Tomorrow is the celebration of Krishna’s birthday! He is said to have been born at Midnight and it is traditional to fast and hold vigil all night, then celebrate at midnight. Ways To Celebrate: -Place an image of the baby or child Krishna in a prominent place in your home, perhaps in a cradle or hammock. -Decorate your home and altar with fresh flowers -Watch movies or plays about young Krishna’s life (Krishna Leela) -Set up an obstacle course to... Read more
I don’t mean that in a “religion is the opiate of the masses” kind of way, but I realized recently that there is nothing like the blissful high of joining with a faith community and singing. Every Saturday that we can manage it, we walk the half mile to the Sathya Sai Baba group and sing bhajans for an hour. I throw myself into the songs and my voice, along with my spirit, feels lifted up by the voices all... Read more
My wedding weekend kicked off on Thursday August 15th with a dinner with my parents, brother, and mother-in-law. Friday my parents had lunch with my father-in-law and my brother joined Brad’s 12 hour bachelor party (it started noon on Friday and went until a bit past midnight!) Meanwhile my parents and I went to pick up relatives at the airport and have dinner with them. Back at my apartment, my cousin Emily, a talented makeup artist from Los Angeles (check out... Read more
Do you believe in soulmates? This is a question that girls love to ask each other. Usually when they are between the ages of 12 and 22. The one person that you are meant to be with, the one that you will find because it is fate. What a romantic idea, right? I think in America right now it is popular to be cynical. You don’t want to show your true feelings too much because it seems that people don’t... Read more
I will be posting about my wedding soon. It all went great! I want to wait to get some of the pictures from the photographer to show you, so hopefully next week or maybe the week after we’ll have a wedding update! *** This month for back to school Patheos has a theme on how we go about raising our children to pass on our beliefs and our values. I know that to some extent, kids are going to eventually... Read more
By the time I see you again, I’ll be married! I’m looking forward to sharing all the wedding details (and especially pictures) with you, but it might take me a little while to process them. Since I’m getting married this Sunday, I’m thinking I might not have a post on Monday or Tuesday next week. We’ll see! Read more
A lot of times religious people get very upset at the suggestion that figures and stories about their religion might be more mythical than literally and historically true. I’m not sure why this is. I guess people feel like it legitimizes their religion. For those who need their religion to be seen as the best one or the only “real” one in the world, being able to say that their saint or prophet actually lived while others did not must... Read more
Happy Independence Day to my Indian readers. I didn’t feel that I could write a sufficient post on this subject, so instead I have gathered interesting posts I have found around the web. This is a variety of opinions from people who have the right to an opinion! I don’t feel that I have any business having an opinion on these particular issues. A Speech for Independence Day The Bhagavad Gita and the Freedom of India (profiles of important figures... Read more
For my wedding I’m not looking for the usual. I don’t want bouquets or boutonnieres. What flowers do Hindu weddings have? 1) Jai Mala garlands (also called Var mala) When a Hindu bride and groom come together, they usually exchange flower garlands that are like giant leis. This blog has a tutorial on how you can make your own strands of carnations: VeccoStudio.com (They recommend 20 carnations per foot of garland) If creating anything yourself with... Read more
Shankara is an enormously important figure in Hinduism, most particularly my branch of Advaita Vedanta. He was a brilliant philosopher from a young age and wrote amazing commentaries on all the Hindu scriptures in the 8th century CE. He re-energized the branch of Hinduism known as Advaita or Smartha. He believed that the ultimate reality was one of complete unity. During his young life, he traveled by foot over all of India discussing and spreading his ideas, attempting to unify... Read more
The White Hindu
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In