Source: TW
The Omaha morning bee, February 08, 1925
Dr. Bhagat Singh Thind to Talk on Divine Realization of Kingdom of Heaven.
By WILL M. MAUPIN
Dr. Bhagat Singh Thind, native of India, once a naturalized American citizen and then not, soldier in the American army during the world war, member of the American Legion, psychologist, metaphysician and divine.
Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?
A cultured, learned gentleman is Dr. Thind. Born and reared in India, a Hindu of the Brahmin caste, he is intensely interested in India’s social and political affairs. He looks forward with confidence to the time when India will again be an independent nation, again a leader among the nations.
Dr. Thind has been teaching in America for nine years. When he had been here long enough to comply with the naturalization laws of Oregon he applied for citizenship. For three years he was an American citizen. He proved his loyalty to his new home by enlisting in an infantry regiment during the world war. He arose from private to sergeant and received an honorable discharge. He wears the button of the American Legion. He is, however, no longer a citizen of the United States.
Mysterious Influence.
And thereby hangs a tale. Some mysterious influence called his naturalization into question. Dr. Thind is sure he knows the influence behind the action. His naturalization was called into question on the ground that he is an Asiatic, therefore a Mongolian or an Ethiopian. He won in the lower court. He won in the court of appeals. Then his enemies took the case to the supreme court of the United States, and that august body decided that Hindus were not eligible to citizenship because “not of the white race.”
And the Hindus, the purest of the Aryan race, are the fathers of the so-called white race, the oldest living civilization in the world. Is it possible that British influence was behind the long legal battle that resulted in depriving him of citizenship, despite his military service, and relegated him back to the status of a foreigner?
Ask Dr. Thind.
Will Lecture Here.
Dr. Thind comes to Omaha to deliver a series of lectures on divine realization of the kingdom of heaven within by divine practical applied psychology. The series begins Sunday afternoon at 3 in room 302 Paterson block. His topic for the first address will be “The Kingdom of Heaven Is Within You.” Then for two weeks he will lecture twice daily, and there is no admission charged.
A most interesting and entertaining scholar is Dr. Thind. He dreams of the day when love and gentleness will rule the world. When men everywhere will live their full lives; when rule by force will have been forgotten. That was the India of the old days. He hopes to see that India again, bettered by the bitter lessons of the past.
He describes the caste system of India in a way that removes much of the prejudice. The Brahmins, the highest caste, are the thinkers. Next comes the capitalistic class, which he likens unto the human stomach. Then comes the fighters—soldiers and sailors. These he likens to the human hands. Lastly and lowest the caste likened unto feet, the plodders, the doers of the lowly but necessary tasks. Caste distinctions in India are not unlike employment distinctions in America, as Dr. Thind points out.
Love Will Rule World.
“Love will yet rule the world,” says Dr. Thind. “Wars, repressive laws, oppression, can not keep down the soul that yearns to rise. The soul once awakened progresses upward in spite of all. The soul of India is awakening. The oldest Aryan race, the purest of that race, is again finding itself.” Dr. Thind does not come preaching a new religion. He is not apostasizing. He comes with the oldest of religions—love.
This is not Dr. Thind’s first visit to Omaha. He was here a year ago and made many friends. His home is in Salt Lake City, where he and his American wife have been teaching for several years.
An interesting character, gentle and kindly, imbued with a desire to do good, you will like Dr. Thind. And to hear him will be to be broadened, to be instructed and to be helped.