, um, I know that you have your day-to-day work, but you see it fit to have the time to instill spiritual teachings and religious teachings um with the time that God has blessed you with.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Absolutely, absolutely. So um my my journey, you know, began as a pundit. I came from a long line in the lineage of practicing pandits from my parnana, my great uh Aja, my Aja, my dad is a pandit, cousins, and so forth. So it has been instilled within me from a very tender young age, growing up. And I was brought up in such a family where it is, it has to be, it had to be practiced, and it's what was in our bloodline that we grew up. We had to go to our altar, we had to do our daily prayers. And I was intrigued with um attending different yajas and temples and seeing the way valuable lessons were outpoured from our sacred texts and scripture, but triggered very positive changes in my life and opened an arena for me to think and analyze the world in a different spectrum as I grow, you know, throughout my school days, college days, and even now today in my adulthood and family life. So I always treasure that my religious heritage, uh, my tradition and customs that were brought to me and my family from our ancestors, and I will I've chosen to walk that path 100% um committed firmly for the the betterment of our Hinduism, our culture, and our wider community.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

You know, it it's important for us to, you know, highlight to our viewers, despite what faith background we may belong to, that while we seek uh to achieve our academic dreams, I think our culture, you know, emphasize that we should couple that with our religious values and spiritual values. Absolutely. Because it it goes side by side, hand in hand. And while we may have uh differences in our theological belief, I think that there is a lot in common in terms of humanity, our shared humanity and service to humanity. Absolutely. I think that is what drives us to be here, that you know, like we're here sit in, and while we're living in a time where many seeks to divide us based on our differences, right? Um based on our religious practices or even political views and even the the attire that we wear. Absolutely, right? I I think uh, you know, sit in here sends a very strong message, especially living in the West, and that is why I saw it fit for us to have discussions about hate crime. Um, before we continue about the hate crime, what does service to humanity mean in in Hinduism?

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Uh that's service to humanity is the is the foundation of Hinduism, actually. Our um in Hinduism, we believe Nara Seva, Narayan Seva, Nara means man, Seva means service to man, Narain Seva. Narain is God is service to God. So irrespective, why I say it's the foundation, in Hinduism, we strongly believe we advocate and we live by the principle that service to our brothers and sisters out in the world, not Hindu brothers and sisters, but of all walks of life, human beings are treated as a creation of God. Bhagavad Gita teaches us one of our prominent texts that a spark of God, that divinity, lives in every single living entity, irrespective of the color pigmentation of your skin, texture of our hair, our ethnic background, our political views. We're all human beings, we have blood in the veins. So service to humanity is service to God. That's what we believe and we try to live by and practice.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

So it's interesting that you say that, because one of my favorite quotes would be the statement of the Prophet, the Prophet of Islam, the Prophet of Humanity, when he says, the best of you are those who are service to others. Right? And you know, and he he's saying the core aspect of our faith is not based on the prayers, the spiritual things that we do, the rituals that we engage in. Absolutely. But those rituals are their intent to transform us to be better human beings so that we may have empathy, compassion, love, and care, and look beyond the barriers that people often will. If a man comes and knocks at your door, you have that connection with him. You don't ask his color, you don't ask his creed, you look at his needs and you provide that to the opening. Absolutely. So I I I I I like that common absolute.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

I'm learning. I I wasn't aware of that. So excellent point there.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

You know, I I can recall uh I I first I was appointed to be the Imam of Majal Abdin at 127 Liberty. Um I served from 2013 to current time. I remember uh I think it was sometime in January, March 2013, or just after that. I'm I can't remember the specific date. Uh I was a part of a religious group from various religious backgrounds that came together and we said no to the hate crime that affected the Hindu community here in Queens. That there were a group of young people, a group of people that went around a particular area here in Queens. I can't remember the demographics, but I I know my good colleague and friend Arsalan, a friend of mine, he has the video clips and it pops up sometimes on social media where they burned Hindu flags here in Queens. And um I know lately they had desecrated some of the um religious, um religious uh items of of the temple, Hindu temple, here in Queens as well. And I know this is something that affects all uh all of us, not only the rise of Islamophobia, and quite often there is a discourse and discussion about um anti-Semitism, but I know for a fact that even the Hindu community is affected with this. And the mere fact that they have people out of their hate that will go around and basically burn the f the Hindu flags, that it was very um very you know unacceptable and and we condemn that. And it was a part of the group, uh interfaith group that went and openly said no to this. That uh and uh us coming together actually defeated defeated the intent of those people. As as a Hindu priest and a pundit, uh how important it is and what it's you know for you to take uh a moment of your service to highlight uh to your community about sensitizing the youngsters about about this, the youngsters, because they're growing up. Uh it's affecting our youngsters um mentally, emotionally. Sometimes they would probably want to hide their identity because of the case of everything. Because of everything. How important that is, and you know, what are you doing to tackle this uh from within your community if you don't mind sharing or something like that?

SPEAKER_01 12:18

Absolutely, that's a critical point. Um, and and one of the events I'm sure uh you would recall, the um there's a beautiful temple there in 11th Street, Tulsi Monday, where they desecrated the Mahatma Gandhi idol that was standing outside by the door, yeah, um, which was one of those, in addition to the burning of the flags and and uttering slogans and and all of these things. Um it's very critical in our younger generation and minds to prepare them. And like you said, because of these um situations and scenarios out there in the world, they would cluster themselves in their closet, if you will. Yeah. And they would not be bold, they don't want to wear a certain garment or attire and say that I'm a full-fledged, you know, probably perhaps they don't want to wear the Kimarist, you know. Yes. Or they don't want to wear their um Hindu attire when it's holy or Pagwa because of those situations and reasons. And what we do to educate our youths, um, a Triganish Mandir where I'm the officiating priest and the other organizations I go to is I always try to put forward that our our dharma, which means our religious marriage, what we were born into, it goes the same for every religion out there. Be proud of it, uplift it boldly, and we cannot control what's coming out of the mouth of the other person or how they're gonna react to you, right? Of course that's beyond our control. But what we are in control of, you don't have to be as uh bitter as their remarks. Just approach the situation cautiously, carefully, don't put out back the same level of hatred, but you know better. And to our younger generations and our viewers who are gonna listen to this and who are looking at this, don't allow such levels of hate out there in the world to determine who you are or the religious background you're from. I want you to know that you are very unique in your own way, you are strong just the way you are to stand on your feet, and you need to stand up firmly against such and let them know that you're not afraid, you don't have to engage in a duel or a fight, but uh give, you know, for like from a Hinduism perspective, we respect all walks of life out there. And like my brother mentioned from an Islamic perspective, it's the same thing. Yes, humanity remains humanity, you irrespective of your religion or your color or your background or the wealth you have. Human beings will always be human beings. Respect that, lead a life of simplicity, and that's gonna germinate harmony and peace and togetherness in our community. So I always encourage our youngsters to see things along that line. Don't let other words and comments um define who you are as an individual or a person or your family. Stand up for yourself, know your worth, and you have to know the principles behind your religion and your family dynamics and your tradition. Only then can you stand for them. So I think knowledge is key.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

Knowledge, yes.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

In in responding to those situations and remarks. You have to be knowledgeable, you have to be aware, and you have to be confident in yourself, youths, youngsters, and parents, your children are all special. All my brothers and sisters out there, you're all special and unique in your own way, and you're strong. Stand your grounds, be educated, be firm in your decision, and be polite in your response, and love will grow and flourish.

SPEAKER_00 15:43

It's some key words that you mention. Be proud of who you are and and and knowledge as well, right? I think with knowledge comes power, and then you stand with your head up, head up high, saying that I'm proud of who I am and I will represent who I am to the best of my ability. And while we try to articulate that to our kids, um the reality remains that many of us, despite these are children, right? And even the adults we experience, like for myself, I have been in New York for 13 years serving as the Imam. So I've been a resident here uh for just over 13 years. And within our communities, in so many different ways, I've experienced hate crime with mere words uh targeting my garb, targeting my identity. Have you as a person experienced that, whether it is here or elsewhere? Can can you recall in any time that you have experienced such your days in college? Because one of the things that I've I counsel, I'm a life coach, so I I I speak with a lot of young people, and I know that a lot of uh our brothers and sisters from the Sikh community and from the Muslim community has been targeted even in the campus because of because of their faith.

SPEAKER_01 17:12

You know, like can you I just wanted to growing up, I mean, in my UG days and in my high school days, UG days not so much because we were all grown folks at that time, people treat you differently. And and and that was in Guyana. So Guyana in its whole, when you speak of Guyana, it's so very diverse, but yet are united at the same time. Um in my high school days, you know, growing up, like I said, my pandit's journey began at a very, very young age. And I'll always be looked at or be called out a pandit, and you know, growing up so young, everybody don't understand what's a pandit. They see a religious preacher doing puja. So it'll make laughing and it'll be funny at times, but I never took it to heart because at the end of the day, when you walk through the street, I know all those same people were my friends, yeah, we would all meet up for a game of cricket later on. So it's most like a jokingly not hatred, not that.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

But that's that's Ghana. I think Ghana I think Ghana is a role model of what religious harmony is, right? Yes. And I I think if we want to know how we can coexist as a group of diverse people with different religious backgrounds, um, I think Guiana is that place. Because you why? I am from Wales, potentially. You have within close proximity, you have a Mandir, two streets apart, you have a mosque, and just around the corner you have a church.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

And you see these three symbols that actually represent something powerful, that this is a community of faith. And despite how you you sense the family turmoil and the chaos sometimes within our community and pulling and tugging, Saturdays, Sundays, and Fridays, like you will find that powerful imagery of people of faith walking in harmony and the coexistence of these people within their religious practices. I think that's a demonstration of uh what harmony actually means. Absolutely. And I I don't want, especially our our Muslim viewers, to think that we are, you know, water and dung our own religious principle. Your religious principle will always be your religious principle. And you will not do anything to compromise what you were taught, right? Absolutely. Same thing for myself. But that does not mean we cannot have that uh that harmony and does that get an S, right? And deal with the commonality. And we're living in the West, and unfortunately, brother, I'll say this. Unfortunately, we're seeing individuals that is occupying the highest office in this country. And I say, I say this, I don't want it to sound political, but it's in it's a reality that people that are occupying the highest of office are trying to use religious teachings and religious differences to segregate and to divide and to instill fear. Right? So I guess why do you think hate crimes and acts of intolerance are increasing within our society today? Any thought process, if you could share, will be really nice.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

Yes, uh, I mean that that that um intolerance and that's whatever promotes hate crimes out there in the world, uh, whether it's senior generations or younger youths, I think it all boils back down to the main aspect of education and awareness. We are not aware of the other person's values, like you beautifully highlighted. Um you're gonna adhere to your principles, your Islamic teachings, and your rules. I will do the same for my Vedic principles and my teachings as well. That doesn't mean that we don't have a brotherly um meeting out there because we're promoting the same. We want peace with our community, our children, and families out there in the world. So I think lack of awareness and education. Yeah. Because what what I find um to to connect back with the pre prior question is that when we look into society and we see that this level of hate being practiced out there, it is because I have personally uh spoke spoken to youths that until I sat down and I had a discussion with that person, that they didn't fully understand how Hinduism worked. This was a person of a non-Hinduism background. And and that happened here in New York. But when we sit down and had a one-on-one discussion, they finally started to understand it. You know, we're all human beings, we have different principles. And I had to give them the idea that you know, in Hinduism, you're gonna see that each day of the week we pray to a different form of God. It doesn't mean that we have all these different types of God out there. It means that the same Lord, but in different days, like yourself. Today you're dressed appropriately, I'm speaking to an Imam. If I come on a day, you're planting some vegetables in the yard, you're gonna be in your short pants, you're the same imam, but you're not my brother Safraz. Yeah, so your clothing changes, the way you speak perhaps will be different.

SPEAKER_02 22:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

But am I speaking to the same person? Am I referring to the same person? Absolutely. So this is the level that's just a little example of bringing awakening awareness within others out there in the world. And I think when we when we're able to do this and bridge that gap, then others would come back to the body. The barriers, the barriers will be rebroken. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

And I I listen, we can disagree on principle, religious principles, but what what I'm what I'm saying, I I agree with you that lack of education about faiths and culture, cultural sensitivity is it's not there. And that's why I often will say, I will probably say it in each one of these episodes that I have, and I'll say it now again, that our work as religious leaders should extend beyond the walls of our our own our own little niche. Mosque or the shoulders outside. It has to be outside, right? Because there is where the journey starts, right? Um when we go out there, we try our best to somehow educate people through our conduct, not necessarily go and promote our teachings and saying that mine is superior over you. That's why I'm not too much of a fan of aggressive debate. I believe in discourses, but not debates about religion, because we will have our own discuss discussions about religion and open dialogues. Open dialogues light, right? And I I really believe that.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

So have if I may add something to that. Yeah, go ahead. One of the critical places that I find and I use the the forum to my advantage for that, is when I'm officiating at a funeral service, a funeral or a wedding, we have a diverse population. Everybody, everybody's there. So I use the forum to not, like you said, not highlight or bring to the audience Hinduism teachings. I'm not trying to convert a Muslim to Hinduism or a Christian to Hinduism. No. But I'm trying to bring to the point, my brothers and sisters, we are all human beings at the end of the day. Life is short. When you go to a funeral, everybody's gonna nod their head. We want to live tomorrow the best that we can, make it the best last day of our life, because we don't know what will happen next.

SPEAKER_02 24:23

Of course.

SPEAKER_01 24:24

So we try to germinate that seed of humanity, togetherness, unity within the world. It's beautiful. Despite where we come from, which country we are from, which background we're from, which religious group we're practicing.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

And I uh the point that you've mentioned and lack of education about our faith, I think one of the things that we we need to do is to open our mosques or temples or our synagogues or our churches a little bit more to have an open day where people could come and sensitize, sensitize the community about that faith. Absolutely. Because when there is a sense of fear, right? When there's a sense of fear, the only way for us to remove that fear is to have an openness. So when you open, oh, there's a mosque there to see the minarat, they don't know what goes on there. They see a mandir. It's different than their churches or their synagogues or or different than their temple, whatever it is that they can consider, they never see that. So the unknown often will instill. Unknown, right? Yes. And that is why, and and we don't know what they're doing there. So opening our mosque and opening the mandars, without, as I said, again, I formally believe, without, with respect, right, without transgressing where your religious boundaries boundaries are words, right? So the end of the day, they come in and they were able to see and observe more. Like I can recall I invited a group of um interfaith chaplains from Northwell Health to my mosque some years ago, and it was the first time some of them step foot into a mosque. Wow. And this is it for me, I'll say it's unfortunate for us because we we never allow that to happen before. That how come you have people that are willing to come to the mosque but never step foot into a mosque? Not because we they interf conversion, I want to make that clear. Yes, but just to be aware of who you are, because if they know, like in this, this is what our Hindu brothers are doing. That fear, I think that fear will be because acquaintance brings a little bit of harmony. Like, like absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 26:30

Like I said, once awareness are there, now you understand, then that level of hatred, that level of fear that leads to hate leads to these hate crime that we're seeing will will go out the window.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

Breaking bread together, too. Like simple thing is breaking bread together.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

You know, like I think when we break bread together, it builds that bond with our brothers and I think here in the city of New York they had that um that's administration breaking bread, building bonds. That was a good initiative.

SPEAKER_00 26:55

Yes, I think so.

SPEAKER_01 26:56

Absolutely. Um it's it it goes and I commend you for what we are doing here. You know, I often um I look forward to having these discussions. My best of friends were Christians and Muslims, like other than me. My one of my best buddies became a pastor, one is an imam in Guyana right now. I saw him last year. So it's always good to have these open dialogues and to appreciate the value that others share. And you know, to my amazement, having discussions with my two friends from different religious backgrounds, you'd be surprised at the amount of things we share in common scripturally than we do in differences. Yes. You know, and I think if the wider population in the world understands that, we'll be soon at a place of world, peace, and harmony.

SPEAKER_00 27:40

You know, having these interfaith dialogues, I see that you're talking that you had colleagues from different faiths, faith backgrounds, and I still believe that Ghana is the place because Ghana is special, right? So here in the US, and we're seeing the rise even in Europe, right? Um the hate crime is in increasing. You know, how important does these interfaith dialogues are? Let's talk a little bit about that because with these dialogues, I think it it breaks it uh the steer stereotypes through our conversation, right? You know, in it there is there's this verse in our in our scripture. Yes, there is difference between religious groups. So God is saying to us, you know, come to common terms, you know, like have this discussion so that you will have common terms with the people of the book. And the people of the book here is talking about the Jews and the Christians, you know, and that does not mean that rule does not extend beyond other religious. But specifically about this, it's a general statement, but specifically was talking about that of a specific uh historical um uh occurrence that happened. We need to come to common terms and have discussions. And when we have when we have those discussions, I think it would it breaks that stereotype, stereotype truth is common terms. And there is this verse also in our scripture that tells us that God created us from nations and tribes, you know, so that we may know each other. So like nations and tribes, I mean, with diverse background of religious practices. I I I know more, like I was doing a little bit of research about some of the principles, you know, that within your faith. I learned about that. I see the commonality. Like you're right, there is commonality, basically, yeah, right. And when we live in multicultural society, this conversation is vital. Very vital. It's very vital. And um so maybe you can shed some light in terms of how important interfaith uh dialogues are, meaningful in the faith dialogues are, because sometimes things have become uh more cosmetic rather than a core value, right? Yeah, the reason why it's sometimes I think that some of these events that is there is just for the photo app. I I come and and say, I I sit I sit I sit with you, I take a picture. This is my brother from the Hindu community, it looks nice. You get a nice uh little uh uh you know thumbs up or a heart on social media and yes, and and that's it, right? But that bond is not there. You know, like when when I invest my time as a person in friendship, like I invested in friendship. Hi, how are you doing? How is everything? Should be a lasting, minimal bond, not just for face value. That's what I'm trying to say. So how important is it for us to have these discussions and to have interface discussion, not for anything else other than other than um other than helping communities that are broken because of hate crime?

SPEAKER_01 30:57

It's very that's a very, very critical um aspect that needs to be addressed. Yeah. It's not about when it should be or how it should be, it absolutely needs to be addressed. And um as I go into that answer, I'd like to streamline streamline it along the way that when you sit, so that the the open dialogue on an interfaith level among different religious background speakers, leaders, um, you should be able to understand in that forum that you're not there for yourself or for your religion at that standpoint.

SPEAKER_02 31:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 31:31

That interfaith open dialogue should you should have the level of awareness and understanding that it's for the greater good of the world and humanity out there, like we've been mentioning throughout this podcast from different backgrounds and um countries and parts and whatever uh area, creed you're from out in the world. So the leaders, the speaker should understand that much. Number one, the listener that's receiving this information should also have the understanding and awareness that the leader or the speaker is not trying to dissuade you from what you hold close to your heart and what you believe. They're simply trying to shed light on so many common grounds that we share and to appreciate the other, appreciate the other brother, sister, or the neighbor.

SPEAKER_02 32:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:15

To bring that harmony into the world. So, in conclusion, it's vital to have these open interfaith dialogue and the speaker. I'm not gonna say only the listener, speaker, it's key. Because it's very sad to say that they are religious leaders out there. And I'm not sure if you're gonna agree with me, but they are that I know personally, leaders out there who are only with that restricted mindset that it should only be about their way or their religion, and they don't see it.

SPEAKER_00 32:46

And that's that's I totally I'll say it openly that we're we're I'm against that. Absolutely. Right, I'm against that. We're living in a multicultural society, we're living in a free world. Yeah, and that's one thing that while we say we have freedom to practice our faith in this country. Correct. Right? When many other countries are are actually can do it. So there's a sense of freedom here, right? Exactly. Uh that we have to ensure that that freedom is actually preserved. Absolutely. And that it's not taken away from us.

SPEAKER_01 33:15

And that's a good point for our young minds we're listening to, to stand your grounds, whatever background you're from, you don't have to forcefully adhere to what someone else is throwing at you. Yes, exactly. It's a free will, it's your it's your right in this country, this part of the world.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

And these types of I think also like uh these type of conversation, it does not only break the stereotypes, I think it also creates trust among communities.

SPEAKER_03 33:38

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 33:38

There's a sense of trust. And then also when you have these discussions and you build relationships, I believe in building relationships. Relationships that extend beyond your community, that you're able to collaborate and work together on common social concerns that we have. Absolutely. The Muslim community and the Hindu community face faces issues with our youngster, fear pressure, drugs. It's the same, it's the same thing. The same, right? Different religion, but it's the same problem, right? Same solution is. Um lack of safety, right? Mm-hmm. Lack of lack of safety. These are things that we all experience social issues, and if we come together and have dialogues and create that bond and create that trust, we can tackle. Absolutely, absolutely. We can basically tackle so many things in having these discussions and working together in harmony.

SPEAKER_01 34:40

Um like you said, it's not it's not only the Muslim community, the Christian community, or the Hindu community. We're all facing, and who's gonna suffer? Our children, the future of everybody, not only one religious background. Everyone is gonna suffer. So standing together, standing united in such a forum and bring this to the attention of our young minds and our audience out there, I think it'll bring the critical change we're looking to see out in the world.

SPEAKER_00 35:04

Yeah, and I I God, we are all the children of God, right? I let me say we we were cre we are all the creation of God. God created created us and we have uh our problems, we are not, you know, somehow unique to our problems, other also face the same problems. And if we come together and then our shoulders for people to lean on and come together ways and means to help each other, you know, it it will show a very powerful, powerful message. Absolutely. And one of the things that we often uh I often look at of how communities look beyond their religion and and color and beyond segregation is when there's a natural uh tragedy, disaster, or something like that, right? We don't look at people, oh, we can't give them a bottle of water, we can't help this one, we can't help that one. Everyone we forget all those artificial barriers, right? And we work together in harmony and and togetherness. And you know, we can collaborate as religious communities in in helping um the less fortunate. And um I think that will show the power of unity and togetherness.

SPEAKER_01 36:23

Um we've seen many different religious um backgrounds are on the same mission to help the needy, to help the poor, yes, uh, to promote nonviolence. So we're all working towards the same, which is why I said the solution is always the same, the problems will always be the same, irrespective of which walk of life we're from. Standing united, we're gonna be able to battle that and bring a positive change out in the world.

SPEAKER_00 36:44

Great. Um, you know, what uh message would you share with someone who holds negative views um about another religion or community, not specifically about your community, right? If if you see uh because we hear this, you it's one of the ways of tackling hate, I think, is that when we hear it, we must say something. Our silence means that we agree. Exactly. And you when you our silence means you're putting yourself in a position to be trapped. And then we're part of a c a discussion. Someone says something out of the way, people respond differently. Some decide to walk away and some decide to be silent and while being there. Um and I want you to say something that is coming from your heart. If you can basically um, you know, say something to the people or individuals that actually promote hate or author words of hate, um, not necessarily towards your religion, but towards any minority community, what message do you have for such a person?

SPEAKER_01 37:52

So um before I give that message to the person, I'd like to highlight that walking away is not good, staying silent is not good, and perhaps even worse, just staying silent. And what's even brings greater harm than that is to take your phone out, stand in the background, and to show the world somebody being um a hateful crime act is being committed towards an individual. And social media brings so much good information to us and also at the same time promotes so much negative information information to us. So the person advocating and practicing such hate crimes out there in the world, I'd like to say that Vasudeva K Vasudevam Kutumbakan, the world is one big family. Whether you don't agree at this time, you'll grow to be in agreement in the future that we are all a part of the same family tree. Yes. We speak differently, we may look differently. You're not gonna agree with the words coming out of my mouth, perhaps, but we all belong to the the same family tree, and your values may be different for me, but I'd like to remind you the fluid that runs through your veins is the same and similar nature that runs through my vein. Different grade of blood, but it's the same blood. We have the same physical makeup and our bodily features, and casting out harm out there to the world, irrespective of if you're in agreement with the other person's view or how they see you, it will not change. But what will bring a positive change is when you have the understanding and the awareness of the other person's um state of being. Then you will be you'll rethink the comments you make and the remarks you make towards such persons. So be get bring bring yourself up to a level of awareness. And the hate crime that you throw out out there, the hateful remarks that you put out there into the world, it'll not make you look better. It'll not bring you any good, it'll just take you down the path to hell even faster. So that's just a friendly word of advice to any person who's thinking along this line. Nobody in the world is not out there to get you because of your religion or the way you look or the family background that you're from or your financial status. So don't use that to promote such hatefulness and resentment out there in the world.

SPEAKER_00 40:19

Very powerful words, and thank you so much for sharing that. You know, uh I will also add to say it's important to get to know people personally before you make an assessment and judgment. We cannot make assessment about someone and judge an entire community without knowing, and that's one of the issues that we're facing. That do people are judging an entire community based on the actions of you. You know, one of the good things, uh God. Yeah, yeah. And and I think that that is selective anger when you're having certain principles that that you apply to a particular group, and those very principles is out of the door when it goes to another. Exactly. We need to be consistent, and in addition to this, um get to know the community, get to know the person, and then again, I think that will help. Um ask questions before making assumptions. Exactly. Right? Clarify.

SPEAKER_01 41:16

That's one of the things we've seen that you know a certain value within the mindset of a particular group or individual had stemmed not even because of their level of awareness, but because what was imprinted in their mental faculty growing up. They've been told something, they were informed of something, or you should hate this person, or you should stay away from this person. And because of that, they had that built up in their mind and their heart. But when the doors of awareness is open up and you have that discussion and you ask questions and now you're aware, then you would truly realize that perhaps all that you would have heard and was told to you is not necessarily true.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

Yeah. So you wanted to share something, you were saying something, you wanted to say something.

SPEAKER_01 41:58

Uh I I I wanted to say on on on that point, um that we talked about Guyana being very, very special. And the you know, I remember growing up when I we haven't seen the level of hate crimes like we're seeing now in the world. Yeah. It's it's beyond ridiculous out there, especially this part of the world in the Western world. We haven't seen that. And I I think um that's a good starting point, as we have mentioned earlier, if you want to look back and reflect. And there I remember when the Christmas comes around, something for the Christians, everybody celebrates. Yeah, holy Pagba comes around, everybody celebrates and out in the street, cricket comes around, everybody from different religions goes to play and see and be a part of it. So um those acts seem very tiny and small and significant, but those are all simple things. And I'm sure those individuals of such caliper who are harboring any level of hate or resentment in their mind, I'm pretty sure you can find something small as those that we've highlighted, whether it's a game that you love, or um a meal or a restaurant that you love, you can find little ways of bridging that gap and learning more of someone else's culture or about some other person before you walk down the line of bringing harm to that person and yourself.

SPEAKER_00 43:19

That's that's so powerful. You know, you said something with small consistent act to write, I think can blossom into something very beautiful. You can say this is small and consist and consistent, but how how long you wait you will wait for an impact? But I'll say think about a drop of water that falls on a rock. One, two, three, four, and what's going on? But after a period of time, you will see how that drop of water caught cause a dent or a carbon to that rock. It leaves its imprint, yeah, it leaves an imprint in that rock. Permanently. So it had permanently, so it will definitely. Have that impact, right? And I think that's how we should start with small, consistent act, and instill that value in um in our in our children's life from very small, from very young age. Um, I I also think that every human being deserves respect. 100% in agreement. Um and that diversity is a gift, not a trend. And love is stronger than hatred, and our differences should enrich us and not divide us. Uh, it's also uh important for us to remember the slogan that humanity is one family.

SPEAKER_01 44:44

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 44:45

And in closing, I want to ask you um if you have any closing remarks, and then I'll conclude today's episode. Wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 44:52

I think we've had an excellent session. Uh, one point I'd like to paint a picture for like you rightfully said.

SPEAKER_02 44:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:59

Um, it's not about a specific age group. Yeah. That level of respect and love and appreciation goes across the board of however old you are, whether it's a school child, a senior, um, a mother, a father, it should be appreciated. So if you were to look at a tree, and this is an example I use in my peace training with the UN, um, if you were to look and analyze it uh three, it has different parts. You have the roots, you have the trunk, you have the branches and the leaves. The leaves are very small and minor, depending on which plant you're looking at.

SPEAKER_00 45:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 45:35

The roots, you don't even see it. But without the root, you will not have the plant existing. So every part of that plant, it's like human beings out in the world, whether you're looking at the tree being in the as a family in the home with the children, the parents, the grandparents, yeah, or in the work environment, yeah, or in the world at large with community leaders and different religious backgrounds. Yes. The flower is a different religion, the leaves are a different religion, the trunk is a different religion, the roots. But in order for that tree to stand strong and for us to enjoy the fruits, every part, the roots have to come, bring the nutrients through the trunk, the leaves with the sunlight gives the the creates the food for the plant, then the flower blossoms and that transforms into the beautiful fruit that we can all enjoy. So it's the different parts that makes life beautiful. We're all this one big family tree in the world. Beautiful. But the different parts I really love it. The different parts coming together make us achieve that beautiful, tasty fruit that we're able to enjoy. And that's the peace, the love, and the unity we need in today's world.

SPEAKER_00 46:42

So thank you so much. Um, in closing, I just want to say that uh as we conclude, let's remember to listen more and judge less and build friendships across religious cultures and faiths. And let us in one voice peek out against hate, whether it's directed to our community or someone else's. Let's serve selflessly. Hinduism advocates service, Islam advocates service, and we started our session with with that, right? Practice kindness in daily interactions and be the example you wish to see in the very society that we live in. As I emphasize that Guyana, our country of birth, teaches us that people of different faith can live together. That this is not just something we are talking about, but the mere fact that there's a living example in Guyana, we should turn our direction to Guyana if there is any element of doubt. Celebrate our differences that we have, support one another while remaining a true believer of what we believe in, without compromising our faith, without compromising or watering down our religious values. The future will not be shaped by those who spread fear, but by those who choose to understand one another, understanding, compassion, and love. I'll ask for us as brothers and sisters and as human beings, let us be among the builders of peace and one who will always advocate for love and harmony. So thank you all so much, and I want to thank our beloved pandit for taking time off to join us. And you know, I'll say this is a beginning of um of a great friendship. I'll I'll say that you're you're my brother, and I'm I'm very pleased and honored to have you to have you in my in my space, in my home, and for us to do this uh this podcast, I wish you all the best in your community, and I think we have a lot in common that we can work uh towards achieving for the betterment of our families and our communities. Kindly do not forget to join us um in these efforts that we're making um by subscribing on um our podcast, SB Life Institute Podcast. You can go on YouTube, type in S A F R Z Safral's Bacchus Life Institute. It's also on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. And just a quick note that this program is also aired uh in Guyana and Channel 69 um in Guyana. Thank you all so much, love and peace, and have a blessed uh day. Thank you, everyone.

SPEAKER_02 49:46

Blessings to all the time.