What is Purity?

Yesterday in my Religions of India class, my professor said something which I found rather profound about the subject of purity. He stated that purity is not something that can be attributed to religion, but rather to the society's desire for control over the lives of its members. People place importance on the concept of virginity not because of religious reasons, but because they wished to exhibit control and prohibitions on the self empowerment that arises when one embraces his or her sexuality. While Professor Timalsina was merely using this argument as a way to introduce the lesson plan on tantric goddesses, I was blown away with the resulting paradigm shift that his words gave me.

Raised in a relatively religious setting, I spent most of my youth judging those who appeared to embrace their sexuality, seeing them as inappropriately promiscuous and certain that they were going to live unfulfilled lives without someone to love and care for them. While I no longer believe that, I often have a hard time feeling happy with my life choices while constantly being bombarded with societal negativity. Sometimes it takes someone else's words to help you discover how you feel, and give you the burst of confidence in not feeling alone out there in the cosmos. I can only imagine how confident I would feel in my sexuality if I had not been raised to idealize this image of the ideal feminine-

but to idealize this divine female instead:


Definite difference, don't you agree? When we worship the image of a virginal female, we are denying the divine procreative power that lies within us all, and the energy that can be harnessed through embracing the sexual energy within us. I have nothing against the Virgin Mary, but I dislike that she is used as an ideal to marginalize women and the ecstatic energy that exists within us all. There are too many negative terms to describe a person's (especially a woman's) sexuality, and not enough positive ones. We in the West see ourselves as modern and sexually liberated, but we cannot claim this title accurately until we can throw off the oppressive shackles of our ancestors and realize the power within us in a positive and healthy manner.

I Don't See How This Could Be Acceptable

This new Arizona immigration bill has really rubbed me the wrong way. I thought that race based legislation was something of the past, and that we were advanced enough as a society to know that these things were wrong. The only thing that surprises me more that the bill was passed is how many people actually support this bill! I can see how government officials would decide to pass these kinds of laws to create a stir and make a name for themselves for when election season roles around, but I thought that there wouldn't be so many average people who would agree with this decision.

While I don't believe that illegal immigration is right and I have issue with said illegal immigrants getting benefits that I can't get as a legal citizen, I think it's horrible that they will be able to pull over anybody off the street and demand to see legal documentation that they're allowed to be here. We may think that this only affects Arizona, but anyone who appears foreign better have their paperwork on them next time they visit the Grand Canyon, lest they get deported. And who's to say that similar legislation won't start to gain popularity in other states? We Californians may think that we're liberal enough, but we passed Proposition 8, so anything's possible. I better warn my Desi boys to start carrying their paperwork around because hell, some of them are mistaken for Mexican as it is, and I don't want them sent across the border when La Migra don't believe that they're Indian. The border's a scary place, and I don't want any of my boys hurt.

So please people, get your acts in gear and do your best to oppose this stupid bill. Think of the tan people you know in your life. Think of my poor Desi boys. If they get sent to Mexico, how will they survive?

Delicious, Yet Possibly Wrong

So there have been more and more articles emerging about how yoga has been appropriated by the West for profit, I think there is something which has been misused for secular profit then yoga could probably ever be- the Kama Sutra. Almost everyone in America lives in this belief that the Kama Sutra is merely a kinky sex book, but it's really an ancient spiritual text which discusses the aims and priorities of the everyday life, one of which is kama, or aesthetic and erotic pleasure. But since one of the sections talks about sex, that's all that the West focuses on, and capitalism has taken this appropriation to an extreme.

The most obvious example of this is the Kama Sutra line of body oils and sensual products meant to enhance ones love life. On their website they briefly talk about the text from which they got their name, but focus on products which "allows lovers to discover the pleasure of the unknown" and "explore the depths of your lover". More of a Vanilla's Guide to Revving Your Sex Life than anything.

Of course, nothing is more of a Vanilla Couple's sex life pick-me-up than Cosmo's Kama Sutra book. They are unapologetic in their focus on the sexual aspect of this text, talking about "carnal contortions" and giving illustrations and instructions for sex positions which may not even be in the actual Kama Sutra. I'm a liberated 21st century gal, so I don't see anything wrong with people reading up on different things to do to enhance their love life, but they don't need to use spiritual texts to make it more acceptable.


While I may be skeptical of the first two products, there is one thing that I support 1000%- Ben & Jerry's Karamel Sutra ice cream. While I admit that I may be biased, seeing as it's my fave flavor of all time, you can't help but be sold on someone being told that you will be "in total control of your own ice cream destiny". I also loved this description from the Associated Press "There are three aims of ancient Hindu life. The first is Dharma which is virtuous living. The second is Artha which is material prosperity. The third is Kama which is aesthetic and erotic pleasure. If you take this in the form of ice cream then Dharma is being able to enjoy a great brand, Artha is having a perfect spoon and Kama is having a great flavor." I couldn't agree more!

There are several more products out there that make money off of the Kama Sutra's concept, but I think I've rambled about enough of them for now. I think I'm going to go get some ice cream.

Why Are All The Good Ones Taken?

Today I was very excited to stumble upon an article about one of the great loves of my life: Sendhil Ramamurthy.

Photo from http://www.asianweek.com/2008/04/24/azn-asian-excellence-awardsapa-celeb-style-dos-and-don%E2%80%99ts/

I was first made aware of this handsome gentleman's existence thanks to his role on Heroes, and I knew after after the first episode that I was in love. When I decided to learn more about him, I fell in love all over again. His parents are from Bangalore, which is where my first Desi boyfriend was from, and he was raised in San Antonio, which is where my Dad is from. These coincidences cannot be ignored, and if Sendhil wasn't happily married with two kids I would be frantically searching for a way to make him mine, as we would have obviously been destined to be together if his wife hadn't gotten to him first. That's what I get for not being famous.

I was really upset with how things turned out in regards to Heroes, so I am so very excited to learn that my darling Mister Ramamurthy will soon be on a new TV series on USA, which is great, because they like showing reruns and I'll be able to see a lot more of his handsome face on my television. Sometimes I get irritated with cable's new obsession with adding a "token Indian" to their shows, but if they're as handsome as Sendhil is then you won't be hearing me complain!

Meditation Fever!

Last Thursday I was given two pamphlets for meditation centers in San Diego, which I feel is a sign, as I haven't kept up with my meditation like I should. I love visiting new groups, and both seem like pretty cool places with different perks to draw me in.

http://www.buddha-for-you.com/
Buddha For You seems like a pretty cool place. They're right near by campus, which is convenient, and their meditation classes are free, which is even more convenient! They only have classes once a week, but that's fine with me, and they have a store with statues, which can help me feed my statue addiction. :)

http://www.redlotussociety.org/programs-2/meditation/
Red Lotus Society is held downtown, and they have several programs every day in a friendly, non-denominational environment. Their pamphlet was given to me by Ibrahim, and he's a Black Muslim, so I think their whole inter-faith claim is pretty valid in my book. They may not be free, but they seem a really cool group of people, and their wider array of programs is very tempting to me.

As excited as I am for these groups, I wish I knew of some Hindu-centered Meditation groups here in San Diego. Hopefully someone will hook me up. :)

Yoga in the US- Friend or Foe?

So last night I watched my friend Rick do this weird exercise regiment for the better part of two hours in his attempt to get fit and find himself a girlfriend, and part of his exercise routine involved Yoga poses. It reminded me of some articles I read recently about the Americanization of Yoga and its transformation from a philosophical and spiritual ritual to a mere athletic practice to get oneself limber.

For those who don't know, the Yoga that we Americans think of is really a small aspect of a very elaborate mental practice to help focus your mind and help you achieve liberation. The positions that we think of as Yoga are meant to help us focus on our bodies instead of the stimuli from the outside world, and are not meant to be used in the same way as one does kickboxing or weight lifting. It's a sad fact that very few American Yoga instructors are versed in its spiritual history, and even fewer know anything about Hinduism at all. In fact, most Yoga teachers avoid mentioning anything of Yoga's ties to Hinduism, for fear of making people feel "uncomfortable".

While I feel that anything that helps get our unfit nation in shape is a good thing, it really saddens me that the American Yoga industry feels that it must remove itself from its roots in order to be successful. If only yoga instructors had to receive certificates from accredited institutions like massage therapy, where wanna be yoginis are taught the spiritual history as well as the physical postures, in hopes that they will pass this knowledge on to their pupils.


Do you know how hard it is to find a pic of a non-white person doing yoga? Very! pic from http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/features/health/theskinny/blog/2007/09/ please don't sue me

Links for those wanting to know more:
http://www.hinducurrents.com/articles/19969/lets-take-yoga-back/
http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2010/04/theft-of-yoga.html

Greetings!

I feel slightly narcissistic making a blog, but I hope that this will be a good practice in writing about current topics in a way that appeals to a more modern audience. Ever since I started following the Hindu American Foundation, I've been interested in working on my writing skills in hopes that I can one day get a job for them. A girl can dream, right? To get this thing started, I thought I should get some basic information out of the way to make everyone's life easier.

So, what is a WASH?
WASH stands for White Anglo Saxon Hindu, and is a term my good friend and I made to describe me, which isn't that clever when you realize that it's a direct ripoff of the term WASP, or White Anglo Saxon Protestant.

How'd you become a Hindu? You're white!
I know! Ain't it great? I grew into the religion rather gradually, as for a long time I didn't want to identify myself as a member of any faith. But the more I learned about Hinduism, the more I saw how their beliefs tied in with my own. I know that people don't normally convert into the Hindu faith, but no one's complained yet. :)

What's up with your love affair with the Hindu American Foundation?
Not only is the HAF a great organization for the often overlooked Hindu population in America, but they help bring awareness and advocacy for a lot of important causes that I strongly believe in- human rights, accurate media representation, interfaith dialogue, and school reform. They're one of the few groups that I haven't found issue with.

So that's about all for now. I really hope that I can do something productive with this. Laters!