Guduwara

[sm78]

... Islam in the sense that we are all sitting on the floor ...

aaii ... ? i have not seen anyone sitting on anything else on a hindu temple either.

u can say it is has a flavor of Islam as they worship a book (in a sense) and not deities.

Sitting on floor is absolutely Hindu, we have been doing it much before anybody else ... and muslims hardly get to sit on the floor really!!

[sm78]

Sorry, you misunderstood me. I do understand this about prasadam. I like the days besides Sundays, when the priest has prepared small offerings to the Gods, and the partaking of prasadam is relatively small. Even on the larger prasadam days, I don't mind taking prasadam. Its the fact that some people show up just for the prasadam, neglecting to worship at all. Also when people gorge on it, that irritates me. (Not that I should be irritated, just being intellectually honest here) At our temple, we have to 'guard' the prasadam so that people don't go for it even before the puja is over. Regarding the residuum of the sacrifice, the air, the essence, the holy vibration, darshan of the Gods, the teerthum, the vibhuthi, kumkum, flowers, is all prasadam to me. But then I'm used to the individualised style worship of South India, or Sri Lanka, not the congregational style of the north. Of course, when in Rome... Aum Namasivaya

Ya, I am with you on this ... because these days people want the short cut and they are really wanting a house and a car and not liberation.

Yes i find it quite strange that people who do not bother about god for most of the year suddenly throng the temple and the streets on some days of the year.

However nothing wrong with the rituals and practices...its the people who seemingly practice them.

[satay]

Namaste Singhi,

Although it seems hypocratic to go out in the crowds only on some days...what is a modern family of man to do?

The positive side is that at least those people do go out on 'some' days to be with God. No?

A house, a car is a legitimate thing for a grihasta to work for. Isn't it his dharma to provide the best care for his children and family?

How will the soceity run if everyone renounces their cars and houses?

I think that these kinds of expectations of grishtas have truly made him a schizophrenic.

We forget that there are are four ashrams and renoucing material things doesn't come until later in life. I don't know what the rule on ignoring our duty of current ashram is and jumping ahead into sanyas.

I am not against what you saying just thinking out loud...

[Eastern Mind]

Namaste EM,


I feel empathy, that you go to the temple, serve God, yet somehow he is not allowing you to take his leftovers!!

Empathy? Oh, please. I am truly blessed to be allowed in this religion at all by Bhairava, with Ganapati's acceptance. I am truly blessed to be allowed to serve some 300 hours a year beautifying the temple's outside. I am truly blessed to offer free distribution of some 800 pounds of fresh vegetables a year to the devotee's of God. Not to mention the fresh produce I allot myself. (Most of the devotees offer up the observation that these are the best vegetables available, as they come from Ganesha's garden.) I am truly blessed to work outside in the rays of the sun, and to get the prana of the fresh air 300 hours a year. I am truly blessed to follow a traditional sampradaya with a living Satguru. I am truly blessed to have been a pandaram priest for some 5 full years at same temple, to have rubbed Ganesha's tummy with abhishekam materials, to be the one called upon to call out the shakti of He with one tusk, to have had the personal touch of Ganesha. I am truly blessed to have all my needs met. I am truly blessed to have a loving spouse and 5 healthy children. Empathy for me? Nope, sorry. Aum Namasivaya

[satay]

namaste EM,

Empathy? Oh, please. I am truly blessed to be allowed in this religion at all by Bhairava, with Ganapati's acceptance. I am truly blessed to be allowed to serve some 300 hours a year beautifying the temple's outside. I am truly blessed to offer free distribution of some 800 pounds of fresh vegetables a year to the devotee's of God. Not to mention the fresh produce I allot myself. (Most of the devotees offer up the observation that these are the best vegetables available, as they come from Ganesha's garden.) I am truly blessed to work outside in the rays of the sun, and to get the prana of the fresh air 300 hours a year. I am truly blessed to follow a traditional sampradaya with a living Satguru. I am truly blessed to have been a pandaram priest for some 5 full years at same temple, to have rubbed Ganesha's tummy with abhishekam materials, to be the one called upon to call out the shakti of He with one tusk, to have had the personal touch of Ganesha. I am truly blessed to have all my needs met. I am truly blessed to have a loving spouse and 5 healthy children. Empathy for me? Nope, sorry. Aum Namasivaya

I didn't mean it in a demeaning way...it's just interesting.

It reminds me of a little personal story. My wife and I were visiting India after a very long time, it was my wife's first time in India. My family had planned to take us to all the famous tourist spots including some of the spiritual places in the north. We travelled for days on end. Hundreds of kms away from our house, after days of travelling, we arrive at this one particular mandir in vrindavan. All of us, go in and my brother decides to stay outside to 'watch our bags'. What a guy. We come out of the mandir, now its his turn to go in, yet, he refuses to go. For no apparent reason... I still can't fathom why he didn't take the few steps to go in the mandir after travelling hundreds of kms in the hot indian june.

Don't you think it is one's karma that makes these things happen? There is a saying in india that translates to 'without God's permission even a leaf doesn't move'...some travel hundreds of kms yet don't take the few steps to go in the temple and yet some don't take prasadam but are blessed with all other things.

Strange, the way this works...

Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you.

[sarabhanga]

I feel empathy, that you go to the temple …

Empathy? Oh, please … Empathy for me? Nope, sorry.

Namaste Satay and EM,

To avoid future confusion:

Empathy is “the power of mentally identifying oneself with (and so, fully comprehending) someone or something”.

And empathy is a very GOOD thing to have!

[satay]

Namaskar!

And empathy is a very GOOD thing to have!

And that's what I thought but by the tone of EM's post, I thought I had used the word incorrectly or used the wrong word. I can never be sure since english is not my mother tongue...

[Eastern Mind]

namaste EM,




I didn't mean it in a demeaning way...it's just interesting.

It reminds me of a little personal story. For no apparent reason... I still can't fathom why he didn't take the few steps to go in the mandir after travelling hundreds of kms in the hot indian june.

Don't you think it is one's karma that makes these things happen? There is a saying in india that translates to 'without God's permission even a leaf doesn't move'...some travel hundreds of kms yet don't take the few steps to go in the temple and yet some don't take prasadam but are blessed with all other things.

Strange, the way this works...

Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you.

Oh, you didn't offend me at all. I apologize for any words that may wrongly conveyed that message. I am with your brother totally. He saw the service of guarding your shoes as the same thing as going inside, is my guess. Service IS worship. Its just that different personalities take on worship differently. That's all i was pointing out. And yes, empathy is a good thing. Aum Namasivaya

[Eastern Mind]

Namaste Satay and EM,

To avoid future confusion:

Empathy is “the power of mentally identifying oneself with (and so, fully comprehending) someone or something”.

And empathy is a very GOOD thing to have!

I agree wholeheartedly. I hope we all gained some here for understamding other's POV. And thank you for the clarification. Aum Namasivaya.

[Sagefrakrobatik]

aaii ... ? i have not seen anyone sitting on anything else on a hindu temple either.

u can say it is has a flavor of Islam as they worship a book (in a sense) and not deities.

Sitting on floor is absolutely Hindu, we have been doing it much before anybody else ... and muslims hardly get to sit on the floor really!!

I know i was at a Hindu temple during diwali.