Learning Challenge: Grant Snider's Interior Life

This is so true!! This is what yoga is all about and what we learn about in my yoga teacher training. People are very surprised to learn that the physical aspect of yoga is miniscule compared to the mental and emotional aspects. 

Source: Learning by HEART

An unkept mind can be very dangerous to our mental health, especially that "I'll deal with it eventually" space where we push everything that we don't want to deal with when in reality we should be dealing with it head on! This is much easier said than done but it doesn't hurt to TRY.

Growth Mindset: Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences

I was very intrigued by Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences. It seems like everyone would be great in at least one aspect of these intelligences, which makes everyone unique and special and important. I think it would be very beneficial if people were familiarized with these multiple intelligences. For example, I am good at caring for others but I am not so good at drumming. I think this class can make me better at reflection. What are your strengths?

Source: Growth Mindset Memes

Week 7 Review: More Midterms...

Unfortunately, my midterms have received nearly all of my attention for the past few days. Thus, I'm sure my Epics of India course feels like the unloved child. Still, it is a source of motivation just as this meme is!

Source: Cheezburger

Week 7 Reading Diary: The Mahabharata Part C

Again, this idea that it is a man’s obligation to protect women appears in Krishna’s Visit when Draupadi inquires, “Is it not the duty of a husband to protect his wife?” The theme in both The Ramayana and The Mahabharata is consistently that those who have everything must deal with the loss of everything. This is a really interesting theme because it shows the values that our meant to be emphasized through literature and that is not the value of material things but of values of integrity, honor, and truth, as the quote below illustrates.

I absolutely LOVE what Yudhishthira preaches, “Anger is sinful; it is the cause of destruction. He that is angry cannot distinguish between right and wrong. O fair Draupadi, one should forgive every wrong. Forgiveness is holiness; it is Truth; it is Brahman.”

The characters of these stories must find this truth by abandoning their attachments to worldly things. The value of such qualities, for example patience, is emphasized again in The Himalayas.

What a beautiful depiction of the life of a hermit in Arjuna and Shiva.

I was intrigued by the explanation of Hanuman's presence on earth even still today, which was provided in the reading guide for Bhima and Hanuman. It is quite humorous that Bhima was unable to lift Hanuman in the form of a monkey. As Hanuman explains in this section, I also believe that humanity's fall away from universal truth is responsible for disease and many other calamities.

Hanuman in monkey form. Source: Flickr.

Week 7 Reading Diary: The Mahabharata Part B

I love how Prince Vidura is responsible for making the connection between the wood furniture and tapestries and the hazard that presents itself in the form of oil in The House of Fire, which you would think would give away the plot although it didn’t for me. The way Indian epics relate to the moon is very beautiful; for example, Purochana sought a “moonless” night to set Queen Kunti and the Pandavas’ palace on fire. It is apparent that the stages of the moon are very important to Indian literature. I believe the moon affects nearly every aspect of our lives in some way or another and for this reason, we should become more in tune with its cycles.

Cycles of the Moon. Source: Pixabay.

Ironically, the trap that Purochana intended for Queen Kunti and the Pandavas actually ended up being his demise. I was so sad to hear what happened to the low-caste woman and her five sons! I feel like this may be some kind of consequence for Price Vidura’s actions – karma.

I cannot imagine reading Bhima and Hidimba without the impeccable descriptions it provides. As in this part of The Mahabharata and also my story The Great Banyan Tree, the banyan tree is presented as a strong and protective being. The lotus flower is present too as a description of the rakshasa woman’s lover’s eyes, or Bhima’s. Another blog that I read mentioned the stigma around women to not be harmed or engage in combat; I didn’t recognize this for myself until Bhima claims that no woman shall be killed in his presence. This distinction between man and woman is really interesting to me.  It really shows Bhima’s beautiful character when, in a life or death situation, he is concerned for his mother and brothers’ slumber.