Namaste
As Hindus, a lot of us touch a lot of different things to our forehead.
For example, we bow and touch our forehead to the ground before Deva or Devi murti, or in a temple, and even full prostration touching both cheeks and forehead, or we put vibhuti on our forehead.
We may touch our forehead to the feet of a Saint.
I will also touch a sacred book such as the Ramayana to my forehead when I pick it up or put it down (ok, I should tell the truth, sometimes I don't) . I am not sure where I picked up that habit, but I think I got it from Gaudiyas for example. I have been doing this for decades. Do others also do this?
Where does this come from, if one considers the historical situation? For example, go back to the days when a sacred text may have been scribed to palm leaves. So were the devout then picking up a set of palm leaves ( which could get damaged in the process ) and touching their forehead with them each time they are read?
Now let us move to the last couple of centuries. We now have printed books, and some like me touch the forehead with a sacred text when we pick it up or put it down.
Now let us move to the current place in time. We now have iPads. And pretend you have a PDF version of the Ramayana on the iPad ...
So shouldn't we be touching the iPad to our forehead each time we pick it up to read the Ramayana or put down the iPad after reading the Ramayana or sacred text? I mean, if the iPad has a PDF Ramayana in it, then what's the difference between that and a printed copy of the Ramayana?
Om Namah Sivaya
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