It comes up over and over, people wondering why I’m calling attention to my race. After all, in Hinduism we are all One God. Gender and race don’t give us different amounts of God. Everything is part of that One universal God. I started writing on the Internet in 2009. At that time I was frustrated and lonely, feeling like I was the only non-Indian Hindu around! I felt like Indians were wary of me or didn’t believe that I... Read more
I was reading Leah Libresco’s post about the differences between Christian monks and Jedi. I’m not sure why such comparisons were being drawn, since Star War’s philosophy is very strongly based on Eastern theology. I guess it was something about some kids thinking that Dominican monks looked like Jedi because of the robes? The key difference being highlighted was the relationship with emotion. The Jedi are against emotions. Or so it seems on the surface, anyway. One famous quote of... Read more
Our friend Andrea gave me a link to a post of different draping styles for dupattas for a wedding: http://www.peachesandblush.com/2012/03/lehenga-draping-styles-for-brides.html I tested a few of them out today. However, I have a problem. The dupatta that came with my dress is incredibly heavy. No matter what clips I wear, it falls off my head. I even tried modifying my hairstyle so that I had a bump to rest the dupatta against, but it was so heavy that it crushed even that and slid... Read more
Srila Prabhupada is the founder of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, also known as either ISKCON or Hare Krishnas. Srila Prabhupada came to New York in 1965 to bring Gaudiya Vaishnavism to America. Vaishnava is a branch of Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma (the eternal truth) as many prefer to call Hinduism. It focuses on Vishnu (i.e., Rama and Krishna, who were avatars of Vishnu) as the supreme God. Apparently Gaudiya Vaishnavism was founded “around 1510 with an ascetic who took the name Sri... Read more
I thought it would be nice to read along through some scriptures and discuss the passages. I have a translation of the Upanishads done by Eknath Easwaran, a teacher whom I deeply trust and love. In this book there is an introduction before each translation with some insight from Easwaran. Here is a link to the Amazon page for the book I have: Verses 9 to 11 of the Easwaran translation of the Isha Upanishad are… In dark night live... Read more
Since you didn’t get a wedding post from me this week, here is an interesting article written by a woman I went to graduate school with. She’s talking about Persian Jewish weddings, but I think this tradition of going to strangers’ weddings is not uncommon in many non-western cultures. Here is one interesting aspect of culture clash: Relatively speaking, our wedding was to be a small affair, about 400 people, a mere get-together really. (Later our Iranian guests commended us... Read more
You may have guessed from some of my previous posts that I am a liberal Hindu. I don’t like to draw strict lines of division, make battles of “us v.s. them” or dictate how anyone else should live. I err firmly on the side of letting others make their own mistakes and sorting it out with God and karma themselves. As with any other hot-button issue, there are Hindus on both sides of the marriage equality question. When Hinduism Today... Read more
Today is my 31st birthday. So far life has taken me on quite a journey and not at all the one I was expecting. Isn’t that usually how it is? The things I planned for myself are not what happened at all. As I’ve hit my thirties, I’ve struggled with the distance between where I am and where I want to be. I try to remember that life would be boring without the adventure and the striving for something we... Read more
I think my theme this week is honesty. Deep, confusing, contradictory truth. I am going to tell you about the group that I grew up in today. I find that I am at a loss as to what to say. My experiences and thoughts are confused and deeply ingrained. There are things that I did not appreciate about the time I spent here, but I’m not sure it’s any worse than any other organized religion. Background The story goes that... Read more
I thought it would be nice to read along through some scriptures and discuss the passages. I have a translation of the Upanishads done by Eknath Easwaran, a teacher whom I deeply trust and love. In this book there is an introduction before each translation with some insight from Easwaran. Here is a link to the Amazon page for the book I have: The eighth verse of the Easwaran translation of the Isha Upanishad is… The Self is everywhere. Bright... Read more
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