Swadharma » Anish

Alcohol in Hinduism

Anish — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:52:40 +0000

It can be noted that almost all of the religions of the world have declared alcohol as something that one must abstain from consuming. The ‘Abrahamic religions’, such as Islam, Christianity and possibly even Judaism, forbid the use of alcohol in varying degrees. I always wondered what the Hindu stance was on the consumption of alcohol, because there I have never seen any part in the scriptures that states that drinking alcohol is forbidden. However, in a practical sense, we all know that alcohol does affect the state of mind in a negative fashion.

Some sects of Hinduism declare that if one consumes alcohol, he or she is sent back to the beginning of the spiritual path that a soul must take to attain oneness with God. Personally, I feel like that belief is similar to the rules of the Snakes and Ladders board game in which the snakes bring the player almost back to the beginning of the game. This doesn’t mean that alcohol isn’t bad for us – practically speaking, I’m sure that spiritually, one’s soul may take a few steps backward upon the consumption of alcohol. But does this mean that one must not even go near alcohol so that he or she may attain oneness with God? Absolutely not! Nor does this condone excessive drinking of alcohol. My primary argument is that there is no absolute right or absolute wrong in Hinduism when it comes to alcohol. As long as one maintains the thought of ‘nothing in excess and everything in proportion’, there won’t be many problems within the Hindu religion.

I understand that many of you may not agree with me on this stance and I ask that you please state your thoughts on this matter, as it is so applicable to our lives as college students.

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Why Pray?: Part II

Anish — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 07:08:34 +0000

The ever-burning question about prayer in college. Why should we pray? Around a year ago, I had written a similar post asking the same question. Today, I wish to revisit that question, with a more mature and experienced mind so that I can attempt to better answer it.

One idea that comes to mind regarding prayer in college is the image of a student nervous about his or her exam scores, making deals with God such as promising to change his behaviour in exchange for good grades on the exams. I hate to admit that I, too, was guilty of doing that at times. However, as time went on, I grew to realise that my relationship with God was meant for more than just a business deal. Today, I view my relationship with God to be very similar to my relationship with one of my best friends- God is someone that will always be there for me during my good times and my bad times, will always understand my troubles and will even be able to give me the strength to overcome such obstacles in life.

I understand that it sounds rather odd to consider a God or any ‘higher power’ as one of my equals, but for some reason, putting God on a pedestal as the ‘Almighty’ doesn’t feel right. This is not to say that those that believe otherwise are wrong – these are merely my thoughts and opinions. I feel that because of this newfound friendship with God, praying doesn’t really feel like a chore any more, but rather, a conversation with a close friend.

Now that I look back, I can see that a lot of my thoughts have definitely changed from a year ago.

What are your thoughts on the idea of having a friendship with God?

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The Ashramas of Life

Anish — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:50:07 +0000

It is noted that in almost every religion, there are ceremonies that celebrate rites of passage throughout a person’s life. In Judaism, there is the bar/bat mitzvah. In many sects of Christianity, the confirmation is held to declare that the individual is a participating member of the church. In Hinduism, for young individuals around the age of 13, a thread ceremony, known as an Upanayanam, is held to initiate the individual into his Brahmacharya stage — the part of his life where the individual lives as a student.

Interestingly enough, the Upanishads have essentially set 4 stages or ‘ashramas’ of life as a Hindu that we all tend to follow, to an extent. After the Brahmacharya stage, at around the age of 25, the individual will enter the Grihasta stage of life, which is also known as the householder stage. It is here where the individual will marry, build a family and work toward his career. The third and fourth stages of life, known as the Vanaprastha stage and the Sanyaasa stage, require the individual to renounce and retire from social and professional life and be totally devoted to God. The last two ashramas mark the end of life, where the individual will either become one with God or be reborn into the cycle.

I feel that it’s rather interesting how the ancient sages had set these rules with such accuracy that these ashramas can be followed even today to an extent.

A general question to all: do other religions also have set sections of life in which an individual must follow a certain way of life?

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Lent

Anish — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:03:30 +0000

Since last Wednesday, many people around the world, both Christians as well as some non-Christians, decided to give up a bad habit for the period of forty days and forty nights known as Lent. The symbolism behind Lent is that Jesus traveled the desert for forty days and forty nights and did not succumb to temptations of the Devil. Traditionally, Lent is performed through fasting and by other methods of atonement. In the modern-day Lent, people generally give up vices such as drinking alcohol or eating certain foods (i.e. meats, fish, eggs etc.). I like this idea of self-discipline because it is so similar to the Raj Yogic and even to the Bhakti Yogic aspects of Hinduism.

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Thoughts on Evangelism

Anish — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:40:10 +0000

From the time religion was created by man, there have constantly been quarrels and disputes between various religions primarily debating which religion is better. Sometimes the squabbles between religions are settled through violence and other times, there are methods through which one faith spreads. I’d like to talk briefly on a non-violent method — evangelism, to be more specific.

What is evangelism? For many of us, when we think of evangelism, we think of Christian priests going to underdeveloped countries to spread the message of God. The truth is that evangelism happens in varying degrees in any religion of the world; yes, that includes Hinduism! But what are the reasons based on evangelism? Could it be mainly to spread the message of one’s religion? Though that is predominantly the case, I feel as if sometimes, if a method of prayer I do works for me and helps me, I may sincerely want others to try the new method hoping that it may help them as well.

For example, I recently started practicing Sudarshan Kriya Yoga, part of the Art of Living program and I must say that it has helped me a ton with regards to having the energy to get through the day sans coffee or random naps (which I admit, I miss very much). I noticed that this obviously had a very positive effect on various aspects of my behaviour, study habits, mood and temper to name a few. My one fear was that when my friends asked me how the yoga was helping me, I wanted to tell them to try the course because I felt it could help them. Although I have the sincere intention of helping my friends, it may seem as if I am trying to evangelize my friends to become followers of Art of Living.

So where does one draw the line between sincere intentions and evangelism? Is there a difference? Perhaps evangelism is not always bad, despite its bad connotation. Any thoughts?

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