By Adam Kramer
When Swami Vidyananda visited the United States in the 1980s to give some lectures on Hinduism to the many members of New York’s Indo-Guyanese community who had recently immigrated to America, he noticed something troubling.
He said he saw the immigrants’ children struggling to adapt to the American way of life and culture. They were trapped in-between their traditional Guyanese culture and a new way of life.
Vidyananda said these children were facing a dilemma: they could become good citizens or become involved in crime. He witnessed many heading down the wrong path who were getting involved in dangerous and illegal situations.
“I saw kids who were experiencing cultural shock and becoming trapped in to crime,” Vidyananda said. “I wanted to help kids and get people to understand our background.”
Deciding that something needed to be done, Vidyananda immigrated to the United States from Guyana and in 1987 started the American Sevashram Sangha in Jamaica. The organization is a social service agency that tries to help immigrants assimilate into the American way of life and teach other communities about Hinduism
The children of Guyanese immigrants often are misunderstood, he said, and “fall by the wayside.” He said many people who move to the United States do not know the real America. They only know what they have seen in the movies.
“If we don’t understand people, we will encounter the wrong people,” he said. “Understanding our own cultural plays an important part for us in understanding and becoming part of this country.”
The organization spent five years in the original building before moving to its permanent home, a former Jewish Temple and YMHA, which was closed for years, at 153-14 90th Ave. in Jamaica in 1992. Today Vidyananda works to help anybody in the community.
“You don’t have to be Hindu to benefit,” he said.
The ashram has more than 1,000 members who come from all over the borough.
For example, the group has organized a food kitchen every Sunday for anyone who is hungry and during the week City Harvest runs a food pantry where people can come to pick up food. The Madison Boys and Girls club also run programs out of Sangha’s headquarters. Vidyananda said the organization does not pay rent, but helps with the renovations and bills.
But the ultimate goal for Vidyananda is to start a non-sectarian school similar to the one founded by his mentor in Guyana: a place where children of all religions and belief are welcome.
The organization has negotiated to lease an empty lot across the street from the ashram to build a school, which will begin teaching classes from prekindergarten to the fifth grade. In addition to the required classes, Vidyananda said the students will learn “about the backgrounds of people and their different religions and philosophies.”
One of the organization’s traditional events to bring people together is the Fourth Annual Inter-Mandir/Temple/Ashram Essay Competition was held Saturday in the ashram’s auditorium. Students from different mandirs, temples and ashrams gathered to write essays on peace and religion.
“For the first time this year we have contestants from India, Bangladesh, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Guyana, Jamaica, Canada, the United Kingdom and the U.S.,” Vidyananda. “The idea is to create awareness and to listen to what kids have to say. And learn to appreciate other cultures and religions.”
The ashram holds services every Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to noon with lunch served afterward.
Reach reporter Adam Kramer by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 157.
