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Mani Varadarajan wrote:
>
> barry basham <bbasham@InfoAve.Net> writes:
> >
> > In our Social Studies class we are studying Hinduism. Our teacher asked
> > us to research the colored dot on the forehead of women and to find out
> > what it means. We connot find the exact meaning. HELP!!!!
> >
>
> Hindus themselves do not know what this means. I certainly do
> not; it is worn nowadays as a cultural symbol with minor religious
> overtones. Indian Christians, Jains, Parsis, and Sikhs also often
> wear the ``bindi'' on their forehead.
>
> If anyone offers an interpretation, it is likely to be a modern one
> that is not based in tradition.
I wear vibhuti on my forehead, as a bindi just above a point between my
two eyes. The great majority of Hindu men in North America do not wear
vibhuti all the time, although many men in India do.
I have chosen to do so because it gives me a way of connecting visibly
with the tradition -- and that is, as Manu says, probably a modern
reason but one which feels important to me being a non-Indian Hindu.
The point where I place the vibhuti corresponds to the third eye, the
eye of wisdom. Depending on who you ask, the vibhuti may be a way of
covering or protecting the third eye, or it may be a way of simply
accepting the concept of the third eye, and honouring it.
The vibhuti also reminds me that I am on a long walk since birth -- a
walk toward the cremation ground where, upon death of my body, it will
be burned, and only ash and bits of bone will remain.
The vibhuti reminds me of Lord Shiva, who according to our mythology
awaits each of us at the burning ground. Shivji is said to smeared with
ash. He is the One who seeks to destroy so that there may be
transformation. Through practice of meditation and other sadhanas,
Hindus seek to burn away the ego and the accompanying attachments to the
material world and the identification of their individual self with the
body.
In India, it is not uncommon for yogies to do their sadhana at the
burning grounds, sitting where a body has been burned. When I have been
in the North American equivalent of a burning ghat, the crematorium at
the funeral home, there is always some trace of ash dust on the concrete
floor. I have a sense, sitting there as the rituals are done, of how it
may feel for the yogis who meditate at the ghats. This is not a morbid
or depressing feeling, but rather a powerful reminder of just how big is
the scheme of existence, and bigger still the One whose dream this all
is. Sivji is the Lord of yogis, and when I am in the cremation room,
with ash dust on the floor and on my forehead, sometimes it is possible
to feel His presence very strongly. The skeptic would say it is emotion
only, but there's a different feel between emotion and when the Divine
provides a sense of Presence.
So the sacred ash reminds me of the impermanence of this phase of life,
and of what my goal is, to be free from the cycles of birth and death.
When I look in the mirror, and see the "dot" on my head it reminds me of
all these things. Being an ordinary human being I find it is easy to
forget. The vibhuti reminds me.
Bindi means different things for many people and, as so often is the
case with our wonderful tradition, there are many answers.
I hope this helps.
>
> In strictly religious ceremonies, many Hindus place some
> other symbol on their forehead as a sign of their faith.
> Among South Indian Vaishnavas, it is common for men and
> women to both wear sri churnam (a vertical red line) on
> religious occasions. The sri churnam represents the
> presence of God's grace in the form of the Divine Mother
> Lakshmi.
>
> South Indian Saivas also tend to wear vibhuti (sacred ash)
> on religious occasions, or when visiting the temple. However,
> this is usually not to the exclusion of the bindi.
>
> Mani
>
> --
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> Mail posts to: ghen@netcom.com : http://www.hindunet.org/srh_home/
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