Quote:
Originally posted by Pink Panther
I agree with your statement somewhat...I was wondering, what other hindu traditions/rituals do you not agree with? Just interested as maybe someone
can help to explain why they do that and what they mean.
The list can be quite long. Also, rituals may differ from state to state, community to community, caste to caste, place to place.
For e.g., most of the brahmin boys are given the "yagnopavit" ceremony (sacred thread). You are supposed to wear a "janoi" of 6 threads (3 after you get married). In olden days, it was a sign of somebody going for studies and had to practise a life of control. But people still follow that ritual. In nutshell, a person who wears that thread
- not supposed to eat anything before lunch or between lunch and dinner, eg. absolutely no meals/snacks
- cannot eat anything before having a shower
- had to wear a "pitambar" while having lunch. had to shower before lunch. you are not supposed to wear shirt or any other similar apparel. In winter, you can wrap up only with silk "shawl"
- practise celibacy (only for bachelors)
- perform "pooja" regularly.
In addition, I have seen a lots of "old wives tale" or "superstitions". There are only few ways that you can touch or place food while eating. You should use only right hand while eating.
One is not supposed to put oil in his/her hair during "Navratri" nor can he/she wash his/her hair during those 9 days. Similarly, you could not use oil in cooking during these days - only "ghee" - Yikes!!!!
One could not touch a mother or an infant few days after the baby was born. It may be true in older days when there was no medicines/disinfectants, but what about 20th century?
If somebody dies, you could not eat or drink water at their place neither at their relatives, who shared the same surname with them.
After one returns from "smashan" (crematorium), one is not allowed to enter the house before having shower (reasonable for ancient days). Also, you cannot eat/drink at their house or their relatives.
Worse, if somebody dies in your house, you are supposed to invite a brahmin every month for lunch, and feed 3 brahmins after 3 months, 6 after 6 and so on. No doubt, people went bankrupt feeing all those stomach. I believe many people were ignorant so many brahmins exploited this ignorance by scaring those people, that if you do not do such and such, the soul of the deceased is not going to get "moksh".
Thank God we live in 21st century
Meghal
Quote:
Originally posted by Pink Panther
No one got an explanation for the sneezing one yet?
I just remembered this other one...we have a utensil called a "sansi" I have no idea what you call it in english, it's a device used to grip the side of a pot or pan because it's hot and helps to prevent you from burning your fingers. Anyway, my mum would never take it from my hand when given to her...she would always ask me to put it on the table for her to pick up herself....the reason? It would otherwise cause arguments between the two people.
No one got an explanation for the sneezing one yet?
Here is sneezing "explained" for you........
One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a girl
Four for a boy.
Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for a secret, never to be told.
This second nursery rhyme has also been used of European Magpies.
One for a wish
Two for a kiss
Three for a letter
Four for something better.
In Spanish-speaking countries, when children sneeze the following is said:
One sneeze: Salud (To your health)
Two sneezes: Salud y dinero (To your health and wealth)
Three sneezes: Salud, dinero y amor (To your health, wealth and love)
Four sneezes: Salud, dinero, amor, y alergias (To your health, wealth, love, and allergies)
In French-speaking countries, sneezing is accompanied by the following phrases:
One sneeze: À vos souhaits (To your wishes)
Two sneezes: À vos rêves (To your dreams)
Three sneezes: À vos amours (To your loved ones)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneezing
As you may notice, with two sneezes you get JOY, A KISS, HEALTH AND WEALTH AND YOUR DREAMS.
What more can you want ???
The 'sansi' is generally a metal 'utensil' (if we may call it so), and the entire body of the sansi tends to heat up while it is being used.
The person handling it gets conditioned (to an extent) to the heat while it is being used.
Since it is hot, it is not advisable to directly hand it over to another person, as the other person would not be conditioned to the heat and would stand a chance of getting burnt with the 'hot sansi'.
Therefore, it is generally put on the platform, so that some of the heat of the sansi passes on to the platform, and also when the other person picks it up, the transition is not too abrupt.
I hope this lays to rest alllllll your doubts/skepticism reqarding the validity/relevance of "ancient" beliefs/superstitions/practices in 'modern' times.
Or are you stil not a "believer" ???
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I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible.
But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.
Location: Private location
Posted on: 12-06-06 13:45:24
Quote:
Originally posted by mails4sagar
As you may notice, with two sneezes you get JOY, A KISS, HEALTH AND WEALTH AND YOUR DREAMS.
What more can you want ???
I hope this lays to rest alllllll your doubts/skepticism reqarding the validity/relevance of "ancient" beliefs/superstitions/practices in 'modern' times.
Or are you stil not a "believer" ???
I liked the poems...I guess mum was right!!
It's not that I was never a believer, in fact from all the explanations I've seen today none of this is really about believing or hinduism per se, but about common sense practices that were put into effect in the olden days to help you, protect your safety and teach you a sensible way to live life. All were applicable back in those times, but not neccesarily in this day and age.
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Bijou Bazaar
http://bijoubazaar22.googlepages.com
Location: Western Hemisphere
Posted on: 12-06-06 14:00:18
Quote:
Originally posted by mails4sagar
The 'sansi' is generally a metal 'utensil' (if we may call it so), and the entire body of the sansi tends to heat up while it is being used.
Haven't I seen a "microwave safe" sansi somewhere for the 21st century?
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Dimple2001
Quote:
Originally posted by Pink Panther
I liked the poems...I guess mum was right!!
It's not that I was never a believer, in fact from all the explanations I've seen today none of this is really about believing or hinduism per se, but about common sense practices that were put into effect in the olden days to help you, protect your safety and teach you a sensible way to live life. All were applicable back in those times, but not neccesarily in this day and age.
It's true... many of the practices DID have scientific reasons and time-tested observations that formed their basis. BUT a lot of them were probably "made up" by the priests, rulers etc. to maintain their importance and also for their personal benefits.
True, some may, and some may not be applicable today.
For the same reasons, I have my doubts about Vastushastra.....
(I had planned to do a thesis on the scientific resoning behind the tenets of Vastushastra, but was advised against it by the academicians.)
(Please do not pay any attention to my "reasoning" on this thread. It does not have any basis whatsoever
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I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible.
But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.
Location: British Columbia
Posted on: 13-06-06 12:26:58
I learnt about most Hindu traditions after I got married so here are some questions that I have and the lack of satisfactory answers I got:
1) why is it bad luck to go anywhere in 3s? (ie for an important reason)?
2) Why is Mundan required? Does it really make ur hair 'thicker' ? and even so..why is that so important?
3) doing "matha tek" to a male child in the family during a festival ie / diwali
4) not washing hair/cutting hair on tuesday (though this was sort of addressed earlier)
Thanks..
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~ Morning rain
Hinduism is the only religion which has not been formed by Man, noone knows the age, yet for all other religions their age can be ascertained.
Some facts may have become myths and just believing in them may be inappropriate.
My mother used to say "Don't eat meat on Tuesdays": Asked why?? said, because this is the way it has always been.........i tried to find out and the answer came out to be............Tuesday is a day ruled by MARS, which is a heat producing day, and any Tamsic food (Meat) or the food which produces more heat in the body can disturb the proportion of heat and temperature in the body that can lead to extreme annoyance, fight, arguments etc. Hence more Hindus chose to fast, drink Milk eat bananas and fruits on this day.
Like wise applying Tilak on forehead, putting sindoor, cutting nails and hair, what to pray, when to pray, how to pray, doing certain things during certain time periods, all have some basis which i will explain when i hear from the group on what do they think about this small explanation.
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Quest for knowledge leads to enxplored areas in the Mind and the World around us. The deeper you go, the Truths are uncovered that lie hidden under heaps of beliefs and myths.
