A question for both the Hindu and the Buddhist delegations

What would happen if someone were to kidnap a living goddess, if she were removed from her temple, or if she were not treated with respect. Would she still be a goddess? If she had not been discovered by ritual, what would be the consequences? The article left out all the details and explained nothing. At best it sounds like a little girl has been sold into slavery, and she looks very sad in the picture. I wonder what the local Muslims think about it?
 
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Namaste all,

it's a cultural symbol which is now being expressed as nationalism and the main religions of the region are being co-opted into, in some cases, nationalistic movements, many of the countries in the region are still fighting to determine if they will be democratic, autocratic or socialist. given the nature of such conflicts and the role of religion in the lives of the beings which live in the area, all parties have an interest in getting the religious hierarchy behind their agenda.

metta,

~v
 
Phyllis, I noticed this on wiki about Nepal (so it must be true!):

“… differences between Hindus and Buddhists have been in general very subtle and academic in nature due to the intermingling of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs. Both share common temples and worship common deities and many of Nepal's Buddhists could also be regarded as Hindus and vice versa.”

s.
 
Vajradhara said:
Namaste all,

it's a cultural symbol which is now being expressed as nationalism and the main religions of the region are being co-opted into, in some cases, nationalistic movements, many of the countries in the region are still fighting to determine if they will be democratic, autocratic or socialist. given the nature of such conflicts and the role of religion in the lives of the beings which live in the area, all parties have an interest in getting the religious hierarchy behind their agenda.

metta,

~v
Click to expand...
Is the kumari somehow symbolic of your inner 'dancing girl?'
 
seattlegal said:
Is the kumari somehow symbolic of your inner 'dancing girl?'
Click to expand...

Namaste seattlegal,

thank you for the post.

i'm afraid that i'm not versed enough on Nepali culture to ascertain some symbolic aspects of this custome. it is, to my way of thinking, a rather unusual manner to select a countries ambassadors but there you have it. within the context of Sanatana Dharma every external form has a symbolic meaning though, like most Himalaya religious practice, there will be layers upon layers of symbolic meaning which would not be noticed by someone uninitiated so it could well be indicative of the 'dancing girl' aspect of being.

there are many ancient practices which, seemingly, have less and less intrinsic meaning for the polity and have become or are in the process of becoming cultural practices divorced from the intent which founded the tradition in the first place which causes to arise a great deal of curiosity to see how they will change and adapt to modern society.

metta,

~v
 
Snoopy said:
Phyllis, I noticed this on wiki about Nepal (so it must be true!):

“… differences between Hindus and Buddhists have been in general very subtle and academic in nature due to the intermingling of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs. Both share common temples and worship common deities and many of Nepal's Buddhists could also be regarded as Hindus and vice versa.”

s.
Click to expand...


The essential difference between Hinduism and Buddhism is that Buddhism seems entirely focused on helping everyone to achieve Nirvana but has no answer for the next step. Buddhist Avatars are said to return to help others but Buddhism doesn't seem to know what happens when everyone has attained Nirvana. Hinduism, on the other hand, gives Avatars a choice of returning to help others along the spiritual path or to not reincarnate but instead to leave the astral body and merge into Parabrahman just as the wave eventually merges back into the ocean.
 
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