Loosing my religion
In my religion we only occasionally fast, we eat vegetables that grow under the earth such as garlic or onions, cows have very little privileges and we do not need to shower to go pray in a church. India has (also) captivated me for its caste and community diversity. My curiosity is compulsive. I'd like to know the customs and traditions of each community or religion.
When a colleague at work told me that on Tuesday he does not eat egg or that on Wednesday he fasts I couldn't but wonder: is that much fasting, many pujas (prayers), promises and beliefs letting Indians be themselves?
I was a good summer Catholic. From June to the beginning of September I would go to church every Sunday and accompany my grandmother very often to the daily Rosary around 8pm. My religiousness coincided with the school summer break and my vacation in rural Spain. From those days I got the habit of lighting candles when I pass by a church. I look at the altar, make the cross and close my eyes for a second while I am in front of God asking him for something or disclosing a secret or a concern to him. Apart from this, I am loosing my given-by-birth religion. I go to church only about 10 times per year.
I prefer to absorb new religions without renouncing to garlic, onion, food on Wednesday or a beer the weekend. The first time I entered a mosque or a temple I felt an enormous peace, some physical lightness and vulnerability, like being a little 3-year old facing Mount Everest. Religious venues really hit me, they connect me with some part of me that otherwise is hibernating.
Still, I conveniently cherrypick from here and there and practice my own religion. That might be a good preach for Indian society. Or maybe they have already adopted a new religion called Bollywood. I am an adept too!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sUh4RBD-5E
When a colleague at work told me that on Tuesday he does not eat egg or that on Wednesday he fasts I couldn't but wonder: is that much fasting, many pujas (prayers), promises and beliefs letting Indians be themselves?
I was a good summer Catholic. From June to the beginning of September I would go to church every Sunday and accompany my grandmother very often to the daily Rosary around 8pm. My religiousness coincided with the school summer break and my vacation in rural Spain. From those days I got the habit of lighting candles when I pass by a church. I look at the altar, make the cross and close my eyes for a second while I am in front of God asking him for something or disclosing a secret or a concern to him. Apart from this, I am loosing my given-by-birth religion. I go to church only about 10 times per year.
I prefer to absorb new religions without renouncing to garlic, onion, food on Wednesday or a beer the weekend. The first time I entered a mosque or a temple I felt an enormous peace, some physical lightness and vulnerability, like being a little 3-year old facing Mount Everest. Religious venues really hit me, they connect me with some part of me that otherwise is hibernating.
Still, I conveniently cherrypick from here and there and practice my own religion. That might be a good preach for Indian society. Or maybe they have already adopted a new religion called Bollywood. I am an adept too!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sUh4RBD-5E
Comments
Whats up? Beer last night and run this morning makes me very happy and I am doing a chicken bollywood dance right now. Lets go pray this weekend and also eat a lot of garlic, onion and drink beer.
On a more serious note, I think I just do that. Create my own religion rather than follow one fixed path. I try and take the path that suits my lifestyle the most.