In America we have this kooky legend that Elvis is still alive. Even though he died a while ago, people claim to see him at gas stations and out of the way places. There’s some romance to the idea that instead of dying young, he faked a death and is shirking the spotlight. India has a legend that reminds me a little of that. It involves Ashwathaman from The Mahabharata. Ashwathaman is the son of Drona, who taught the heros (the... Read more
The comments on my post Not All Religions Are The Same took an interesting turn. When I said that being Hindu is something to take pride in, some people said, well what about gang rape and poor treatment of women? So I think it is time for me to address this issue. Hindusim in no way supports the mistreatment of women. Though I say that, I don’t want it to sound like I’m dismissing the real plight of women in... Read more
Clearly reading posts on the Internet about adoption is doing nothing more than filling me with fear and doubt. To get a more grounded persepective, I turned to my cousin. Liz has lived through many aspects of the adoption world, from being in foster care to being adopted to having her own child (who is SO adorable!) I asked Liz to tell us a little bit about the process and her thoughts about it. Listening to her, I realize that... Read more
We are doing a scripture study together: reading along through some scriptures and discussing the passages. Today is the eighth post of my favorite Upanishad: The Katha. This is the story of a boy who chatted with the God of death. Part Two Chapter I http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awakening101/upani_katha.html 1 Yama said: The self—existent Supreme Lord inflicted an injury upon the sense—organs in creating them with outgoing tendencies; therefore a man perceives only outer objects with them and not the inner Self. But... Read more
As you probably know, the river Ganges in India is a very special river. It is the incarnation of the goddess Ganga come to earth. Ganga Dussehra commemorates the day she flowed down from the heavens, through Lord Shiva’s hair, and onto earth. This year the final day of the festival is Sunday June 8th. Varanasi is the traditional location of this festival. Hindus crowd into the water there because it is said that sins are washed away by the... Read more
What an interesting and exciting movie! Being a thriller, it doesn’t have the song and dance numbers that I’m used to in Hindi movies. It’s interesting for me to see a different kind of movie since I watch so many rom-coms. I was so engrossed in this movie that I stayed up until 2:00 am to finish it (for context, I go to bed by 10:00!) I liked the way Vidya was being introduced to Bengali culture. Since she was... Read more
Zach Anner was a travel correspondent for an Oprah show at one time. I don’t know if he’s still doing that, but I ran across this video where he has a show on Youtube going to different religious groups and learning about them! His video on Hinduism takes place at the Hindu Students Association at University of Southern California. I actually went to this school for graduate school and I was a member of this Hindu group when I was... Read more
All religions are not the same. We Hindus are in general an open minded bunch. We don’t make strict rules and we don’t try to make anyone follow our way of life. “There are many paths up the mountain,” we say. “The Truth is one, the paths are many.” Hinduism is great, but it’s not going to be the right path for everyone. And that’s fine. That’s great. We all get to choose the path that gets us to our... Read more
Back in college the subject of arranged marriage came up in discussion during one of my small workshop classes. I don’t remember how. Perhaps someone had written it in a story we were talking about. What I do remember is the very negative reaction that everyone in the room had. There was shock and anger and talking about it like it was a barbaric practice from ancient times and not something that people are still doing. I sat quietly, embarassed,... Read more
Today is Memorial Day in America, which is a time to remember and give thanks to those who have fought to keep us safe. So today, as every day in my heart, I give thanks to the warriors, the Kshatriya, who so bravely put themselves in harm’s way to protect me. I have a lot of respect for the people whose principles lead them to this great service. It’s sad to me that we liberal hippies are accused of not... Read more
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