Oh my god, Ronald made that poor kid his b!tch.

My first impressions of Bhakti Yoga is that it is very much like Christianity.

But, the food was really good.

What is Bhakti Yoga anyway? is it a religion or a type of Yoga?

It's a religion. It is the original belief system before Hinduism. Mario (the teacher) says that they were never called Hindus before the Muslims came. They were called that by the Muslims.

Mario and his wife practice a very fundamentalist Hinduism. I hate to use the word Hinduism since he seemed offended by it. But, that's the best way I can describe it.

Hinduism is kind of interesting. Ive just grazed the surface of it however. I am really more fascinated in the ancient Sanskrit and Tantra and now James has sort of sparked my interest in Chakras form his latest posts which is also based in Indian mysticism that pre-dates Hinduism.

Well, this Bhakti Yoga has more rules to follow than traditional, conservative Catholicism. Of course, there's no fear of going to hell, but there is the fear of being reincarnated into a hellish existence.

So, I think I will be taking some of the spiritual practices of Hinduism and implementing them, however, I'm still your friendly neighborhood Catholic Witch.

Full moon Saturday night.

I like the idea that Hindus do take reincarnation very seriously yet I just dont agree with their strictly defined terms of how it takes place. They have a distinct hierarchy as it relates to what you will be returning as.

Yes. I'm safe though. I ate the Prashaad (sp?) that his wife cooked. It's spiritual food and if you eat it you are guaranteed to come back as a human in your next life.

Of course, I don't believe we reincarnate as anything but humans....but now I'm safe either way.

I guess that's why the whole thing reminded me so much of Christianity. It's another religion based on fear. "Believe this or suffer the consequences".

I guess Im not totally convinced that we automatically return in the same form that we left in. I just dont see why animals would not have spirit also? Maybe even trees and flora? I dont know why I have that feeling but I know in a forest, I can feel something in the air. I dont know what that is. Maybe its just being in the forest and all of the animals but I think its in the trees and foliage.

But that doesnt matter and is really neither here nor there. Either way I do feel strongly about the legitimacy of reincarnation.

Yes I agree I dont like any religion that uses "guilt" and the fear of condemnation as a means of conversion and prolonged membership. That is incompatible with the life force in my opinion.

Well, that's really intersting. I agree with you about all living matter having a life force, an energy, maybe even a spirit. So, were they once human spirits or will be human spirits? Good question.

But, Hinduism teaches that it is a punishment to come back as these things. That it means you were bad and now have to suffer. The spirits of plants and animals are less spiritually enlightened.

Hinduism is an example of a pantheistic religion that has become extremely dogmatic.

Extremely is right!!! I was so disappointed in that fact.

I think I will explore Buddhism next. And, Taoism. Not sure what that is.

Like everything else, the original Sanskrit was really where the beneficial understanding comes in. Chakras and everything else. Hinduism came much later histrionically. Its actually the 5th largest religion in the US today so it does not have insignificant numbers. I guess thats irrelevant though. Its a dogmatic and often times oppressive understanding of the afterword, thats for sure.

I think its 5th in terms of numbers. I forget now and would need to look that up for fresh stats.

It seems that most religions start with some very good teachings that are then twisted into something that can be used to control people with.

The number of people that follow a particular religion is truly meaningless.

In fact, I've heard so many Christians argue that since Christainty is so popular it must be right.

So what does that tell me?

It tells me that a of of Christians believe in Christianity simply because it's so popular.

That's ridiculous. It just goes to show that the vast majorty of people truly are sheep and they just go wherever the herd goes.

It doesn't give any credence to the religion. It just gives credence to the fact that people use erroneous logic to make decisions in their lives.

That's very true.

Hinduism actually has a very beautiful foundational philosophy, but it has been ruined over the millennia by all the detailed dogma that it has been buried under.

Once a philosophy becomes a 'religion' it's doomed to become dogma.

Abra I wasn't making any sort of argument for the religion of Hinduism itself based on its current membership in the US. Only that it is substantial. It was a point of interest type remark as most people would assume (especially Christians) that oh, its just a bunch of wacky Indian mysticism and that is clearly not the case.

Christians still think it's a bunch of wachy Indian mysticism.

Christians hate everyone who doesn't bow down and worship their dogma exclusively.

Yeah that bullsh!t is annoying and causes me to want to slap them around.