Reading the Upanishads: Katha (part 12)

September 9, 2014 By Ambaa Choate

We are doing a scripture study together: reading along through some scriptures and discussing the passages. We are reading one of my favorite upanishads: 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 8 He, the Purusha, who remains awake while the sense-organs are asleep, shaping one lovely form after another, that indeed is the Pure, that is Brahman and that alone is called the Immortal. All worlds are contained in Him... Read more

Goodbye, Ganesha! Safe Journey! Ananta Chaturdasi [Hindu Holiday]

September 8, 2014 By Ambaa Choate

Today is the final day of the Ganesh Chaturthi (Vinayaka Chaturthi) celebrations. It is called Ananta Chaturdasi and this is the day when Ganesha goes back home, carrying all our worries away with him. Since my husband and I share a car and he’s at work I knew that I would see Ganesha off a day early on Sunday. Here are some pictures from when I gave my homemade murti over to a river (Oh, and you may notice that I... Read more

Book Club: How to Become a Hindu (Chapter Nine)

September 7, 2014 By Ambaa Choate

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 ninth chapter: Embracing Hindu Culture (Book can also be downloaded free here: http://www.himalayanacademy.com/view/how-to-become-a-hindu) This guru has had a profound impact on my identity as a Hindu. Not through this book, but through his Dancing With Siva book, which I... Read more

Only If You’re Racist

September 5, 2014 By Ambaa Choate

A friend in a Hindu group I’m a member of online posted a few days ago about a conversation he had over IM with a Christian friend. It ended with this: I spoke yesterday about how I feel about “idol worship.” The convention of capitalizing the word “God” has to do with respect. It’s a way of showing deference and respect in English. This idea that “God” is only for the Abrahamic God and “god” is for our Gods is... Read more

We the Idol Worshipers

September 4, 2014 By Ambaa Choate

Idol worship is something Hindus get accused of a lot. And I use the word “accused” because saying someone worships idols is like some kind of short hand for saying that their religion is baseless and wrong and primitive. None of which is true. Hindus do have idols. We have statues that we pray to in our temples and in our homes. For some Hindus the statue represents a God symbolically and is not itself worshiped. For others the spirit... Read more

Ambaa Starts Bhajan Practice

September 2, 2014 By Ambaa Choate

Brad and I have been attending a Sathya Sai Baba bhajan singing group for a little over a year now. We love the community there. We don’t manage to get there every week but we do try. It’s a nice little service most of which is people leading bhajans. Bhajans are a call and response type hymn with simple lyrics (though sometimes complex melodies). My friends there have been encouraging me to try leading one of these songs and so... Read more

Reading the Upanishads: Katha Part Eleven

September 2, 2014 By Ambaa Choate

We are doing a scripture study together: reading along through some scriptures and discussing the passages. We are reading one of my favorite upanishads: 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 Chapter II 1 There is a city with eleven gates belonging to the unborn Atman of undistorted Consciousness. He who meditates on Him grieves no more; liberated from the bonds of ignorance, he becomes free. This, verily, is That.... Read more

Navratri Golu Theme Ideas

September 1, 2014 By Ambaa Choate

Navratri starts on the 25th of this month, so now is a great time to start working on my favorite part: The Golu Doll Display! The fun part and also the challenging part of creating your golu display is thinking up your theme. What dolls, figures, and scenes do you want to create? This is a great activity to do with children (as long as they aren’t handling figurines too delicate for their age!) and you can tell stories about... Read more

Book Club: How to Become a Hindu (chapter eight)

August 31, 2014 By Ambaa Choate

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 eighth chapter: Choosing a Hindu Name (Book can also be downloaded free here: http://www.himalayanacademy.com/view/how-to-become-a-hindu) A whole chapter is devoted to the subject of Hindu names and the author makes some very good arguments for a name change. I can’t argue... Read more

Is Hinduism a Monotheistic Religion ?

August 29, 2014 By Ambaa Choate

I wanted to share with you an article by this name written by Vamadev Shastri. Is Hinduism a Monotheistic Religion? While Hinduism can be monotheistic and many people do practice it that way, I think he makes a very important point that monotheism is NOT the measure of an “evolved” religion. There’s this idea, perhaps sometimes subconscious, that a polytheistic religion is somehow more primitive and unevolved. It’s a big mistake to think like that. Monotheism is not the measure of... Read more