FOCUS ON EFFORT, LET GO OF RESULTS

To comply with San Diego city leaders’ emergency orders, the president, executive committee and board of trustees of Shri Mandir San Diego made the decision on Monday to close the Mandir on Tuesday further notice. The physical safety and health of the priests and the congregation of the Mandir is the top priority for all Mandir office bearers.

The mandir — our Hindu temple — will remain closed to the public until further notice. The mandir currently employs three very learned priests, Pundit Raj Gopal, Pundit Sudarshan and Pundit Ravi Trevidi. Even though the mandir is closed to the public, the three priests will still continue to conduct the religious ceremonies as per the Hindu religious requirements of offering daily morning and evening prayers to the deities, conducting the daily rituals in accordance to our shastras, the abhishekam, tilak and prasad will continue to be offered to the deities.

The talented IT experts of the mandir are currently finding ways to telecast the morning and evening prayer offerings to the Gods by the priests, so that the interested members of the community can watch the ritual prayer performance from the comfort of their homes and feel they are actively participating in the morning and evening ceremonies.

Hinduism is believed to be a way of life. All Hindus pray for

peace, harmony and good will for all the Gods’ children. Most prayers end with “Om Shanti Shanti,” which translates into “May there be peace all around us.“

During these difficult times, the mandir volunteers and community members are reaching out to the senior citizens of the community and are doing welfare checks on them, making sure they have their medical supplies and groceries, and that all of their emergencies are taken care of. The Hindu community has always believed in taking care of its own and helping when and where needed.

Many members of the Hindu community are conducting the chanting of “Om” and the chanting of various healing prayers. People are collectively participating in prayers and healing chanting from their own homes. Various Indian organizations are offering emotional support and counseling to all the community members. A lot of the Indian doctors are making themselves available to the community and addressing the questions and anxieties of the senior citizens, speaking to them one on one in their different languages and making sure the community is feeling connected and reassured. Certain groups are actively helping students at San Diego State University, University of California San Diego and other universities to find housing within the community members’ homes. This is important because most students are required to vacate the dorms, but foreign students are unable to return to their own houses.

Shri Mandir is fully aware that the San Diego Food Bank is on overdrive during these difficult times, providing much needed food boxes to the underprivileged. The Indian community is actively contributing and helping with monetary

donations and volunteering with this noble cause.

The Hindu religious book, the Bhagavad Gita is a manual of the best practices of one’s duty toward one’s family, community and brotherhood. It is the best example of how we should continue to conduct ourselves in confusing and trying times that we are currently having to navigate. We have to stop worrying about things we can not control. We need to do our duty and not worry about the outcome. We have to focus on the effort and let go of the results. Hinduism teaches us that the universe has given us in abundance, the fertile earth, the lifegiving sun, the nourishing rains. Now it’s our turn to give back and do our best as homemakers, parents, nurturers, teachers, doctors, business owners and neighbors and follow rules and be good, caring citizens.

It is imperative that we not only make sure we are fine during these difficult times, but that our seniors feel secure and cared for, that our youth feel reassured and that our neighbors and communities thrive. Collectively, we will all come out of this phase as one.

We need to do our duty and not worry about the outcome. We have to focus on the effort and let go of the results.