The Sage Nabooru

I am a white American convert to Hinduism, and I've been to the temple in my city. The times I've gone the priest I've dealt with has been very kind and nice, and the people also were very accommodating and pleased to see me there. Now some of my spiritual friends went without me, and they had a bad experience. They are very respectful people who behaved completely to standards in the temple, there to worship God. But when they asked one of the priests (not the one I deal with) to take their offerings and perform prasadam, he only reluctantly did so, and kept silent (saying no prayers) throughout with a stony face. He did not do this with the Indian people who also asked for prasadam. Just goes to show that just because you know scriptures and memorized prayers doesn't always mean you're in touch with God.

I'm reading through this and finding it confusing. Only the devas are mentioned mostly, although Vishnu is mentioned a couple of times in a small role. Also the Soma has a great place - what was that? How come this oldest of scriptures has seemingly so little to do with modern practice and beliefs?

I've been having an odd experience lately. I'm not a Shaivite, but sometimes I chant "Om Nama Shivaya" and every time I do, I have a period of deep confusion and perplexion waiting for me. Once I did it and for days afterward I had the strong urge to become a Catholic! Only after I said Catholic prayers did it go away! Is Shiva playing some kind of game with me suddenly? I always had thoughtfulness after chanting to Shiva before, but nothing like this.

Actually cows get pretty upset if they're not milked, they get pain in their udders and start bellowing.

I heard a rather graphic explanation of it: Would you kill and eat your mother or father? They are your own flesh and blood. In the same sense, animals are flesh and blood as well. Would you destroy them just as heartlessly?

Here in the US, I would say it is pretty much a common assumption that you either must believe in science or religion, you cannot believe in both; religion and science must be antagonistic to each other. But I know of many religious Hindu scientists. How do you think this is so? In America scientists regularly assure us we have no use of religion, in fact it's harmful, that they can explain everything we are, believe, and do with science. How is it in India? How do you think Hinduism and science get along so well? I do not like to think I am some material automaton, controlled by my brain chemicals!

Thank you!

Kali Upasaka, how else can I find out the name? Should I send you a private message for it?

Yes.

This is very true. In the US Hindus, the white ones at least, tend to form "societies" based around an understanding of philosophy as well as God. In fact I think in a lot of cases it's the philosophy that's more important to God to them, people will identify as a "Vedantist" rather than a Hindu, and have little knowledge of God, but know a lot of technical terms. I will be more than happy to visit a Kali temple but there are none nearby.

I agree with honoring Lord Shiva, although I am not a Saivite whenever I am confused about anything, I chant "Om Namah Shivaya". Shiva destroys illusions so that a path is made clear to me. Now admittedly, sometimes that path is uncomfortable and I try to avoid it - that is what illusions are all about. Om Eim Hrim Klim Chamundayei Vicche Namaha. This is a Chamundi mantra that encourages confidence and self-worth. It means "Om and salutations to She who is radiant with power and wisdom."

Thank you for your help. I am in the US where Hindu temples are few and far between, but there is one nearby. However it is entirely Indian in composition and I've never heard of any other person joining. We also have a Vedanta society, but I've found that they tend to focus solely on Advaita as legitimate Vedanta. I find that Ramanuja's teachings make more sense to me.

No, the only way is through meditation and devotion to God, herbs play a minor role. Do not allow the seductive allure of siddhis to distract you from true knowledge of God.

I had planned to go to my local temple for settling a time for my namakarana on Saturday, but now I am getting cold feet. I am feeling upset to find out that many Hindus hold that conversion cannot take place in their religion and also that in many temples only South Asian Hindus are even permitted to enter, and the priests enforce this policy, whether the entrants claim to be Hindu or not. To me this feels like Muslims forbidding non-Muslims entry into Mecca because it will somehow "dirty" it. Also some Hindus claiming that while God is universal "their" gods are special to them only. I know many white Hindus have and do exist, such as George Harrison and many in the scientific and philosophical fields. Personally my interest really took off as a result of my passion for archaeology, which introduced me to ancient India. Actually it was the result of many factors at play but archaeology as my chosen field did play a role, especially the controversy over the Aryan invasion theory. Also I do not want to "stand out". It is sad to say but racialism is still prevalent in our society and one term I hear used about white Hindus is "wannabes". I may not have been born and raised in India, and may have more liberal social mores as a result (although I do not drink or smoke, nor cheaply give away my body) - would this make me ineligible as a Hindu, especially as an unmarried and self-determined woman who does not feel called to be married? All I know is that Durga has done more for me than anyone else, merely by chanting in her name I turned from a scared child into an adult. (That doesn't mean I still don't occasionally get nervous, as can be seen!) I try every day to bow before her and Krishna, and Lakshmi, and Ganesh, and meditate on their forms, which always brings a smile to my lips. They (realizing their Oneness) have granted me freedom in a way I did not know before. When I was a little girl I could not admire the saints of different religions - even different denominations - without that sinking drummed-in belief that despite their holiness they were all burning in hell for not putting the right words into their creed. Now I can see the true universalism in faith. Do I have to undergo a namakarana? I know that even if I were rejected by the community I would still throw myself before God. BTW, I realize namakarana is typically bestowed on infants, but on some research it seems to be also accepted as the means of accepting Hindu converts, if they are accepted.

Indeed, this is little different from when the Protestant Christians condemn the Catholic Christians for "following the wrong leader" (the Pope), while forgetting that they worship the same God. Hindus worship the same God, we simply approach God differently on an individual level and it is God's will that we choose the path in which we can relate best to God. Whether that is Advaita, Dvaita, Vishishadvaita, Dvaitadvaita, or whatever school we choose, they are all correct because they all lead us to the same place which is nearness to God. I think what happens after moksha is between us and God depending on what we prefer and that God in God's mercy and compassion will allow us that.

Krishna IS God. "God may be for all but not our God" doesn't make sense.

The US slaughters millions of cattle every year, then ship what's left over abroad. You'd be amazed how many products contain by-products of cattle. Some of the better-known ones are gelatin, which comes in just about every fruit snack or gummy bear, but also marshmallows and even some yogurt and fruit spreads as a gelling or binding agent. It's also put into cheap port to make it taste "vintage". Also we all know rennet can be found in cheese. Animal fat is used all the time in cookies and sweets. Also in anything that's fried, and in margarine. If the label says "edible fats" it probably means animal fat. Who would suspect that ice cream would have cow fat in it - not from the milk, but from the slaughtered cow? Gelatin in put into orange soda to act as a carrier for beta-carotene! You need to know your labels and what the words mean very well in order to make sure you're not eating animal products. Just because cow slaughter is outlawed in certain states of India doesn't mean a greedy manufacturer won't buy animal products from China or the US to make a buck.

We know that Brahman exists, but how do the gods exist within Brahman? Do we merely pretend the gods exist in their forms as a way of relating to Brahman, or do they exist as they are as seperate entities united from a common source (Brahman) as other beings and the universe do?

As Hindus, I think one of our primary motives should be to fight ignorance. We fight ignorance by spreading awareness. In this case, awareness of our religion and what we believe in. That awareness is not just limited to non-Hindus but to other Hindus who aren't knowledgeable about their own religion. We don't need to stand on street corners handing out pamphlets like Christian missionaries, but we need a sense of community and belonging and education. It seems temples these days exist solely to accept offerings. Look at Christians and Muslims, who are well aware of their beliefs - they have scripture study classes, clubs, groups at schools where students of the same faith can gather, charitable and rescue efforts. A Hindu temple can learn from this.

Well I do not eat meat. I grew up in a Christian household, an American one, mid-American to be exact, and that was most of our diet. And now my parents are vastly overweight, loaded with health problems, yet it's like a drug, they are addicted to beef and pork. They know it's bad for them but they can't stop. I was like that too, it never occured to me where it came from. I don't think to most people it does. Or they don't care. My family, I think, was typical - we only thought about ourselves, our own sensations, desires and convenience. That's why animal rights matter so little in the US. If you don't have to do the slaughtering, the blood isn't on your hands. Right? Right? So anyway, it wasn't until I was much older that it became known to me how much animals suffer and how their suffering was legitimate and just as painful as my own. In all honesty I was brought up to believe that because God "gave" animals to people they could do all hell with them, it was their divine right. I certainly don't believe that now, how could I? Does their blood not flow? If they didn't feel it, wouldn't they withhold their screams? I know I sinned terribly and in great ignorance those years of my life when I was so selfish as to not care that cows were getting pistons in their brains by the billions, that chickens were not so much "humanely slaughtered" (an oxymoron if I ever heard one!) as pulled apart without a care, and so on, only thinking of the taste in my mouth. I told myself I didn't have a choice - what a filthy lie! How could I not have a choice? Was I force-fed the same way the animals were that I was eating? Now I do all I can to repent, I suppose you could say. I adopt animals and care for them as I would for a child. I make sure they are fed as I make sure I am fed. I think the poor health that accompanies meat-eating is only proof that it's against godliness. And you know, people act like they're making this huge, unbearable sacrifice giving up meat - I hardly notice it. It's amazing how easy the switch is.

I just recently discovered these and I've been trying to chant them. I've heard I should do ten minutes twice a day, but I found that's difficult for me. Is one hundred repetitions a day alright? Also, has anyone done any shakti mantras with positive results? I'm doing a Saraswati, a Lakhshmi, and a Durga for intellect, prosperity and confidence.

I've had a very strange thing happen to me recently. I was visiting the Missouri Botanical Garden for Chinese Cultural Festival and my family found a voodoo doll in the street. A real one. Being I guess you could say typical Americans, we were more fascinated than horrified, and considered it just an interesting souvenir. We took it home with us. Now, however, I don't know what to do with it. On the one hand there's that side of me that says that it's powerless, even if an actual practitioner of voodoo made it, they probably didn't do so correctly, since I hear it's a very complicated process. Anyway it's in my laundry room right now. I don't really like the idea of keeping it around. The other thing is that even before we found this thing, my whole life (23 years), is a string of bad luck, one thing after another. Basically I've never been able to successfully accomplish anything I've ever wanted to do. There is always something in the way, an obstacle that places itself so that whatever I set out to complete is made impossible. It's like clockwork every time! Wondering what this is, I have to wonder. My whole life my father, whom I still live with, since my attempts to leave have, of course, like everything else been fruitless, has hated me. I wonder if the hatred he has for me is somehow reflecting in his cursing me somehow, either consciously or unconsciously. It is almost as though every time I set out to do something, this thing comes out and steps right in my way, so that I am left as everything I don't want to be and nothing I would like to be. If my life continues like this I really don't see any positive lights in the future! Since it is my father who seems to want to be in my way and argue with me the most, is it him that is halting any progress I might make?

Since I've just become Hindu there are still some issues which confuse me somewhat, and I'd like to have some clarification on them if no one minds providing it, of course. Specifically, what is the nature of liberation? In one book I read, it compared it to the state of consciousness during dreamless sleep; in Autobiography of a Yogi, Sri Yukteswar details many other worlds one can go to before reaching full liberation; after one reaches full liberation, one re-enters those worlds as a teacher, which is confusing to me: What is the real point of teaching the path to liberation if it only results in your going back as a teacher, which would result in those you teach becoming teachers, and so on and so on..... I have also considered it compared to knowing your full God-consciousness and thus becoming a godlike being yourself. This is somewhat similar to the Christian idea of heaven, in a way, in that it allows for some form to be taken and identity to be retained or developed. What are your own personal view on the nature of liberation and of the universe (including the gods)? Are they subject to needing liberation themselves (as the Buddhists posit), or are they those who have achieved it?

No I don't. Dharma is hard for me to explain. You might want to check out the Wikipedia page on it.

I am glad you came here, instead of to a book. Specifically, just one book. Because no two books on Hinduism say exactly the same thing! Same goes for Hindus themselves, really. I've just become Hindu and one of the things I love about it is its open-mindedness. As said above when it comes to teachers it really depends on the person and what they believe is true. Hindus doing a daily puja: I try to do mine when I can. I enjoy it immensely but I can't honestly say I do mine every day, just as I can't say I always did my homework every night! Most popular "face" of Brahman is as said above Krishna but he is of course not the only one. Achieving liberation: Being as full of love and compassion and righteousness as possible. To me it's not restricted to a certain class or profession or anything like that. Does a Christian believe that in order to go to heaven, he has to be a minister? No, and I don't think you have to be a renowned religious master with a following to be liberated. Holy texts: Useful but not like the Christian Bible. They are holy, of course, but I think personal thought and conclusion is just as if not more important. Women: I'm a woman. I am equal with men. That's all there really is to say about it as far as I'm concerned. Culturally, I think Hinduism is very tolerant and open-minded. There is no set Hindu creed that every Hindu MUST ascribe to, at least not in the sense of the Christian Nicene Creed or the Muslim Shahada, so there's a lot of freedom within it, both religiously and socially. Indian civilization was/is one of the most intelligent on earth, because it generally does not restrict itself. Other religions: To me, there are two approaches to everything: One of love and one of fear. Some people are religious because they love God; others are because they are afraid of Him. I would say Francis of Asissi loved God and Osama bin Laden and the Taliban are afraid of Him. So really the religion itself is not as important as the personal approach to God. What are the most important things a Hindu can do? Be kind and compassionate, preserve their culture and identity, work for peace and tolerance among others, and respect for all living things, including animals.