“You STILL eat with your hands.” by Oprah Winfrey

[Viraja]

India paints itself to the world as a rising and booming economy; its people compete for the highest positions in almost all walks of life on a global scale. Indians wear Western clothes, watch Western movies, seek out Western educations and even try to birth their children in the West to allow them Western passports. It is within this very Westernized idea of India that the paradox falls: Indians still eat with their fingers. So I ask you again: is it really that insensitive to assume that this increasingly self-Westernizing India would also Westernize in its table manners?

I disagree with the above. Have you considered the fact that the entire humanity is driven by similar instincts and one of the most important of them is the desire for comforts and fine living? Given that, if you move the entire West to the East and the East to the West, the Westerners would - just as simply as you have stated - be doing all of the above. Even with all the comforts, the Westerners have been colonizers and Britishers have been the worse - they have subjugated many contries under their control. And people - Indians - have been doing the above not because they want to colonize or control other countries - but only because they procure a better living standard for themselves and their beloved ones.

And are Indians given to Western standards solely to the point they have to give up eating with hands? NO. Wherever Indians are, they are still building temples, educating their offspring in Indian music, dances, culture, having Indian friends, celebrating Indian festivals.

The mass of India that is given to Westernization these days - the British rule, popularity of English language globally and popularity of mastery in it gained through Convent educations are the ones to blame. India has still held up to its cultural heritage, proudly, inspite of all (attempted) detriments to it.

[Spiritualseeker]

I cannot stand people who are into Eckart Tolle and all that pretentious neo-spiritualism. I also never liked Oprah in the first place which has nothing to do with her recent statements about Indians eating with their hands.

Namaste,

I do find there are some interesting people that come to Eckhart Tolle's teachings, but as far as Eckhart himself, I have never heard him say anything that is questionable. He really presents a mindfulness based practice. I do not find his teachings contrary to Dharma. I have read and listened to him on many occasions and find that his emphasis on stillness and fasting the mind so to speak to be great tools that he learned from the Buddhist and Hindus. That is why he quotes much from them as well as the gnostic teachings. This is all in my opinion.

Om Namah Sivaya

[Sahasranama]

Namaste,

I do find there are some interesting people that come to Eckhart Tolle's teachings, but as far as Eckhart himself, I have never heard him say anything that is questionable. He really presents a mindfulness based practice. I do not find his teachings contrary to Dharma. I have read and listened to him on many occasions and find that his emphasis on stillness and fasting the mind so to speak to be great tools that he learned from the Buddhist and Hindus. That is why he quotes much from them as well as the gnostic teachings. This is all in my opinion.

Om Namah Sivaya

You are allowed to have your opinion and you have free choice who to listen to, but as far learning about practices from Hinduism and Buddhism goes, new age gurus are not going to help you one bit. It's a complete distraction just like reading random stuff on the Internet while you are trying to get some work done. When you have an hour of free time to study spiritual teachings, why not read the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras, the Upanishads? Why listen to the ramblings of some supposedly enlightened master? This whole western flower power, pot smoking, mental masturbating -look at me being spiritual- attitude is ruining the lives of entire populations. Human life is a very rare commodity and as a Hindu you have been given a rare opportunity to to make the most out of it. If even after having this privilege, you feel the need to listen to Eckhart Troll, fifteen generations of your forefathers are shedding tears, lamenting the waste of such precious life.

[ShivaFan]

Namaste

Sorry too get off subject, but when I read the comment about "flower power" people turning to the mentioned Eckart Tolle, my curiosity took the better of me. Having known more than my fair share of flower power people I was curious since I think I would have heard of Mr. Tolle, but the name drew a complete blank.

So I did about a 10 minute peek into him over the Internet, and then I understood why the disconnect between flower power and him. His transformation from depression to an awakening of spiritualism occurred in 1977. There were no real flower power people by 1977 , there were still some hippies but that is not the same.

So he has nothing to do with flower power.

Having said that, he seems to be credited a lot in society for his books and spiritualism, but he isn't a Hindu even though he apparently references BG and some Sacred Texts, as well as Buddhist references. In general, from the little I read he appears to have become a very elevated soul, and so that s certainly appreciated, and I could probably enjoy some conversation with him or his admirers. But honestly, there is no connection between him and Western Hindus, nor even with West Gurus nor with flower power people or Democrats or Republicans or Catholics or such and so on. He is what he is. Which a demon he is not.

No doubt, he could be a friend with a Hindu. Which is good.

As far as West Gurus, of which he is not, some are as described, but also some are not about endless lectures but real Gurus. Just as some gurus in India are about things which really are questionable, such as money making. Basically you can skim the milk if you will by determining the Sampradayas, or who was the guru's Guru, or what saints or yogis ACCEPTED HIM (or her) rather than what saints or yogis he (or her) accepted.

Just because someone says they accept ascetic or yogi or swami or saint XYZ doesn't mean the mystic or yogi accepted him (or her).

There are some fake West Gurus. Just as there are some fake East Gurus.

And there are some real ones, too.

I don't think Mr. Tolle ever declared himself a guru, though I could be wrong. But I do not dislike him, though little I know of him. I think I would very much like to be his friend.

Om Namah Sivaya

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam: I've been reflecting on this topic a lot. Oprah, as naive and ignorant as she might be, at least took a step. She didn't go to India to convert the heathens, like many westerners before her did. She attempted, however futile that was.

Each individual soul has to start somewhere. It may not be some direct path into traditional Hinduism, but that jump, I would suggest is quite difficult, if not impossible. I wish it would happen faster for most, but on the other hand, I believe in reincarnation. Maybe this transition from west to east takes several lifetimes. Who are we to judge, or know? When I taught, I was happy that some kids learned very basic arithmetic, for that was indeed all they were capable of.

I still remember the day our superintendent of schools, after doing a school wide evaluation, came to give his summary report on the state of affairs. He spoke slow and emphatically while staring at one particular teacher ... "Some students are feeling that their best isn't good enough. That's just wrong. In education, their best HAD BETTER be good enough."

I'm not sure if that teacher even realised he was being spoken too, but I realised it, and later applied the idea to my own thoughts on teaching. Did we ever stop to consider that maybe, just maybe, that was all Oprah and others of her ilk are capable of. Sure beats staying at home turning a totally blind eye, or worse, coming to India to convert, or bombing out temples.

"The university teacher would never look down upon the kid in the kindergarten class."

Aum Namasivaya

[Believer]

Namaste,

Tolle, like many other "U-Turners", in popular parlance , now tries to erase the Hindu sources he learned from

I used to read a lot and would conveniently forget the names of authors. That way, when I wrote something which regurgitated somebody else's thoughts, I did not carry the guilt of being a plagiarizer . But forgetting the source material as Hinduism and spinning it as something from another set of books is inexcusable. And that has been happening a lot in the last 4-5 decades. Lou Tice was the first person that I saw videos of, who repackaged everything Eastern as new age thinking/philosophy/psychology and made a bundle in the 70's and the 80's.

About Oprah, she launched her own cable channel which was not doing too well. So, she went on a tour, or many tours, to interview celebrities of other countries and shoot some video footage of slums and off-western cultural issues. This gave her some "new" material for the idiot box junkies and gave a boost to her TV show/cable ratings. I am not sure why so many of us are so hurt and spending so much time in providing rebuttals to her shows/claims. It is all about ratings, which translates to mo' money. So, if you want her to get richer, go ahead and raise hell about anything she says. In America, the more controversial a person, the more visits he/she makes to his/her bank to make deposits and boost his/her ego. When I spend time on another person, it is that much less time for my own personal growth. Do I really want to spend part of my life monetarily enriching somebody else?

Pranam.

[ShriBala]

“You STILL eat with your hands?”

Yes, i do.

[Jetavan]

“You STILL eat with your hands?”

Yes, i do.

Actually, she didn't use the tone that your quote implies she used:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybjL__ZgYes

[Shanti29]

Why should we care what Oprah thinks? Because she's rich? Would we raise such an uproar if say, Howard Stern made similar comments? I've never liked Oprah. I bet her ancestors are spinning in their graves. She has completely assimilated. Why hasn't she visited her school and asked similar questions of the locals? Might it be because of all the sex scandals there or disinterest? I could care less either way.

Things that make me thing of Oprah:
http://youtu.be/QF0o8LnZLwQ - Oprah was in this but not this particular scene
http://youtu.be/BrocojfmMtw - Silly clip
http://youtu.be/Mz_rhtTrzFs - Oprah w/ JK Rowley, funny.
http://youtu.be/3H50llsHm3k - Reminds me of Oprah in more than appearance
http://youtu.be/g0j2dVuhr6s - Airplane!

I find Oprah too entertaining to be bothered about any of her comments.