Hinduism - A Way of Life

Our first full day of focused study in a particular religious tradition was spent learning about Hinduism as it is practiced by New Yorkers.  Columbia professor John Stratton Hawley spoke to us about aspects of Hinduism, drawing up on Diana Eck's work Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in Hinduism.  I thought this reading was fascinating, especially from a linguistic standpoint - her explanation of "darsan" connects the ideas of seeing, perceiving and understanding... much like the conversations we have in class about visual literacies and learning to "read" the images we see before us.  In Hinduism, this act of "seeing" is in itself a divine experience.  Hawley also demonstrated the similarity in Hindu scriptures from the Rg-Veda, that starts with "In the Beginning..." much like the Judeo-Christian texts we already know.

After our discussion with professor Hawley, we met with a panel of local Hindu community leaders: Anindita Chatterjee Bhaumik, Gadadhara Pandit Dasa, and Chan Jamoona.  This experience was just amazing!  Pandit is a Hindu monk who grew up in LA "on the basketball court," and looked the part of any young American man... with the exception of his hari krishna robes.  What an opportunity it would be for our students to meet this man as a way to break the stereotypes or misconceptions young people might get about what it means to be Hindu, Indian or simply a religious devotee.  (His bio mentions having spoken at a TEDx conference... that perhaps might make  great classroom resource, if I can track the video down.)  Amindita's talk focused upon her work as a lay member of her community, but also as her work as a community activist - she has worked for the courts doing interpretation and specifically in cases of domestic violence.  Amindita's responded to ideas about cultural relativism and the problem that perhaps we've become too culturally sensitive - allowing batterers to hide behind a veil of cultural traditions.  As she put it, one can be "oppressed by a white person or a brown person..."  And finally Chan, after outlining the work she does in a Hindu senior center (the first all-vegetarian center in the city) spoke to the idea or rebirth and her own practice of Kharma Yoga and the four stages of life, insisting that when she leaves this earth, she "wants to be closer to the center of the wheel of time, the axis - so as to not come back."  She also reminded us that Hinduism says to "make the world more noble."  She is certainly doing her part.

(image found at: http://theeatenpath.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/ganesh_temple_flushing_queens_entryway.jpg)
(image found at: http://thegreenman.net.au/chris/ganeshColour500.jpg)

In the afternoon we were fortunate to visit Ganesh Temple in Flushing (Queens).  This is a typical structure for our days here at NEH/Union - reading about a particular tradition, followed by guest speakers from both the academic/secular worlds and from the religious communities, and finally a site visit to witness application of the "lived religions" philosophy.  (While we are often not able to take pictures as the religious sites, I will try to include pictures from and links to relevant websites.)  After a tour around the temple, we were granted a Q&A session with a delightful host who explained the different statues and prayer practices we observed, and who closed by teaching us that we bow to one another because we see/observe the divine in each of us - so when I bow, I bow to the divine presence in you, and you bow to the divine presence in me.  This reminded me again of Diane Eck's work about the Hindu act of seeing.  Not a bad way to see the world...