The Global Dharma Conference 2003 kicked off July 25 to a sluggish start, but picked up as the day progressed.

By evening, office goers found the time to stop by to listen to a lineup of speakers that included Union Minister for Human Resource Development Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and the ruling sultan of alternative healing Dr Deepak Chopra and New Jersey Governor James E McGreevey.

Held at the Raritan Expo Center through July 27, the conference is being organised almost entirely by second generation Indian Americans, with occasional inputs from first generation immigrant seniors.

Gov McGreevey started off on a light note, saying, "Dharma believes in divinity and strength and they're both Democrats!"

He, however, went to enunciate what he, a Catholic, thought Dharma was all about.

"This event is an opportunity to reflect on Dharma as a state of nature, a state of being that must reflect in our personal and professional lives," he said. "Here in the US, Dharma has influenced many moments, from Emerson to Thoreau to the teachings of Gandhi."

The New Jersey governor said he understood the 'cognitive principles and the spirit of Dharma when (I) visited the Gandhi ashram in Ahmedabad'.

In striking contrast to McGreevey's gentle speech was Dr Chopra, who was fire and brimstone on the issue of the Iraq war. "These are very dangerous times when certain countries are acting unilaterally, when might has become right, and are spending $1.1 billion a day on weapons of destruction at a time when 50 percent of the rest of the world survives of $2 a day!" he said.

"Today, for the first time, science is corroborating and validating this great knowledge of the Vedanta and the Upanishad," Chopra told the audience. "These are times that this is the only knowledge that can save and transform us and help us in the harmonious interaction of the forces that are part of the universal Dharma, to the next phase of our evolution. And if we want to change the world, we must change our Self, because we are the world."

In his address, Joshi also called upon the second generation of Indian Americans to use their heritage to chart new paths. "It has been said that the West is like a great ship without a compass," he said. "Since, living here you are part of this ship, it is up to you to use your great heritage to act as a compass."

Chopra, however, also warned against falling into the trap of using religion, nationalism and ethnocentrism to revert to a sub-human identity.

Speaking at the plenary session, Swami Dayanand Saraswati said the need was for the universal values of Dharma to be accepted as human values. "Since they are universal, they don't require any message from the Lord," he said. "These values may be confirmed by a person, but it doesn't require to be declared by a person in history since they are not historical values, they are by the faculty of human beings."

As for the rest of the event, the workforce did a splendid job on the first day, the only hiccup being a delay that crept into the programme for the opening plenary session.

"All the 40 volunteers are drawn from the Hindu Students Council, which is the primary organiser for the event," said Priyank Jaiswal, a spokesperson for the conference. In addition, the event is being organised by the Network of Hindu Minds (NETOHM), with support from a host of other student organisations across the US.

Jaiswal, though, pointed out that the HSC 'was not linked with any of the conservative organisations that are based in India'. The problem, he said, was that the moment the word 'Hindu' is used, the assumption is that it is fundamentalist.

"In any case, this event is to showcase the universal values of Dharma that are to be found in each of the older, ancient civilisations," he said.