October 2, 2014 Thursday
blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com
email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com
You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com
the earliest Hindu writings, comprising four canonical collections of prayers and hymns.
Vedic: referring to the Vedas or the Hindu culture (1,500 to 500 B.C.)
It is humbling to think of the Vedas dating from 1,500 to 500 B.C. With all my reading and interests, I know almost nothing about the Vedas, let alone the Upanishads (which I think are part of the Vedas) and the more recent Bagavad Gita, that was Ghandi's inspiration. Each culture has such a long, intricate history of philosophical and spiritual ideas and principles. What culture am I turning over to my family and children? What ideals and spiritual beliefs? Mine are rooted in Catholicism and that seems to anchor a deep reality for me. It forms my 'Weltenschauung' so to speak, but doesn't preclude my interest and admiration for hinduism, Buddhism, zen, yoga, Judaism, etc. A wonderful, mysterious journey. In literature, the works of Jhumpa Lahiri manifest this longing and search for cultural identity, i.e. The Namesake, and the exquisite short story The Third and Final Continent.
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