By bluerasberry on 2011-03-05
I said, “Why don’t you come live in Benares at my place for a while?” So Pradeep from Mumbai Gay Pride got on a train and came 1600km to visit me from Mumbai. A couple of days ago was Shivratri. I was really sick but Nandan had made special arrangements to go backstage at Tilbhandeshwar […]
Posted in festival, India, religion | Tagged Hinduism, sickness
By bluerasberry on 2010-04-04
On Saturday April 3 I went to a conference sponsored by Supreme Master Ching Hai in UW’s Meany Hall. I found out about the conference from handbills and posters that were circulating around the neighborhood. It was advertised as a series of lectures on environmentalism, vegetarianism, sports fitness, and family fun on paper and on […]
Posted in health, non-profit, presentation, religion | Tagged environment, Hinduism, leader, lecture, logistics, proselytize, water
By bluerasberry on 2007-05-25
Nandan and I went to Ayodhya, the birthplace and royal home of Lord Ram. He was actually going to a funeral for a friend’s grandfather, but Ayodhya was nearby. I wanted to join him for both events. Ram is one of the most popular Hindu deities. He was an avatar of Lord Vishnu and the […]
Posted in animal, India, religion | Tagged Ayodhya, death, Hinduism, Islam, monkey
By bluerasberry on 2007-05-13
Today in my Hindi copy I wrote sentences in unusual formats like future perfect continuous (“…will have been going”) because I wanted to be comfortable with the grammar. I continually want more and more vocabulary and my memory cannot meet my needs at the rate which would satisfy me. Tonight I go to Lucknow with […]
Posted in education, India, religion | Tagged astrology, Hindi, Hinduism
By bluerasberry on 2007-04-03
Before I start passing on partly unsubstatiated rumors let me say that my studies are going well and that within the last week I have found a surge of speaking proficiency from within. I have begun daily study with M.N. and he presses me to speak and write without preparation or my books. I find […]
Posted in computer, India, religion, rights | Tagged blood, death, food, gay rights, Hinduism, Islam, marijuana, ritual, scam, Sikhism, sport, water, youth
By bluerasberry on 2007-03-29
aftermath of a yagna Originally uploaded by bluerasberry. Yesterday was the last day of Navratri. For some reason, it was also Ram’s birthday, despite Navratri being a movable (lunar) holiday. The picture here is of what was left after the yagna. A “yagna” is a fire ritual. A pandit came to our home from Bihar […]
Posted in India, religion | Tagged etiquette, Hinduism, ritual, Varanasi
By bluerasberry on 2007-03-25
Ashu begins as a beggar On Friday March 23 I returned to Varanasi from Azemgarh. I had gone for Ashu’s janeu. There were I think ten of us in the van and the trip took two hours. As usual, I slept most of the way and had no regard for crammed conditions. Puja was beginning […]
Posted in festival, India, religion | Tagged death, Hinduism, medicine, ritual, youth
By bluerasberry on 2007-03-16
Some relative of the family is getting his janeu soon and the plan is to go to a village area some hours away to attend the function. I hear that about five hundred people and more than one full carload of Varanasi candy will attend. I am speaking just a little Hindi and I started […]
Posted in drug, education, religion | Tagged alcohol, Hinduism, ritual
By bluerasberry on 2007-03-06
I went to the Monkey Temple today and enjoyed it. Today is Tuesday so there was a big crowd there. Tuesday is Hanuman’s day. The monkeys here were nicer than ghat monkeys, but they still harassed people. The monkeys would put their hands out to beg for treats and if people tried to feed them […]
Posted in education, India, religion | Tagged data, death, Hinduism, monkey, ritual, temple
By bluerasberry on 2007-01-27
At home with Nandan’s family there have been two surprises. One is the nature of Hindu religion. I never picked up on this before, but it seems to have a focus on what I would call getting minor wishes granted. Things like money, leaps in education, life extention, and good luck are boons granted that […]
Posted in education, India | Tagged Hinduism, money