The Hindu invocation (opening-prayer) at the Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting of the City of White House (Tennessee), which was scheduled for December 18, seems to have been unscheduled.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed received an email from Derek Watson, Administrative Services Director of City of White House, on November 26, saying: You are confirmed to give an opening prayer at the Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting on December 18th at 7pm… This will be the first Hindu invocation for the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, received another email from Watson on December two, saying: Regarding the opening invocation, a pastor had already been scheduled in advance for the December 18th meeting.
Rajan Zed, who has delivered invocations in United States Senate and US House of Representatives in Washington DC; and remotely in Tennessee city councils of Cleveland, Columbia, Franklin, Johnson City; has expressed shock at this unexpected cancellation of December 18 invocation at the Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting of the City of White House.
Zed has accordingly already made air travel, hotel and car rental reservations to be at the City of White House invocation on December 18.
Petitioning/pleading the God through prayer for common good helps us to grow in holiness, whichever religious perspective the prayers come from. Since all life comes from God, prayers help to link us to God, with the expectation that God hears us and blesses us; Rajan Zed points out highlighting the importance of invocation in legislative bodies.
Zed had planned to recite from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use; besides lines from Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures.
Reciting from Brahadaranyakopanishad, Rajan Zed had planned to say “Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya”; which he would then have interpreted as “Lead us from the unreal to the real, Lead us from darkness to light, and Lead us from death to immortality.” Reciting from Bhagavad-Gita, he had proposed to urge those present to keep the welfare of others always in mind.
Zed, a global Hindu and interfaith statesman, has been bestowed with the World Interfaith Leader Award. He has been a panelist for “On Faith”, a prestigious interactive conversation on religion produced by The Washington Post; and leads a weekly interfaith panel “Faith Forum” in a Gannett publication for over 14 years.
Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about 1.2 billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. There are about 3.2 million Hindus in the USA.
The city of White House was named after a two‑story stagecoach inn built in 1829. Vision of the City of White House, settled in 1835 and incorporated in 1971, is “to grow the community while protecting its heritage”. John Corbitt is the Mayor, while Gerald Herman is City Administrator.