April 12, 2014: Hindus have welcomed plans to establish a program of Hindu studies at prestigious Graduate Theological Union (GTU) at Berkeley in California (USA).

Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, welcoming Hindu studies program at GTU, said that religion was the most powerful, complex and far-reaching force in our society, so we must take it seriously. And we all knew that religion comprised much more than our own particular tradition/experience.

Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out that in our shared pursuit for the truth, we could learn from one another and thus could arrive nearer to the truth. As dialogue brought us reciprocal enrichment, we would be spiritually richer than before the contact.

The first two courses in Hinduism at GTU will be offered in the fall semester, which will include sacred texts of Hinduism, and there is a goal to establish a Center for Dharma Studies within GTU.

GTU, “where religion meets the world”, founded in 1962 and said to be home to the largest Ph.D. program in religious studies in North America, includes nine seminaries and a variety of centers and affiliates. It enrolls about 1,300 graduate students representing 20 countries from around the world and its library has over 440,000 volumes. Riess Potterveld and Arthur Holder are Acting President and Dean respectively.