Left hand and index finger

[Harinama]

The one thing I have a big disdain about Vaishnava Dharma, and Hinduism in general, is this idea of auspiciousness or inauspiciousness based on certain practices; orthopraxy seems to be considered more important.

For example, eating with one's left hand and using the left hand is considered inauspicious. I am now used to eating with my right, but I was chastised a few times for utilising my left hand in eating and scooping up rice.

Also, why indeed is the index finger so inauspicious to use? We are forbidden to point it at people because it is akin to rudeness and cursing our fellow friends, but also it goes far as to avoid using that finger when fingering a japa-mala.

In this kind of modern age where we no longer make the left hand our 'bathroom' hand, this cultural/religious practice is still being enforced.

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté

More on fingers can be found in this string:
http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2578&highlight=finger (http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2578&highlight=finger)

...bathroom hand still applies in India.


praṇām

[Water]

In addition to yajvan's excellent explanation about the connection of Shani and the Index finger, there is another explanation I have heard over the years in many practices....

In Aikido and Tai Chi, it is sometimes practiced that the chi (internal energy) is directed out of the index finger when pointed. It is most obvious if you watch Aikido videos - you'll notice the index finger is pointed in the direction the Aikidoka wishes to go for nearly all practices. This can be disruptive to other living things.

I believe Hinduism has a similar train of thought where the pranic energy of the body is channeled through the index finger and into another living thing - disrupting the natural flow of prana.

... as for "bathroom hand".... I sort of wish we had that here. I'm pretty sure if I asked a lot of Americans it would be a coin-toss on which hand they use.

Ick.

[TheOne]

I certainly agree with the first post, the attatchment to auspiciousness or lack thereof is in my opinion one of the biggest tricks of the ego.

If you would like a situation to be auspicious, create the auspiciousness yourself by acting in a Dharmic manner.


I'm not denying that there is a sort of inner energy but I am denying the amount of importance placed on it. It is important to be balanced, not to be obsessed about BEING balanced because that's not a balanced action.

[rkpande]

i get reminded of shri tulisidas when he wrote ,....kumad batiya kayo nahi.... tarjani dekh murjhayi... sure enough try it. we in our childhood were admonished not to point index finger to young sprouting lest it dies..

Even one of the reason to sit in Dhayn mudra while doing prayanama is to shot circuit internally the extra pranic energy being generated by pranayam, which is motly emitted out from index finger.

pranam

[Sahasranama]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté


...bathroom hand still applies in India.


praṇām




Yes, I also practice this and never put food in my mouth with my left hand. I think eating food is similar to agnihotra, therefore we use only our right hand.

[Harinama]

Thank you so much for your replies... I guess it makes a little more sense, especially when I was told because the left hand is my poo-poo hand, and the index finger should never be used in both spiritual and social practice.

It's hard for me to adjust mentally, because although I have adapted, I was ambidextrous to left-handed at birth, and as a child I was reprimanded at Catholic Catechism school for utilising my left hand for Eucharist practice.

These really help alot!

[Arjuni]

Namasté, all.

Harinama, I really sympathise! I'm so stubbornly left-handed that my right arm seems to exist only for purposes of decoration and/or bodily symmetry. Trying to eat and perform rituals with my right hand has been a most entertaining exercise in dropping things everywhere, and being more of a klutz than I already am, which frankly I didn't know was possible. (Thank goodness food is eaten with the right hand, instead of the right hand holding a spoon, since any utensil held in my right hand immediately - if unintentionally - becomes a food catapult.)

Until learning about finger/hand significances - which I did, weeks ago, from the same thread that Yajvan so kindly posted here - I thought of it as a delightful reminder: that in feeling like a ridiculous child while trying to serve God, I was being rather pointedly educated that next to God, I most certainly am a ridiculous child, and should probably just enjoy the silliness instead of being frustrated by it.

It's a nice way to take the ego down a notch or two. :D

Indraneela
===
Oṁ Indrāya Namaḥ.
Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.

[saidevo]

As for the physical, psychological and spiritual use of fingers in a meal, read the paragraphs from the one that has the text, "Grandpa reflects for a second and continues with a sparkle in his sharp eyes. "It is a joy to eat with hands!" in the following article at HDF:

Come with Me and Partake a South Indian Meal
http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showpost.php?p=17328&postcount=27

[Arjuni]

Saidevo, thank you for posting that link! I first savoured that lovely tale some months ago and consider it a must-read story...

..and Grandpa's right. Eating with the hands is awesome. It's fun and makes everything tastes better.

Indraneela
===
Oṁ Indrāya Namaḥ.
Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.

[Eastern Mind]

It's fun and makes everything tastes better.

Indraneela
===
Oṁ Indrāya Namaḥ.
Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.

Vannakkam: We are eating some of our own prana with fingers.

Saidevo: I get so ridiculously hungry when I read that. For anyone in DC atrea, Woodlands restaurant is awesome! I wish we had a better South Indian one here.

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/1898/PreviewComp/SuperStock_1898-41731.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.superstock.co.uk/stock-photos-images/1898-41731&usg=__tcpPlnf6l2GPh-urSN09UaDVSzI=&h=263&w=350&sz=122&hl=en&start=27&sig2=7Qy2l-r2I6k63pp8VhsrWA&zoom=1&tbnid=_Y5rdf0MhUPvtM:&tbnh=128&tbnw=167&ei=QynLTejJIIr4sAPu54CqAw&prev=/search%3Fq%3DSouth%2BIndian%2Bmeal%2Bon%2Bbanana%2Bleaf%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1440%26bih%3D729%26tbm%3Disch0%2C553&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=665&vpy=427&dur=8582&hovh=195&hovw=259&tx=176&ty=103&page=2&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:17,s:27&biw=1440&bih=729

Aum Namasivaya

[Harinama]

Hehehe... as a person born into a Filipino body, eating with one's hands comes naturally to me. So at least there wasn't too much of a cultural learning as I know some others. I just haven't done it in a long time; I only did it when I was living with my family.

Now, I just eat with a spoon and fork like the rest of modern Canadian society. XD

[Arjuni]

Harinama, spoon AND fork? Y'all on the west coast must be more civilized than us...
Then again, neither Tim Hortons donuts nor Slurpees require any utensils at all, and that's about 90% of the average Winnipeg food intake. :D

EM: That post makes me hungry, too. There is a Woodlands restaurant in Tennessee, as well. Fantastic rasam and idlis...

Indraneela
===
Oṁ Indrāya Namaḥ.
Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.

[Harinama]

Harinama, spoon AND fork? Y'all on the west coast must be more civilized than us...
Then again, neither Tim Hortons donuts nor Slurpees require any utensils at all, and that's about 90% of the average Winnipeg food intake. :D

EM: That post makes me hungry, too. There is a Woodlands restaurant in Tennessee, as well. Fantastic rasam and idlis...

Indraneela
===
Oṁ Indrāya Namaḥ.
Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.

Hah...

I miss doughnuts though. Unfortunately I haven't seen any egg-free doughnuts around here, although it is by rumour among ISKCON devotees that a bakery exists here somewhere here...

I can not remember the name, but there is an ISKCON invented 'Indian doughnuts' recipe somewhere. They are basically deepfried pastry puffs soaked in a sweet yogourt sauce. I guess that must be the closest, lol.

[PARAM]

What answer is to those who are handicaps with right hand ?

[sanjaya]

This is a religious practice? I used to think it was just some weird Indian thing whenever my dad would slap my left hand because I stretched it out to take something from him, or when I picked up prasadam with my left hand, etc. I didn't know it actually had any basis in Hinduism.

[Arjuni]

Try this recipe (http://news.iskcon.com/node/2242/2009-08-29/anise-flavoured_doughnuts_fresh_berry_yogurt_malpoura) out, perhaps...

And a piece of news (http://news.iskcon.org/node/2953/2010-07-02/new_yorkers_go_dough_nuts_for_prasadam) I found while searching, absolutely delightful. Something to read while you eat. :)

Indraneela
===
Oṁ Indrāya Namaḥ.
Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.

[Eastern Mind]

double post

[Eastern Mind]

This is a religious practice? I used to think it was just some weird Indian thing whenever my dad would slap my left hand because I stretched it out to take something from him, or when I picked up prasadam with my left hand, etc. I didn't know it actually had any basis in Hinduism.

Vannakkam Sanjaya: The mystical explanation is that prana of a higher energy flows from the right side. Its odd though, that this isn't just in Hinduism. A ton of older cultures, including British whatever culture that is, think left-handedness is inauspicious.

I liked Param's thought though. As a knower of a one-armed handicapped man, I never really thought about it. I'm sure common sense would allow anyone to eat with their left hand if that was the only hand they had. Other wise the poor chap might just die on us. An extreme example of how common sense just has to override culture some days.

I can just picture this overly orthodox older grumpy looking woman yelling at her son's innocent house guest. "In my house you eat with your RIGHT hand!"

"But, Amma, Ranjit doesn't have a right hand."
"But that is the custom!"

Aum Namasivaya

[rajputistan]

The one thing I have a big disdain about Vaishnava Dharma, and Hinduism in general, is this idea of auspiciousness or inauspiciousness based on certain practices; orthopraxy seems to be considered more important.

For example, eating with one's left hand and using the left hand is considered inauspicious. I am now used to eating with my right, but I was chastised a few times for utilising my left hand in eating and scooping up rice.

Also, why indeed is the index finger so inauspicious to use? We are forbidden to point it at people because it is akin to rudeness and cursing our fellow friends, but also it goes far as to avoid using that finger when fingering a japa-mala.

In this kind of modern age where we no longer make the left hand our 'bathroom' hand, this cultural/religious practice is still being enforced.

There is only one problem. Hindu traditions starts with a reason. The time when this system originated, due to some reason left use to be unfit for some works(due to some other activity). But then people blindly believes that it is FORCED by the dharma even after that reason is no more applicable. This blind-believes mainly started after the Muslim influence. Before that people were aware why they are doing something. But after the Muslim domination, science in dhamra was neglected and strict following of text begin. This was the stupidity which ruined our country and made it applicable for British to dominate it. Actually Hindu Dharma don't force you like Quran. Vedas themselves says once you have got the eternal knowledge, you no more need me. A good example is rangoli. When rangoli tradition was originated, it was made by edible flour, popularly rice flour. It keeps the house clean and kept insects away from the interior of the house as they got enough food out.

Also, we must remember that Hindu Dharma accepts amendments.

I'm a Hindu nationalist. But I can use my both hands. Some time I eat and write with left hand and some time with right. When I started to write, I used my left hand. Some stupid foolish teacher forced me to use my right hand. Then when I came to 8th class, with practice of 1-2 week I was able to use both of my hands. Is this means I'm not a pure Hindu?