Flashback: Asking Permission

This is a post from my blog before it became a Patheos blog..

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Asking Permission

When starting to practice a religion that is not your native one, it is natural to look to natives for insight. You want to learn how to behave and how best not to stick out as you master new practices.There is also a tendency to see ones self as lower than the “real” people of the religion. It feels as though we need the permission of a native practicer for every thing that we do. I remember early on feeling like I needed a signed endorsement to carry with me to show people who doubted my Hinduness. “See? This one Indian Hindu said that it’s okay for my to practice Hinduism.”At some point this will change.If you truly become a member of that religion, then it becomes equally yours. That is my belief, anyway. And that is how things have gone in my own life.

After ten years practicing Hinduism, I now have complete confidence that it is my religion and I am as valid a member as any other. My interpretations of scripture equally valid, my choices about which practices to take on equally valid, my relationship with the Gods equally valid.

I am a Hindu. And I don’t need anyone’s permission to make that claim!

What I have come to see as I publicly talk about my journey in Hinduism is that there is no one authority. And I mean that beyond the fact that there’s no pope or leader of Hinduism. I mean that every individual has his own understanding of each aspect of Hinduism and almost no matter what you do or assert, someone will tell you that you’re wrong. And someone else will tell you that you’re right.

The only one that matters is the one in your heart, the Self within.

The Indian Hindu who tells you that you shouldn’t enter a temple is not the authority over you. Neither is the Indian Hindu who tells you that it’s wonderful that you are practicing this religion.

You are a Hindu and every moment of struggling to understand some piece of your faith is the same struggle that every other Hindu is also going through. The others can give you advice, but always remember that they do not know everything or have the clarity of God. Their advice is their opinion. Which is well and good and you must decide if you trust that opinion. Being a native practicer of Hinduism does not give someone authority over your practice of Hinduism.

So choose your advisers with care and trust your intuition as you proceed in Hinduism.

I do not seek permission any longer. I trust in my own relationship with God and the universe.