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This past year when I taught at the Texas Yoga Retreat, held on the grounds of North America's largest Hindu Ashram, a young woman of Indian descent spoke with me after my presentation. She thanked me for making her Hinduism interesting and applicable to life and added that "no one in my family, including my parents who are from India know much about Hinduism beyond Temple rituals."
This young woman also told me she felt that today's Western yoga instructors are helping Indian immigrants to better understand and appreciate their religious heritage.
The reasons Hindu's are illiterate about their own religious tradition are concisely explained by Murali Balaji, a journalist and lecturer at Pennsylvania State University. He writes:
"Much of what we know about Hinduism today was profoundly shaped by three major overlapping forces: colonialism, Christianity and capitalism. We as modern Hindus, whether we are in India or are diasporic children in distant lands, are products of colonial-era constructions of Hinduism. This has been a major contributor to our collective illiteracy about our way of life, as British attempts to eliminate or obscure Vedic teachings were connected to the Crown's grand vision of making Indians into the ideal colonial subjects.... While Indians mark the annual anniversary of India's physical emancipation from British rule, it's important to note that we have yet to mark our psychological emancipation from colonialism. We continue to be the ideal colonial subjects, inherently believing in the British standard of society as the one that India--and Hindus--needed to progress towards."
Under the yoke of a powerful colonial empire, everything British was to be embraced and things Vedic dropped. For example, Indians have moved heavily into Western Medicine completely neglecting their own Ayurvedic health and wellness system almost. Indians who exercised did so in British YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) gyms present in Indian cities, abandoning their own yoga culture.
Little by little these colonial impositions are being addressed and corrected, largely by yogis in the West who have discovered and are sharing India's vast spiritual resources.
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Buddhism is about becoming skilled in life. Change, troubled times and difficulty are inevitable. When we develop our inner strengths, we can enjoy these time as well as the moments of tranquility. - Pat Allwright
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To lose heart just because of one or two failures is the height of foolishness. Life is a long, long journey. - Daisaku Ikeda
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Attaining Buddhaood is not a matter of ‘becoming a Buddha’, but of revealing what already exists within us. Buddhahood is ot a superhuman state, but the process of developing our humanity. - Pat Allwright
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From Taisen Deshimaru in his book Questions to A Zen Master:
"It is most effective at sunset or at sunrise because the cells of our bodies change then. They change twice each day. In the evening we settle, our cells become less active. In the morning they become active again. So it is good to get up early in the morning. It is very good to practice meditation at twilight and at dawn. It gives us energy, infuses activity into our cells. Those are the best times of day."
"It is most effective at sunset or at sunrise because the cells of our bodies change then. They change twice each day. In the evening we settle, our cells become less active. In the morning they become active again. So it is good to get up early in the morning. It is very good to practice meditation at twilight and at dawn. It gives us energy, infuses activity into our cells. Those are the best times of day."
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Compassion is not pity and goes beyond empathy. Compassion is the intention and action to relieve the suffering of another being or oneself. - Robertson Work
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I'm a writer, journalist and author, As a result I make plenty of typos and am so grateful for the attentive eye of an editor. However, even good copy editors can miss a typing error. Here are ten hilarious typos found on signs, in magazines, books and newspapers:
1. Go slow - accident porn area (should read: Go slow - 'Accident prone area')
2. FDR in Bed With Coed (this newspaper headline was reporting 'FDR in Bed With Cold')
3. Peeface (this was supposed to read 'preface' at the beginning of a book)
4. Love is sweat (on a Valentine Card and should have read 'Love is sweet')
5. Homemade crap dip (on a menu was likely 'homemade crab dip')
6. Believe ... Achive (a misspelled tatoo intended to read 'Believe ... Achieve')
7. Hernieted dick (in a newspaper citing a basketball player's injury 'hernieated disk')
8. I like when my teacher does Meth with us (a student's note referencing 'Math')
9. 100% Anus Beef (on a billboard hopefully meaning 'Angus Beef')
10. Pukin scented candle (presumably this is a 'Pumpkin scented candle')
(Feel free to link or share on your social media)
1. Go slow - accident porn area (should read: Go slow - 'Accident prone area')
2. FDR in Bed With Coed (this newspaper headline was reporting 'FDR in Bed With Cold')
3. Peeface (this was supposed to read 'preface' at the beginning of a book)
4. Love is sweat (on a Valentine Card and should have read 'Love is sweet')
5. Homemade crap dip (on a menu was likely 'homemade crab dip')
6. Believe ... Achive (a misspelled tatoo intended to read 'Believe ... Achieve')
7. Hernieted dick (in a newspaper citing a basketball player's injury 'hernieated disk')
8. I like when my teacher does Meth with us (a student's note referencing 'Math')
9. 100% Anus Beef (on a billboard hopefully meaning 'Angus Beef')
10. Pukin scented candle (presumably this is a 'Pumpkin scented candle')
(Feel free to link or share on your social media)
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Do not depend upon servants. Self-reliance is the highest of all virtues. - Swami Sivananda
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In contrast to western religions, there is no concept of God in Buddhism. The word religion is generally understood as belief in a higher power. If this is so, Buddhism cannot be described as a religion at all. It is better described as a philosophy of life. - Pat Allwright.
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