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Julia Roberts Not The First Celebrity to Hug Hinduism

Oscar winner Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman) is not the first entertainment celebrity to hug Hinduism or its concepts-symbols-terminology.

Golden Globe winner Marilyn Monroe (Some Like It Hot) once reportedly claimed that yoga (one of the six systems of orthodox Hindu philosophy) improved her legs.

Celebrities Greta Garbo, Marlon Brando, Cary Grant, Beatles, Gloria Swanson, Madonna, Mia Farrow, Shirley MacLaine, Britney Spears, John Coltrane, Yehudi Menuhin, George Harrison, Mary Tyler Moore, Donovan, Jennifer Jones, Leopold Stokowski, Sting, (the list goes on), sometime or the other reportedly had a crush on Hinduism or its concepts-symbols-terminology.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, welcomed entertainment celebrities to immerse in Hinduism but taking it seriously and not just using it as a fashion statement. "Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world, with about one billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken lightly," Zed stressed.

Zed, who is the President of Universal Society of Hinduism, further says that if entertainment bigwigs are really serious in their involvement with Hinduism, they are most welcome and he or other Hindu scholars will gladly provide these seekers the resources they need for their study and research.

Entertainment celebrities need to have more patience and go beyond the superficial because Hinduism concepts evolved over thousands of years and need serious study, Rajan Zed argues.

Zed suggests the Hinduism infatuated celebrities to realize the Self. Ancient Hindu scripture *Katha Upanishad* points out that when wise realize the Self, they go beyond sorrow. Self is supreme and those who meditate on Self are freed from the cycle of birth and death. When one realizes Self, there is nothing else to be known.