Overview of My Thoughts Thus Far

One thing that interests me thus far in your class is just the meaning of the words such as Ramayana or Mahabharata, which I assume are Sanskrit. I think my interest in these words derives from my yoga training, where I have been familiarized with very similar words. For example, Pranayama means "breath control" and Ahamkara means "ego-self" to yogis. I would love to learn more about this fascinating and beautiful language in the context of Epics of India.

(Sanskrit)

What is your experience with Sanskrit?

Of the two reading options you provide for the upcoming weeks, I am leaning towards the public domain edition of the Ramayanas for the reason that I am looking forward to listen to the audio versions that you recorded.

Although I am not too keen on meditation due to my short attention span and wandering mind, it is a fundamental aspect of yoga and, for this reason, I am currently working on it.

Although I have not read them, I am familiar with 4 Vedas, the sacred scriptures of Hinduism, and the Upanishads, the foundational Hindu texts that embody the poem Bhagavad Gita. I have also begun the extensive process of studying the sacred texts of Yoga Sutra of Patanjali.

My exposure to Bhagavad Gita, a poem about a conversation between Arjuna (a man) and Krishna (a god), is why I included an image of Krishna holding up a mountain in my post:

Krishna Holds Up Mount Govardhan

Date: ca. 1590-95; present-day Pakistan, probably Lahore

Metropolitan Museum of Art

From what I have learned previously, I am drawn to Krishna because of His endless teachings about life, death, duty, non-attachment, the Self, love, spiritual practices, and the depth of reality. For these reasons, the above image depicts the powerful Krishna well as He is holding up a mountain. Not surprisingly, the name Krishna means "the all-attractive one", which can also be interpreted as all-knowing.

Last year, I took an Expository Writing Class with Dr. Robert Scafe on Violence and the Sacred, which included documents such as "Market Regulations in Muslim Seville", "The Legal Status of Jews and Muslims in Castile", and "Muslims and Christians in Valencia: Socializing and Violence on Corpus Christi Day", among other texts on the oppression on certain cultures, especially the historical violence on Muslims.

The closest place to India that I have ever been is Israel and I imagine them to both hold many cultural similarities, especially in their electicism. As I mentioned before, I have been dreaming of traveling to India for awhile now and hope to make this dream a reality as soon as the opportunity presents itself.