Hindu Prayer To Lead 2018 Illinois House, Senate Sessions

SPRINGFIELD, IL — The Illinois State Senate and House of Representatives will begin their 2018 session with Hindu prayers read by statesman and Hindu leader Rajan Zed. On Feb. 27 and 28, the Senate and House, respectively, will begin their sessions. Zed will read the prayers in Sanskrit, then an English translation.

He'll be reading from the Brahadaranyakopanishad, according to a press release, part of which says “Lead us from the unreal to the real, Lead us from darkness to light, and Lead us from death to immortality.”

Zed will also read from the Rig-Veda, one of the oldest scriptures in the world still in common use, according to a press release. He'll begin and end the prayer with "Om," a sound often used in yoga, which also plays a large part in Hindu spirituality.

He'll recite from the Bhagavad-Gita in an attempt to urge Illinois lawmakers to always keep the welfare of others in mind.

Zed is a global Hindu and interfaith leader, according to the press release. Notably, he has spoken against the apartheid affecting 15 million Roma (sometimes known as Gypsies) in Europe and has won the World Interfaith Leader Award. He is a part of several religious organizations and peace-oriented projects.

Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world still practiced today and the third largest, with about one billion followers. The United States has about three million of those followers, or about one percent of the population.

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