RE: Devotion and Love in Hinduism
Dear Rosie I have been feeling more and more your beautiful analogy of the dance. How wonderful indeed that Krishna and Jesus so enjoyed the love of dance and how the Indian sub-continent have brought the amazing colour and dance of joy to humanity.
Thank you for sharing - the cosmic dance of love indeed.
Such freedom and liberation, the cosmic dance of love has so much to offer in so many different ways.
Love beyond measure
Kim xx
RE: Devotion and Love in Hinduism
Off topic and weve been here before, but with a :DIll just say that the text about Jesus and the dance - I dont have it to hand - but he stood stock still just once in the middle while disciples in an apparent one-off ritual (in a gnostic text) went around him while repeating mantras he gave.
Jesus may have invented the waltz for all i know ;)but it isnt even in gnostic scripture. He didnt budge, but gave the affirmations for the others to repeat. Accredited to John, if I recall (?) and the reason he recounts it is because he sounds astonished at the happening as it was seemingly a one-off occurrence.....
V
RE: Devotion and Love in Hinduism
Dear David
We agree to disagree once again, I suppose Jesus didn't like to laugh either! 😀
I am sure that you are aware that most aspects of dance was removed from the bible due to its connection to pagan origins.
I hear Freake and Gandy have brought out a new book called 'The Laughing Jesus' have you read it? And Hoeller has dedicated a wonderful chapter in one of his books called 'The Dancing Jesus'.
How sad that you do not imagine that Jesus liked to dance. Scripture does not hold all of his words, thoughts and deeds.
For dancing is a celebration of life, sad that the orthodox church removed it and anything else that brought such joy to people's lives.
being love
Kim xx
RE: Devotion and Love in Hinduism
Dear Venetian,
What an absolutely lovely read! Your prose has a beautiful lyrical quality to it, and you've woven the subject matter of bhakti, karma and reincarnation together with such skillful ease. It sparked lots of thoughts in my mind and there was plenty I learnt from it.
As a practising Hindu who has been born and brought up in this country, I've experienced at first hand how difficult it is to engage with Hinduism from a theological perspective. Being one of the first generation of Asians to grow up in the UK, there were lots of pressures to conform to Western society - to fit in, get a good eduation, and mix two very different worlds together. There wasn't much room left for reading into Hinduism!
But in some ways, it didn't matter. As your example of Ramakrishna shows, it's the way faith is practised that matters. For me the emphasis was on developing my own relationship with God, saying my prayers sincerely from the heart, honouring my parents (as a way of respecting the Godhead in them), and gathering together in communities to celebrate our faith in God. By putting into practice some of the teachings at the heart of Hinduism, I learnt to draw my faith into my every day life. I've never felt that religion is something I wear on my sleeve, purely because it's knitted into the fabric of my being.
I think this has been the essence of the way Hinduism has been practised in recent centuries. But that has it's own blessings. It's ensured that Hindu scriptures have been kept in tact, rather than seen as a source of power to be missused. No library at Alexandria to burn in Hinduism or Hebrew texts to corrupt, as the majority of Hindus were illiterate and so could only be reached in different ways. There's always been a great story telling tradition in Hinduism. My Mum used to do puja to Lord Shiva or Santoshi Maa. On either a Monday or Friday she would fast and read a story to me and my sisters in our mother tongue. Or there is dance, the theatre or puppetry with stories from Krishna leela. Colour and life were the way of expressing devotion, and books were for the pundits who wanted to deepen their knowledge.
My memories of faith in my childhood are of fun (singing bhajans every Saturday), community and a huge sense of happiness because I knew I was loved by God. That's what being a Hindu continues to be for me 😀
Thank you for sharing your writings. Can't wait to read some more [sm=1syellow1.gif][sm=1syellow1.gif]
Cub
RE: Devotion and Love in Hinduism
ORIGINAL: Sacredstar
How sad that you do not imagine that Jesus liked to dance. Scripture does not hold all of his words, thoughts and deeds.
I seem to have somehow not got notifications (I noticed) from this thread, and just read this. Or maybe I was busy when written. 😉
Kim, all I'm looking for is accuracy. If Jesus invented rap or the waltz so be it. But it ain't in scripture, not even in the gnostic texts. You write all over the place in many threads "Jesus loved to dance". You are referring to the gnostic text in which he didn't in fact even move! It was seemingly a one-off ritual. It wasn't even a dance but a ritual. (You could rephrase it, "Though there are no reports in any gospel about it, IMHO Jesus loved to dance".)
Or if it's channeled information, that doesn't count as evidence.
V xxx