Post 4 (week 2)

Post 4

Jainism is a very interesting religion that comes out of India.  It has been around for a very substantial amount of time.  Despite its long existence it does not have a very large following composing of about 1 percent of India’s total population.

Jains are strong believers in Karma in other words what comes around goes around or you reap what you sow.   They worship in temples through prayer and they have several idols that represent various different things.  They do not worship the idols per say but the worship and admire what the idols represent.  Jains are very strict vegetarians they do not believe in destroying anything.  In the article that we read went into great detail on what was acceptable and unacceptable to eat.  The reasons that the do not eat any type of animal is because they believe that we should treat everything humanly.  We would not eat ourselves or each other so what gives us the right to do that to other creatures. 

One of the things that I found most interesting is how some of the Jain monks choose not to wear any clothing but are going around in the nude.  The reasoning behind this is they do not want any attachment to any worldly thing.  I think that it is cool that they do not want any attachment to worldly things I would like to think of my self as unattached to worldly things but I guess that I am not as serious or as dedicated to it as these monks. 

In the video on goggle video the man in the video talks about violence.  Jains are extremely nonviolent.  The don’t even believe that having hatful or violent thought is extremely wrong.  The man says that we should have love in our hearts and show others our love, and I have to say that I agree with what this man has to say when it comes to love.  Many Jains have so much love for other creatures that they often sweep the ground before them as they walk in order to prevent stepping on the smallest of creatures.  Many also refuse to wear shoes.

Post 3 (week 2)

Post 3

            The Hindu religion is one of the most interesting religions out there; it has been around for thousands of years.  The religion consists of several gods and different ways of worship.  Like many religions there are many old traditions as well as newer transitions.   It is uncommon for a Hindu to follow all of the traditions. 

            Yoga is considered a form of worship, it is done to find and focus on the inner sprit.  There are many different types of yoga that one can practice.  Other acts of worship include but are not limited to prayer, the cleansing of the body as well as the sprit, offering flowers to the gods, burning incants, and worshiping particular idols.  The idols represent various gods and what they are the gods of. 

            Hindu’s are nonviolent people who will not kill any thing because they believe in reincarnation.  I find this very interesting Hindu people do not believe in Heaven or hell but they believe that when you die you will come back as something else, their fore they refuse to kill anything because they could be killing a former family member.  

Hindus worship in temples most of which are located in India.   Along with reincarnation another interesting aspect of Hinduism is karma or the adding up of good and bad deeds, and balancing them out.  Karma is able to follow you into your next life.  So it is very important to do good deeds if not bad things will come your way. 

            One thing that is common with various other religions is celibacy until marriage I wonder if the youth or young adults have the same problem with this as us Americans do.  The Hindu religion has a long history as well as many bright and exciting traditions.

Post 2 (week 2)

Post 2

One of my three favorite Indian gurus is Ramana.  I like the fact how he had the up most respect for all living creatures. In the reading it said that animals were attracted to him even animals that in general don’t like humans were at peace with him.  The reading also said that he accidentally stepped on a hornet’s nest and he allowed the hornets to sting him because he felt bad for stepping on their nest.  I happen to like animals and I think that it is good for someone to show love and have respect for animals.  Another reason why I like Ramana is because he believed in nonviolence to all living things.  And we all know that violence does not get us anywhere but trouble.  The reading said that he was hit in the leg and his response to this was “if you are not satisfied yet, you may strike my other leg also” I like how he said this, because one of my favorite scripture verses is when Jesus says if one were to hit you turn to him your other cheek as well.  There would be a lot less problems in the world if everyone learned to turn the other cheek instead of fight. 

 

Another one of my favorite Indian gurus is Yogananda.  One of the reasons why I like him was because he was able to double the size of his sister’s boil having that kind of power as a child would be funny and cool.  Another reason why I like him is because there is something that all of the believers are uncertain about nobody knows for sure the accounts of his perennial existence.  I like how there is this mystery about him. 

 

My third favorite of the Indian gurus was Mataji.  I think that she has one of the most interesting life stories.  She was married and then found her husband a new wife so that she would be able to do what she loves to do.  You can tell from the reading and I picture her as just the sweetest little lady that everyone seems to love.  The thing I like the most about this one is you get to see how these gurus are people.   Take for instance how the author was surprised to see Mataji smoking the fact is she was a human, and she needed to eat, drink, and go to the restroom like any living creature. 

 

After watching the film on Faqir Chand the first thing that came to my mind was the battle scene in the middle of the war, I remembered how many of the other gurus were against violence and I think would have been against going to war but this guru is fighting in the war.  The part where Faqir Chand say’s I don’t know why these men are putting me on a pedestal and worshiping me, this shows that he is very humble.  My favorite part of the film is towards the end when he says, “the truth is I know nothing” The older I get the more I realize the less I really know.

Surat shabd yoga is something that I find to be very unusual yet interesting.  It is a system or a process in order to see mystical insights.  It requires you to sit in certain postures and you focus intensely and you eventually withdraw consciousness.  The areas where you withdraw consciousness from are in your eyes, ears, nose, mouth, genitals, and alimentary canal.  While you are doing this you are to focus on your inner light and sound, which comes from in between your eyebrows.