Week 10 Reading Diary D: Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art Continued

(An image of Brahma with his four heads.)

I am a bit sad that I am almost finished with the Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art.

The first video this week featured the Ramayana. It was pretty cool to see how things that we have read in class appear throughout other works. I know this happens all the time, but I was impressed with how quickly you notice things like this in this class.It's a bit weird because the narrator refers to Rama as Ram.

This video explains the cultural and societal differences when Vishnu appears in different forms. It directly compares Rama/Ram and Krishna. I liked that the videos do this contrast of forms or characters.

Brahma's secret is human life is an opportunity. Brahma isn't talked about much. He has no festivals, no rituals or prayers for Brahma. He is the creator and he forgets the reason of creation therefore he is not "worthy." Drastically different from Christian ideas.

Brahma created the world to understand who he was. The world was his daughter and he fell in love with her. I found this a bit weird. It's a pretty universal theme that a father should not fall in love with their daughter and this story upholds that theme. He seems a bit crazy and I can see why people tend to shy away from him.

Brahma creates everything, Shiva destroys everything and Vishnu is detached from everything. Brahma is unworthy of worship because he wont understand anything. This is why the human lives is cyclical and keeps repeating. To stop the cycle a soul needs to reach the level of Shiva or Vishnu and needs to accept things around him. Life needs to be about the spiritual well-being rather than the material well-being.

I am pretty sad that these videos are over. I loved them. I think I am going to write this weeks story about Brahma. His story is pretty sad.

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Week 10 Reading Diary C: Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art Continued

(Balarama)

This week's "reading" is a continuation of the Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art Continued. I am on part C.

This week I decided to try something new and write the most interesting things that I learned in the videos.

First thing that comes to mind is the merged form of Shiva and Vishnu: Hari-Hara. It's kind of crazy because these forms, even though they are merged, represent complete opposites of each other. In my mind I pictured them as yin and yang or the power of good and evil. Total opposites, but completely dependent on each other. Very cool.

I will be honest in saying that I focused a bit more on Vishnu than I did on other characters in the videos. It blew my mind when I realized how many avatars Vishnu had. I understand that in Hindu culture many of the gods and goddesses have many different forms, but still. He also takes form as a fish, a turtle and so on. It reminded me a bit of Greek gods and goddesses. Why? Because they could also take forms if they wanted or change the forms of people.

Not to mention that Vishnu is also takes form in Rama, Krishna and many more. It was cool to learn how Balarama, which is the eighth form of Vishnu, is often equated with Buddha. I never knew that either. These videos teach you so much and I cannot wait to see more!

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Week 9 Tech Tip: Weather Gadget

This week I added a weather gadget to my blog. Follow instructions here and add one to your blog too!

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Week 9: Review

My favorite post from this week came from Sunday, March 27. I was a bit late to hop on the Star Wars fan train, but boy have I turned into a big one. Kudos to my boyfriend, I bet he is proud. Anyway, this was was about how to Yodify Your Language. It is brilliant and I had to share it. I hope you get as much joy out of this infographic as I do.

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Week 9 Reading Diary B: Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art Continued

(Shiva depicted as the destroyer)

There are three videos for this section, but I think I will only embed one in this post.

I was excited about these videos because it included Shiva. I watched the Shiva videos last semester and it was fun to watch them again and get a new perspective on it. One of the most interesting things that I picked up from these videos is how God is embodied in three human couples for Hindus. Those three couples are: Brahma and Saraswati, Vishu and Lakshmi, Shiva and Shakti. It's like a holy trinity for both genders. I found this SUPER interesting. 

My favorite quote was from Ardhanari's Secret:

"Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the sutainer, and Shiva is the destroyer. Brahma, with four heads and a book, looks like a priest; Vishnu, with four arms holding a conch-shell, disc, mace, and lotus, looks like a king; Shiva, with his trident, looks like a mendicant. Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Shakti embody wealth, knowledge, and power."

I thought that was an amazing way to look at it. 

The Shiva videos are interesting because it has SO many stories and details about Shiva that I would have never known. 

Here is the video I wanted to include:

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Week 9 Reading Diary A: Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art

(A depiction of Narayana)

While I did not technically "read" this week, I did watch some youtube videos about the Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art.  I will include the videos below because they are super fun and interesting. I was drawn to them last semester while in Myth and Folklore. One was posted in the announcements and I watched quite a few then.

I love how in the narrator explains why the gods and goddesses in Hindu are widely accepted amongst believers. As a westerner, it is hard for me to get past the decorative images that depict multi-headed creatures or gods with many arms. I do think that if I were raised to believe in these gods and goddesses that I would not second guess the imagery or stories behind them.

Another thing I really enjoyed was how they explained the cycles of Hinduism. The videos go into detail how things that die are always reborn. I like the idea that there isn't a sense of urgency to master all of these things within a religion in Hinduism. You have cycles and its always in phases.

As promised, here are the videos:

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Week 8: Blog Ideas

Originally, I had a completely different layout for my blog. I scrapped it for something more simple, more me. I am always open to a new look or a redesign. I feel there is only so much I can edit in this HTML because I didn't write the whole thing :P

There are three blogs that had small features that stood out to me.

Morgan's and Thomas' location of the labels really changed the blog. One simple feature changed everything about how the blog looks and the feel it gives. To me, Morgan's emphasized the use of labels for navigation and Thomas' made his blog look cleaner and user friendly. I think my blog could use some help in the navigation area.

Whitney's weather widget stood out to me. Last semester, I tried putting a weather widget on my page, but it never had the right location or time. I kept setting it to the correct one, but it wouldn't stay for some reason. it was unfortunate, because I like having them there. It makes it so convenient if you're about to step outside after working on your blog. I hope I can get it to work this time, because I really do want it on my page.

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Week 8: Time

I have been pretty terrible at keeping the schedule I created at the beginning of the semester. I find myself spending time on other activities when I should be doing homework. I haven't been too terrible at doing homework for this class or other classes. I managed to get them done on time, but I know I can be doing better. I had a perfect time schedule set up at the start of the semester, I just really need to follow it.

The second half of the semester I will be actually adhering to a time schedule (and I've also challenged myself to sticking to a budget :P). It will be hard to not procrastinate. I have never lost enthusiasm, but I do think I work really well under pressure. Sometimes, it is that pressure that motivates me. I need to find another motivator to get my work done early. I think I will create a reward system for when I stick to by time schedule (and budget). My goals are to finish this class as early as possible. That way I can focus on my finals in other classes.

I chose this image because it really represents how much I will procrastinate. No more waiting until 9PM to get a human for the next day for me!

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Week 7: Review

This week's favorite post comes from Thursday, March 3. I love that this cat looks so serious with a newspaper. It's both informative and funny. Here it is below in case anyone missed it:

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Week 7: Reading Diary Extra Credit: Mahabharata Cont.

(Bisma on the bed of arrows)

I AM FINALLY DONE WITH PART D!!!!! AND THE MAHABHARATA!! I just had to share my joy with everyone. As usual, I read the public domain and below are two of my favorite stories from part D.

The Pandavas and Bhishma: I thought that this was super noble of Bhishma to tell others how to rule after his death. I also found it interesting that he was able to choose when he died and chose now. When reading this, I felt like I was watching the end of the Titanic or something equally emotional. It seems like many were affected by his death and this provoked a lot of emotion. It was really sad.

The Afterlife: Like everyone is dead and then Yudhishthira has a final test to do?! Crazy. He is brought to the city of eternal bliss and is required to let go of all earthly connections. It sounds like something out of a fantasy movie. It reminds me a lot of myth and folklore where after a major battle a warrior will fall into "eternal bliss" if they leave behind the connections. I love how stuff like this is across cultures and isn't mutually exclusive to one.

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Week 9 Storytelling: Oh, Arjuna

(Ulupi and Arjuna chilling on a cliff)

I am stuck in these stupid woods all by myself.

You may be asking yourself why. Why are you in these woods alone, Arjuna? How did you end up here?

Well, when you’re married to a woman with five husbands, things can get tricky. We had rules regarding living arrangements and… I may have broken the rules. Who cares though?! I caught the robbers. I broke the rules for a good cause!

No one else saw it that way, though. So, I am in exile for twelve years. Can you believe that? TWELVE. Ridiculous.

Yudhishthira did not want me to go. Actually, he pleaded that I stay. I couldn’t though. How was I supposed to stay somewhere and be miserable because everyone was mad at me? So, I left.

Here I am now, in these woods all by myself.

I don’t mind it. I really don’t. The green, dense forests are very beautiful and have given me many stories to tell. I have seen many wonderful places and met many wonderful people. I have visited more holy places than you could ever imagine. I went to Haridwar, a place where the Ganges River flows into the plains, and that is where I met her.

Who is she? Ulupi. She is the daughter of Vasuki, the king of the nagas. She was beautiful. Long, flowing silky hair and smooth soft skin…she was perfection. I fell in love instantly.

Somehow, I managed to get her to love me back. It was probably because of my handsome face or charming personality. Or maybe it’s because of my strength and ability to fight.

Let’s be honest, as long as she loved me, I really couldn’t give a damn why.

She led me to her father’s palace and we stayed there for a while. It was blissful and I was happy. Hell, we even got married and had a kid together. Iravat is his name. He is our adorable, chubby little boy. It was like living in a dream. Life was perfect.

Until she found out I was married. Oops.

You see, Ulupi has a bit of a jealous streak. She doesn't like to share. She was not happy that I was and still am married. I tried to tell her how I only loved her and that the other marriage meant nothing to me. If you couldn't guess… I did not win that argument. In fact, I don't think I even got to speak for more than five minutes during that argument and it lasted for days. Many many days. Stressful, right? 

So long story short, she kicked me out. She even packed my bags for me. Hell, she even broke the news to Iravat before she even told me! I learned from him that I was getting kicked out. Do you know how crazy it is to eat breakfast with your kid and he says "Mom said you're leaving forever today!"? I do.

How am I always finding myself getting exiled when I try to do things right? So stupid. I left and haven’t heard from her since. I don't know what to do really. I suppose I will travel and hope that one day she will take me back. Until then though…

I am stuck in these stupid woods all by myself, again.

Author's Note: I decided to write about Arjuna and Ulupi. It's a pretty simple story about how Arjuna is exiled because of breaking rules regarding living arrangements and is exiled. During his exile he meets Ulupi, they fall in love, get married and have a kid. I decided to make it a bit more complex. When writing I pictured it like Ferris Bueller's Day Off or House of Cards, where the main character breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to the audience. To me, this is a moment like that for Arjuna. I think breaking the fourth wall makes it a bit fun to read and allows it to seem more modern and relatable. 

Originally, Arjuna just kind of moves along from story to story in his exile. I decided to make it where Ulupi kicks him out for not mentioning his previous marriage. I figured I would switch it up a bit to create a reason as to why he was wandering the forests alone, again. 

I chose an image of Ulupi because the story, in a way, revolves around her. I wanted readers to know what she looked like.

Bibliography:

Source. Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)

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Week 7: Reading Diary B: Mahabharata Cont.

(Krishna found on Wikipedia.)

Onto part C!!! Will do part D as extra credit. Much to my enjoyment, there were more Arjuna stories.  One again, I am reading the Public Domain version of the Mahabharata.

Arjuna and Shiva: Arjuna is forever going out on adventures by himself. Im starting to think its so he can get as many wives as possible :P The worst thing that kept happening while reading this story is that I kept thinking of that show, The League. It's because their trophy is called the Shiva and whenever I read the name Shiva, I hear it in my head how they say it.

Bhima and Kichaka: I know this story has a lot of battles and stuff, but I feel like when I think about the battles, Bhima is the first characters that pops to my head. Perhaps its because he's pretty darn good at winning!

Krishna and His Army:  I LOVE the stories about Krishna. I love reading about his relationship and the dynamic between Krishna and Arjuna. It's probably the main reason why I love these stories. It amazes me that Krishna is an incarnation of Vishnu, like Rama. So basically Vishnu, Krishna and Rama are the same person but in different life cycles. That's something I always think about when reading about him. I think this week, my story will involve Krishna!

FINALLY going to finish the Mahabharata. Finally. I cannot wait.

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