Posted on July 7: Hindu youth conference examines issues of faith

The hum from the soda machines is a little distracting.

So is the squeak of someone moving chairs a floor below.

But McMaster University professor Parmjit Singh is doing his best to induce a calm, quiet mood in a second-floor lounge of the school's student centre. In soothing tones he encourages deep, focused breathing. The group of mostly teenagers and twenty-somethings sits quietly, cross-legged and eyes closed.

It's Singh's third seminar of the day on yoga and meditation. His corner of the student centre is the quiet part of the Hindu Youth Conference, held yesterday at McMaster.

One floor above, it was a wide range of discussions and debates about the religion in the 21st century, all focused on young people who are curious about their own faith.

“What do I believe as a person?” asked Rajrishi Sharma, 22, a conference organizer. That seemed to be one of the running themes of the event, which drew about 150 people, mostly 16 to 27.

With guest speakers and seminars on topics such as women's issues, the importance of maintaining your dharma (Buddhist doctrine), and Hinduism in the21st century, it was a chance for many to think about what's often a difficult balancing act of “figuring out where I belong,” said McMaster student Parul Sanduja, 23.

Click here to read the complete Hamilton Spectator story. For access, McMaster users can click here from a main campus computer.