Would you bathe in the Ganges?

[Chrysaetos]

Originally Posted by mahakali

you don’t have to believe in something to respect it, besides you aren’t being forced to jump in there so why be so disgusted? And there are a LOT of places way worse off than India thanks to the river. You wouldn’t tell an Ethiopian that they are disgusting for living in there own filth and feeding there children rotten food because they have no choice. So the real reason for the disgust is the part about the dead bodies, first of all those bodies are burnt to a crisp, charred beyond recognition and it is done wile the body is still fresh so the bacteria does not come from this it comes from the waist. Second these are some of the oldest traditions still being used today in the oldest country where they have the oldest religion with the oldest sacred texts and language still written and spoken. they have with stood the test of time, nothing can compete with that. the Wales were not endangered because of the natives that used them ceremonially they were endangered because of the others that hunted them for selfish gain, if cows were endangered then it would be wrong to eat them too. And the Aztecs and almost all other human sacrificing traditions are long gone for good reasons. Believing that the Ganges delivers your spirit to the desired place is a lot different then sacrificing humans. There are plenty of “reasons” to be biased of another belief race or culture in ones point of view but that is not everyone’s point of view. So the point is that to look with disgust at a religion based on cultural differences is ignorant. Only because you have to live it to truly understand it. Honestly id rather be burned to a crisp and dumped in a river than stuffed in a coffin. Well actually i want to be eaten by wild animals after i die, this seems more natural. My energies will not stay with a corps because there will not be one. You see all those ghosts at the graveyards, its like their prison, no thank you.

Mahakali, I see you have taken my post out of context. I was merely telling you that just because something is a tradition, doesn't mean it's a good thing.
I didn't mention the Ganges in my previous post. You are clearly overreacting.

[Silver]

Originally Posted by mahakali

lol dried cow dung makes great kindling and they will collect it and sell it. There’s so much wood laying around in America but you won’t find a stick in India.

Why is there no wood in India? Sorry, all of this is making me chuckl, no laugh...
NO disrespect intended.

Honestly id rather be burned to a crisp and dumped in a river than stuffed in a coffin. Well actually i want to be eaten by wild animals after i die, this seems more natural. My energies will not stay with a corps because there will not be one. You see all those ghosts at the graveyards, its like their prison, no thank you.

That first sentence is precious, in a very funny way. I want to be cremated too. My son was cremated. I watched a documentary about the Tibetans and it showed well not the actual cutting up, but their dead they cut the flesh off the bone and feed all to the birds / buzzards and I was like wow...amazing, I honestly think that's not a bad idea. Any of the various rituals of diferent cultures can take some (gulp) getting used to.

i apologize chrysaetos for taking you the wrong way, and yes i was overreacting.

There’s no wood laying around in India because it is used for burning in their stoves. their life is a little more old fashioned than ours and India is incredibly overpopulated. so as it falls it is collected and there is not enough to go around. life is so so different in India, i was culture shocked for a wile but i had always wanted to live life like it was 100 years ago and never thought it would happen until i got to Bodhgaya. I loved it but many would not. i lived in the village for the experience i could have stayed in a hotel but i wanted to sleep on the floor and collect my fresh eggs and milk from the neighbor every morning and shop for my veggies at the subgee market and haggle over a kg of aloo. i wanted to take cold bucket baths and eat on the floor, and bang my clothes against rocks to clean them and play with the orphans that lived down the street. i wanted to understand everything about village life in India. Many tourists stay in the hotels and walk the same main street but they never fully understand the people and the way of life.

[Silver]

That sounds fascinating, mahakali. What is aloo?

potatoes lol and subgee means veggies