Maple Grove: A Feminist Perspective

Hinduism practiced by individuals, certain groups, mass festival, and at the temple. In the beginning of the film, the narrator’s guru confessed his devotion to Kali – meaning that individuals can choose certain god which fits his will. interesting thing is that people having primary god means Hindus categorized into different sections depending on their gods. Those categorized people could experience tension between one another in my opinion. However, the existence of millions of gods decrease the tension between the groups. The festival of Saraswati was the perfect example to practice the religion for certain groups. The students celebrate the festival to refresh their motivation and seeks higher will to learn. Yet, there was another form of practice – mass festival like other religions. The example was the Ganges River cleansing festival. The river was considered sacred, pure, and has a power of cleansing sins of whomever bath himself/herself. To me, the catering of thousands of people trying to cleanse their sins off shows the power of the religion and devotion of Hindus. Also, the most common form of practicing religion is temples. Hindu temples have its own architecture and art forms to amaze people.

Hinduism is a religion practiced all over the world and has gained a large following. Hinduism got its start in the Indus Valley civilization and since then has evolved into a open and tolerant religion upon which every and anybody from all walks of life are welcome. In Hinduism there is a divine reality which can best be described as all reality is ultimately one for monistic Hindus or that there is no distinction between the divine reality and the rest of reality for dualistic Hindus. Either way it is put Hindus try to understand divine reality through their different gods, images, nature, and avatars.

How in the world did a baby blue, one-story Buddhist temple ever end up in the heartland of Sonoma County, surrounded by cows and vineyards? This is the question I 've asked myself for years, every time I 've driven past this odd looking complex.

As I exited the metro bus and stepped into the cold, wet, and way-too-early Saturday morning air, my mind pounded with the self-scolding, “Why am I awake. Why am I awake?”. The second I looked up at the grey-blue sky, however, all dread evaporated. Instead, the gorgeous sight ahead filled me with an incredulous awe. The Washington National Cathedral stood towering in cream-colored splendor, its richly detailed Gothic architecture almost too picturesque to fathom. Intricate spires stood proudly against the low-hanging clouds, as if taunting them to rain. Stunned, I began to follow my friends along a blue stone path surrounded by vivid greenery. As I walked, the chill air invigorated my lungs with each breath, filling me with a sort of peaceful energy. The path led to a smaller, yet still grandiose building which we entered through two large glass doors.

Hinduism, the world’s oldest religion, is the third largest religion in the world after Islam and Christianity with close to one billion followers. The followers of the religion are called Hindus and are mainly located in India, and their place of worship is a temple. The religion doesn’t have any one specific founder, however,

However, it is hard to practice religion due to judgment from other races and the location of the temple is further from home. Another reason is the person might not have the items needed for the rituals. One thing that I observed about my Vietnamese and Chinese communities is that the temple is a safe place for the community to practice their religious beliefs. However, it is exclusive with other communities due to religions are not a melting pot, where it might accept and possibly absorb some ideas, but language and ignorance become a barrier that some could not overcome. There is a quote in the narrative by Elk that I found relevant to the present culture; Elk wrote, “Indeed, he observed the way in which we fearfully, anxiously, shape our whole lives by religious, political, cultural, and personal labels and names – all of which function as a buffer zone of security between ourselves and the experience of life” (8). From what I gather from the quote is we form our identity around our religion and political and cultural

Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world; but it is generally thought to be the world?s oldest organized religion. The Hindu religion has a lot of different traditions so it has the reputation of featuring freedom of practice and beliefs. A good example of this would be that Hindus ?recognize a single deity, and view other Gods and Goddesses as manifestations or aspects of that supreme God;? but there are atheists in the Hindu religion. Some ex-Hindus explain that atheism is accepted but only to the point that you will not be socially shunned for professing non-belief in a god. It is important to know what Hinduism does not have. It does not have a single founder; a single holy text like the Bible or Koran; a single concept of deity (as mentioned above; a single system of morality; a central religious authority or a specific theological system; nor do they have any concept of a

Eck states, “Christians not only have a witness to bear, but a witness to hear (19).” Eck understands that in many cases judgement is quick to happen when one party only wants to speak. The manner in which Eck speaks about Hinduism and those whom she has met along her journey shows the reader that she has not only spoken her beliefs, but also has heard the beliefs of others. Hindus share their faith with others, but they also accept the faith of those who do not agree with how they think. Eck speak of an instance where she was invited to attend an event where a murdi of Jesus was to be placed in a Hindu temple. The placing of this murdi in their temple is an action which could be taken in a variety of sentiments. Where many might find the place of an image of Jesus as disturbing, others might take it as a form of respect. Of course the placing of the murdi was not meant to be an offense to others. The placing of the murdi of Jesus in their temple is an action which shows their acknowledgment of Jesus Christ. Throughout the reading Eck reiterates the Hindus acceptance of the many forms in which they see

Hinduism is one among the many world religions with followers spread across the globe. I got an opportunity to visit Malibu Hindu Temple which is located in the city of Calabasas near Malibu, California in the Santa Monica Mountains. I came to note that Malibu Hindu Temple which is the temple of the Hindu god Venkateswara was built in the year 1981 and its owners and operators are the Hindu Temple Society of Southern California. Just like other Hindu Temples, Malibu Hindu Temple its style is that of traditional, thus most of those who visit this temple are followers of Hinduism living in Southern California. At the upper complex of Malibu Hindu Temple is Lord Venkateswara who is the presiding deity, while on at the lower complex is Lord Shiva

Hinduism is the name given to a family of religions and cultures that began and still flourish in India. The word “Hindu,” comes from the name of the river Indus, which flows from Tibet through Kashmir and Pakistan to the sea. It originally referred to the people living in that particular region of the world, regardless of their faith. Hinduism has no original founder and is one of the world’s largest religions following Christianity and Islam, with approximately a billion adherents. Hinduism is henotheistic, which is the devotion to a single god while accepting the existence of other gods. Their god is present in everything, and they believe that their soul repeatedly goes through a cycle of being born into a body, dying, and then becoming reborn into another body, whether it is human, animal or spirit. Hindu’s also strongly believe in karma, which is a force that determines the quality of each life, depending on how well one behaved in a past life. Hindu’s do not separate religion from other aspects of their life. Hinduism in India dictates Hindu’s lives in that it involves a caste system which controls their position in society, assists them in earning a living, helps manage how they raise their a family and controls their diets. Hindu’s believe that freedom or liberation is the true goal in life. True freedom is the freedom from all external conditioning influences, whether of body or mind. This is the freedom of Self-realization,

The temple has several of the various Hindu deities that I saw, though Ganesha is their main focal point of at the temple. The temple was painted the to match the climate of Utah. “Granite Goddesses Sri Lakshmi and Sri Saraswathi adorn the entrance of the main sanctum giving special importance to wealth and learning, the main quests of Hindu immigrants to USA”(Skantharajah 33). The addition of a parking lot is probably unusual nowadays for a Hindu temple.There is a cultural center directly attached to the Sri Ganesha temple. Removing shoes is not required to enter the center, only for the main temple as I learned.

“If I were asked to define the Hindu creed, I should simply say: Search after truth through non-violent means. A man may not believe in God and still call himself a Hindu. Hinduism is a relentless pursuit after truth... Hinduism is the religion of truth. Truth is God.”

St. Peter Claver was a humble looking church, without the towering spires or detailed architecture that some churches possess in order to fill you with worshipful awe. In fact, it would have been almost unrecognizable as a church if it were not for the relatively small silver cross that hung above the door, not even raised above the line of the roof. Walking into the church did not change the sense of humility that the outside professed. Dark wood lined the walls and floor, and made up the pews. It felt almost like stepping into a cabin that had been built in the 1970’s. Along the walls there were small portrait sized depictions of the fourteen stations of the cross. Unlike St. Agnes’s eye catching and baroque decorations, St. Peter Claver’s artwork almost blended into the background, and was not immediately visible. It appeared that the artwork mirrored the nature of the building itself, almost as if the church wanted to dispense with frivolity and maintain its focus on the practice of its faith.

For example, Christians retreat to Churches, Muslims worship in mosques, Jews pray in temples, etc. But the significance of Hindu temples is the fact that there are only four “holy places”: “…[they] correspond to the four points of the compass and near which…Shankara established his four main centers” (Holy Places).

My interviewee Tony Khanna, a fellow co-worker, took me to his temple he goes to worship, on a Sunday evening. He took me to the Sri Meenakshi Devasthanam located in Pearland, Texas. The first thing I noticed upon arrival at the temple is the beautiful architectural building design outside. I was in amazement of how beautiful the temple was. I had not seen something so beautiful in quite awhile. The temple is visible from a quite a distance away and has two stunning white towers. When coming up to the temple from the parking lot Tony indicated to me that the temple was established in 1977 and was a replica of a famous temple in India. There was a huge white gate we had to walk through to get to the main temple. Once inside I was greeted by many Hindu's that were quite pleasant and talkative towards this outsider that I was. Before the visit one of my questions to Tony was if Hindu's welcomed outsiders within their temples. He indicated that Hindu's are very open and that I would be welcomed. I was quite surprised for this to be so true. With in the confines of the temple there were many different kinds of symbols that I was not quite familiar with. A couple that I noted was a Diya, Om, and Swastika. There were