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Lotus in the Mud hosts talk on Kashmir Shaivism
Delhi-based spiritual expert and scholar Virendra Qazi enlightened the audience on Kashmir Shaivism
Virendra Qazi made the audience drink from a firehose of his pearls of wisdom, said Mohan Wanchoo. / Images- Parveen Chopra
A Lotus in the Mud, a web magazine founded by Indian American Parveen Chopra recently hosted its first public event at the Arya Samaj temple in Hicksville, Lonmg Island
Virendra Qazi, a scholar and practitioner of Kashmir Shaivism, spoke to an audience of about seventy notable Long Islanders about the spiritual philosophy, which has attracted attention from spiritual gurus all over the world.
Highlighting its central teaching, he said, ‘...Know that God resides in all of you and you can realize the Divine in this very life.” According to him, Kashmir Shaivism is a universal spiritual philosophy that embraces all aspects of life in totality and teaches a path of realization through divine grace.
“The grace or shaktipat, is in us all to a lesser or greater degree,” Qazi told the audience, urging them to adopt the principles of humility, love, and compassion. “That will give you tremendous blessings,” he added, concluding the speech with a brief meditation.
While introducing Virendra Qazi, Dr Nirmal Mattoo also spoke eruditely about Kashmir Shaivism
Qazi was introduced by Dr Nirmal Mattoo, the force behind the Center for India Studies at Stony Brook University, chairman of Indo-American Arts Council, and co-founder of Atlantic Dialysis Management Services. Mattoo also spoke briefly on Kashmir Shaivism.
Mohan Wanchoo, chairman and CEO at EC Infosystems and philanthropist, thanked Qazi for “enlightening us (the audience) about Kashmir Shaivism and I am sure all in the audience here benefitted as we were almost like drinking from a firehose of his pearls of wisdom.”
Hema Qazi’s devotional songs acted as a prelude to Virendra Qazi’s discourse
Hema Qazi, Qazi's wife, sang Kashmiri and Hindi devotional songs before the latter’s speech. Prominent attendees at the event included Dr Buddhadev Manvar, Sunil Hali, Arvind Vora, Arish Sahani, Bina Sabapathy, Nilima Madan, and Atul Kumria.
(From left) Ashok Vyas, Mohan Wanchoo, Hema Qazi, Virendra Qazi, Kavita Wanchoo, Renu Chopra and Parveen Chopra
Parveen Chopra was introduced to the audience by the editor and publisher of The Indian Panorama, Prof. Indrajit Singh Saluja, who explained that Chopra's interest in spiritual journalism led him to launch Lotus magazine.
Launched in January, the Lotus magazine covered the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago in August.
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