I came across this article this week: HINDUS SEEK HEINZ AUSTRALIA APOLOGY FOR NOT DIVULGING BEEF USAGE IN DRINKS I can’t even imagine how one would use beef in any form in juice drinks. That is so disturbing. It’s frustrating that beef and other animal parts show up in so many unexpected products. Things you’d think would definitely be vegetarian often turn out to be not. Vegetable soup, for example, often uses a beef broth. WHY? It turns out that... Read more
One of the key elements of the Gita’s teaching is the unattachment to the result of one’s actions. This is a really tricky thing to wrap one’s mind around. I am able to most clearly see it in the little things in life. The ways in which being super invested in the part of an action that you don’t have control over hurts your own peace. Because we can control what we do, but we have no control over what... Read more
Even though there are Hindu holidays scattered throughout the year, we’re coming up on the most and biggest festivals there are. The Hindu holiday season starts in mid summer and goes through Diwali in November. Within that period is the month of Shravan (in Tamil called Aadi), which is considered by some to be the holiest time of the year because of its density of important festivals. It is also said that the churning of the oceans took place during... Read more
Snakes are part of the fabric of Hinduism, since Hinduism began its existence in a place where one of the biggest threats to human life was snakes. You may have heard of Naga, which are a powerful mythological race of snakes. On Nag Panchami, snakes of all varieties are honored and given offerings to buy protection from the snake’s mystical and physical powers. This year it falls on August 1st, a Friday. (In Gujarat the festival takes place 15 days... 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 third chapter: Gurudeva Speaks on Ethical Conversion. I’m still irritated that we have yet to actually be told what ethical conversion is in this book. I feel like the chapters were put in backwards. This chapter is another... Read more
This week there’s some work going on to make the Patheos pages even better so to make sure that I don’t get in the way of that process I’m going to hold off on posting until the upgrades are complete. Look for new posts next week! (Monday 7/28/14) In the meantime, explore the tabs at the top of the page and look through the archives. There’s probably some new discussions to find! 🙂 Thanks, everyone! Read more
Every so often there is an article or some comment that calls into question the concept and legitimacy of a white Hindu convert. Luckily it seems to me that every time something like this comes up, there are many people who are quick to disagree and who make eloquent arguments why they are wrong. It means a lot to me to see that. It’s hard to have your life called into question as mine sometimes is. I wanted to call... 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 third chapter: Gurudeva Speaks on Entering Hinduism. By the way, I hope that these discussions don’t come across too negative. I do have a great deal of respect for Subramuniyaswami and his organization. I just like to examine... Read more
It is super important to me to help others and to care about everyone in the world as my family. It can be really hard to know how to do that, though. I guess I am starting to understand the people who complain about political correctness and how stifling it is. It can be really exhausting when you want to help, you’re trying to help, but no matter what you do or say, someone is going to yell at you... Read more
There are a few prayers that open Vedas and Upanishads. They are known as the Vedic prayers and they are the prayers that I was taught as a child. I did a post a while back about the Gayatri Mantra, one of the most popular Vedic prayers. Today I want to share with you the “perfect” prayer… And in the Sanskrit: ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पुर्णमुदच्यते पूर्णश्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥ ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ Read more
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