When I was in India I bought a copy of this book about the 16 major life rituals. Previously I talked about the first samskar, garbhadhana and today I want to look at the second samskar: Punswan. This one is performed three months after conception. Though some believe it to be a way to get a male child, this author insists that it is actually calling the life force to enter the womb. It is supposed to help the fetus become... Read more
We are doing a scripture study together: reading along through some scriptures and discussing the passages. Today is the tenth post of my favorite Upanishad: The Katha. This is the story of a boy who chatted with the God of death. http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awakening101/upani_katha.html 11 By the mind alone is Brahman to be realised; then one does not see in It any multiplicity whatsoever. He goes from death to death who sees multiplicity in It. This, verily, is That. 12 The Purusha,... Read more
Inevitably online when I refer to myself as a Hindu someone is ready to tell me that that word is incorrect. “Hinduism” they say is a word invented by the British. “Hinduism” others say refers to people who live along the Indus river and cannot refer to me. You should be using Sanatana Dharma they tell me. If it comes up in conversation I may tell people that the real word for Hinduism is Sanatana Dharma but in my day to... Read more
The well respected Himalayan Academy and their guru Subramuniyaswami put out a book several years ago called How To Become a Hindu. Over the next few weeks I’ll be reading the chapters and discussing each one individually. Today we’re looking at the sixth chapter: Beliefs of All the World’s Religions This chapter is very interesting. My favorite so far! It has a few pages on a number of world religions and has a quiz at the end so you can... Read more
Raksha Bandhan, or Rakhi Purnima, is this Sunday August 10th. This is a time when girls in India give red thread bracelets to their brothers and the men in their lives whom they consider as brothers in thanks for their love and protection. Sometimes these bracelets are used to “friend zone” someone and a boy who has romantic hopes for a particular girl might be disappointed to receive a bracelet on this day. But the festival is best celebrated as... Read more
Taking one’s shoes off is not entirely usual in American culture. It’s more common now than 50 years ago when it would have been pretty unthinkable to kick your shoes off in someone’s home and roam around in your stocking feet. It’s still something that usually signifies a casualness and a comfortable relationship with the person whose house you are at. It’s not unusual for people to wear shoes in their own homes. I think for those Americans who prefer... Read more
Sometimes I get really bogged down in the minutia of life. I worry so much about money that I spend 90% of my creative energy in weird little schemes to get $1 here and $5 there. The other day I realized that I’d get a lot farther if I’d really focus and dig into one vision, one passion. I’m spreading myself so thin and feel constantly like I’m kicking frantically in the water. But I’m beginning to suspect that the... Read more
A poll came out a week or two ago that people have been buzzing about. It says that Americans tend to have lukewarm feelings towards Hinduism, which is to say that they don’t like or dislike it, they are mostly indifferent to it. This surprised me. Particularly since you can’t drive three blocks in America without seeing a yoga studio! The other day I heard a Southern Baptist talk about karma! But those concepts and words have come so deeply... Read more
Krishna’s birthday this year falls on the day before my wedding anniversary! (August 17th) Seems pretty auspicious to me. We won’t be able to do the event that we usually go to, though. Most years we go to the ISKCON temple for their huge celebration. But this year we’re going to be at a family reunion in Canada. I’ll have to bring a Krishna icon with me and see what I can do to honor Him while I’m there. This... Read more
The well respected Himalayan Academy and their guru Subramuniyaswami put out a book several years ago called How To Become a Hindu. Over the next few weeks I’ll be reading the chapters and discussing each one individually. Today we’re looking at the fifth chapter: Gurudeva Speaks on Ethical Conversion. This week’s chapter is called Does Hinduism Accept Newcomers? It has some very interesting categories and quotes from several respected sources. The first part of the chapter gives a number of... Read more
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