Heavy Metal and Hardcore Music is a Universal Language

Watch "Snapcase - Caboose" on YouTube

The above link goes to a YouTube posting to a favorite song of mine from way back in the 1990's. (I can't believe the '90s now count as "way back" - by Ganesha I feel old...) It's also my current jam on "This is My Jam." The lyrics are in the video description, and I suggest you read them, and not just because it's hard to understand the hardcore punk/metal screaming in the song. ;-)

Some people have wondered why I listen to heavy metal and hardcore music, given my leaning towards Hinduism culture and beliefs, including the Indian classical music which obviously sounds completely different! These people haven't suggested I stop listening to my heavy metal/hardcore music, no way, but they are curious how I can like two completely different styles. Well, I believe the above song demonstrates why. Sure, lyrics can go to any song in any genre, but when you put them to the sounds of hardcore and metal...they inspire one to get up and do something! And while there are a few metal/hardcore songs with objectionable lyrics, when you put inspirational lyrics to this same genre of music, it suddenly gets powerful.

This goes into another reason I love metal and hardcore - these songs can inspire anyone regardless of race, nationality, creed, or social status. The raw, earth-shaking sounds of this music can rile up anyone to move, to simply convert themselves into kinetic energy. It's for this reason that metal and hardcore have found footing in almost every corner of the globe. I know fans of these genres from literally halfway across the world (such as Indonesia). I know a documentary on the popularity of heavy metal in Baghdad, Iraq exists somewhere...I haven't watched it yet, but I want to. Regardless, when you see people of all skin colors thrashing about in unison to the performance of a metal or hardcore band...it's nothing short of beautiful.

Sometimes I consider such music to be an expression of bhakti yoga...perhaps not to a specific Hindu God, but to life itself.

The Mouse of Lord Ganesha

Namaste, fair readers. I come to you in this post with an observation that I hope you will find insightful. It has to do with Lord Ganesha's vehicle, popularly depicted as a mouse.

I think I more clearly understand why Shri Ganesha has a mouse for His vehicle. I shall explain below.

Today, as I've mulled over the day's events in my life, I noticed something about myself, and this is a tendency I have observed in others as well - we, as human beings, get caught up in the little details of life. These little details can make or break our mood and our perspective on life. We could have an otherwise pleasant day, and then one small thing happens - someone is mean to us, some unfortunate circumstance happens, etc. - and suddenly our day is ruined. Our mood turns foul, and we have a negative perspective of life. But the converse is true as well - we could have a really terrible, horrible, no-good-very-bad day, but then a fortunate occurrence happens or a random act of kindness comes our way, and all is well again.

The trick, I've discovered, is knowing when to focus on the little, and when to focus on the big picture instead. Likewise, Ganesha, a deity with a large body and the head of an elephant, has a small vehicle of a mouse.

Coincidence? I don't think so.

There's probably a myriad of other historical and/or socio-biological reasons why Shri Ganesha has a mouse. I'm not discounting those. But for me, just now I understand another aspect of life and happiness thanks to His help.

And that is another reason why Lord Ganesha is my Ishta Devata. Jai Shri Ganesh!

Video Game Ayurveda (This Might Be a Weekly Feature)

Namaste readers,

Hopefully you can tell via the links on the side of this blog that I follow the Art of Living organization. And hopefully you also know that the Guru of the Art of Living is H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. And I also love video games. The point I'm getting at is this: recently, in response to the horrible shooting in Connecticut that occurred last month, Guruji said something that I initially didn't agree with, but after thinking about what he said, I better understand.

To be specific, what Guruji said was that violent video games are (partly) to blame for such spree killings...they're not the sole cause, not by a long shot, but they can contribute. Honestly, when he first said something along these lines, my first reaction was utter disagreement, but that sort of came from a gut reaction that Guruji was trying to take my video games away. This gut reaction I later realized was false, as Guruji later elaborated that it was kids playing these violent games and then not being able to subsequently differentiate between fantasy and reality that was a contributing factor.

This is what made things clear for me - I actually began to agree with Guruji's point. I more clearly saw what the problem was: parents need to actually care about what their child is playing, and not let them play violent games. Government censorship of these video games is not the answer, and I realized Guruji was not advocating such; what is the answer is parents getting involved and caring about the video games their children play. You know, actually being parents for once! ;-)

However, I know some parents need help with this. That's why I'm pondering making a weekly feature on my blog about what video games are appropriate for children to play. I know for this particular blog post, I have one particular genre recommendation: racing games!

Racing games are plentiful on today's modern video game consoles (e.g. Xbox 360, PlayStation 3), and most provide a great way to involve the player in competition without having to resort to violence. Two I can think of right now are Forza Horizon for the Xbox 360, and Gran Turismo 5 for the PlayStation 3. And I can tell you, as a gamer, racing a car at high speeds is every bit as thrilling, if not more so, than shooting someone in another video game. I find racing games to be a very sattvic, non-violent alternative to first person shooters. And some studies have shown that playing racing games can make one a better driver in real life!

There are other non-violent game alternatives, but I'll stop here as this blog post is getting long. If there's enough demand, then each week I can highlight more non-violent video games. Let me know what you think!

New Looks

Yeah, you may have noticed I changed the look of this blog somewhat - mainly I updated the background image. I changed the background image to that of an elephant to better indicate my devotion to Lord Ganesha, and also to hopefully make clearer the subject matter and intentions of this blog. I don't know if I will succeed with this new look, but still, I hope people don't have issues. I sincerely hope people enjoy the new look!

I'm putting in all kinds of new effort here to make this blog more readable and to broaden its reader base...but that doesn't mean I'm going to dumb this blog down. I just feel it's time I took this blog more seriously! Of course, if any of you readers have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. :)

Link Dump

If you'll pardon the title, readers, a link dump is generally a good thing - basically it's a term for when a content creator of the Internet (such as myself) decides to share links that s/he finds useful, informative, fun, etc. So I've decided to share a few links in this post for informational purposes that I hope will serve you readers well. Hope you enjoy them!

First up, is a post on Speaking Tree, a site I just discovered where spiritual people can network. This particular post I'm linking to, though, has to do with a particularly insightful interpretation of the most popular story of Lord Ganesha's creation:

http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritual-blogs/masters/mysticism/lord-ganeshas-story-i

This is a commentary where the author of this post comments on a speech H. H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar made about Lord Ganesha, so it is a bit secondhand, but it is nonetheless insightful. I certainly enjoyed it!

The next link comes courtesy of Himalayan Academy, part of Kauai's Hindu Monastery, who also run the magazine Hinduism Today where I was previously published. This link is actually to a free eBook, which I found to be immensely helpful in understanding Lord Ganesha:

http://www.himalayanacademy.com/view/loving-ganesha

Not only is this eBook free, but it is incredibly informative on Lord Ganesha and how to worship Him. I certainly found it to be an invaluable resource.

I know I only have two links in this link dump, but I gotta start somewhere, right? :) There will definitely be more to come! Stay tuned, so to speak.

Yoga Fire!

Please pardon the tacky reference to the Street Fighter series of video games in this post title (look up "Street Fighter Dhalsim" on Google, I'm too lazy to explain it right now), but I had to get your attention somehow. :-) This post has to do with - you guessed it - yoga.

For many readers, the first thing that pops into one's mind when yoga is mentioned is complex sequences of body-stretching, physically taxing poses. Believe it or not, while that is part of yoga, it's only a fraction of the whole equation. Yoga, at least as I understand it from what I've learned over time, I can best describe as the ultimate expression of faith in Hinduism. The word "yoga" is derived from the Sanskrit word yuj, which loosely translated means "union." (I've heard some sources say it's more literally translated as "yoke," as in when you attach a beast of burden to what you want it to pull it is a union of sorts, but that's beside the point.) So yoga can be explained as a way to unify oneself with God. And just as the many Gods in the Hindu faith are manifestations of one Supreme, so there are multiple paths of yoga that all accomplish the same goal. There are four paths to be precise, and while my explanations may be oversimplified, I think they suffice:

-Karma yoga, or service to others
-Bhakti yoga, expression of devotional love
-Jnana yoga, study and contemplation
-Hatha yoga, the physical exercise form of yoga that many Westerners are familiar with

As far as myself, I mainly follow bhakti and karma yoga. I consider this blog to be a form of bhakti sometimes...I know I sometimes post devotional messages to Lord Ganesha in this blog. And as for karma yoga, I try to serve others through my writing and journalism...and I have found ways it can be of use to others. (My Hinduism Today article in the Jan/Feb/Mar 2013 issue, for example. :-) )

One thing I want to stress - just as singing Christmas carols doesn't necessarily make one a Christian, practicing hatha yoga doesn't necessarily make one a Hindu. It takes more than the ability to contort oneself to be considered a true Hindu. Likewise, one should definitely be aware of the Hindu roots of hatha yoga. While I'm not of the mindset that hatha yoga should be practiced exclusively by Hindus, those who do practice it should always remember where it comes from.

And as for Dhalsim from Street Fighter...I don't know where he gets the ability to elongate his limbs at will or what he has to do to spit fireballs, but whatever it is, it's not real yoga. Sorry. ;-)

Shree Ganesh TV Serial - First Impressions

Namaste once more, readers!

A fellow forum user from the Hindu Dharma Forums, upon reading that my Ishta Devata (i.e. personal God) was Lord Ganesha, recommended a TV serial from India for me to watch - Shree Ganesh, a TV serial which she said depicted Lord Ganesha as "the loving Supreme, worshipped by all." She pointed me to a YouTube upload of the series (which I'm guessing is legal as it's been up there a while), although one place to buy the series on DVD can be located at Exotic India Art.

I'm only on the first episode so far, but right now, I think this series seems poised to do just as this forum user said it would! Granted, it has special effects that are obviously low-budget, some overacting, and horribly synced subtitles (at least the version I watched), but even with all those obstacles the series still gets the job done. The first episode deals with the general aspects of Lord Ganesha, at least as interpreted by the creators of the series; of important note is how the plurality of the Gods of Hinduism is positively depicted here, for one solid reason, that reason being to make the God who created the universe be accountable! With all Gods being manifestations of the one Supreme, it makes more sense for the universe to function the way it does, at least more so than the view presented by Abrahamic faiths, in my opinion.

I know this is sort of an oversimplification of the first episode, but this blog post is more to say that I'll be looking into this series and posting more on it in the future, as it's definitely interesting. Check it out!