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You make a good point ... off topic, but a good point. In my particular situation, there is no problem, as anyone is free to leave at any time, and devotees are encouraged to make decisions on their own. It's only in those few situations when advice is solicited. The teachings are already there...

I like this forum. In my opinion, the main posters have a lot of intelligence. Therefore I respect the opinions posted here. Now ... my view of religious tolerance has always been something like this: to unconditionally allow other people on this planet to hold their beliefs, however different...

As I put the quarter in the inconspicuous can, Feather eyed me suspiciously, then declared, “Me and River don’t need money. Why does You need money?” “I don’t. My parents would give some if I asked. In fact, they do. But it’s rare. Mostly at Christmas time so I can buy gifts.” “That’s stupid,”...

I love how the important part is underlined in red to make it so clear. Reminds me of a prof I I once was forced to listen to. He'd preface his lectures most days with, "Now this is important!" He taught us the outdated curriculum guide. (He'd helped write it, but i was replaced the year...

Two renowned sages met, and sat together in silence for a few hours. Later a devotee asked, "Why didn't you say something?" "Nothing to say," was the response.

Too much analysis for me, I'm afraid. The mystic intellect is full of dense fog. I need to go dig in the garden.

Certainly a goal is to rid oneself of the ego 'I', and become more soul-like in nature. So if it doesn't speak occasionally, I guess we're getting nowhere. But it can 'speak' in a sense, to the ego-self, in the form of flashes of insight. Intuition and direct cognition are the languages of the...

I do not believe it is the soul that is speaking, but rather the individual 'I' ego. The soul sits and watches silently, unless of course it is indeed realized, in which case it can speak via the physical body. This would be from direct cognition, and not the regurgitation of other minds.

Thank you. I figured as much, and yet I keep hearing people talking about their soul, as if they (whomever 'they' is) own a soul, like a belly, or a nose. In Hinduism we are also souls, inhabiting bodies repeatedly, until we merge with God. So it is 'my body' not 'my soul'. It seems most...

In the eastern paradigm, ultimately God is not separate from man. He does not 'watch' or 'control', but merely is, and 'is' the essence of everything. There is no evil in this view.

Is it ... "I have a soul." or "I am a soul, and I have a body (amongst other things)?

The very idea of a local temple annual festival is foreign to North India, in general. Over the past few days I've explained it to folk from Nepal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jammu Kashmir, and Orissa. Generally people are appreciative of the explanation, and come to a...

So who do we trust? The well trained Agamic Hindu priest with 30 years of training, or some fellow on the internet not from that tradition who feels he knows better? Today is the supparam festival. (The supparam is a highly decorated fake front of a goparam which Ganesha is taken on parade in.)

There have been a couple of studies done in attempts to compare religiousity to tipping. If you search on google, you'll find them. Nothing definitively conclusive either way, as far as I could tell. The general consensus was religion or lack of it had little bearing on tipping.

I realise this is in the Christian sub-section, but since non-Christian was mentioned, and we do eat at restaurants too, believe it or not, I thought it okay to add my two bits. We recite a Vedic food-blessing chant mentally at restaurants. (aloud at home). Personally, I'm a generous tipper...

Then there is the sorting of superstition from mystical sense. There is some overlap. In my Tamil community, there is no head shaving for death, nor head covering for women. But in the North, yes. Last year I kept track of the places (states and countries)where people come from that come to this...

More likely cleansing or release, or what Aupmanyav said. Still I am only guessing. In the priest's case it would be different, as they are trained for that specific position. (conduitness) For head-shaving itself, besides the childhood samskara that all Hindus get called the chudakarana, the...

Yes, no kidding re the modern inventions. Still, in India, the barber with a straight razor in his hands can do a very clean tonsuring in a matter of a couple of minutes, with never a cut. But if you do anything 100 times a day for 30 years, I suppose some skill should evolve.

Steve, I asked today, and it has to do with the risk of nicking oneself and drawing blood. In Agamic (based on mystic laws) temples, blood is considered quite inauspicious. So for this reason, chief priest can't shave (or cut fingernails). There is no other restrictions different than any other...

He is a conduit, and goes through purification rites done by another priest. So God acts through him, just as He does through the murthy. But specifically, I don't know. I'll ask him tomorrow. I suspect it it involves maintaining the conduitness, if that makes sense.