We are looking forward to celebrate Christmas together with Ramona’s family and feel very lucky that we could celebrate Diwali in India and now Christmas here in Germany. The celebrations are anyway very similar. The festival of light for which the family comes together with sweets and gifts.
It is not only this celebration that seems similar. When I see the Carnival here it reminds me of Holi, the festival of colours. It is the time for making jokes, singing, dancing and being naughty. There are many similarities in the cultures.
I also see similarities in the different religions, positive things as well as negative things. There are positive things that I can see in Hinduism, in Christianity, in the Islam and in other religions which people tell me of. When you see the basis of a religion, it is always based on love and honesty. That cannot be ignored. If you see the negative side you will also find similarities like a manipulation of mind. Many religions try to create fear of God and His punishment or they teach the suppression of normal feelings like sexuality. All this is made by human and for human. It doesn’t matter that we grow up in different cultures and on different continents.
I talked with Thomas about this and he told me about another parallel of our cultures. In India there was a time which we call ‘Bhakti kal’. It was around 500 to 700 years ago and in that time many spiritual people lived who wrote wonderful literature on spirituality. It is considered as the time of devotion and Kabir, Tulsi Das, Soor and Meera were all born in this era. And Thomas told me that great mystics were born here, too, and he told me the names of Hildegard von Bingen, Meister Eckhart, Theresa of Avila and Luther. So you see that this evolution takes place in different continents and cultures at approximately the same time.
In the European Middle Age and in India at the same time, there were fights and wars among kings and others who wanted to have land and power. The society was divided into casts and guilds by profession. All carpenters lived and worked in one street while bakers had another part of the town. This all is similar. If I look at the present situation, I imagine that what is going on now in India is how the culture and society looked like here, but 50 years ago. Now the time difference is probably reducing and I guess that we will face the same problems in India in 20 or 30 years.
A negative trend is there when you look at the environment and the nature, when you look at the families which are falling apart and at the structure of society which makes deep changes. We should try to learn something from the development of the Western world and keep good values and take more of the positive changes.
Related posts
A few more Tips for Indians preparing to live in the West – 9 Jul 15
When Indians learn how to do shopping in the West – 8 Jul 15
Less Formalities make Life easier! – 28 Jan 15
How to fight Feelings of Loneliness – 12 Nov 14
The difficult Situation of elderly People in the West – 25 Sep 14
Joint Families are great – but not every old Person is made for this Lifestyle! – 24 Sep 14
The Culture of asking ‘How are you?’ without really wanting to know – 18 Jul 13
‘Wrong Number, Honey!’ – When American and German Cultures clash – 17 Jul 13
Has your bad Mood become your Habit? – 17 Sep 12
I wonder why it is a common thread among religions to try and suppress sexuality? That must mean that it’s a wide-spread and well known source of power, or people would not be trying to control it in so many different places. Interesting…
Oh I love festivals! I was in India for six months when I was younger and sadly missed out on Holi, it happened right after I left! It looks so beautiful.
We are all human, it is interesting that we are all so different!