I remember seeing the trailer of this film in San Francisco. I missed the screening of this film and it was not available on dvd then. I happened to pick it up from my library.

It is a cooking class with Zen priest and chef. This is a film about Zen chef Edward Espe Brown who has penned many Tassajara cookbooks. It is quite a fun film that talks about food as a way of life. There is a bit of zen advice too. He talks about how long it took him to finally understand the Buddhist ritual of offering food to Buddha, when you know for sure it is not going to be consumed. You make your effort and then you offer it. You say this is my offering and then you leave.

(more…)

Faith is the source of authentic action. From the core of man comes faith, and from that, meaningful existence. I found this article in Hinduism Today, which quotes from the Vedas.

Amreeka is one of my favorite films that I watched at viff. I did not expect myself to be among hundreds of 12 and 13 year old kids. Then I got to know schools had made special arrangements for the students to watch this film.

It is one of the immigrant stories which was fresh, light, funny and sad. Life in Palestine seems like being in a prison and the move to America is not without issues. The confusion between Jews and Arabs cannot be quite explained to the Americans.  It is a well made film and has a sense of humor.

I also learnt that checkmate is an Arabic phrase. Shah mate in Arabic means the king is dead, which is borrowed in English as checkmate.

(more…)

(more…)

I was in India during the Ganesha festival and I remember explaining to an American friend what it was all about. I was telling him that praying to Ganesha who is an obstacle remover has a few asanas involved. One of the main ones is where a person holds on to their ears and asks for forgiveness for all the mistakes. It is called Thoppu Karanam in Tamil. It is nothing but a dynamic utkatasana.

And then I read an article in the magazine Hinduism today, that some nut case has patented this sequence as “Superbrain Yoga”. I could not believe the nuttiness involved in patenting something that is followed in a religion for hundreds of years.

(more…)

More Ganeshas …

I keep seeing the incomplete Ganeshas on my way to, well, nothing. I am only bumming around right now. I decided to go inside this place to see how Ganesha is being made.  Ganesha Chaturthi is only a few weeks away, the biggest Hindu festival in Bangalore and most other places in India. Ganeshas were being made from clay and hay. I am not sure what else they need to finish the statues.  It takes about a month for the people to finish a large Ganesha. Some of them are really huge. The interesting part is that, these Ganeshas being made won’t be around for long. They will be around for just a few days. After the festival, every one of these Ganeshas will be immersed in a lake or some water body. Impermanence of it all does not make these statues any less beautiful. They are all perfect.

The people who are making the statues are very talented. Each one of them is a masterpiece. They have to be so careful while making these, there cannot be any flaws. Gods must be perfect. I even saw one Ganesha in a perfect padmasana. The fingers, the toes, the face are all so beautiful. As of now, most of the Ganeshas are white. I like them like this. I was told by the people who work there, that they will start painting next week. I will visit the place again to see the difference.

(more…)

I absolutely loved this film by Nina Paley. I agree with Nina, why is Rama the perfect man? Awesome work, Nina!

Thanks Papi, for the link.

I heard this song while I was traveling in Tamil Nadu. I came across it in youtube while I was looking for something else. It is an interesting song in Tamil from a movie called Dasavatharam.

(more…)