Chaitanya, the 15th-century Krishna devotee, has been elevated to the status of sainthood through his intense devotion to Krishna.
He has for centuries been held up as the model of bhakti , loving devotion to the god. Likewise, Ramakrishna , the 19th-century Bengali saint, is regarded by his followers as a saint because of his intense devotion and exemplary meditation, as well as the actual content of his spiritual message. Toggle navigation. Ethics and Community. Page: 1 of 2. Continued On Next Page. Get Patheos Newsletters. Best of Patheos. Sharing the Gospel. Christians For a Better Christianity. From time to time you will also receive Special Offers from our partners that help us make this content free for you.
You can opt out of these offers at any time. Editor's picks See all columnists. Guest Contributor. Randy Alcorn. New Visions. Physical Interaction As a general rule, avoid initiating physical contact when meeting or greeting religious leaders from religious traditions that differ from your own, especially those of the opposite sex.
Initiating gestures common in the U. Most Hindus do welcome handshakes with an embrace, but preferably between same sexes. Responders should understand that this is more customary than religious. Therefore, when greeting a Hindu of the opposite gender, one should wait until after the Namaste greeting to see if a hand is offered first before initiating a handshake.
When in doubt, ask before making assumptions or wait for a leader to initiate. Other Remove shoes before entering a Hindu home or temple to respect the way that the community treats their home or sacred space. Ask before participating in worship services. Some U. In these cases, a national or international headquarters provides governance and sets policies. Food Vegetarian Food: Traditionally observant Hindus follow a Brahmin vegetarian diet in accordance with Hindu tradition.
Therefore, many Hindus will only eat food from trusted vegetarian or vegan sources, including caterers, purveyors, and MREs Meals Ready to Eat. The most orthodox Hindus also avoid onion, garlic, and gelatin byproducts.
Fasting is commonplace and frequent, generally lasting just one day or one day a week, in connection with devotion to a particular deity or observance of a particular festival. Fasts may involve abstinence from certain foods only, or total abstinence from food and drink during daylight. Provide vegetarian options if scheduling a meeting where food is provided. In addition, snacks should not contain gelatin, meat, meat byproducts, or lard. Logistics Generally, Hindus will be comfortable sharing space with others without requiring much in the way of specific items.
Some may be more comfortable sitting on cushions on the floor rather than Western-style in chairs. Depending on ethnic and cultural origin, it is not uncommon for men and women to congregate by gender for conversation, eating, and socializing. Others may be performed offsite. The services may also vary in duration and intricacy. Many practicing Hindus perform puja at least once or twice a day, while at temples, puja may be performed multiple times during any given day. Most priests are traditionally trained, but some may have gained their knowledge and skills through independent study.
A qualified priest is one who has a detailed, working knowledge of the various steps involved in some of the most common worship services; can chant special prayers that may be in Sanskrit or vernacular Indian languages ie. While the majority of Hindu priests are male, an increasing number of women are entering this line of work in India, where the majority of Hindus reside, and throughout the Hindu diaspora.
A pandit or priest may be called upon in smaller temples, to prepare food offerings prasadam for Hindu worship services, which are then distributed to temple devotees. Since the Hindu tradition is highly decentralized, the occupation of the priest is not necessarily certified by any central authority. The religious occupation and the capabilities required for the various roles of the priest are verified and affirmed in the context of the community where the priest traditionally receives training, engages in the occupation and is recognized as competent based on the quality of his work.
If, however, a Hindu temple or organization based in the US is affiliated with a particular tradition lineage sampradaya , it may have additional requirements for a priest, such as having to be well versed in the specific lineage, scripture and worship services of the tradition lineage and certified by an authority recognized by the sampradaya. Paricharakara s specialize in the preparation of food offerings prasadam for Hindu worship services which are then distributed to temple devotees.
Every day in a typical Hindu temple begins with puja , which includes an offering of prasadam prepared by priests in the temple kitchen. During high holidays or days on which special worship serives or life sacrament ceremonies are being conducted, the offering of prasadam may be even more elaborate.
While preparing any sanctified food offering, the priest must meet certain minimal requirements of purity and austerity and abide by strict guidelines, such as the proscription of the use of meat in any food prepared or served in the temple or limitations on the use of onion and garlic. During these very elaborate celebrations, a variety of prescribed foods are cooked in the temple kitchen, offered during the ceremonies and later distributed to temple devotees as blessings.
Another example is that of Annaprashna. Annaprashna is a life sacrament ceremony is one which celebrates the first solid food a Hindu child partakes in.
In this age-old tradition, uncooked rice is offered during the ceremony and is later cooked in the temple kitchen and offered to not only the child, but all guests of the ceremony and temple devotees. Lastly, yagna and homam fire ceremonies , are special rituals which involve the preparation of certain foods. These foods, in accordance with religious prescriptions in the temple kitchen, are offered as oblations in a fire ceremony and the remaining are served to guests and temple devotees.
Any and all food served in a Hindu temple is considered sacred and thus must abide by strict guidelines as mentioned earlier. Most Paricharakarai are traditionally trained, but some may have gained their skills through independent study. Some paricharkara s can also be trained in Hindu worship services, so may play a variety of roles, as ritual food preparers in a temple kitchen as well as the liturgical officiants in religious ceremonies and rituals.
Since the Hindu tradition is highly decentralized, the occupation of the paricharakaras is not necessarily certified by a central authority. If, however, a Hindu temple or organization based in the US is affiliated with a particular traditional lineage sampradaya , it may have additional requirements for a priest, such as having to be well versed in the specific lineage, scripture and worship services of the traditional lineage and certified by an authority recognized by the sampradaya.
Most Hindu architecture, especially temples, are designed and built according to Vaastu Shastra. Vaastu Shastra provides sacred directives for essentially all kinds of edifices. While designing or building a temple, the sthapati may be required to meet certain minimal requirements of purity and austerity and abide by other guidelines, such as the proscription of eating meat, daily prayer and participating in other religious regimens. A qualified sthapati should be trained in the theoretical, scriptural and practical aspects of Vaastu.
The science of Vaastu shastra dates back several thousands of years and is formerly studied through either the traditional guilds, apprenticeships and oral tradition; through independent certification coursework or college degree programs.
Sthapati may also be called upon to perform certain worship services during different stages of the designing and building of a temple.
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