Hindus in America

Over the past few decades, there has been a dramatic increase  in Indian Hindus in America. There are now over five million. With the dramatic increase in these numbers, we have seen an increase in Hindu temples, and almost everyone lives within a short drive of one. This influx has increased the quality of life in every neighborhood in whivh they have settled. There are many different variants of the religion with many different icons of worship, but they all have in common a belief in community, good citizenship, education, and altruism. Because of the strong belief in learning an education, which is strongly rooted in ancient scriptures, the typical Hindu is intelligent and a high achiever. Among the large number, there are many in medicine, and even more in the sciences. All forms of Hinduism have a belief in reincarnation. This is a belief that we live many lives  over and over. Reincarnation is often seen by Westerners as a reward, but for Hindus it is a sort of penalty we have to pay for not breaking the chain of love of materialism. After many lives, when we finally break this chain, we are free to spend our existence in Nirvana, free from desire and dependence on this world.