Religion & Practicality: Two Sides of the Same Coin?

Disclaimer: If you find critique on 'religious' rituals/practices more offensive than thought provoking, proceed with caution. ;)

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Ok. I have a very intimate relationship with what I believe is God (for the lack of better word sometimes). The deepest of insights I have searched for with eyes wide open have often dawned upon me only when I closed my eyes in prayer. Yes, I do 'close my eyes' in faith, in devotion, in the name of religion, in an attempt to focus; but that does not enable me to 'turn a blind eye' to the rituals, practices, expectations and unwritten rules that are not rooted in pure reason, practicality, logic and a scientific attitude. To this day I might have only inched forward towards defining and uniting with my God, but I have made leaps and bounds in realizing that because religion is meant to be enlightening, obscure practices cannot be justified as a form of worship. Following are some such observations/anecdotes and my opinions/reasoning about them -

- Milk on a stone's back (think water on a duck's...)

 I visited the RajaRajeshwari Temple at Rush, NY in Jan. 2010. All my positive experiences there aside, what sticks out the most even a year later is the gallons of milk I saw being poured on the Shiv Lingam. Not one, not two, not three, not four... well I counted six while in line. Less than ten minutes on one day. Six gallons of Vitamin D and calcium fortified whole milk on stone. I say just 'stone' because religion ends where thoughtless human practice begins. What a waste! I think I use less water to shower than the amount of milk used in the span of a day to 'bathe' the black stone :P. I am not going to bring up statistics about how many children are malnutritioned in India (highest world rate). A friend argued "Well not like they're going to ship it to India right now anyways" - thats not the point! Think perhaps they could've used it to make 'prasad' instead.  And if you feel the need to follow a ritual, let the priest alone do it instead of giving each visitor the 'opportunity' to 'bathe' Shiva. To go one step further, I thought about this wastage of milk and the irony (or hypocritical nature?) the ritual brings to Hinduism - a religion that worships the cow. Perhaps vegans/animal rights activists do a better job in worldly matters than blind Hindu worshipers. (then again it would be weird to pour soy milk on the Shiv Lingam :P)

- Satsang (sat = true, sanga = company)

I recently visited one and was reminded that men and women ought to sit in two difference sections of the room to avoid getting distracted by the opposite sex while trying to 'link' with God's message. First, we're forgetting that the human mind is quite creative and physical distance can set no limits on the extent to which it's imagination can be out of focus. Also sure, living a celibatic life is big sacrifice and a bold decision. But what does sitting on the other end of the room mean? Does it mean you loose your attainment of 'Satsang' as soon as you step out of the temple and walk with someone of the opposite sex? You are implying that your company with the 'highest truth' is transient and blaming the opposite sex for it. Heres an analogy: say, you are determined to overcome your habit of over-spending at a mall and control your desires of hoarding. To this end you simply don't carry your wallet to the mall. Achieving your goal by avoiding the real challenge is not as credible! Can you keep from hoarding with a pocket full of money? is the real question at hand being 'avoided'. You'll never question your conscience because you are too scared to 'live on the edge'.

For the same reasons, I'd have ten fold more respect for the decency of  a man who can sit right next to me during a 'Satsang' and still be one with God than someone who needs to sit at the other end of the room.  The latter almost screams 'prevention is better than cure'... staying as far as possible from the opposite sex is better than risking indulgence and having to 'cure' yourself out of it. It screams gender discrimination. If someone as 'holy' as a priest cannot walk over to the 'other side' to share advice with/have a one-on-one conversation with female devotees because they 'hold the potential to distract him', that is not only offending women's intention of attending the Satsang but also questioning the priest's true 'control of his emotions'. All in all, true devotion is one that brings in its wake clarity of the mind, strengthening of a will, a moral character and silencing of the subconscious amidst all 'distractions'. While fleeing from 'distractions' to claim true devotion may be an informal acknowledgement of one's weaknesses and vulnerabilities, it is not a portrayal of one's effort to overcome them.

- Disrespecting a sign of fertility

Not allowing menstruating women (as if you can really distinguish and control this :P) to participate in religious activities simply makes me mock the stupidity of this 'rule'. There was always a method to His 'madness' and God must remember what he created when he sculpted the bodies of the two sexes. By that logic, someone with a natural phenomena in a God gifted body can is NO way offend religion! Also the argument of 'impurity' is obsolete with the sanitation available today.

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I have too many complaints but that is it for now. Going back to the title - our practices and rituals have separated religion and practicality so far that the two now exist as two sides of the same coin... its always one or the other :/

Thoughts? any that you'd like to share? Or perhaps convince me otherwise on any of the above?

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Next post will probably be "Food for Thought: Thoughts on Food". Yes, statistics! :-)

Email: An Art of Conversation

Skip to the link at the end if you don't want to read my rambling but might be interested in some humor.
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Email blunders in my inbox irk me a bit... so just a quick post to vent my frustration.

It is sad that I can think of only 3-4 people I personally look up to - the promptness, conciseness & thoughtfulness of their emails continues to amaze me. I am far from perfect but I do spend at least twice the time and effort to read & respond than most people. Coming across as a good conversationalist might be NOWHERE on the radar for a lot of people but it is my personal goal & heres what I want to remember to ask myself before I hit "send" -

1. A quick response sends a sense of virtual proximity & approachability. How often am I able to accomplish this? How confidently can my contacts count on me for a quick reply regardless of when they contact me? 
2. Am I forgetting to attach a document I've referred to? More importantly if I have attached it, have I changed the file name to include my name, date & an appropriate title - i.e. not something like "freaking Parkinson's paper" :P
3. Mass emails: Am I CC-ing all the right people? when responding, am I cognizant of all the people who are going to read my opinion? :P Am I abusing the power of "reply all" & annoying anyone?
4. Can I avoid emails back & forth by simply being more specific or providing more info? 
5. Have I exhausted all sources of independent learning before emailing to ask a question? And if I do still need to email, am I effectively conveying that I have infact exhausted all other sources? 
6. Is my subject short & relevant?
7. Instead of composing a new email - could I perhaps respond/forward so the receiver can be reminded of an old conversation & the thread can continue without having to be redundant.
8. Too many "...", exclamation marks or smileys? Am I treating emails different from chat?
9. How hard is it to find the point I'm trying to make? Can I be more concise? 
10. (the most under-rated of all) Am I actually making an effort to connect with the person? Is he/she travelling or sick or giving a talk or has an exam or celebrates a festival - to try to remember something they had told me in passing/might not expect me to remember & throw in for example, "ps- good luck with... or Happy blah blah" To care genuinely, pleasantly surprise someone & show them that its not just all business! :-)

For your amusement - http://theoatmeal.com/comics/email ;-) 

A Secret Admirer

Four hands employed in a selfless calling, (1)
Two graceful & nurturing, two unyielding &; muscular,
Playmates of a lifetime forging a dream by the shore.
A calm ocean and the morning sun watch along...
Grains of sand that once lay as a heap, orphaned & unnoticed, (5)
Now stand as a Castle. So handsome, stately &; grown in years,
Fast escaping the captivity of your architects' moist footsteps,
You spend the early hours coming to grips with your existence
To stumble upon a satisfying identity by mid day
At the sight of dancing sun rays - pearls on distant waters. (10)
With other waves I surge to catch your first glimpse,
But ebb reluctantly in low tides, as if confined by societal norms;
Cycles, as if those of an unfolding teenage,
Of stringing and unstringing an instrument,
Of gushing ashore but receding with an unsung song; (15)
An untold tale of excitement, for hesitance nips it in the bud,
Falling short all afternoon but getting closer each time
To something bigger, something better. A marvelous sand Castle.
Hopeful. If an entire lifetime were wrapped in a day,
Then dusk must have in store all its glory, and surely, (20)
As the sun paints the skies purple, marking an omen,
And reaches to the depths of the vastness of my vessel,
With a strangely determined momentum, in pursuit
Of a dream, of a reason, as if of a life partner,
On uncharted, unobstructed frontiers my spirit runs carefree (25)
But stops only to wash your majestic feet with tranquil waters.
Yes! then I turn around, to return merrily with other waves
Like a flock of girls, gossiping, chuckling, reminiscing, story-telling
Fondly of my transformation, my adventure, my affair.
For if I aspire - to break these confines, to grow more ambitious, (30)
Untamed, avaricious and demanding of reciprocation,
- To look you in the eye, embrace your walls,
Kiss your brow and whisper to you my secret obsession,
Such unleashed passions will leave you destroyed & myself turbid
Your tumbling, dissolving walls will mock the memories I locked away (35)
As the Pacific monster gulps your grains of sand,
My transient fascination will end in permanant broken reality
And on this dark, bleak night even the moon will refuse,
To reflect from my waters and beautify my miserable fate.
I will be left alone, in despair, only to find comfort (40)
In what was, but can never once again be -
The sandcastle of my dreams. The delicate love of my life.
Yes! hence I just turn around, to return merrily with other waves
For you were born to be a show piece 
And I, a secret admirer! (45)

This attempt is quite different from the previous two... the first & obvious difference is that it is non-rhyming. But I've also tried to make it a more indirect style of story-telling by hiding it in layers of figures of speech.

To start: "Four hands" (synecdoche)... who they represent is hinted in their description (line 2), in the phrase "playmates of a lifetime" (3) & best in the word "orphaned" (5)... they represent parents :P (too much of a stretch? or is it used well?)

There are many more... can you find any? I'm very curious to know (a) how effective my use of metaphors/personifications, etc was & more importantly (b) what you make of them... so feel free to share your creativity. (I *might post this Sunday to give it away) As always, any feedback/critique is welcome... :-)

On a different note, the semester starts soon & I might not be able to write again for a while... but lets see, may be this time I'll have that 25th hr in my day ;-) Thanks for reading.