For many reasons my parents shared with me as I was growing up, I was brought up an aethiest. Christmas and Easter were family traditions rather than religious holidays. Going to church on Christmas Eve was about singing carols more than it was about the psalms or sermons or whatever the right term is and Easter was about the aluminum wraped chocolates my mum would leave on the rugs throughout the house before Arianne and I would wake up. Long story short, I do not believe in a/any God. Too often, the religions of the world separate people rather than bring them together. In many cases, religious beliefs and ideologies turn into people's realities and then prejudice and conlict ensue. Just think about how many stories on the 6 o'clock news are rooted in religion.
My experience Hare Krishna Consciousness (a worldwide religion started by an Indian) started in Bombay while visiting with Anil's paternal side of the family. We had been visiting with his maternal side for a few days already. Anil had told me that the two sides of the family were quite different, which I was assured was a good thing. Quite a few of his paternal relatives are Hare Krishna devotees whereas the rest of the family is Hindu. He and his cousin Pavitra arranged that we would go with her to the Hare Krisha temple one morning. The morning we were supposed to go was the morning after we were up all night being violently ill so quite obviously we cancelled our temple visit. The next morning we were feeling slightly better, but were still quite weak so we again declined the temple ceremonies, but told Anil's cousin that we would come with her so she could show us around at least. She reassured us that we'd only be there for 5-10 minutes. Now, for those of you out there that aren't Indian or don't have any relatives or friends that are Indian, you'll first need to be introduced to what is commonly known as IST (Indian Standard Time). IST is the time that Indians go by. It explains their formidable lateness and their typical under or overexageration of time. So, what we were promised would be 5-10 minutes turned into a 2 hour affair. I honestly didn't think I was going to make it. I could feel the colour drain from my face and my legs tempting to buckle. To bear it, I had to go into a kind of trance mode. All I could hear was Hindi music blaring through poor-quality speakers and I saw flashes of bangles and yellow gold. My nod of comprehension became automatic and I was wondering how obvious my suffering was. Clearly not obvious enough. I probably could have fainted right then and there as she was preaching about falling in love with Krishna and she would have continued on about it. Not even the most blatent social queues or body language is picked up on. So typical. After the drawn-out explanations and enough nodding to give me a kink in my neck, we were taken around the various parts of the temple including the gift shop (of course there is a gift shop... there's always a gift shop). Trying to be poilte, Anil asked about a few of the items for sale which was taken to mean that he wanted them so the next thing we know, she's at the checkout counter with all of these items in her arms. So we got out of there with two Krishna nightlights, two cloth bags, a calendar with Krisha in different scenarious and poses each month (some of you are bound to get these as re-gifts... sawee!) and enough ras malai, an Indian sweet to rot our teeth to the roots! When we finally left the temple, we got into her and her husband's car and were driving back to their house with the Hare Krishna music blaring and her chanting continuously. I looked over at Anil and we shared a look of hopelessness. Pavitra made us a delicious Hare Krishna lunch (they cannot cook with garlic or onion) which we couldn't enjoy to its fullest as we had little to no appetite. After lunch, without instigation, the preaching ensued. We listened patiently while she attempted to convert us, or so it seemed. Then after another 2 hours, we were told we should probably get some rest (you think?!) and were shown to the guest room. Needless to say, we slept well (after some whispered venting). The rest of the evening was quite nice as more relatives came over and the atmosohere loosened up a little. That evening we stayed with Anil's aunt and her husband (also Hare Krishna). We realized that there is so much talk of Hare Krishna because they have completely devoted themselves to it. In this case, they have basically stopped seeing much of their immediate family, their old friends and given up their careers, etc. all because they want to remain completely and utterly focused on Hare Krishna. It seems as though they don't/can't relate to the outside world anymore. They said that the other devotees are now their family, a concept that is still hard for me to swallow. They also told us that they are the only ones that truly worship God because everyone else worships in vain, meaning that they are not truly dedicated and aren't in love with their God(s). As an example she talked about Hindus. She argued that Hindus practice their religion very naievely because they carry out religious ceremonies and activities "just because their mother told them to" (which seems to be somewhat true based on my experience) and praise many demi Gods. You see my point about religions separating people?? I just don't get it. Anyhow, to avoid being a hypocrite and to remain unprejudice I must say "different strokes for different folks" and leave it at that. That being said, I am quite content being an aethiest.
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