Guest guest Posted April 10, 2005 Report Share Posted April 10, 2005 Greetings all my beloved sisters and brothers. Please pray for Isabelle who is taking the final walk from this plane shortly. I am wondering if anyone has been struggling with the "Hindu" aspect of worship. I was raised a Catholic and was abused in a Catholic orphanage before the age of three so I had a deep deep fear and loathing of religion/prayer/worship until I met Amma. Since I became Amma's girl, I have experienced, with Amma's grace, much less fear and no loathing. I was watchng the Pope's funeral with great interest for some reason. I had not really been keeping up with his papacy or the doing of the Catholic church in general. As I watched the rituals at the funeral I saw similarities in the aspects of devotion and worship between all the great religions - meditation and prayer and using fire, water, air, etc. (I watched with fascination at the funeral how the wind tossed the pages of the book on the Pope's coffin and eventually actually blew hard enough to close the book!) I heard on the broadcast that the wind is a sign that God is present.) I recently have been feeling discouraged because there are so many worship aspects of the Hindu religion and noticing how the Indian families in our satsang know so many things about worship and devotion and thinking how I could never begin to do things "right" - most of all, I don't know why things are done and my monkey mind still seeks to know why sometimes. Then I was thinking how I spent so many years (12 years of Catholic all girl school) learning about the Catholic faith - totally rejecting every aspect of it - and now struggling to learn about Hinduism. Please lets not go into that discussion about which worse or best. That is not my question because I honor all paths to God. I only wonder about what is right for a western woman who loves Amma dearly and wants to emulate Her. Blindly following the rituals of worship and devotion (as simple as bowing when entering the Ashram/temple/hall) which I forget to do sometimes makes me feel inadequate and then I feel discouraged. Has anyone felt this inadequacy and what have you done about it? What is this tiny atom doing but pretending? I want some boundaries to feel safe within about worship and devotion and now I have none. What is enough, what is ethical, what is stupid? Am I stupid to try? Is it all in the inner spirit and through meditation? What if I have trouble meditating, does that make me doomed. I meditate when I make pictures, collages and paint and write. Does this count? If no one sees me worship, do I still count? (remember to delete the message you are replying to so that the message is shorter) Picture monkeys running around in my mind Om Namashivaya - In Amma's service, Supriti Omenka Nnadi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 10, 2005 Report Share Posted April 10, 2005 Namah Shivaya Omenka Greetings to you. I dont think Amma/ God cares about the exact rituals you do or how much of someone else's culture you incorporate. I think Amma cares more about the ATTITUDE with which you do whatever you do. There are many of us hindus, who though we know the rituals or steps in pujas etc, do them mechanically without any devotion. And i know many westerners who may not know any rituals but yet whose devotion to Amma and the way they lead their lives are exemplary. I think Amma cares about how pure and sincere one's heart is. I dont think She cares about whether people bow down when they enter the hall or whether they know the "right" way to do arati or a puja. Most rituals are beautiful, though. Many rituals, pujas for instance, are full of inner menaing and if we learn to do them with attention they can be so beautiful. But if you are not inclined to do these rituals, i think thats OK. If you meditate when you paint or write or sing or make pictures that is great. Meditation is when your mind flows in an unbroken flow towards the object of your meditation. So anything you do with love and sraddha , thinking of God, is meditation. Yes there are some 'mandatory' things we need to do- like chanting our mantra. The thousand names and the IAM meditation too, for those who take it up. But if you love Amma and focus on Her , regardless of the external ritual you may or may not do, thats all that matters. just my 2C. In Amma, bala Mail Mobile Take Mail with you! Check email on your mobile phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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