This week has been really great.  I am officially getting swallowed up in research, and I love it!  Well, I love the being out in India and talking to all of these amazing women about their faith and all that Hinduism means to them.  I am fascinated and humbled to witness how much light and joy comes out of a belief system that is so very different from my own.  You know, academically speaking, Hinduism is earth's oldest religion, though I think that just means India houses the earth's oldest and most enduring apostasy.  And yet, even in all that they have lost from what I believe to be true, there is so much light here, and prayers of faith make people happy, and the people of India really love their gods.  I think that is something all of us can learn from Hinduism - how to keep God always in your mind.  Because here, the gods are everywhere.  They cover the walls in the houses, temples are found on almost every street, and at least half of the people's names refer back to their deities.  Rajyalakshmi (my translator) told me that everyone always starts out their anniversary by going to the temple, to thank the gods for their strong marriage.  I want to do that with my husband someday, for what better way is there to celebrate a marriage?
I have begun to focus my research on a sect of Hinduism called Devipuram.  This branch focuses on devoting their worship to the Supreme Goddess Devi, who, though I did not know it before, is greater than all other gods.  She came first, she is the most powerful, and even the great gods of Hinduism call on her for help when they cannot do their work alone.  This leads me to my great question: why are genders so unequal in India if it is common knowledge that the goddess is the most powerful of them all.  Maybe I will figure this out. Probably I will learn something smaller, but I am still super excited to talk to the men and women who have grown devoted to Devi.
On Wednesday I went to her temple, and it was so cool.  The complex was HUGE (also, they have a pretty amazing website, http://www.devipuram.com/ if you want to check it out) and the temple was pretty cool.  It was colorful and the land was filled with trees.  I do love trees :)  Soujanya is a Devipuram devotee, and she showed me all around the complex, explaining to me about the goddess, and how she is connected to us as humans, and explaining that as we worship her properly, we can become goddesses, too.  Soujanya is a beautiful woman, with a huge and bright smile, and I love to spend time with her.  She speaks very broken English, but one of my favorite moments of the day with her was that we were walking past this goddess, painted all in gold, and I said that she was beautiful.  Soujanya paused, told her "you're beautiful" and then, caressing the goddess' face, said "I love you".  And the devotion was so pure and complete, and I knew that she felt Hinduism and love for Devi the same way I feel for my Heavenly Father.  If that comes out as off-putting to some, I am sorry, but oh I admire the faith of this woman, even if her faith wears a different face than mine.  I also got to see Soujanya perform a Puja for the goddess.  She was so reverent and full with love.  I just really admire this woman.  Anyway, those are my thoughts today. Don't worry, after a week of learning to worship Devi, I did go to church today :)  Its been a good week!