Asking Permission

When starting to practice a religion that is not your native one, it is natural to look to natives for insight. You want to learn how to behave and how best not to stick out as you master new practices.

There is also a tendency to see ones self as lower than the "real" people of the religion. It feels as though we need the permission of a native practicer for every thing that we do. I remember early on feeling like I needed a signed endorsement to carry with me to show people who doubted my Hinduness. "See? This Indian Hindu said that it's okay for my to practice Hinduism."

At some point this will change.

If you truly become a member of that religion, then it becomes equally yours. That is my belief, anyway. And that is how things have gone in my own life.

After ten years practicing Hinduism, I now have complete confidence that it is my religion and I am as valid a member as any other. My interpretations of scripture equally valid, my choices about which practices to take on equally valid, my relationship with the Gods equally valid.

I am a Hindu. And I don't need anyone's permission to make that claim!

What I have come to see as I publicly talk about my journey in Hinduism is that there is no one authority. And I mean that beyond the fact that there's no pope or leader of Hinduism. I mean that every individual has his own understanding of each aspect of Hinduism and almost no matter what you do or assert, someone will tell you that you're wrong. And someone else will tell you that you're right.

The only one that matters is the one in your heart, the Self within.

The Indian Hindu who tells you that you shouldn't enter a temple is not the authority over you. Neither is the Indian Hindu who tells you that it's wonderful that you are practicing this religion.

You are a Hindu and every moment of struggling to understand some piece of your faith is the same struggle that every other Hindu is also going through.  The others can give you advice, but always remember that they do not know everything or have the clarity of God. Their advice is their opinion. Which is well and good and you must decide if you trust that opinion. Being a native practicer of Hinduism does not give someone authority over your practice of Hinduism.

So choose your advisers with care and trust your intuition as you proceed in Hinduism.

I do not seek permission any longer. I trust in my own relationship with God and the universe.

What Do Dreams Mean?

What do you think causes us to dream when we sleep? What is the purpose?

Is it the brain processing all the input from our day? Is it messages from the divine? Is it a way of predicting the future? A way of understanding what's going on in our psyche?

I've always been curious about dreams, wondering what purpose they serve. When I was growing up I was told to focus on the present and pay no attention to dreams. But it seems like they must be there for a reason.

I have frequent and very vivid dreams. Some themes come up again and again and I wonder about what they might be trying to tell me.

Only once have I had a lucid dream, the ability to realize I'm dreaming and start controlling things. Usually when I suspect I'm dreaming, I try to wake up and I very frequently experience thinking that I've woken up when I haven't. There's usually at least three or four layers of this trying to wake up, being sure that now I'm awake, and being wrong.

I've often heard dreams used as a metaphor for how our soul is. That we are like someone asleep, enjoying a dream, but not realizing how wonderful our real life is and that we should wake up to it.

Is that the only reason we dream? To help us understand that simile?

A week or so ago I woke up distressed from a dream in which half my teeth had fallen out. I had never had a dream like it. Today I Googled it and was told that this can be a symbol of experiencing change and a new chapter in life with some trepidation. Pretty accurate, I'd say, considering that I just turned 30.

Sense of Humor

This weekend I posted a picture on my Facebook fan page that made a joke about the movie Avatar and Krishna. It depicts a cartoon of Krishna using a common Internet meme about "hipsters." I found it very clever and fun, but I was surprised to see an immediate backlash.

Amit Rasam dont play like this with hindu god. This not a cartoon,


I could see his point. I had not thought about people who see this as disrespectful to the Gods. It made me think two things:

1) It seems to me that the Gods are full of playfulness and teasing. Particularly Krishna. The stories of him are full of fun and games, teasing and jokes. He always has a twinkle in his eye.

So it's difficult for me to think that Krishna would be offended by this. It is not demeaning him, but in fact pointing out that the idea of a blue avatar is older than the Avatar movie. There's nothing offensive about that.

It is said that as one gets closer to God, He becomes more of a friend than a scary authority figure that is going to punish you. I feel that my relationship with Krishna is full of fun and teasing that is nothing but affectionate. I adore Krishna, and fully believe that He adores me.

2) Being chastised for my behavior towards the Gods makes me feel as though this person believes he is the authority on Hinduism and that I am not as Hindu as he is. Perhaps I'm imagining that, but it is what it comes across as.

I don't know this man, I have no relation to him, but he feels he should tell me what I should or shouldn't do with the Gods.

But the thing is, they are my Gods too. 

And basically what I said to him was that this is the relationship that I have with the Gods, and if he finds it offensive, he doesn't have to visit my fan page. It's as simple as that.

I'm fascinated to see that some people take religion with such an intense seriousness and I can't help but think it's going to cause them to develop an ulcer. Having a sense of humor around religion seems to me to be much more in line with the divine creation as a play and entertainment for God.

A Good Resource

I've been working on putting together some introduction articles with information on setting up your altar at home and doing pujas, etc.

While working on it, I came across this forum. I can't remember if I've mentioned it before, but I noticed that they had a message board for people who are new to Santana Dharma and I thought that would be a great place for people who are looking for help with being Hindu!

http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=60

Giggle

Your Advice for a New Hindu

kylel515Apr 9, 2012 08:43 PM

I have a question. I am 15 year old white male and I'm interested in becoming Hindu. My parents are both Christian, and I'm nervous to tell them because I am worried how they'll respond. Any advice?

Here is a comment that I received yesterday.

The advice I gave was to take things slowly, to learn and begin to practice quietly on his own and to wait to tell his parents until he has moved out and is on his own.

What do you think? What advice would you give Kyle?

Struggling with Envy

Is there any way to make that negative quality into a good one? :)

Recently my boyfriend and I were talking about fatal flaws, as in which of the Christian seven deadly sins is in the forefront for each of us. It did not take but thirty seconds for me to realize that mine is envy.

I struggle with it every day.

I love other people and want other people to be happy, but the envy still comes. I wish I could figure out how to stop it. Or at least, at this point, reframe it when I notice the thoughts in my mind.

So many times a day envy creeps in. Today, for example...

1) Pick up a new writer's magazine and there's an article about the young man who wrote the Eragon dragon series of books. First one was self-published when he was 17 and ten years later he's never had to have a job doing anything but writing those books. They're wildly popular. Stab of envy. I want that.


2) Facebook always kills me. That's an every day problem but I can't stop looking! People's pictures of weddings and babies and announcements of engagements. Stab of envy. I have no patience to wait for my life to catch up with theirs (and hey, it's not all just my impatience: I am the last single one of my girl friends, so I'm not exactly imagining things).

3) Seeing praise for another writer on a message board where I'm usually the only one. Heaping praise on new girl (who is a good writer) and anxiously asking her for more stories. I want to be supportive of the newbie. I like her a lot, but... Stab of envy. What about my stories? Doesn't anyone want more of mine?


4) On message board for authors and reading threads about people who have successfully quit their jobs from money earned on short stories. I'm writing the same style of short stories. I've made about $1.50 on them. One person mentioned having hundreds of downloads within days of first starting to put stories on Kindle so I asked her for advice about marketing these types of stories. Followed her advice to the letter. Got no sales. Stab of envy. Even though my job is nice, it would really help to not feel tied to it.


I sound so freaking pathetic. I absolutely hate to admit to these petty and mean-spirited feelings. But they happen at that gut level before I can logic them away.

What script do you think I could use to replace these thoughts when I notice them? Make me feel like I'm not alone, what's your deadly sin/fatal flaw?

[Interesting to me to notice as I write these out that so many of them are connected to my professional life. That, at least, is a clue to me of where my energy and attention might be needed and the fact that I am spending most of my time and energy on developing my writing career says to me that I'm doing well following my heart]

ETA: Oh, and also, for the record, I've been doing "count your blessings"/gratitude exercises for the last twenty days or so and really enjoying that, but it hasn't ended my envy. Not yet, anyway.