brand new hindu

[Sahasranama]

Also don't eat lion meat (narasimha), swan meat (sarasvati), peacock meat (krishna/ skanda), mouse meat or elephant meat (ganesha), tortoise meat (kurma), fish meat (matsya), bird meat (garuda), pig meat (varaha), bull meat (nandi). Stop eating our gods, please.

[BryonMorrigan]

One thing to remember about caste is that you probably have a "European" one. For example, let's say your last name is "Baker." That means that back in medieval times, your ancestors probably ran a bakery. Frankly, that name probably also ensured that your family would continue to be bakers for many generations.

Unless your last name begins with, "de," "di," "von," or something like that (or used to begin with such...sometimes the noble particle is removed)...chances are, you aren't descended from the noble castes. However, I've never found anyone, Hindu or otherwise, giving much of a damn about the fact that I have noble blood that I can trace as far back as 1066 CE, nor has it affected my religious practices in the slightest. It's good to know these things, however, since the people who bring up the "caste system" to you are likely to be self-important Christians trying to say that you should instead be a Christian.

What would be Brahmin or Kshatriya in Europe were basically combined at least as far back as the later Roman era, when Christianity became the State Religion, and priestly duties were no longer conducted by Patricians, and the Church hierarchy took control... The primary Roman "castes," up to that point, were Patrician (rulers/priests), Equites (knights and landed merchants), Plebeians (lower class citizens), and Servi (slaves).

[charitra]

Christine, Please spend time on and enlighten yourself with the inner meaning of SD. Study the doctrines of dharma, karma, yoga, rebirth, moksha etc. Try to go to a nearby mandir once in a while.
Meat eating isn’t incompatible with Hinduism, though some purists may make it sound it that way. Cow slaughtering is clearly unhindu. Slowly cut down, like once a day only or making every other day a vegetarian day or making fish only day or something like that.
Caste is irrelevant to hindus living in USA (born ones included). The intercaste marriages have become a norm these days blunting the caste divide in the hindu society; lots of my relatives and friends have married intercaste. Whats the caste of their kids then anyone? Thus you can see a lot of talk is wasted on caste. Eventually it is bound to get downsized to the degree just comparable to that of interdenominational marriages in USA, say for example a Methodist marrying a Baptist. If you insist on a caste nomenclature call yourself American caste or white caste or similar. There are white hindus on this blog and also google ‘white hindu’, also hindu, ‘western hindu’ etc and share your thoughts with others. Hindu dogma is one of inclusive in nature and is highly forgiving; that’s because we don’t have a king pope or a dictator ayatollah to issue diktats.
You may not believe that most castes are named after the occupation they adopt: goldsmith caste, barber caste, toddy tapper caste, carpenter caste, milk vendor caste (krisna grew up in this humble community, he didn’t live in palaces when he was a child !!!),business caste, warrior caste etc etc are some of the castes. Namaste.

[Adhvagat]

In Kali Yuga and specially in the west, that should be the caste and allotted duty of every Hindu: http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1181

One thing to remember about caste is that you probably have a "European" one. For example, let's say your last name is "Baker." That means that back in medieval times, your ancestors probably ran a bakery. Frankly, that name probably also ensured that your family would continue to be bakers for many generations.

Unless your last name begins with, "de," "di," "von," or something like that (or used to begin with such...sometimes the noble particle is removed)...chances are, you aren't descended from the noble castes. However, I've never found anyone, Hindu or otherwise, giving much of a damn about the fact that I have noble blood that I can trace as far back as 1066 CE, nor has it affected my religious practices in the slightest. It's good to know these things, however, since the people who bring up the "caste system" to you are likely to be self-important Christians trying to say that you should instead be a Christian.

What would be Brahmin or Kshatriya in Europe were basically combined at least as far back as the later Roman era, when Christianity became the State Religion, and priestly duties were no longer conducted by Patricians, and the Church hierarchy took control... The primary Roman "castes," up to that point, were Patrician (rulers/priests), Equites (knights and landed merchants), Plebeians (lower class citizens), and Servi (slaves).

How synchronic, just before going to sleep I favorited a message of you on this subject:

The thing that always irritates me about Western attacks on "caste-ism" is the idea that the West is immune from such concepts.

For example: My "real" last name is not "Morrigan." That's a pseudonym that I use for writing and the Internet, in order to not air my "business" in public. My real last name identifies me as an "Immemorial Noble" of England. Basically, that means that I am a direct descendant of the English nobility. In 1066 CE, my ancestor of the same name was a knight in William the Conqueror's Norman invasion of England, and his descendants held many titles in England until our family fell out of favor in the 1700s, leading my branch to move to the US and start anew.

For hundreds of years, my lineage and last name would have been all that was needed to show that I was essentially of the Western version of the "Kshatriya" varna, and certainly above the status of the Western "Vaishyas" with names like "Baker," "Smith," or "Cooper." Still, in modern times, many people of noble descent have dropped the "de," or "von," from their last names in order to not seem so "snooty."

In ancient Rome, the "castes" were (in this order) Patrician, Equite, Plebeian, and Servi.

Anyone who thinks that Western societies have no "Shudras," should really walk around a Western city for a few hours. You will see them...and you will see many Westerners recoiling from them as from "untouchables."

The West has no more moral "authority" on this matter than India, and should instead focus on helping the Indian government deal with the Christian and Muslim terrorists in the Northeast and Northwest.

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté

If you stop eating meet, yet all you think about is ~eating meat~ - what has been accomplished ? The meat eating is part of a bigger scheme regarding ahiṁsā अहिंसा . We know this as as non-injury. Some call this non-violence. This infers to all beings ( even ourselves). At the ultimate level this ahiṁsā when in full bloom brings no harm in thought, deed, word or action.

You may wish to take a look here if this is of interest: http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2956








praṇām

[Adhvagat]

I stopped eating meat from one day to the other, my last non-veg meal (8 years ago) was steak and fries the next I told the woman that cooked at my house to prepare a soy kibbeh with brown rice and beans.

Have I thought about eating later on? Only when I was hungry and near places that prepared meat, but over the years this sensorial need began to diminish, every time I felt the sensorial urge I questioned: Isn't it an animal? Insn't it barbaric to kill it for his muscles?

Forcing oneself out of a habit and sticking to it with philosophical ideals to counteract our sensorial urges and better understand ourselves can be a great process as well.

[BryonMorrigan]

...I told the woman that cooked at my house ...

Now you're talking REAL Hindu, LOL. Sure you aren't native Indian?

Example: Indian MasterChef

[Adhvagat]

Bryon, I guess I missed the joke, hehehehe. It's very common for people to have maids here in Brazil, I was once told that in the US it was rather expensive to have a maid for cooking and cleaning during the whole week, I'm not sure what is the picture now.

But the video is funny...

[BryonMorrigan]

Bryon, I guess I missed the joke, hehehehe. It's very common for people to have maids here in Brazil, I was once told that in the US it was rather expensive to have a maid for cooking and cleaning during the whole week, I'm not sure what is the picture now.

Yeah, only the very wealthy here in the USA can afford to have "servants," and most of the time, both husband and wife have to work 40+ hours a week. Our American lifestyle is not really geared much towards a healthy home life, which is why I'm glad that my career allows me to stay home all day.

[sanjaya]

Bryon, I guess I missed the joke, hehehehe. It's very common for people to have maids here in Brazil, I was once told that in the US it was rather expensive to have a maid for cooking and cleaning during the whole week, I'm not sure what is the picture now.

But the video is funny...

Yeah, it's very similar in India. Being born here in the States I've never experienced it myself. But when my parents were growing up in India they had servants, despite not being particularly wealthy. I know many Indians who move here to take fairly menial jobs, who back in India had maids at home.

Hence Byron's joke.