Re: Prasadam is dirty
Namaste Shian,
While I have never had to deal with such Christians, I feel I understand your frustration. I would find it very amusing to be able to see a Christian try and bless prasad properly in the name of Jesus to "detaint" it somehow. Maybe I have not had enough exposure yet. Frankly, I wish things to stay the same and pray I never have to cross paths with that hard-headed lot! My advice would be never to offer prasad to such Christians, not out of discourtesy (or rather I should say courtesy, knowing the typical reaction you will get) but because it would just be a waste of your time and forbearance to respect their wishes while standing up for your own beliefs.
Yes, views of God are drastically different from the mindset of the East and West. It is astounding when you look back in history and see that even ancient civilisations with their pre-Christian beliefs had better tolerance for foreign deities! These pagans (the word still seems to carry a certain stigma in the English language today) had better understanding for the Divine than their Christian counterparts. They tolerated them and even started to equate them with their own gods. These people had better understanding of Divinity 3,000 years ago than modern, educated Christians do today.
"Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny."
ॐ गं गणपतये नमः
Om Gam Ganapataye namah
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु ।
Lokaah SamastaaH Sukhino Bhavantu
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