My Visit To A Hindu Temple

Yesterday, I fulfilled a plan with my wife and son that I had been talking about for a week or so, and that was to visit a local Hindu temple. The reason I wanted such an experience was because I have always been curious about Hinduism since it's the largest polytheistic religion in the world today. I also wanted my family to have an interfaith experience, and so we traveled to Aurora, Illinois, about an hour away, to visit the Sri Venkateswara Swami Balaji Temple. 

It was, to date, one of the largest polytheistic temples I have ever been to. Beautifully white with crafted towers that are tipped in gold. The outside entrance has a beautiful fountain and a garden dedicated to Ganesha, the Hindu God of wisdom, intellect and new beginnings, with several different statues of the God encircling it. The front entrance is flanked with four statues of other Hindu Gods, but I do not know their names. When we went inside, I got the impression that photography, especially on the top level where worship took place, was not liked, and so I decided to not take any pictures of the interior, but I will describe the interesting experience that we had.

Everyone has to have their legs covered, unless they're a child like my son. I went in wearing shorts, so in order to go up to the top level, I had to borrow one of their spare garments that was available at the entrance to tie around my waist, and everyone had to take their shoes off. One thing I noticed upon entering was the relentless chanting and praying coming from the top level. You walk up a red carpeted staircase to reach that level. There is a central shrine and sitting area where the Hindus gather, and encircling the room are countless shrines to their various Gods and Goddesses. People will come there, if nothing else, to just stand before the shrines and pray, meditate or dedicate themselves. Some people even lie completely on their stomachs in order to lay their entire bodies out in devotion. Regular offerings are also given to the Gods in their shrines.

Like Hellenists, the Hindus adorn their statues with garments and valuables, and like was done in the days of ancient Greece, they keep a flame lit inside the holy places where the Gods are represented and housed. The shrines varied in size, but they were all beautifully crafted with statuary, gold, and sculptures. One thing that really stood out to me was the fact that the shrines, or at least some of them, had names of sponsors. People, groups or organizations sponsor the construction, care and funding of a particular shrine, and I wish Hellenists would also do something like that around the world. It was one practice that stood out to me.

But the Hindus themselves chant and pray endlessly, presumably all day long. They never stopped the entire time we were there. The temple was filled with their voices and music. Their devotion is remarkable. They dedicate their lives to spiritual connection and ascension. Inside the temple, I felt as if there was very little interest in the outside mundane world, as it were. And the Hindu community in the area seems very strong, as there were hundreds if not thousands of people passing through and they were all clearly of Indian blood. I think my family and I were the only white people there. But we were still welcomed and not treated any differently than anyone else.

As someone who loves spiritual devotion in his own religious life, what I admired most about the Hindus was how strong and endless their own was. It has caused me to develop a great deal of respect for them. And one belief I really like about Hinduism is called Samsara, which is a spiritual goal of eventually breaking free of the cycle of birth and death, where there is no longer any reincarnation, just total spiritual ascension and liberation, where you are forever free from the physical and material world. 

Before we left, I felt we should show a basic level of respect to the temple, so my wife and I turned and bowed at the entrance. Hellenists, as our religious ancestors did, have respect for other cultures. We do not think that ours should be the only one. Hinduism itself is continuing to grow across the world. In the previous decade, their numbers rose by 100 million. I hope we learned a lot about another people. 

In the Goodness of the Gods, 

I'll see you at the next Herm down the road, 

Chris Aldridge.

Love and Lust Are Equally Beautiful

When the universe came into existence, Eros was among the first to be born, which means that life and beauty came from both love and eroticism, for He is the God of both love and lust. People today act as though lust is something to be avoided and reviled, unvirtuous at best, but that's just our brainwashed minds talking, repeating the modernized social norms, mainly derived from Abrahamic cultures, to make us feel ashamed of our humanity. 

Love and lust are both equally valid and wonderful, and one can be found powerfully in the other. Diverse pleasure is the human experience. It allows you to accept everything as it is, and people as they are, without ruining your relationships or experiences.

For starters, no lifelong love begins with love. Most of the time, no one says I love you on the first date. It all begins with a lust. The person turned you on, caught your eye, struck your interest. Maybe you even had sex on the first encounter, and that's wonderful. When you receive someone to share intimacy with, it's a gift from Aphrodite, as well as Eros, and you should enjoy it. 

I know I have certainly had such experiences in the past. I have even been with women who I only had sex with once, which means it was lustful, and yet, I still care for them even to this day. Because you share something special with the person(s), and in your mind and heart, that will always mean something. In fact, throughout my younger life, I ignored several opportunities to have that pleasure with people, and I later had to work through the regret. You'll always regret the things you don't do. Take it from someone who knows, don't pass it up. 

Within lust, one can as well find that they love something or someone. Equally, within love there can be lots of lust. I dearly love my wife, but I still have the carnal desire for all that she is, which would be called lust. I love her body, her kiss, and her touch, and also notable, the lust drives the passion that has never died for the entire 15 years we have been together.

These are all powerful and important forms of sexuality and human interaction; sometimes one even hinges on the other. Somethings are meant to turn into lifelong love, and others are meant for pleasure's sake, for the benefit of friendship and attraction, and both of these can bring equal amounts of joy, beauty and support into your life. 

Life was, is, and always will be multifaceted. An individual is not meant to be just one thing, or experience one event, throughout their entire life. The opportunity to take part in all that life has to offer is not meant to be feared. We are meant to live fully. The Gods did not give us life, and send people and things into our lives, for no reason at all. We are meant to enjoy and find pleasure in all of that, to learn and grow, and define all that is part of our lives.

That is, if you accept that both love and lust are valuable. If you abandon one another just because of the kind of attraction and connection you have, you'll always lose all the benefits of that relationship. If you are of the mind that you should resent your humanity, you must first change that mindset, and realize that your humanity is blessed, not damned.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

I'll see you at the next Herm down the road,

Chris Aldridge.

Do We Still Love Athletes Like Ancients?

Our love for the professional and victorious athletes continues to follow us all the way from ancient Greek times. And make no mistake, it is not the professionalism, but the glory that we enjoy. People completely alter their appearance and character when attending their favorite sporting event and cheering for their most loved competitor. 

If people gave 1/10th the enthusiasm toward actual problems in our country as they do to football, we'd be in much better shape. But for some reason, people don't want to take on the hard things in life, and so sports provide a literal escape from reality. People can forget for a time. This is both beneficial and destructive when taken to the extreme. 

We all need a break from time to time, but ignoring life can eventually lead to outright delusion. Ancient Rome had this same problem. People ended up caring more about Games than actually running the State. It's one of the reasons the Empire fell.

But the ancient Greeks were more moderate and reasonable with their love of Games. They were indeed important and even religious activities, but they did not constitute the whole or even the daily life of the people and their societies. They were largely part of the religious events of the day or festival, but the winners, especially those of the Olympics, could expect lavish reward, even including a pension. 

Of course, it was nothing like what athletes are given today, salaries that would be considered a ridiculous amount, especially given the fact that millions of Americans live in poverty, and 333 million children worldwide wake up every day in impoverishment. That's more than the entire population of the United States of America.

I do think exceptional athletes, as in ancient times, deserve a place of honor in the State. They go through many years of hard training, sacrifice, pain, injury and dedication so that they can reach the glory that they so desire, for themselves, their team, and their people. They reach status that most other people probably could not, and for their success and service, they deserve recognition and a pension. I do not, however, think that any athlete deserves a salary of 50 million dollars a year, or even in a lifetime.

I also feel that major Games, such as the Olympics, have lost their meaning. The Games were created to honor Zeus, King of all Gods. In short, they are religious and spiritual events that recognize and revere the Higher Powers, and acknowledge our own proper and unique place in life as human beings. But today, the sacredness is literally all gone. In my view, it's been reduced to mere competition of one person trying to outdo the other, and there is no understanding whatsoever of our humanity and the blessed abilities that have been bestowed upon us by the Gods. 

Not only do we pay athletes too much money, but the money and the mortal basically become the gods of the Games. The Olympics are losing their former glory. Viewership of the Olympics dropped by 40% worldwide during the last cycle. Even football, one of America's most loved past times, has experienced a drop in popularity by about 1 million viewers. 

There was a time when people were excited to love and impress Divinity and one another. When something is reduced to the mere rudimentary, the nature of it is to whither. But the Gods never whither or die. Everything about them is eternal and ongoing. That's probably one of the reasons the Greeks centered everything around their Gods. I'm not saying athletes should be forced into Hellenism or any kind of worship. I'm saying that larger meaning, something more than just self, is what will maintain everything, even ourselves.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

I'll see you at the next Herm down the road,

Chris Aldridge.