Q. Do people in India eat meat?

Yes. A good percentage of Indians eat meat. In fact, all Vedic Indians ate meat, beef and drank alcohol until the time of Buddha, which is considered recent for Indian civilization. In fact, even Buddha said you can eat meat if the animal was not killed specifically for you. Later on, it became fashionable by the so called or self called high castes not to eat meat. All the people that want to be associated with the high caste do not eat meat.

Source – from a book I found in Ramana Maharshi library, Tiruvannamalai.

According to the opinion prevailing among modern scholars, ritual animal sacrifice with subsequent eating of the meat was a predominant custom, and the principle of ahimsa (nonviolence) was hardly known or not respected.^[22] From: Wiki

Even though a lot of Indians in current India do not meat, there are quite a few Indians who do eat meat. Eating beef may not be so common, except in a few states in India.

Q. What does the red dot on the forehead indicate?

Recently, I read in a local newspaper, that an Indian woman wearing the kumkum was stopped by the Israeli security at the airport, suspecting the red dot to be a bomb trigger. This was a first for me. If it were a bomb trigger, would anyone display it so prominently on the forehead.

Anyway, I have been asked one too many times as to what the red dot was on a forehead. I have been asked this question by the bums in Haight, San Francisco to the most seasoned yogis. So, I must address this. (more…)

I have been asked this question way too many times by westerners and I have decided to write a FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) on it.

Q. There are too many gods in Hinduism. It is confusing, no?

Yes, there are too many gods. But, it is not confusing when you get used to it. In fact, you will be glad that it is not just Sri Krishna who is The god. It simply means you have so much choice to pick and choose. They all represent various energies that you connect to at various times. No one god is superior to the other. So, you can pick a few favorites. It’s all good.  (more…)