Hinduism

The other day in class we discussed the "laws" that are to be followed if you practice the Hindu religion. I am aware that as in all religions not everyone follows these rules. Reading a list of just some of these rules I started to think, how does one even remember all of these rules? How does one live a life with so many restrictions? I guess that among all the rules that we all learn through living life, Hindus learn what rules to follow for there religion, just like I have learned the different rules of keeping kosher. As for the restrictions, if he/she believes so strongly in the Hindu religion and it is important for one to follow these set of rules I can see how even though it seems like a long list of 'do's and don't s' to me it is just part of the tradition for religious Hindus. Even though I might think these rules seem like a hassle to follow all of them, I understand that for the Hindu religion it is part of the tradition to abide by them.

This image here is of a lady in 2004 who traveled to Mumbai India for a 10 day festival held annually from late August to early September honoring the elephant headed god. The festival commences with the making of a Ganesha statue. A priest conducts rituals while followers offer flowers and food to the idol and sing and dance. The last day culminates with a procession escorting the statue to the nearest body of water, where it’s immersed and released, symbolizing a journey toward Ganesha’s abode on Mt. Kailash in Tibet.

 http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/03/discovering-gan.html

Hinduism

I am posting on the reading from Huston Smith, The World's Religions. The section that struck me most was the section labeled 'what people want.' After I read this I started thinking about what I want in life. The reading read, "People want four things." They want pleasure- Kama, success- Artha, Duty- Dharma, "liberation" from Samsara- Moksha. I started thinking in my life what I want most. Everyone wants pleasure and success. Yet at the same time Moksha and Dharma seem to be less selfish. The book reads, The reason everyone eventually come to his discovery is not because pleasure is wicked but because it is too trivial to satisfy one's total nature." Sure pleasure is nice, but it doesn't compromise for everything else. When the time comes for an individuals interest to shift to the second major goal in life, which is success. Success consists of wealth, fame and power. The satisfaction of success lasts longer than that of pleasure. In the end, success also has its term. Success can become competitive and unpleasant. Fame and power can't be distributed equally among everyone in the way that mental and spiritual values can be shared. With success you never know when one day the success might be taken away from you. I would want something in my life that is more meaningful than just being successful. With Dharma- Duty, I feel like I could have that. With duty there is the opportunity to help others. Duty bring respect and gratitude from one's peers, but more important however, it is the self-respect that come from doing one's part. In life I think that all four of the goals should be met. With the four of these goals life would be more balanced and not only focused on one part of life.