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Thread: Something I noticed about SOME convert Hindus

  1. #21
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    Re: Something I noticed about SOME convert Hindus

    America is like a kindergarten class at naptime.

    Do you remember this moment?

    All the children on those tiny colored mats on the floor napping and the teachers tip toe around trying to avoid stepping on them?

    I remember it very well.

    We live amongst the sleeping.

    Recently my daughter had a classmate in school tell her Jesus was the one true god.

    My daughter says..."No no Shiva is God!"

    So the teacher comes and asks her again. "Aria, who is God?"

    "Beloved Shiva is God." Was Aria's reply.

    The whole class hushes to hear this...and the moment made me shine with joy. My children have love for Beloved Shiva as any child being raised a world away.

    But to the sleeping, she caused much upset. A week later she was asked this question again and she again replied the same. Except this time she explained Beloved Shakti too.

    The teacher replied to the other teacher she had brought to hear..."See!"

    So the sleepers have been disturbed by my littlest daughter...and I will probably get a phone call about this...but I am proud, so very proud.

    America does have good things, but all of them bundled in a heap would not be enough to equall living in a place where the Gita is read aloud.

    Where people meet in parks not to shoot up drugs...but to actually learn about Beloved. Perhaps such a place exists here, I do not know.

    For now, we do our best to allow the ones peacefully sleeping to continue to sleep, all the while we continue to tip toe around them.

    You see them at the store, in the park...and you remember what it was like to be so blissfully unaware. When your biggest problem was buying a newer flashy car...or taking the vacation to Cancun.

    It makes our family feel like aliens.

    After several years of struggling with this very culture/identity crisis, I have decided that bodies have culture. Since I am more than this decaying flesh I drag around covering the divine portion of Beloved I truly am...I really am not a culture at all. I have no need to pick up a new culture to replace the one I am shedding. Crisis resolved.

  2. #22
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    Re: Something I noticed about SOME convert Hindus

    Vannakkam all: I think a lot of the noticeable differences can be between the western side of the planet and India is seen in the percentage of practitioners. India is predominantly Hindu. You don't have to look for it at all. It permeates: in the eyes of the people, in the mundane tasks like driving, shopping, language, in the smiles, the food, the clothing. You have to look hard for a place where there is no Hinduism close by. In the west it is the opposite. You have to look hard (well, not that hard in urban areas now) to find it. The westy is permeated by secularism, non religion, with a bit of Christianity thrown in. There is good and bad in both.

    Aum Namasivaya

  3. #23
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    Re: Something I noticed about SOME convert Hindus

    Dear NayaSurya,

    Regarding your last post I can see why you would be upset. But see the thing is, residing in America, and being born in America. I think your example is really irrelevant. Imagine being born in an American home and being told that Jesus is the one and only god anytime spirituality came up. You must excuse a class of CHILDREN and their teacher (who most likely wouldn't want to receive any e-mails from upset parents about agreeing with your daughters beliefs when she couldn't do so for any of the others.) I'm assuming where you live is mostly Christan, Mormon, ECT. The teacher probably didn't want to start a class argument about religion regarding the fact that their minds are so small they must nap once a day to function.

    I am American and am deeply offended that you would over generalize a whole country due to one incidence that happened in your child's elementary school. I am, right now, seeking out Hinduism. Which proves your theory wrong.

    Perhaps if you would like less of a backlash in all walks of life, you should probably stay away from remarks that are offensive and out of the blue such as "America is like a kindergarten class at naptime" OR "All the children on those tiny colored mats on the floor napping and the teachers tip toe around trying to avoid stepping on them."

    Sincerely,
    Forrest

  4. #24

    Smile Re: Something I noticed about SOME convert Hindus

    I don't try to be Indian at all.
    God is not Indian. God is everything.

    I'm Swedish living in the US, I celebrate Swedish holidays, Christmas and Midsummer etc.
    Frankly I would not embrace a religion that required that I gave up my own culture.

    One of the things that drew me to Hinduism was it's understanding that you can reach God however you want, it's your CONNECTION that counts, not the method.
    It's to me a much more enlightened view than saying that you HAVE to do THIS for God to hear you.

    My Ashram celebrates both Hindu and and other holidays, we are happy that life has so much to offer, so much to celebrate.

    Maya

  5. #25
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    Re: Something I noticed about SOME convert Hindus

    Quote Originally Posted by Maya3 View Post
    Frankly I would not embrace a religion that required that I gave up my own culture.
    Vannakkam: Certainly there is no requirement. Those that harshly impose requirements are quite cultish and not the norm. Having said that, I have found that once you start in Hinduism, much of the culture rubs off. For example: You attend a temple, they serve prasadam, and it is Indian food. You discover you like it, and soon you go buy yourself a cookbook, and learn to cook. You notice people dressing modestly, you dress modestly, etc.

    We also have the freedom to go as far as we want into the culture. Some would at first call me extreme for changing my name, for example. But then when I explain that it was entirely on my own volition, nobody was pointing a gun at me, or holding anything back because I wouldn't, then its cool.

    So over time part of your own culture, (or non-culture in some places of the west) just fades. I came from a beer-drinking, meat-gorging, cowboy redneck cursing community, and frankly it is not missed.

    Only when you come from a strongly religious background is there conflict, and if you want to move on less confused, you have to make a conscious effort to drop some of the previous beliefs.

    Aum Namasivaya
    Last edited by Eastern Mind; 29 October 2010 at 12:46 PM. Reason: sp

  6. #26

    Re: Something I noticed about SOME convert Hindus

    Quote Originally Posted by Eastern Mind View Post
    Vannakkam: Certainly there is no requirement. Those that harshly impose requirements are quite cultish and not the norm. Having said that, I have found that once you start in Hinduism, much of the culture rubs off. For example: You attend a temple, they serve prasadam, and it is Indian food. You discover you like it, and soon you go buy yourself a cookbook, and learn to cook. You notice people dressing modestly, you dress modestly, etc.

    We also have the freedom to go as far as we want into the culture. Some would at first call me extreme for changing my name, for example. But then when I explain that it was entirely on my own volition, nobody was pointing a gun at me, or holding anything back because I wouldn't, then its cool.

    So over time part of your own culture, (or non-culture in some places of the west) just fades. I came from a beer-drinking, meat-gorging, cowboy redneck cursing community, and frankly it is not missed.

    Only when you come from a strongly religious background is there conflict, and if you want to move on less confused, you have to make a conscious effort to drop some of the precious beliefs.

    Aum Namasivaya


    That is some change from redneck cursing to Hindu
    Good for you!

    I haven't changed that much, I was vegetarian already since I was a teenager and my family is not religious at all.
    I already loved spicy Indian food. Never liked Swedish food or meat.
    I could never eat the meat when I was a kid, it grew in my mouth, and Sweden is a meat/fish/potato country! The flavors are very bland not like flavorful Indian food, which I prefer.
    Though we have AMAZING pastries and cakes. Yum!!

    A lot of people say that I must have been Hindu in a past life, because I just floated right in without much change at all.
    The only real difference for me is really the Indian rituals, such as Puja's that was completely new.

    Maya

  7. #27
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    Re: Something I noticed about SOME convert Hindus

    Quote Originally Posted by Maya3 View Post


    That is some change from redneck cursing to Hindu
    Vannakkam Maya: Just to clarify, I wasn't a redneck curser, just born into the environment where it was commonplace. Much like you, I learned at a young age that this place wasn't for me. When they butchered, I hid up at the house with my mother. Hunting grossed me out, yet there I was, born into it. So at independence age 18 or so, I got out. Vegetarianism was easy, and I had no religious indoctrination at all other than my father's musings about the bible thumpers out the road and my mother's leanings towards being a full blown nature worshiper. Hinduism seemed a natural flow so much that it has been clear it was past lifetime seeds sprouting all over again.

    Aum Namasivaya

  8. #28
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    Re: Something I noticed about SOME convert Hindus

    Quote Originally Posted by Maya3 View Post
    Never liked Swedish food or meat.
    Let's be honest: NOBODY likes Swedish food or meat... (LOL.)

  9. #29

    Re: Something I noticed about SOME convert Hindus

    EM,
    That's good to know. How is it for you now when you go back to visit?

    Bryan, a lot of people like Swedish food, there are many Swedish restaurants that are very popular in the US.

    Maya

  10. #30
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    Re: Something I noticed about SOME convert Hindus

    Quote Originally Posted by Maya3 View Post
    EM,
    That's good to know. How is it for you now when you go back to visit?

    Maya
    Vannakkam Maya: I know for many people it can be quite the challenge when loved ones don't accept the new you. There can be hard feeling over extended periods of time. Right now its pretty good. Both my parents are deceased. I stopped for coffee at my brother's on the way home from a long driving trip. We talk occasionally, but these days we're not close. I doubt if it had much to do with religion at all. More to do with geography (long physical distances and lack of time and money) and each doing their own thing to raise a family. I have 4 siblings. Two call me by my Hindu name of 30 years and the other two just can't. Interestingly, they were both the ones with learning disabilities growing up.

    How about you? Is your family okay with the ashram/Hindu stuff?

    Aum Namasivaya

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