Today is my first full day as a Hindu, so I just added one member to the world’s third-largest religion—not that they need my help. The estimated number of Hindus worldwide ranges from 800 million to more than a billion. But I’m here, so I’ll do my part.
Hinduism teaches that there is some form of divinity in every heart. Our purpose for existing is to find a way to experience that divine part of ourselves directly.
I know it’s only been a day so far, but I’ve got to say I don’t feel all that divine. I pretty much wake up every morning feeling like I haven’t slept at all and wondering how long I can stay in bed before anyone will notice that I’m not actually participating in life.
If I do have any divine spark inside me, I’d like to channel it and ask for something. Not money or fame or power or endless Faustian knowledge. All I want is a little energy boost, just something that would help me view each day as a good thing, a new opportunity, and not just a chore to be endured as painlessly as possible.
I’m hoping I’ll find my spark of divinity, and that a little supernatural energy will come with it, maybe even some optimism. Hinduism has to have some wisdom. It’s been around for 3,500 years, so it must have something to offer or it wouldn’t have such tremendous staying power.
I’ve read that Hindus believe in striving to gain freedom the perceived world by getting rid of their ties to the material planes of existence. That won’t be easy for me. I’m pretty big on the material. I mean, even at this exact moment, while I’m trying to figure out how to transcend the material plane, all I can think about is going out and buying some stuff to help make myself “feel more Hindu.” Maybe some cool statues of gods or something. I do love knick-knacks.
But no. I’m going to fight that urge. I’m going to spend the rest of the day working conscientiously and trying to meditate in an attempt to connect with the divine aspect within me. This is not going to be as easy as I expected.
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