Holy Cow

I now have a much greater understanding of where that phrase comes from. Apparently if you kill a cow in Nepal you are slapped with a life-long prison sentence…….no cow-tipping for me!

Being here has given me a much greater understnading of Hinduism and Bhuddism, although there is still so much about them I cannot fathom. It is sometimes hard to see the meaning people’s lives here. A quote from a book I recently finished called “tribe” came to mind…” where all peers think alike and live in a close-knit community, and feel the same as each other, it is almost impossible to escape your cultural beliefs and practices.” This thought made me challenge my own beliefs . I realised it is necessary to define your own beliefs and to try to recognise those which merely come from the culture and community you live in. How much of what we believe comes from personal experience and understanding, and how much comes from an unquestioning acceptance of things we have been taught?

I went to my first Mass on Sunday.  The priest was visiting from America and could have popped straight out of a mafia movie. I felt like he was telling me his plans to rob a bank throughout the sermon. One aspect of the service really stuck out for me. In my understanding, when Hindu’s make an offering to a god  (usually done most mornings)  they ring a small bell to let the god know that the ofering has been made. During mass, before communion when they were reading the liturgy about Jesus ‘ body being broken for us and his blood being shed for us, a nun rang a small bell after each sentence. It sharply reminded me of the offering Jesus made for us. How what we believe is not based on what we can offer up to God but what He has offered to us – himself.