Does the Hindu tilak or gandha bother you?

[ameyAtmA]

Dear Friends

If you are living in the US/UK/Europe/Australia or another country in the western hemisphere, and suddenly see someone wearing a dash or dot of ashTa gandha ( yellow-orange sandlewood paste ) on their forehead. What is your reaction ?

1. Do you frown ? Why ?

2. What goes on in your mind ? "You are worshiping idols / demonic forces " ?

3. Why did that same person not bother you yesterday when the sandalwood paste was missing ? i.e. when they dressed just like you ?

4. Do you stare with disgust ?

5. Do you curse them silently so they fall sick, become weak, or state authoritatively to yourself that they are "going to hell" because they do not believe like the "rest of us" (read: Abrahamic religions)

6. Do you simply dismiss them as "Pagan" ? but that you can do without their forehead tilak is it not ? Because you sort of know they are Hindu -- then why did the tilak put you off ? Is it because of their religious intensity? because you were comfortable with the other Hindus not being religious (not wearing tilak) ?

7. Worse - you come in to work and see your colleague wearing the sandalwood tilak, all peaceful and smiling. Does that put you off ? Why ?

thanks

There is One Supreme that is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, that manifests at will, that allows representation in forms, for simplicity in focus and worship

namostav anantAya sahastra mUrtaye sahastra pAdAkshashirorubAhave |
sahastranAmne purushAya shAswate sahastra-koTi-yuga-dhAriNe namah: ||

harih: om ~ sahasrasheershA purushah: sahasrAksha sahasrapAt
sa bhUmim vishwatovrutvA tyattishThaddashAngulam
purusha eveda sarvam , yat bhUtam yad bhavyam.....

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

Or, do you observe this and wonder what it is, why it is, and so on...genuinely interested and not threatened at all...but are afraid to ask...not because you think it pagan or whatever, but because you don't want to pry into something that is someone else's private business...

 

[ameyAtmA]

Thanks for adding that option beenherebeforeagain

That reaction is known, and most here would respond like that, but it is very easy to distinguish between a positive reaction like the one you have described and a clearly negative reaction.

My focus was on the negative reaction.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

Thanks for adding that option beenherebeforeagain

That reaction is known, and most here would respond like that, but it is very easy to distinguish between a positive reaction like the one you have described and a clearly negative reaction.

My focus was on the negative reaction.

well, I can't supply any real insight into that...

 

[Valjean]

I'm still trying to imagine myself a Christian....

 

[ameyAtmA]

I'm still trying to imagine myself a Christian....

Seeing responses from you, Valjean, and beenherebeforeagain, I have edited the OP to remove the 'imagine ...' phrase.

The question is only for those that it applies to - if they would like to give their thoughts on the thread.

Namaste

 

[Valjean]

I'm pretty comfortable with novelty and cultural diversity. I generally find the exotic more interesting than threatening.

 

[sayak83]

Dear Friends

If you are a Christian living in the US/UK/Europe/Australia, and suddenly see someone wearing a dash or dot of ashTa gandha ( yellow-orange sandlewood paste ) on their forehead. What is your reaction ?

1. Do you frown ? Why ?

2. What goes on in your mind ? "You are worshiping idols / demonic forces " ?

3. Why did that same person not bother you yesterday when the sandalwood paste was missing ? i.e. when they dressed just like you ?

4. Do you stare with disgust ?

5. Do you curse them silently so they fall sick, become weak, or state authoritatively to yourself that they are "going to hell" because they do not believe like the "rest of us" (read: Abrahamic religions)

6. Do you simply dismiss them as "Pagan" ? but that you can do without their forehead tilak is it not ? Because you sort of know they are Hindu -- then why did the tilak put you off ? Is it because of their religious intensity? because you were comfortable with the other Hindus not being religious (not wearing tilak) ?

7. Worse - you come in to work and see your colleague wearing the sandalwood tilak, all peaceful and smiling. Does that put you off ? Why ?

thanks

There is One Supreme that is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, that manifests at will, that allows representation in forms, for simplicity in focus and worship

namostav anantAya sahastra mUrtaye sahastra pAdAkshashirorubAhave |
sahastranAmne purushAya shAswate sahastra-koTi-yuga-dhAriNe namah: ||

harih: om ~ sahasrasheershA purushah: sahasrAksha sahasrapAt
sa bhUmim vishwatovrutvA tyattishThaddashAngulam
purusha eveda sarvam , yat bhUtam yad bhavyam.....

Another non-Christian POV.

If I see someone who is clearly non-South Asian wearing very very distinctive clothing traditionally associated with Hindu religious groups, I do wonder if religion is getting mixed up with culture and whether there is some kind of peer pressure working to conform to Indian culture as well. That would be bad.

 

[ameyAtmA]

Thanks Sayak. What about a clearly South-Asian ?
Further, why does the person have to be South Asian? Why can't it be someone more native to the land where they are, particularly in the western part of the world

Gandha is clearly adhyAtmic, shows spiritual intensity. It is not cultural.
Saying that it is OK if a South Asian wears it is making it cultural rather than religious or spiritual (because their Mom applied gandha on their forehead since they were a baby - so they continue)

I am not referring to people wearing a saffron robe or something, just the tilak or some gandha-mark - but dressed secularly like everyone else in that Desha-kAla frame.
- At a store
- At work-place
- In public places
and so on

 

[sayak83]

Thanks Sayak. What about a clearly South-Asian ?

Since I am one, the question does not apply. I like how I look,

 

[ameyAtmA]

Since I am one, the question does not apply. I like how I look,

A] I think this is more about the thinking that "religion should be left at home" and not brought to the workplace, or even the grocery store. Implying - everyone should look the same and one should not be able to 'tell' what someone's faith is.

B] However, I also wonder about "you are worshiping idols / demonic forces" idea about Hinduism since symbols of other religions are well-taken and not 'frowned upon'
Hinduism has been mis-represented for decades. People just know what they were taught about it as children.

So the question is not for any particular religious group. It is actually for all - including atheists and agnostics - especially considering point A] above.

The reason I left out the eastern hemisphere or far East is because it is a different dynamic there.

 

[SomeRandom]

I just generally don't care. I used to, but honestly if someone wants to wear a taliik or whatever then so be it.

 

[ameyAtmA]

I just generally don't care. I used to,

Thanks for your input SomeRandom. You used to ? May I ask why and in what context ?

 

[Vinayaka]

I just don't think the world is as negative as we sometimes imagine. But then I love in a multicultural city, and at almost any outing, you'll see great diversity. I generally remove my forehead marks still though. Not because I'm frightened of some great anti-Hindu mobbing attack, but because I don't like explaining.

 

[SomeRandom]

Thanks for your input SomeRandom. You used to ? May I ask why and in what context ?

Because I was immature. Well I still am, but less today.