I’ve been working on learning Hindi for several years now and I’m getting to be pretty good at understanding the basics. My ability to say things is pretty bad, but I’m still working on it (hence writing a story in Hindi for Nanowrimo!) However, I’ve been thinking for a while that I should start learning a South Indian language. Most of my friends and community are South Indian and so I have little opportunity to practice Hindi. Also, the last... Read more
The second book in our book club series is Eat, Pray Love. Is it a Hindu book? Not exactly, but it is very relevant to the experiences of non-Indian Hindus. The author has a Hindu guru (whose identity has been rather easily found out by those familiar with the world of Indian gurus). Julia Roberts after playing the author in the movie, claimed to have become a Hindu. So I think it will be worthwhile to examine the experiences and... Read more
Today is the last post in my collaboration with Peg from Patheos Pagan channel. It’s been a pleasure exploring this subject with her! Here are the questions for this week… What are some of the rituals by which your religion honors ancestors? There are last rites and purification rituals when someone dies, but I’m more interested in the rituals that some do for long dead relatives and ancestors. Some Hindus believe that a year of life on earth is equal... Read more
It’s been a long slow process for me to come to accept a guru. You guys know how much of a struggle that has been for me. But after time, observation, and study I have come to see my parents’ guru as my own. I was able to visit him in India in 2011 and I found him to be trustworthy. I’m going back to see him again this winter and I have the opportunity to ask a question. My... Read more
I had an interesting experience with a friend from India a few weeks ago. She was in town visiting and we were driving around when we saw a truck labeled “Indian River.” She asked me what that was about. I explained that here in America that’s more likely to be referring to “Native Americans” than to people from India. And then she asked what a Native American was. It was a moment of clarity for me. It is so easy... Read more
I hope everyone had a great Deepavali! Mine was quiet, but I did make some sweets for my friends. Today is a little off topic as I continue to work with Patheos’s Pagan channel and my friend Peg. (This is the post that was supposed to go up on Friday, my apologies for the delay). This week Peg asked me some questions about Hallowe’en and how I’ve celebrated it in my life. It brought back a nice recent memory of... Read more
I find myself frequently reminding people what this blog is. It’s a journal of my life and it contains my thoughts and experiences. It is not meant to tell you what’s right, but to encourage thought and discussion. What I’m here for is to share a window for you to see into the life of one non-Indian Hindu. Yet sometimes I’m told that having an audience means I have a responsibility. A responsibility to take a stand on issues, to... Read more
The second book in our book club series is Eat, Pray Love. Is it a Hindu book? Not exactly, but it is very relevant to the experiences of non-Indian Hindus. The author has a Hindu guru (whose identity has been rather easily found out by those familiar with the world of Indian gurus). Julia Roberts after playing the author in the movie, claimed to have become a Hindu. So I think it will be worthwhile to examine the experiences and... Read more
I had an epiphany while listening to the talk on Sunday. I realized that when people say “All religions lead to the same goal” or “all religions are the same” or “all religions are valid paths up the same mountain” that what they mean by that can be extremely different from how it is interpreted by others. There’s an enormous misunderstanding about this “universalism.” Many of my friends and family believe that all religions lead to the same goal. Let... Read more
There are times when someone makes art or makes a product that uses images of our Gods and Goddesses in ways that are not exactly respectful. When that happens I often have friends saying to me, “Why do they do this to our Gods? Why do they pick on us? Is it because they don’t respect us? They’d never dare do these things to the Gods of other religions.” I want you to know that that isn’t the case. It... Read more
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