two Questions

[Jainarayan]

You know the western mindset... "I'll do what I damn well please" and "You gotta be kidding me... what? That's ridiculous". Remember too that those who were Roman Catholic were required to go to church on Sundays and other "Holy Days of Obligation" on penalty of Hell (seriously), menstrual cycle or not. The irony is that in the Torah (I think I'm correct), women were prohibited from any religious rites and were unclean for x number of days. Christians purport to uphold the Old Testament, but things do get thrown out. Specific injunctions and prohibitions apparently have no place either, let alone tradition.

 

[Riverwolf]

In my experience. 99% of Indian born Hindus practice this custom. 75% of western adoptives and converts disagree with it. This is not surprising to me at all. Out with the old and in with the new.

There are several deeper reasons, but apparently tradition has no place in Hinduism.

Well, tradition for its own sake is all well and good, but the thing is, converts who hail from other cultures with their own traditions (albeit I tend to severely dislike those of my culture) will still maintain their own while rejecting ones coming in that are in disagreement... and that sentence is EXTREMELY awkward. I hope I made sense.

In the West, there's an attitude of "if men can do it, so can women", and so the custom can come across as sexist (though I don't think it's any more sexist than the necessity for women to take special hygiene measures during their periods).

I tend to focus on practical reasons why traditions are in place, and if the original reasons for them no longer apply, they can be discarded.

 

[Vinayaka]

In the West, there's an attitude of "if men can do it, so can women", and so the custom can come across as sexist (though I don't think it's any more sexist than the necessity for women to take special hygiene measures during their periods).

Its all blood. I walk out or don't go with small cuts, and I always stayed home with my wife unless I had an actually important role in something. Yes, but you're absolutely right that it is viewed as sexist. But that was never the original reason. Only the Brahmin priest is allowed in the moolasthanams, etc. so there has always been 'discrimination' and often for good reason.

Many of the customs have much deeper esoteric reasons. Take marriage for example. The Hindu wedding ceremony is rich in esoteric mysticism on many levels, starting with the presence of gold, and Agni (the fire) being the messenger deva to inform all other devas of the vows taken by these two souls. But these days people just run off and have a destination wedding amidst lots of music and booze.

So I'm a traditionalist. I like the old weddings, and understand on a very mystical (and experiential) level the reasons for such things. Let's just say, for the sake of brevity, that certain energies, somewhat angry, or perhaps mischievous can sneak in the back door and wreck havoc in the aura, the mind, and the vibration of the place, including homes and temples.

I've actually seen priests who knew the purity vibration had been broken, and then they had to work a few long extra hours to do special clean-up rites for several days. So its not fair to them either. This was at a major Indian temple, and they actually closed it for several days. Nobody at all allowed in.

 

[ratikala]

dear river woolf ,

Well, tradition for its own sake is all well and good, but the thing is, converts who hail from other cultures with their own traditions (albeit I tend to severely dislike those of my culture) will still maintain their own while rejecting ones coming in that are in disagreement... and that sentence is EXTREMELY awkward. I hope I made sense.

yes I think so , ive seen much the same thing happening .

In the West, there's an attitude of "if men can do it, so can women", and so the custom can come across as sexist (though I don't think it's any more sexist than the necessity for women to take special hygiene measures during their periods).

exactly and this is very important if one is serving in any form , allso it is a good oppertunity for a woman to rest , what can be sexist about that ?

I tend to focus on practical reasons why traditions are in place, and if the original reasons for them no longer apply, they can be discarded.

you are right to think this way there are times when one needs to use discriminating wisdom and plenty of practicality !
thinking about things rather than blindly accepting is extremely important ,
this way we understand why there is a tradition for certain behavior , then we may concider what is appropriate in the given circumstances .

 

[Vinayaka]

and then they had to work a few long extra hours to do special clean-up rites for several days. So its not fair to them either. This was at a major Indian temple, and they actually closed it for several days. Nobody at all allowed in.

... sorry ... and then people wonder why many temples ban westerners.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

By choosing not to turn the stomach into a cemetery the human being manifests the potentiality of a fully ethical vision of life.

This is my view but up until now I have been unable to verbalize it in such a precise expression, in just a few words.

 

[Andal]

In terms of food, I am a pescatarian and Hindu. As others have pointed out there is much variety in practice.

The menstruation thing I go back and forth on. I know there are historical and cultural reasons for it. Cleanliness being a part of that. I do not think myself unclean and our local temple doesn't practice this custom. On the other hand I do not feel comfortable doing puja. I don't even want to touch anything on my home shrine. Idk if its superstition or what. My view is darshan and sing bhajan/ reading texts are fine but doing puja or anything that requires contact with ritual tools or offerings I avoid

Aum Hari Aum!

 

[LilyPhoenix]

How would someone go about making themselves clean for prayer and going to the temple and shines ?

 

[Jainarayan]

Bathing, putting on clean clothes. If you bathe in the morning and dress, then go to temple right after work, it's not necessary to bathe again and change clothing, unless you do hard heavy dirty work. Often a temple will have a foot-bathing area you just step into with your bare feet (temple attendance is always barefoot).

 

[Vinayaka]

How would someone go about making themselves clean for prayer and going to the temple and shines ?

Showering. Most Hindus don't take sitting baths, unless it's in a holy site, like Mother Ganga. Stale water from one's own body is considered impure. So the village well, and pouring water over yourself with buckets is the traditional way. A long time ago I had to ask friends why there were two buckets sitting in all the tubs, here in the west. The large one was for storing the water, and the smaller one was for 'showering' with it.

Fresh clean clothes are also used for temple attendance, but at home it will be somewhat less on that one. Many will keep an extra veshti, pajama, etc., and only wear it for home puja.

Dropping in after work will vary for many people. Some will. Some won't. Certainly it depends on the nature of the work. An option is always to stand outside and look in, saying prayers.
There are exceptions, like while on pilgrimage in India, and you do 3 or 4 temples throughout the day in hot humid weather.

I do see you have a few temples nearby. Hopefully you can get to one. By the sounds of things, you might feel very much at home.

 

[Twilight]

Hello,

I just wanted to reply about the self-harm aspect of the OP. Rather than self-harm being viewed as 'bad' in itself it is rather the condition you are in that causes you to self-harm which is not ideal. Self-harm tends to occur when there is too much emphasis put on one's own ego; 'I am bad' etc, rather than viewing oneself as part of a bigger whole. I guess the more you read on Hinduism the less likely you will feel the need to self-harm.