If the discussion goes very far, we will take it off- thread. I should tell you, as a set up, that my father was a lukewarm Jew, and my mother, though a convert, returned to the Catholic Church after their divorce, and took myself and my brothers with her. Thus, I came from a somewhat liberal religious background.
Being precocious, I had a lot of interest in other religions. In the case of Hinduism, this was increased through a couple of things: there was, when I was young, a Hatha Yoga program on television, which caused me to buy a book on yoga; and my grandparents had a book on India by Lowell Thomas, which fascinated me. There was a version of the Upanishads (translated by Christopher Isherwood with the help of a swami) out in paperback, and also a copy of the Bhagavad- Gita, although I cannot remember who translated it, so I had perused both before puberty, and then several other times over the years.
In the Upanishads, I was fascinated with the idea of the atman as being ultimately identified with Brahm, and therefore the concept of Nirvana as being our realization of the divinity at the core of our beings, somewhat beyond personality. In the long run, I rejected the idea, of course.
In the Bhagaved- Gita, I found the idea of doing one's duty without "attachment" very interesting, as well as the description of the various ways of yoga, with which I was somewhat familiar. I think it is still a valuable comment on what one may call the natural dispositions of religion, such as the devotional (bhakti) and the intellectual (jnana), as well as the ritually and morally observant (karma).
I have also read selections of the Vedas, hymns to the devi, such as Indra and Ganesha. If you like science fiction, permit me to recommend the novel "Lord of Light", by Roger Zalazney, which postulates a society developed by an Earth ship based on Hinduism, only with "real" gods and goddesses, and "real" machines that permit reincarnation.
I suspected that as an engineer you might be secular, and I am not surprised you like military/spy novels, most of which I have not read, although I have seen a few of the movies/tv shows based on them.
By the way, I have also read a fair amount on Buddhism and Islam, Confucianism and Taoism, and even a little on Shinto. I have seen numerous exhibitions, both touring and permanent, of Asian art. I am fortunate to live in the DC area, and therefore to have the opportunity to see big shows from Cambodia, Japan, the PRC and Taiwan, and others at the National Gallery. At the Sackler and Freer, also on the Mall, there are many things relating to India, and the Walters Gallery, in Baltimore, also has a very good permanent collection of Asian art. I go to New York fairly often, and periodically spend time on Asian art at the Metropolitan Museum. I am a literary/arty kind of guy...... |
