{"id":13,"date":"2009-11-03T12:24:47","date_gmt":"2009-11-03T12:24:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/omsweetom\/2009\/11\/3-times-a-day.html"},"modified":"2009-11-03T12:24:47","modified_gmt":"2009-11-03T12:24:47","slug":"3-times-a-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/2009\/11\/3-times-a-day.html","title":{"rendered":"3 Times a Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

I like the idea that one should be able to look at another faith and think  There is
\nsomething in this other religious tradition that I really value and I wish we had it. <\/i>I can learn something here.<\/i>  The late Krister Stendahl, who served as Professor of Divinity and Dean of the Harvard Divinity School, coined this feeling “holy envy.”   <\/p>\n

I remember experiencing holy envy while having lunches with my friend Aaron.<\/p>\n

\"hands<\/a><\/span>Aaron and I would eat together in a small cafe in the lobby of the New York City hospital where we both served as chaplains. A religious Jew, Aaron would dutifully bring his kosher lunch in every day. And every day after we were done eating, he would gracefully but unapologetically excuse himself, pull out a small prayer book, and take some time to re-connect spiritually.  I could see that in a matter of moments, the small cafe in the hospital lobby melted away for Aaron and he was able to create a sacred space right there and dive deeply into it.<\/p>\n

Observing the scene, I found myself wishing that as a Hindu I had something like that, something so grounding and deep. I loved the fact that it followed the act of eating; to me, it seemed to imply that along with feeding the body, Aaron was taking the time to nourish the soul. I was deeply impressed by how consistent, disciplined, and regulated the routine was. And of course, I envied how unapologetic and open the whole thing was — Aaron’s simple act of excusing himself made such a profound statement about how he prioritized his spiritual practice and wasn’t afraid to show it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\nAs is often the case, I think, the holy envy gave way to a new-found
\nappreciation for a practice of my own. Some years ago, I took vows and was awarded the sacred thread worn by orthodox Hindu male priests in a ceremony called upanayana<\/i>.  <\/p>\n

(This ceremony is something of a cross between a Bar Mitzvah and a
\npriesthood installation, depending on how you interpret it. Some Hindu
\nschools consider it more of a rite of passage, awarding it at a younger
\nage, often on the basis of heredity. Others, like my own, consider it
\nmore a sign of entering the priesthood, and only award it to those who
\nundergo requisite training and study, regardless of heredity.)
\n    
\nReceiving the sacred thread carries with it a responsibility: three
\ntimes a day (at sunrise, high noon, and sunset) one is obligated to
\ntake time out and meditate while silently reciting the famous Gayatri
\nmantra. <\/p>\n

\"gayatri_verma.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
Gayatri Devi, the gooddess who personifies the Gayatri mantra<\/i>
\n<\/font><\/div>\n

\nIn the months immediately following the ceremony, I performed the
\nthrice daily Gayatri meditation dutifully. But then, I started to see
\nit as a mechanical chore. Over the course of time, I began to slip —
\nbecoming inconsistent in my meditation practice, robotically speeding
\nthrough the recitation of the mantra, or skipping out on it altogether.<\/p>\n

Recently, I’ve been trying to rededicate myself to this practice.
\nMoreover, I’m trying to appreciate the significance of it. I want to
\nsee those three times a day, not as a chore, but as my private
\none-on-one time with the Divine; my opportunity to take a breather from
\nthe world of deadlines and results, and re-center; an opportunity to
\nmark the sandhya<\/i>, the transition between one part of the day and the next, and to learn how to simply be<\/i> in the moment, rather than lamenting on the past or worrying about the future. <\/p>\n

I want to nourish the soul.<\/p>\n

This way of looking at the Gaytari has, of course, always been there in
\nHinduism as well. But sometimes it takes a Jewish friend to remind you
\nto look for it.    
\n    \n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I like the idea that one should be able to look at another faith and think  There is something in this other religious tradition that I really value and I wish we had it. 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He is a Hindu Chaplain and the Coordinator for Hindu Life at Princeton University, and serves as the North American Director of Communications for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a worldwide organization representing the Vaishnava Hindu tradition. In previous incarnations, Vineet has been a New York City prosecutor, a cable TV show host, and a hospital chaplain. In his free time, he enjoys relaxing with his wife and his new baby, attending classes at The Bhakti Center, and teaching himself photography. As a second-generation, Indian-American, Vaishnava-Hindu, Vineet ponders new ways of further hyphenating his identity.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/author\/vchander"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}