Pet peeves

[Vinayaka]

I'm sure I'm extremely guilty of mispronouncing a lot of words. The reason the mispronunciation of Ganesha bothers me is the commonality of the word. There are some sanskrit blends that are just hard, because they don't appear in English, so we have little practice.

 

[Jainarayan]

It's the transliteration of Ganesha. I was "guilty" too of mispronouncing it before you pointed it out. Even when transliterated on Hindu sites I've never seen it Ganēsha. In English classes we were taugh that a vowel between consonants is usually short. It would be better transliterated as Ganeysha or even Ganaysha according to English grammar. So I have to give people the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Vinayaka]

In universal transliteration, e means our long a. yes, it takes some getting used to. i is the long ee ... not sure what short e is even.

 

[Jainarayan]

not sure what short e is even.

'eh' as in get. 'E' can be as eh in get, ee as in feet, or ey as in say, at least in the Mid-Atlantic English dialect. English in North America and the UK have varying pronunciations, and are actually diverging, not getting closer despite television and radio. In Romance languages e is alway 'ey' or 'ay'. In Russian it can be "yov" as in Gorbhachev (Gorbhachyov, the actual pronunciation of his name) depending on where it is in the word and the context.

 

[Ashoka]

1. You worship the creature and not the creator!
2. You can't be Hindu! You're white!
3. How could you worship Shiva? Isn't he the "destroyer"?
4. Jesus is worshiped by Hindus too! (OMG This one is the worst!)
5. So you think you can take a dip in a river and be forgiven of your sins?
6. But the caste system!
7. So you worship Krishna?
8. Tell me about Chakras!
9. You practice Bhakti Yoga? What kind of stretches do they do?
10. You worship statues! They can't save you!

I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can think of at the moment.

 

[Vinayaka]

But you just learn to laugh them off after awhile.

 

[Ashoka]

But you just learn to laugh them off after awhile.

Sometimes. It depends on who it is. Sometimes it's just curiosity, and sometimes it's all mockery.

Namaskar.

 

[Kalidas]

Now I feel bad being a fairly new convert.( not in actuality but in practicality). I pronounce a lot of those words wrong. I actually enjoy reading scriptures I know they are needed to be a good Hindu, but I do want to read the Vedas one day and the gita and am currently reading a book about the philosophies of the Upanishads(not the Upanishads themselves) but as vinayaka said tis the problem of convert coming from scriptural religions (I was formly a Christian). But I am trying to learn.

But I think I can add a good one. My grandparents (from my step dad) are devout catholics. Well when I was looking up something about the many stories of Hindu gods and goddess (for research and just general fun and knowledge) my grandpa said "what is that voodoo ****!" When an image of Kali came up. He was born and raised down south America (new Orleans) so to him if he doesn't know what it is and it isn't Christian its voodoo.

 

[Vinayaka]

My father-in-law used to get Hindu, Voodoo, and Hoodoo all mixed up to.

As far as being new, and trying to learn, all westerners had to do that. As long as you're humble, and don't get a 'know-it-all' attitude after 6 months of reading and 2 temple visits, you're good. That's another pet peeve for some, I would imagine.

I'm sure a journeyman in the trades gets mildly annoyed if told how to do stuff by an apprentice.

 

[Kalidas]

My father-in-law used to get Hindu, Voodoo, and Hoodoo all mixed up to.

As far as being new, and trying to learn, all westerners had to do that. As long as you're humble, and don't get a 'know-it-all' attitude after 6 months of reading and 2 temple visits, you're good. That's another pet peeve for some, I would imagine.

I'm sure a journeyman in the trades gets mildly annoyed if told how to do stuff by an apprentice.

Lol yeah no joke right. So question where so all of you get so much knowledge? Like you vinyaka if you don't read the Scriptures where do you find your knowledge? I am not questioning on whether you have any ( to me you have a lot) but I am honestly curious.

Here another annoyance. The bible came before your books did? Oh really how do you know that? Because the bible was written by god and god was around before hindus."

 

[Vinayaka]

Like you vinyaka if you don't read the Scriptures where do you find your knowledge?

I read my Guru's teachings, have read some scriptures, and have 40 years of first-hand experience going to temples, on pilgrimages, watching people, and such. Hinduism does have a ton of scripture. It's just that we do a lot of other stuff too, and we (not speaking for everyone, as some do) don't go to scripture ALL the time. So a Hindu might say or remember a first hand experience and trust that, whereas many western faiths, will start with, "Let's see what scripture has to say.

I know basic philosophy, and a bit more in my particular lineage, but I'm no scholar. There are some decent scholars who frequent this place.

 

[Kalidas]

I read my Guru's teachings, have read some scriptures, and have 40 years of first-hand experience going to temples, on pilgrimages, watching people, and such. Hinduism does have a ton of scripture. It's just that we do a lot of other stuff too, and we (not speaking for everyone, as some do) don't go to scripture ALL the time. So a Hindu might say or remember a first hand experience and trust that, whereas many western faiths, will start with, "Let's see what scripture has to say.

I know basic philosophy, and a bit more in my particular lineage, but I'm no scholar. There are some decent scholars who frequent this place.

See I have no guru, no first hand experience (except my own I think I have seem 3 Hindus in my small conservative town), and no temple. Sadly all I DO have is scriptures and honestly you guys well and the internet lol.

 

[Vinayaka]

See I have no guru, no first hand experience (except my own I think I have seem 3 Hindus in my small conservative town), and no temple. Sadly all I DO have is scriptures and honestly you guys well and the internet lol.

I came from a small rural town in Alberta. Certainly no Hindus around, and it was fairly conservative. If the philosophy and culture and all that makes a ton of sense to you, not only are you drawn to it, but it is drawn to you. Eventually they will come looking for you, not the other way around. The Guru finds the student, the God in the temple finds the devotees. There is magic in this oldest faith on the planet.

 

[Kalidas]

I came from a small rural town in Alberta. Certainly no Hindus around, and it was fairly conservative. If the philosophy and culture and all that makes a ton of sense to you, not only are you drawn to it, but it is drawn to you. Eventually they will come looking for you, not the other way around. The Guru finds the student, the God in the temple finds the devotees. There is magic in this oldest faith on the planet.

Wow thanks. That is actually extremely reassuring and gives me a lot of hope. Thank you very much, now I just need hope which being someone who works with special needs children I have plenty to share lol.

 

[Kalidas]

I came from a small rural town in Alberta. Certainly no Hindus around, and it was fairly conservative. If the philosophy and culture and all that makes a ton of sense to you, not only are you drawn to it, but it is drawn to you. Eventually they will come looking for you, not the other way around. The Guru finds the student, the God in the temple finds the devotees. There is magic in this oldest faith on the planet.

Wow thanks. That is actually extremely reassuring and gives me a lot of hope. Thank you very much, now I just need hope which being someone who works with special needs children I have plenty to spare lol.

 

[Ashoka]

The bible came before your books did? Oh really how do you know that? Because the bible was written by god and god was around before hindus."

LOL people say this? The bible itself wasn't put together until after the first ecumenical council in 325 C.E. The Vedas are far older. Now, the Torah is a different story, but even it, I believe, is not as old as the Vedas.

 

[Vinayaka]

LOL people say this?

Try this if you want to see how far that one goes ... The Emergence Of Hinduism From Christianity: M. M. Ninan: 9781438227313: Amazon.com: Books

 

[Kalidas]

LOL people say this? The bible itself wasn't put together until after the first ecumenical council in 325 C.E. The Vedas are far older. Now, the Torah is a different story, but even it, I believe, is not as old as the Vedas.

First sorry for the double post phone is being weird.

Second many Christians don't even realize the Torah and bible are different. To them its the "old testament" thus is part of the bible. Which explains their belief of homosexuality being a sin yet Jesus never actually talking about it. Also they don't even believe in sciences means for dating things. To them the world is only 10k years old as per the creation story in the torah. Thus the "Bible" ( actually Torah) is the "first" words of god. I have spent my time around many Christians.

 

[Kalidas]

Try this if you want to see how far that one goes ... The Emergence Of Hinduism From Christianity: M. M. Ninan: 9781438227313: Amazon.com: Books

I had a man tty and give me his little Christian pamphlets at work ( I finally said okay after telling him my work wont let me) his response was "Us Christians (cause some how me taking his pamphlet out of mutual kindness instantly makes me a christian?) need to share our faith and stick together because the Islams are trying to take over".

 

[Katzpur]

This is all very interesting. I really ought to start hanging out on the Hindu DIR a little more often, seeing as my son is very serious with a Hindu girl. (I think she's more or less non-practicing, just as he is a non-practicing Mormon.) If all goes as I am hoping it will, he'll be proposing to her sometime soon.