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Undertook śrāddha of a parent in DC today
Very different experience from what I was used to back in India
In India it is v transactional, pretty prolonged affair
Lasted under 2 hours here
With 30 minutes going into the Purohita giving me a lecture on why śrāddha is important!!
Very different experience from what I was used to back in India
In India it is v transactional, pretty prolonged affair
Lasted under 2 hours here
With 30 minutes going into the Purohita giving me a lecture on why śrāddha is important!!
Pretty fascinating how the approaches of priests differs in US
In India, no purohita will ever need to "rationalize" śrāddha
It is taken for granted as a fact of life. Just about everyone does it.
In the US, purohits engage in defensive posturing, rationalizing.
In India, no purohita will ever need to "rationalize" śrāddha
It is taken for granted as a fact of life. Just about everyone does it.
In the US, purohits engage in defensive posturing, rationalizing.
In the 30 minute "gyaan" session, the purohita in his broken English interspersed with Tamil told me how I owe my "good genes" to my ancestors.
And on why I need to say thank you to them!
Discussion veered into genetics. Even A-C-T-G nucleobases!
And on why I need to say thank you to them!
Discussion veered into genetics. Even A-C-T-G nucleobases!
A great deal of it was v clumsy and pretentious.
To be honest, he could've skipped the session, as I didn't need convincing.
But he strongly felt it was necessary
To be honest, he could've skipped the session, as I didn't need convincing.
But he strongly felt it was necessary
The experience did make me think on how encounter with Western civilization changes even the way religious Hindu priests think!
Things that were never up for question, get questioned here
And what results is cultural insecurity and a great deal of defensive argumentation
Things that were never up for question, get questioned here
And what results is cultural insecurity and a great deal of defensive argumentation
I am not sure how helpful this is for the religion
Because if you are using up all your energies in justifying even the v basic premises / assumptions underpinning your religion with "middle brow" arguments, when will you get the time to engage in religious scholarship?
Because if you are using up all your energies in justifying even the v basic premises / assumptions underpinning your religion with "middle brow" arguments, when will you get the time to engage in religious scholarship?
At the end of the 2 hour session, when I questioned the priest on the source-texts leveraged for the ritual we undertook (Ekagni Kanda), he was taken aback!
He had come prepared to answer questions like - "Is there a God", "Why revere ancestors"
My question caught him unawares
He had come prepared to answer questions like - "Is there a God", "Why revere ancestors"
My question caught him unawares
A mature, triumphant civilization is one that is not overly introspective
E.g. Western civ is so sure of itself
It doesnt question things like
"equality before law"
"Habeas Corpus"
"Constitutional limits"
"Democracy"
It doesn't use up energies defending each of these values
E.g. Western civ is so sure of itself
It doesnt question things like
"equality before law"
"Habeas Corpus"
"Constitutional limits"
"Democracy"
It doesn't use up energies defending each of these values
That confidence is missing even in the most religious Hindus today. Particularly those who have had an encounter with Western civilization
Either abroad or in the big metros of India...
Which results in these clumsy, often unsolicited "first principle" defenses
Either abroad or in the big metros of India...
Which results in these clumsy, often unsolicited "first principle" defenses
. @AEkadanta brought up this wonderful analogy of ritual with grammar
To paraphrase him
"There are certain grammatical rules which obviously have a function but everytime we exercise the rules, we don't question their existence"
That defeats the purpose of ritual
To paraphrase him
"There are certain grammatical rules which obviously have a function but everytime we exercise the rules, we don't question their existence"
That defeats the purpose of ritual
