CUPERTINO, Calif. — Rajan Zed first sprinkled holy water from the Ganges River in India (Ganga jal) on the podium, a tradition in Hindu worship ceremony, before chanting “Om,” which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work. This marked the first recitation of the Hindu prayer to open a state Senate session in the history of the Arizona state Senate and House of Representatives in Phoenix on March 24.
The Hindu chaplain and Indo-American leader has already delivered the first historic Hindu prayers at the United States Senate, the California, Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Nevada state senates, and Nevada state Assembly, all within the past year.
In his sermon, Reno, Nev.-native Zed usually reads from ancient Hindu scriptures of Rig-Veda, Upanisads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), and ends with a universal call for peace in the Hindu tradition before concluding with “Om shanti, shanti, shanti,” which he then translated as “Peace, peace, peace be unto all.”
The majority of the more than 2.2 million people of Indian-origin in the U.S. practice Hinduism, as well as a significant number of Asian Pacific Islanders. Thousands of other Americans practice aspects of the Hindu philosophy, spirituality and off-shoot religions like Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism, all of which share the common chants of “Om” and call for universal peace.
Hinduism is the oldest and third-largest religion in the world, and was introduced in North America in 1830s by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Swami Vivekananda also made a significant impact at the World’s Parliament of Religion in Chicago in 1893 and then founded Vedanta Society, which now has missions around the country.
Following the initiative taken by Nevada Sen. Harry Reid to bring the Hindu prayers to the United States Senate, several state leaders also invited Zed to bless their legislature openings. In California, Rev. Canon James D. Richardson, chaplain of the California state Senate, introduced Zed, while Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, Sen. Christine Kehoe (San Jose) and Sen. Elaine Alquist (San Diego) were also present.
However, these prayer sessions have not been without incident. On July 12, three protestors threw leaflets from the gallery in the U.S. Senate and shouted, “This is an abomination.” Police officers quickly arrested them and charged them with disrupting official state proceedings, a misdemeanor. One protester told the Associated Press, “We are Christians and patriots,” before being handcuffed by police.