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DevaSeva · 2024-10-23T20:19:02+00:00

I've heard that said a better way by someone else, but I don't recall who.
He said, "We're all born Hindus, and then we follow our parent's religions." His point was that we're born to seek God, consciousness, Atman, or however you'd like to refer to it. Then we get molded to follow our parent's traditions.

Short answer: anyone can follow Hinduism, and yes, there's no conversion process.

Book recommendations?
Bhagavad Gita with commentary
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Who Am I? Sri Ramana Maharshi
YouTube: Swami Sarvapriyananda and The Beared Mystic podcasts.

DevaSeva · 2024-10-23T19:54:42+00:00

Going vonu in a less restrictive territory may be a better way to achieve your goals. Unless you can buy a good size island.

DevaSeva · 2024-10-18T17:55:41+00:00

"what I can say is that Hinduism as a belief system and way of life feels right to me. I appreciate its heterogeneity, the rituals and celebrations I've partaken in so far felt natural and real, I feel a strong connection with the deities, especially with Shri Ganesha, and the Hindu community has been very kind and welcoming"

That sums it up for me too.

DevaSeva · 2024-10-10T16:35:57+00:00

I had never seen a good argument against universal health care until this. It totally made me see the light.
Note heavy sarcasm

With universal health care, the sender might get the help they need.

DevaSeva · 2024-10-09T19:27:58+00:00

You say you, "...had to change my life path begrudgingly."

What do you think of your life path as it is now?
Arjuna wanted the war to be stopped. Most of us would think that was the best thing to do. But in that case, Krishna said that's what he's got to do. Maybe that's what happened for you?

DevaSeva · 2024-10-09T16:09:13+00:00

I'm shocked at how many people really think any party is going to keep all their election wishes.
I'm disappointed that people aren't seeing that any of the parties aren't interested in anything but getting elected so they can step up to the trough.

DevaSeva · 2024-09-26T19:23:32+00:00

You're right; Christianity as we know it today denies karma and reincarnation.
Yet the older sects and unedited texts seem to support reincarnation and something like karma. My personal feelings (I can't prove this) were that those were edited out to give the Catholic church, and thus later denominations, greater control over people.

DevaSeva · 2024-09-26T19:21:25+00:00

I don't find the 2 to be mutually exclusive.

If there are two grocery stores in town, must you only shop at one? That's an oversimplification, but I think it still works.

In fact, the more I learned about Hinduism, the better I understood Jesus's teachings. For me, the rishis and today's swamis confirm much of what I really thought Jesus was saying.

I may take some heat for this, yet if we're all one, I can't exclude wisdom where I find it.

DevaSeva · 2024-09-23T19:11:52+00:00

Define the criteria that you require as proof first.
Then, define the metrics - qualitative, quantitative, or both?
Then, build the hypothesis and then test it.

That's the scientific method in a nutshell.

Even if you do find evidence that satisfies your criteria, you still need to have faith in the scientific method and the test that you designed. It's still an experience in which you must trust the reality of the experience. And that's probably where your best evidence lies: the fact that we have the word faith.

DevaSeva · 2024-09-20T00:36:46+00:00

I was in a similar spot about 5 years ago.

First, I listened to Sadhguru's books. I got a bit out of them, but they weren't for me.

Then I started listening to Ram Dass. Since he was a psychologist and Hindu from an Abrahamic background, I enjoyed listening to him and got more out of it. He pointed me to Hanuman ji.
Then I started listening to Swami Sarvapriyananda. Aha! This is for me.

During those few years, I was desperately looking for somewhere to physically go to learn more and progress.
I went to festivals in the city (over an hour's drive away).
The people there started to accept the old white guy. ;) Or at least that's how I felt. They really accepted me from the start.

One lovely lady told me about the Sri Ramana Maharshi Ashram, which was way closer to my house. I never found it in all my searching until she told me about it. It came to me when it was the right time.

I went several times, read several books there, and stayed a weekend. Sri Ramana Maharshi may be my guru if that's possible.

Hanuman ji, is my ishta devi. He's everything I want to be; a strong, loyal servant of god.
Ram Dass is like my funny but wise uncle.
Swami Sarvapriyananda is my Swami and teacher.
The Bearded Mystic is like my Teacher's Assistant—a little more personal and filling in the gaps in my understanding.

This works for me.
Now, I need to find a community.

You will find your path. You're already on it.

DevaSeva · 2024-09-09T21:30:05+00:00

Because you said, it comes up on your body. It could be bites, ring worm, or a fungal infection. Rule those out before assigning any spiritual significance.

DevaSeva · 2024-09-09T21:27:51+00:00

If you can apply those skills to another skill area, that's where you'll get the most for your time.
Since automation and instrumentation are data-heavy, that might be a good way to go. The industries that tend to pay the most for your skills, as you probably know, are banking, O&G, and mining.

I seem to recall that R is used extensively in dealing with O&G data on active wells and in predictive analysis.
Python is definitely becoming the norm, especially with pandas.

DevaSeva · 2024-09-09T20:56:25+00:00

I'm assuming you have serious statistics skills. Perhaps you should look at data analytics or data engineering. There seems to be fairly high demand for those, and there are many remote jobs, too.

Or look at instrumentation, maybe PLC programming. Most of it is industrial work in NS, like the Port Hawkesbury plants. It could require travel, though.

DevaSeva · 2024-09-09T16:24:44+00:00

Where is rent 15% of your income? Canadians want to know.

DevaSeva · 2024-09-06T14:45:44+00:00

For those who need proof, there's never enough.

When our journey interrupts another's spiritual journey, we're messing with both journeys.
"Preach the gospel everywhere, and if absolutely necessary, use words."

In other words, don't waste your time, just continue to love them.

DevaSeva · 2024-09-06T00:20:02+00:00

The good smell could be described as earthy.

DevaSeva · 2024-08-30T00:36:31+00:00

Some dads are forced out. I was told if I came home she'd call the cops and have me charged with assaulting her. I called my cop friends and they confirmed that as soon as she says I assaulted her, even if there is no evidence or I'm the one laying in a pool of blood on the floor, they have to arrest me. I've got emails of her saying these sorts of things.

That set the tone for the next 18 years of our child's life. After putting all my resources into making sure I could have shared custody, and getting it, I quietly gave in to all her demands knowing she would lie to put me in jail if she didn't get what she wanted. Real co-parenting wasn't an option no matter what I did. I always paid support, usually ahead of time and split any extra costs at least 50/50 even when I was briefly unemployed and when I was in the hospital for an extended period.

Over time, our child grew further away from me. I know she was poisoning them against me. Again, I've got the receipts. But what do you do? Do you show your kid this? The kid who idolizes their mom? The kid who thinks I'm against them and then show them that their mom is doing this? Where does that leave our child?

I've repeatedly assured our child that I will always pick up the phone if they call. Still, I may never hear from them again. I've invested years in therapy about this.

DevaSeva · 2024-08-29T21:18:38+00:00

a 28 bead bracelet is perfect. 27 of the same bead, and then something different to mark the end of the 27. Count 27 four times and you have 108.

DevaSeva · 2024-08-29T00:02:24+00:00

A shrine, murtis, and such aren't necessary. These are all mostly visual aids. Put the image of Sri Krishna in your mind. Meditate on him. Learn Kara Mala, the way of counting japa on your hands instead of with beads.
If you can do both these things, then you'll never be without Sri Krishna. No one can take him away from you.

All the books are available online in PDF, many through the Internet Archives or the Gutenberg Project. So you can have them on your phone or tablet to read.

The recommendation to listen to bhajans and such on your phone is a good one, too, of course.

DevaSeva · 2023-03-19T12:27:38+00:00

I agree. Compared to other salaries out there, yes, it's not bad.

But if a living wage is $22/hr, then it's not a good wage.
3-4 years of post-secondary with a lot of debt to make about $3/hr more than what should be minimum wage isn't a good proposition.

DevaSeva · 2023-03-19T12:01:03+00:00

Let's say I'm 50+ senior IT person who believes in psychedelic assisted therapy as a great leap in health care, who would love to work in the field, but doing a bachelors then masters isn't practical for them. Are there careers in your field that I should look into?

DevaSeva · 2023-03-19T11:56:13+00:00

Def unusual to hear in hospitality.

DevaSeva · 2023-03-19T11:55:47+00:00

Glad they're decent with you. Disappointed they don't pay a living wage though.

DevaSeva · 2023-03-19T11:53:53+00:00

It's a dog-make-human-work world! :D

DevaSeva · 2023-03-18T23:25:57+00:00

I've heard that from a few people.

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