The latest Hindu-influenced trend that has become a wellness buzzword is ‘Lakshmi-maxxing’ which is a social media wellness trend that gets its inspiration from Hindu Goddess Lakshmi, symbolising ideas associated with her — like beauty, abundance, purity and prosperity but applied to modern lifestyles for self-care, personal growth and manifesting abundance. Of course, this has also opened up the debate around appropriation. Still, one important factor the Hindu side always misses is that Hindu spirituality and practices have always had the ‘cool’, ‘goated ‘, ‘dope’ vibe across the world.
Hindu gurus like Sadhguru, Sri Sri, and Sathya Sai Baba are globally very popular and still expanding. Swami Prabhupada, who set up ISKCON and captured the Western 60s youth hippie rebellion, is still expanding across the globe, which has turned Krishna into a household name.
The Beatles, the greatest band on the planet, ended up turning towards Hinduism, with George Harrison becoming a Hindu. Many other celebrities like Julia Roberts are Hindus or at least practise some form of Hinduism.
Hinduism today’s headquarters, Kauai’s Hindu Monastery known as Kauai Aadheenam, founded by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, is located in Kapaa, Hawaii, USA, and is a popular destination for many, including celebs like James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan, who often visits it and is run mostly by Western Hindu monks.
Even far back in time to Swami Vivekananda or Swami Yogananda, who dominated and still dominates Los Angeles – ‘ City of the Angels’- the entertainment capital of the world, still has that Hindu spiritual vibe, which is why even Elvis often visited Lake Shrine. Seeing people wearing Aums, or having Aum or Hindu mantras or god tattoos is also very common, as many people across all generations love the Hindu symbols.
So Hinduism has always been part of popular culture trends past and present across the globe, which is why the Hinduphobic religious and secular Nazis know it’s a threat, especially as it’s also helping to reawaken other indigenous pagan cultures. But for the Hinduphobes, the biggest weapon they have is, ironically, self-proclaimed Hindu Indian leadership, where among them recently we are seeing RSS leader Potbelly Mohan Bhagwat visiting the US, where we go from the ultra-cool factor to end up in the ultra-cringe fool factor.
This is why we separate the Hindu identity and the Indian identity, as present-day Indianness is rooted in a post-colonial identity of carrying a massive inferiority complex, which is why, when you look at the anti-Hindu Indians and pro-Hindu Indians fighting each other, they look and behave the same, where the battle is really between the half-colonised and the fully colonised Gunga Dins.
Things get even worse when the ‘Indian’ Hindu leadership, with their big status bragging, keeps promoting the hinduphobic myths like that Hinduism doesn’t convert.
But in reality, it does; Hinduism has the most initiating rituals for those who take a Hindu path, where even back in ancient times, Greeks and others who came to India went through these rituals done by Vedic holy men/women to make them Hindus. Hindu Gurus also went out of India to take Hindu teachings to the world, which is why Buddhist monks followed that tradition also, going across the world. Hinduism has never been limited within the borders of India, as Sanatan Dharma is universal, where Hindu souls can be born anywhere, in any race or any gender across the world, including the universe.
So this myth probably started with missionaries, which became this Hindu self-defeating virtue-signalling, which then Indian born Hindus often repeat: ‘we don’t convert, ‘ so please give us awards, sahib! is part of this cringe fool factor, but worse is used by anti-Hindus to show as proof that you can only be born into a Brahminical supremacist purity world where you can only be born Hindu to be pure because we Brahmin purists said so.
Then, in reaction to the popularity of Hinduism across the globe, the Hinduphobic Nazis make false claims that these popular Hindu practices have nothing to do with Hinduism. But if Hindus claim that yoga is Hindu, then that’s a Brahminical agenda behind it, to spread the oppressive caste system and global Hindutva.
The first time we went to a meeting of the Hindu leaders, we thought we walked into the emergency wing at the hospital, with all these ill-looking, pot-bellied, unfit participants giving long, boring lectures, often about Indian politics but nothing on Hinduism itself. This proves why the major problem often lies with most of the Indian Hindu leadership.
They can’t connect with the latest trends, especially among the younger crew, but their talks always revolve around India and Modi, etc and ranting on and on with ego clashes with each other. This is why often the second gen born in the West don’t want anything to do with Hinduism because they mistake it for the Indian cringeness these Hindoo leaders promote. Then looking at the Potbelly RSS marching like they are in colonial times makes it worse.
Hindus need to be trained in expanding Hinduism by bringing more and more into Hinduism; otherwise, Hindu practices often get appropriated and distorted. Hindu leadership from all races who are up with the trends and styles need to be brought together to promote Hinduism. Even with the Lakshmi-maxxing trend, bring out Hindu females to approach those getting into it but inviting them further into Hindu practises because this potbelly unclejee and RSS mindset are over. So good riddance.
From yoga and chakras to Lakshmi-maxxing, India’s ancient spiritual traditions are once again becoming part of global internet culture. But what exactly is Lakshmi-maxxing? The trend takes inspiration from Goddess Lakshmi, traditionally associated with prosperity, abundance and auspiciousness, and reframes elements of her symbolism as a modern lifestyle centred around beauty, femininity, cleanliness, gratitude, generosity and abundance.
