Telling Friends and Family

[Fireside_Hindu]

Do you have the number of the temple, FS-ji?

M.V.

Be at peace, MV ji

This was no priest anyhow. The man told me he was a visitor from out of state, so this is no symptom of my former temple, rest assured.

 

[Poeticus]

Be at peace, MV ji

This was no priest anyhow. The man told me he was a visitor from out of state, so this is no symptom of my former temple, rest assured.

Namaste,

Jai Shri Ram! Disaster averted! Thank the Gods the nuisance was from out of state. Hehe.

M.V.

 

[Vinayaka]

I know I must be prepared for the day when I walk into a temple and receive less than a warm welcome.

Oh that'll happen if you're sensitive. Hindus aren't really a handshaking crowd. Sometimes everyone is too busy praying to even notice a newcomer. Just don't confuse indifference to you as rudeness. But I think you know that already.

 

[Fireside_Hindu]

Namaste,

Jai Shri Ram! Disaster averted! Thank the Gods the nuisance was from out of state. Hehe.

M.V.

But see, you have proven I am a terrible Hindu, mera bhai! For A good Hindu should not be disturbed nor should he/she disturb others. Yet, I have angered you. Can you forgive me?

:camp:

 

[Vinayaka]

Be at peace, MV ji

This was no priest anyhow. The man told me he was a visitor from out of state, so this is no symptom of my former temple, rest assured.

Visitors tend to know a lot, don't they? I remember we had some guy from Toronto passing through town on his way to Vancouver and he started making suggestions about this and that. One of my Tamil friends said, "So you're staying here for an extra week so you can take care of these improvements. Thank you, that would be nice." The guy never said another word.

But when we were in Omaha, on our second visit on a pilgrimage, somebody from just north of there was there for their first time as well, and approached me to ask questions. They were kind of surprised when I said, "Oh, no, I'm from out of town too." So as much as there are unpleasant surprises, the pleasant ones by far outnumber the unpleasant ones. Just last night I was telling a friend about us going to a new temple opening this weekend, and she said. "Nice. Can I come?" So I said sure. So now my wife doesn'r just have to talk (listen, more likely) to just me on the 5 hour drive each way. Lucky her. So God comes in from all angles.

 

[Fireside_Hindu]

Lucky her. So God comes in from all angles.

It's true

I had a few women from my former temple approach me and gift me with salwars out of nowhere! And I had several people approach me saying how wonderful it was that I took an interest in the temple and helped so much.

:camp:

 

[Poeticus]

But see, you have proven I am a terrible Hindu, mera bhai! For A good Hindu should not be disturbed nor should he/she disturb others. Yet, I have angered you. Can you forgive me?

:camp:

Namaste,

Hahaha. You know what I mean...

M.V.

 

[Fireside_Hindu]

Namaste,

Hahaha. You know what I mean...

M.V.

Of course.

 

[ratikala]

namaskaram fireside ji :namaste

But see, you have proven I am a terrible Hindu, mera bhai! For A good Hindu should not be disturbed nor should he/she disturb others.

the ideal is to be tollerant , ''to be equal in happiness and distress'' but please dont expect that you should instantly be able to accheive this it takes years of practice , however that dosent make you a bad hindu , that you are trying to accheive that state makes you a good hindu .... the ones that worry me are the ones that think that they are allready there and that effort is not required they are usualy the ones who make it known that they are from brahmin families as if they expect some special treatment and not to have to work at their own sadhana ???

A good Hindu should not be disturbed nor should he/she disturb others.

prehaps you said this in jest ? .... but I had to think about this a lot years ago when my very pressence anoyed one of the pujaris , ...dispite his hostility I remained undissturbed which in that instance was easy the guru had given me the job of serving the dieties so I was happy doing my serva , ....so I could absorb my self in my duty and shut out his constant complaining , but none the less I was disturbing him and his wife , I had to think on it quite hard but decided that it was not my action that was disturbing , but that his nature was disturbed it was his intollerance that took objection to me and if he wasnt finding fault in me then he would be finding fault in another , I had to decide to take no notice of it and put all my focus onto my serva and never let another disrupt that serva , so in the long run he did me a favour I had to make a descision what was most inportant my service or some noncence person , .... some times you just have to politely egnore some people , but never never let them dissturb you

but never let any one make you feel that you need to be sanskrit perfect to be a hindu ? ....unless you are leading ceremonys it is not important what is important is the devotion in the heart :namaste

 

[Fireside_Hindu]

namaskaram fireside ji :namaste


prehaps you said this in jest ? ....

Namaste, Ratikala ji,

Yes, I spoke in jest =) . I know it is impossible to please everyone - Even those who love us are not pleased with us all the time

The point I was trying to make with the sanskrit comment was that I know people use arbitrary measurements to see "How Hindu are you?". It cold be sanskrit or knowledge of the scriptures, asking you about sacraments, our gotram etc... None of which proves anything. But they are people I will have to face one day.

The gotram thing reminds me of a funny moment during a puja at my old temple. I was sitting with the president's daughter who is just out of highschool. She abruptly turned to me to say something but started to giggle. I giggled with her and asked her what was so funny?

She replied that she was about to ask " Do white people have gotrams?" But for some reason realized how silly the question sounded and stopped. At the time I didn't know what gotrams were so I just replied, "You'd have to tell me!" It was good natured and fun. But rest assured I and went home that night and straight away looked up gotrams! =)

:camp:

 

[Vinayaka]

The point I was trying to make with the sanskrit comment was that I know people use arbitrary measurements to see "How Hindu are you?".
:camp:

Heck, I do that here sometimes, not with the Sanskrit, but philosophically. If somebody says something that misrepresents us generally, I ask them questions. Sometimes people just think its cool to say you're Hindu, and really have no idea what its about. So you're doing everyone a favor (the watchers, as well as that person themselves) by pointing it out.

 

[Fireside_Hindu]

Heck, I do that here sometimes, not with the Sanskrit, but philosophically. If somebody says something that misrepresents us generally, I ask them questions. Sometimes people just think its cool to say you're Hindu, and really have no idea what its about. So you're doing everyone a favor (the watchers, as well as that person themselves) by pointing it out.

Philosophy/ beliefs makes sense though. But even the most devout Hindu probably has trouble remembering quotes from scripture or when all the festival days fall. During Thai Pusam last year I was standing with an Indian Hindu friend from the temple, and she leaned over and said, "do you know what this is all about?" I replied, "A little, but I'm sure I don't have the whole story." We then proceeded to ask 2 or 3 more people before we got a better explanation. It's not that any of those people were bad Hindus, they have just been raised in traditions where Murugan isn't quite as important.

Beliefs and philosophy are the crux though, and aren't really arbitrary - at least when you get down to the basics. Anything beyond that and you start getting into region and school differences. I certainly don't mind being questioned about my beliefs or if I happen to be behaving badly, it should be brought to my attention.

:camp:

 

[Poeticus]

but I had to think about this a lot years ago when my very pressence anoyed one of the pujaris , ...dispite his hostility I remained undissturbed which in that instance was easy the guru had given me the job of serving the dieties so I was happy doing my serva , ....so I could absorb my self in my duty and shut out his constant complaining , but none the less I was disturbing him and his wife , I had to think on it quite hard but decided that it was not my action that was disturbing , but that his nature was disturbed it was his intollerance that took objection to me and if he wasnt finding fault in me then he would be finding fault in another

Namaste,

How dare he insult my Bhaginī, my sister!!?!??! I curse him to constant rebirthing and ill-fortune!!! May he find no comfort nor peace of mind!!! May the Holy Shri Gods neglect all his calls and those of his kin!!!

M.V.

 

[Poeticus]

Do [European] people have gotrams?

Namaste,

What is your last name, FS-ji? Or, for the sake of privacy, what is your ethnicity and where does your family hail from?

...don't worry...I am doing something neat that you will understand later on....

M.V.

 

[Fireside_Hindu]

Namaste,

What is your last name, FS-ji? Or, for the sake of privacy, what is your ethnicity and where does your family hail from?

...don't worry...I am doing something neat that you will understand later on....

M.V.

MV Ji - you have censored my quote, depriving my story of it's authenticity.
I will PM you this strange information you seek.

 

[Poeticus]

MV Ji - you have censored my quote, depriving my story of it's authenticity.
I will PM you this strange information you seek.

Namaste,

No problemo, FS-ji!

M.V.

 

[ratikala]

dearest maitra varuni :namaste

Namaste,

How dare he insult my Bhaginī, my sister!!?!??! I curse him to constant rebirthing and ill-fortune!!! May he find no comfort nor peace of mind!!! May the Holy Shri Gods neglect all his calls and those of his kin!!!

M.V.

please no need to curse him , I fear that by his actions he has allready cursed himself , he was a very unhappy man allthough he had sufficient wealth to not have to worry he had a wife and family and a guru who loved him what more could he want ? but he was never happy , a buddhist would call this person a hungry ghost , never satisfied .

what worried me was the competitive nature amongst devotees , the need for control and supremacy , position and respect , it split our temple into factions which made me very sad what I was most sad for were the children growing up in this atmosphere on one hand it is wonderfull to be born into a devotee family , but not good to be born with the bad influence of ahamkara , I allways prayed gods please protect these children from these influences !!! ahh.... and also please protect me !!!

one day I found the most beautifull little lakshmi narasimha so I consider my self protected :namaste
blessings to you brother :namaste

 

[ElizabethGould]

Namaste everyone!

It is strange, I was thinking about this very subject of telling my family about my Sikhi recently, and I spotted this thread.

 

[Poeticus]

Namaste everyone!

It is strange, I was thinking about this very subject of telling my family about my Sikhi recently, and I spotted this thread.

Namaste Elizabeth-ji,

The best thing to do would be to tell them as soon as possible, only if you feel committed to Sikh Dharma 100%.

M.V.

 

[ElizabethGould]

Namaste Elizabeth-ji,

The best thing to do would be to tell them as soon as possible, only if you feel committed to Sikh Dharma 100%.

M.V.

I've never felt more sure I wish to be a Sikh, more than any other religion I've studied or considered. Not being able to tell them is painful, but given I'm unsure as to what their reaction will be, I likely can't.