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  1. Benst

    The Religious Studies Undergraduate

    I suggested Chicago because it's where a lot of my own Professors did their graduate studies and Doctorates at Chicago. Of what I can see, if you plan on making this your major, you'll need to learn and specialize in a language. I know in programs related to the Big Three, you'd have to learn...
  2. Benst

    Conflicting Gods

    In ancient times around the Medditteranean, it was a common belief that Gods could be wooed away from your enemy to become one of your Gods. That is why Egyptians have so many foreign deities from Canaan. If we look at Greek mythology, there are times when the Gods don't get on at all...and...
  3. Benst

    The Religious Studies Undergraduate

    Hopefully you'll get a very good post-modernist first year Intro to Religious Studies prof who can wean out some of the less open people. I don't think you'll find the truth, RS isn't about belief...it's about how those beliefs shape Humans and our societies. You might find a few doctrinal...
  4. Benst

    The Religious Studies Undergraduate

    I just wanted to underline the point though, when studying religions it is imperitive that you leave your own faith at the door. The way you'll be studying it is from all angles, socio-political, historical-linguistical. You have to be able to get into the mindset of the other faith inorder to...
  5. Benst

    The Religious Studies Undergraduate

    Good question! For me, it was an interest to take my hobby further. I had a very strong interest in the field, as I was all sorts of things religiously speaking. I would strongly suggest though that you question your own religious beliefs if you do take it as a major. For me, I was never...
  6. Benst

    Fatwas concerning Halal and Hiram

    Ahh I see. It makes sense that culture would make some items less than appetizing. I thought perhaps there was restrictions similar to Kosher where only animals that chew their own cud..etc,. Would it then come down to slaughtering, and properly bled animals, etc,.?
  7. Benst

    Fatwas concerning Halal and Hiram

    I hope this doesn't come across as a silly question, but I've often wondered about this. I'm not a Muslim, but living in Toronto I had many Muslim friends from all over the place...and we would often go out to meals, and some would choose to follow halal and some would scarf down their bacon...
  8. Benst

    Jain Punishment

    It isn't so much a thing of being punished...it's a case of cause and effect, and also about karmic debt. Think of it this way, in basic terms (and do tell me if I have this wrong) a Jain's goal is to purify himself/herself spiritually to a point where your being is liberated from the cycle of...
  9. Benst

    Jain Punishment

    In a sense yes. I'm not a Jain myself but based on what I have read, the hells are places of torment, but you will eventually be able to be reborn in another part of the Universe. But they are not like the Christian places of torment where YOU as an individual go... your incarnation down there...
  10. Benst

    Jain Punishment

    Yes... this is true. I didn't use the word god with the connotation that someone was born as a Supreme God though.
  11. Benst

    Dharma and Black Magic

    I think some of it, the mystique of it all, can sometimes be attributed to just will and baseline yogic practices like breath control and muscle control. I know back 100 years ago walking on hot coals and sitting on beds of nails (to Westerners) seemed like magic... but when you really look at...
  12. Benst

    online Kirtan party

    v=czvWBSwglCY Like this??
  13. Benst

    Dharma and Black Magic

    Tantra has an amazing variety of charms and spells and rituals, all grounded in Hinduism and Buddhism. It's not like the badly mistaken Gunga Din or Indiana Jones view of Tantra. It's not all about sex either. Although, to be honest, it isn't instantaneous if you believe in it either. I...
  14. Benst

    Where and What are YOU doing this very moment?

    Haha yes, you have them with a cream Tea or with coffee. Your older aunties probably remember them from back in the day.
  15. Benst

    Jain Punishment

    There are various hells, but you are reborn into Hell, you're not sent there as a Human being. You experience pain and torture down there and even worse, you cannot even hope to attain moksha there because of the uncleanliness of the place.
  16. Benst

    Fred Phelps, founder of Westboro Baptist Church, dies

    As a gay guy, I should be celebrating. But no, I hope he rests in peace. he and his family have spread a lot of hatred, but ultimately, it doesn't matter. He was a product of a certain time and his scope was very minimal. In death, I would hope, he will see how pointless and wrong his views...
  17. Benst

    online Kirtan party

    I'm Saivite, but I love some of the Vaishnava bhajans to Krishna, especially some of the newer ones... Ever since Lagaan this by the delightful Lata Mangeshkar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv4UV9O5drw And this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chHkGBIdnoU I suppose my absolute favourite...
  18. Benst

    Online Aarti - Thoughts?

    I saw this in Hinduism Today years ago about the phenomenon of 'online Mandirs' with flash pujas you could perform. I only casually glanced at it and then swiftly forgot it. I came across one this week and I wondered what people's thought were? Obviously the experiance of Darshan is something...
  19. Benst

    Where and What are YOU doing this very moment?

    I'm sitting here at 1:44 AM, a home-made cranberry scone with butter infront of me and three cats laying on my bed becoming *very* offended when I tell that it's time to go... It could always be worse. Atleast I have my scone!
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