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cultural impact of hinduism
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Devotee Autoethnography
Eyes closed on cherubic faces of holy devotion, chanting Hindu gibberish to wheezing harmoniums, clanging tambourines, untuned guitars, rattles, bells, sticks, and perhaps a vigorous but poorly-rehearsed set of tablas… “She’s a breather,” they say, either in friendliness to jest, or patronizingly to criticize. And usually, not much evidence is revealed to complicate the minimized label. “Well, basically, we get together, breathe, and then sing a little bit.” This is usually the line into which I condense my participation in The Art of Living—to cram it into a nut shell, and to present it as outsiders would be likely to perceive it if spying from a fly’s perch.
My own introduction to this culture happened slowly, and not too long ago, so I still feel the tension of sliding into an unknown community as an outsider, and still experience hesitation describing the group to others for fear of bad reactions or scathing judgment. I think it has much to do with the big, bad g-word. When people, especially in independence-loving USA, hear the word “guru,” an oozing blanket of mistrust, disgust, and dismissal creeps up from the nether regions of media consciousness and visions of kool-aid, snake-dancers, and comet-chasers seem to choke the life of any words possibly to follow. The g-word however, when followed—as is inevitable—by the c-word, often shuts out the possibility of following words all together. As my mother would say, “It smells like a cult to me.” Despite my adamant denials that I could be involved with anything remotely resembling a cult, the first time I realized that I was definitely a part of this culture had to do with the chilling consideration that a cult was exactly what this was and, somehow.…I belonged to it.
I had traveled from San Diego with a few members of my Art of Living family (as many grow accustomed to referring one another) to an “advanced course” in LA. Such a course is offered occasionally to graduates of the “introductory course”—a six-day workshop of yoga postures, yogic breathing, and introspection. We knew not what to expect of this upcoming workshop, other than that it would be “challenging.” Perhaps our first taste of this manifested on the first evening, when we waded through seventy pairs of shoes piled at the entryway of a private house toward a living room crammed with the shoes’ owners.
Starting with yoga, Yoga is the physical, mental, and spiritual practices, which originatead in ancient India with a view to attain a state of permanent peace of mind in order to experience one's true self (Bryant 2009, p. 10, p.457). The word “yoga” means "union.” Many people think of yoga only as physical exercises — the asanas or postures that have gained widespread popularity in recent decades — these are actually only the most superficial aspect of this profound science of unfolding the infinite potentials of the human mind and soul (What Is Yoga, Really, Self-Realization Fellowship).
Humans have a very large effect on the ecosystems of coral reefs. Sensitivity of coral reefs causes them to be more susceptible to harmful anthropogenic practices. Some of these are sedimentation, global warming, recreational activities, poison fishing, blast fishing practices, water pollution, and coral mining. All of these very different practices can effectively end up with the same results; the mortality of coral reefs around the world. Coral reefs are an important ecosystem of the world, and support many different industries and millions of people.
As the sunrises over the crisp fall horizon, followers begin to surround the sacred space in anticipation for what is about to take place. The sacred space is soon surrounded by people who are dressed in the sacred colors, some wearing necklaces of their totem, while others wear headdresses that adorn with their sacred symbol. People begin to drink, play music, and prepare a banquet feast for each other, creating a festival atmosphere in hope that today’s ritual will be a success. As the ritual gets set to begin followers begin to crowd into the sacred space, surrounded with pictures and names of those who have reached greatness. As the ritual begins, music is played in order to bring everyone together and prepare for the events that are about to unfold. It is now that the followers have a very simple focus, to aid in the success of the ritual. Those who celebrate the ritual take there places in the middle of the sacred space, with the followers surrounding them; now that the ritual has begun the celebrants begin to perform and focus on certain actions in order connect themselves with the transcendent sacred. The followers who look on begin to aid by chanting, allowing themselves to also transcend. In hopes that the ritual was a success, everyone does their part until the last second of the ritual is completed, it is only then that it can be decided if the ritual was a success and they can either celebrate or grieve by signing in their most sacred song, bonding them once again with each other.
This article discusses how important the organisms symbiotic with coral reefs are, as well as how important coral reefs are to our environment. Also explained is how natural and non natural things things like hurricanes and overfishing affects them. A study is quoted about how water acidity also plays a role in the bleaching of corals. Lastly, restoration and conservation efforts are discussed and how we could possibly help our oceans.
The Accidental Buddhist: Mindfulness, Enlightenment, and Sitting Still by Dinty M. Moore is a personal memoir about Moore’s journey into the world of American Buddhism. Although Moore is an Irish-American who lives in central Pennsylvania, was raised in a Catholic family, and attended Catholic school, he decided at a young age that God had let him down, he gave up religion. However, later on in his adult life he came across the book Being Peace by Thich Naht Hanh, and desired to know what the “Buddhists had discovered” and what he was “missing” (19). Moore thought that the most effective way of finding out how to incorporate Buddhism into his own life would be to find out how other Americans are accomplishing this; He wanted to uncover how this old Asian-practice fits into modern American culture, essentially, what is American Buddhism? To answer this question, Moore visited Monasteries, read books, attended meditation sessions, and talked to multiple revered monks. By the end of his exploration Moore cannot define exactly what American Buddhism is, but he suggests that there is a place for Buddhism in American culture, and as long as the basic practices and teachings are followed, Buddhism can be altered in many ways to fit into all types of modern American lives.
Coral reefs, which are underwater structures created by calcium carbonate secretions, are some of the richest interdependent ecosystems on Earth. According to Wikipedia, coral reefs occupy less than 0.1% of Earth’s ocean surface, yet they provide a home for 25% of all marine species. Often referred to as the “rainforests of the ocean,” coral reefs are home to thousands upon thousands of species of plants and animals (“Coral Reef”). Not only are they an important part of ocean environments, but coral reefs are also extremely important and beneficial to humans; these reefs protect shorelines and provide countless people with food, jobs, and income sources. However, coral reefs are disappearing at an extremely alarming rate. From overfishing to pollution to sedimentation, the world’s coral reefs are in grave danger and humans must actively work to protect and restore these oceanic rainforests.
Cults are dangerous institutions that have existed for many years, corrupting and reforming the minds of innocent people into believing outrageous doctrines that eventually result in disaster. Horrifying cases involving men such as Charles Manson, Jim Jones and David Koresh have bewildered people and raise the question: how could individuals be easily susceptible to the teachings of these men, so influenced that masses go as far as to commit the unthinkable? Individuals who are in a vulnerable position in search for an identity are attracted to cults because they offer a sense of belonging. In addition, isolation from society contributes to the functioning of a cult for it creates an atmosphere where submissiveness and obedience runs high. These two factors seem to hold true for one of the most notorious cults currently established in the United States and Canada. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or, FLDS, is an international polygamist sect that incorporates belonging and isolation along with a dangerous mentality that have resulted in the abuse of women and children in the name of God.
This qualitative case study is an approach to research how yoga can affect the human mind in a positive way and lead to a healthy lifestyle using 2 sources one being a book called The Science Of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards by William J. Broad 2012. And the other being a private interview with a 22 year old male Yogi. This ensures that the issue is not getting explored through one side, but rather a variety of sides which allows for different inputs to be reveled and understood. There are two key approaches that help determine if yoga helps affect the human mind in a positive way. One flourished by William J. Broad (2012) which explores different factors on how yoga contributes to a healthy lifestyle and interviews fellow yogis who give there insight on the matter. And the second being a personal webcam interview conducted by the researcher ...
Cults consist mostly of middleclass Caucasian male youths, who are usually Christian or Jewish (Nelson 2006). Most are insecure people trying to find a sense of identity and security through the d...
and ended at 11:30 p.m. That gave me time to tend to my daily needs and get some work done. There weren 't as many activities in comparison to the Mind Body Conference, which was a relief because too much work would have left me exhausted. The yoga activity we did was fun and well worth it; Yoga was intense at first to a point where I couldn’t keep up, but after I got settled in it was very calm and relaxing. Unlike our usual yoga practices, this one was more soothing. I really enjoyed the Workshop because it worked perfectly well with my time. On the other hand, the Mind Body Conference was very time-consuming and stressful. It was on a Thursday and that is one of my busiest days of the week. Class started for me as early as 8:00 a.m. Within every break I had before class I had to show up and partake in one or more of the activities going on, that wasn’t working well at all. The yoga session we had left me with mixed feelings. It was good because we were the first people to ever do an activity in the school grass, which was an honor since it is against the rule to walk or do anything on the grass but having the permission to practice yoga on there was a privilege. I didn’t like it because it had rained earlier and the grass was wet, even the yoga mat wasn’t helping because my stuff got wet and all types of bugs were walking on me which I didn’t like. There were other activities, but my interest wasn’t peaked since I was too busy trying to balance work and the conference
Cults are identified as social groups with abnormal and unusual practices as well as aberrant beliefs, some being religious. The study of cults has been ongoing for many years and by many cultic psychologists. Ultimately, it has been determined that cults have different beliefs however they do share similar characteristics. There are several different attributes that can define a group as a cult. The founder of the group for example, is created by oneself and is not held accountable for ...
In fact, many scholars and scholarly works nolonger use the word cult when referencing a group that could be considered a religion not of the norm, therefore, would be considered a cult, (Olson, 2006). Instead academics are looking for alternative words to use such as, “alternative religious movements … marginal religious movements … new religious movements,” (Olson, 2006), and others. A study done by Olson shows that members of the public have given the word cult a negative meaning. Therefore, any group that is labelled as a cult is seen as something that is dangerous and different and people would be uncomfortable with neighbours joining cult groups, (Olson, 2006). Olson’s study found that the term New Religious Movement is percieved in a more positive manner than a group labelled as a Cult, (Olson, 2006). Therefore, the use of the word cult in the media may not be fair, because there are obviously these preconceptions about what a cult does and whether a cult is good or bad, when labelling a group as a cult the media is setting them up to be disliked by the general
the food source greatly. By not preserving corals, we are taking food directly out of our
It is believed that the shape of the pyramid was an important religious statement. Some scholars believe that this is true while others still debate the possibilities. We can assume that the Egyptians were trying to symbolize the slanting rays of the sun. It is also believed that the sloping sides on the pyramid were intended to help the soul of the king climb to the sky and join the gods.
An ancient physical and spiritual discipline, yoga has become widely popular as a way of life – the perfect medium to attain ultimate freedom. The word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word “yuj” – which is the harmonious union of the body, mind, and soul to achieve personal freedom and balance in life. Found over 5,000 years ago in India, yoga is increasingly being adopted as an activity to bring about a state of equanimity, better physical health, improved mental control, and self-realization.