Chapter 16

We are all born like Catholics, aren't we – in limbo¹, withoutreligion, until some figure introduces us to God? After thatmeeting the matter ends for most of us. If there is a change,it is usually for the lesser² rather than the greater; many peopleseem to lose God along life's way. That was not my case. Thefigure in question for me was an older sister of Mother's, of amore traditional mind, who brought me to a temple when Iwas a small baby. Auntie Rohini was delighted to meet hernewborn nephew and she thought she would include MotherGoddess in the delight. "It will be his symbolic³ first outing," shesaid. "It's a samskara!" Symbolic indeed. We were in Madurai;I was the fresh veteran of a seven-hour train journey. Nomatter. Off we went on this Hindu rite⁴ of passage, Mothercarrying me, Auntie propelling her. I have no consciousmemory of this first go-around in a temple, but some smell ofincense, some play of light and shadow, some flame, someburst of colour, something of the sultriness and mystery of theplace must have stayed with me. A germ of religious exaltation,no bigger than a mustard seed, was sown in me and left togerminate. It has never stopped growing since that day.
I am a Hindu because of sculptured cones⁶ of red kumkumpowder and baskets of yellow turmeric nuggets, because ofgarlands of flowers and pieces of broken coconut⁷, because ofthe clanging of bells to announce one's arrival to God, becauseof the whine⁸ of the reedy nadaswaram and the beating ofdrums, because of the patter of bare feet against stone floorsdown dark corridors pierced by shafts⁹ of sunlight, because ofthe fragrance¹⁰ of incense⁵, because of flames of arati lampscircling in the darkness, because of bhajans being sweetly sung,because of elephants standing¹¹ around to bless, because ofcolourful murals telling colourful stories, because of foreheadscarrying, variously signified, the same word – faith. I becameloyal to these sense impressions even before I knew what theymeant or what they were for. It is my heart that commandsme so. I feel at home in a Hindu temple. I am aware ofPresence, not personal the way we usually feel presence, butsomething larger. My heart still skips a beat when I catch sightof the murti, of God Residing, in the inner sanctum of atemple. Truly I am in a sacred cosmic womb, a place whereeverything is born, and it is my sweet luck to behold¹² its livingcore. My hands naturally come together in reverent¹³ worship. Ihunger for prasad, that sugary offering to God that comesback to us as a sanctified treat. My palms need to feel theheat of a hallowed flame whose blessing¹⁴ I bring to my eyesand forehead.
But religion is more than rite and ritual. There is what therite and ritual stand for. Here too I am a Hindu. The universemakes sense to me through Hindu eyes. There is Brahman,the world soul, the sustaining frame upon which is woven,warp and weft, the cloth of being, with all its decorativeelements of space and time. There is Brahman nirguna, withoutqualities, which lies beyond understanding, beyond description,beyond approach; with our poor words we sew a suit for it –One, Truth, Unity¹⁵, Absolute, Ultimate Reality, Ground of Being– and try to make it fit, but Brahman nirguna always burststhe seams. We are left speechless. But there is also Brahmansaguna, with qualities, where the suit fits. Now we call it Shiva,Krishna, Shakti, Ganesha; we can approach it with someunderstanding; we can discern certain attributes – loving,merciful, frightening – and we feel the gentle pull ofrelationship. Brahman saguna is Brahman made manifest to ourlimited senses, Brahman expressed not only in gods but inhumans, animals, trees, in a handful of earth, for everythinghas a trace of the divine in it. The truth of life is thatBrahman is no different from atman, the spiritual force withinus, what you might call the soul. The individual soul touchesupon the world soul like a well reaches for the water table.
That which sustains the universe beyond thought and language,and that which is at the core of us and struggles forexpression, is the same thing. The finite within the infinite, theinfinite within the finite. If you ask me how Brahman andatman relate precisely¹⁶, I would say in the same way the Father,the Son and the Holy Spirit relate: mysteriously. But one thingis clear: atman seeks to realize Brahman, to be united with theAbsolute, and it travels in this life on a pilgrimage where it isborn and dies, and is born again and dies again, and again,and again, until it manages to shed the sheaths that imprison¹⁷ ithere below. The paths to liberation are numerous, but thebank along the way is always the same, the Bank of Karma,where the liberation account of each of us is credited ordebited depending on our actions.
This, in a holy nutshell, is Hinduism, and I have been aHindu all my life. With its notions in mind I see my place inthe universe.
But we should not cling! A plague upon fundamentalists andliteralists! I am reminded of a story of Lord Krishna when hewas a cowherd. Every night he invites the milkmaids to dancewith him in the forest. They come and they dance. The nightis dark, the fire in their midst roars and crackles, the beat ofthe music gets ever faster – the girls dance and dance anddance with their sweet lord, who has made himself soabundant as to be in the arms of each and every girl. But themoment the girls become possessive, the moment each oneimagines that Krishna is her partner alone, he vanishes. So it isthat we should not be jealous with God.
I know a woman here in Toronto who is very dear to myheart. She was my foster mother. I call her Auntieji and shelikes that. She is Québécoise. Though she has lived in Torontofor over thirty years, her French-speaking mind still slips onoccasion on the understanding of English sounds. And so,when she first heard of Hare Krishnas, she didn't hear right.
She heard "Hairless Christians¹⁸", and that is what they were toher for many years. When I corrected her, I told her that infact she was not so wrong; that Hindus, in their capacity forlove, are indeed hairless Christians, just as Muslims, in the waythey see God in everything, are bearded Hindus, andChristians, in their devotion to God, are hat-wearing Muslims.

1 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

2 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

3 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

4 rite   

n.典礼，惯例，习俗

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite.这个节日起源于宗教仪式。
• Most traditional societies have transition rites at puberty.大多数传统社会都为青春期的孩子举行成人礼。

5 incense   

v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气

参考例句：

• This proposal will incense conservation campaigners.这项提议会激怒环保人士。
• In summer,they usually burn some coil incense to keep away the mosquitoes.夏天他们通常点香驱蚊。

6 cones   

n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒

参考例句：

• In the pines squirrels commonly chew off and drop entire cones. 松树上的松鼠通常咬掉和弄落整个球果。 来自辞典例句
• Many children would rather eat ice cream from cones than from dishes. 许多小孩喜欢吃蛋卷冰淇淋胜过盘装冰淇淋。 来自辞典例句

7 coconut   

n.椰子

参考例句：

• The husk of this coconut is particularly strong.椰子的外壳很明显非常坚固。
• The falling coconut gave him a terrific bang on the head.那只掉下的椰子砰地击中他的脑袋。

8 whine   

v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣

参考例句：

• You are getting paid to think,not to whine.支付给你工资是让你思考而不是哀怨的。
• The bullet hit a rock and rocketed with a sharp whine.子弹打在一块岩石上，一声尖厉的呼啸，跳飞开去。

9 shafts   

n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等）

参考例句：

• He deliberately jerked the shafts to rock him a bit. 他故意的上下颠动车把，摇这个老猴子几下。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• Shafts were sunk, with tunnels dug laterally. 竖井已经打下，并且挖有横向矿道。 来自辞典例句

10 fragrance   

n.芬芳，香味，香气

参考例句：

• The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance.苹果花使空气充满香味。
• The fragrance of lavender filled the room.房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

12 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

13 reverent   

adj.恭敬的，虔诚的

参考例句：

• He gave reverent attention to the teacher.他恭敬地听老师讲课。
• She said the word artist with a gentle,understanding,reverent smile.她说作家一词时面带高雅，理解和虔诚的微笑。

14 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

15 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

16 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

17 imprison   

vt.监禁，关押，限制，束缚

参考例句：

• The effect of this one is going to imprison you for life.而这件事的影响力则会让你被终身监禁。
• Dutch colonial authorities imprisoned him for his part in the independence movement.荷兰殖民当局因他参加独立运动而把他关押了起来。

18 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。