"Obama has deep faith in Lord Hanuman"... ???!?!?! LOL!

Obama to get Hanuman idol

NEW DELHI: With Democrat senator Barack Obama busy in the run-up to the US presidential polls, a group of well-wishers in the capital have decided to send him a symbol of his lucky charm, Lord Hanuman, to help him emerge victorious.

Obama's representative Carolyn Sauvage-Mar on Tuesday received a gold-plated two-feet-high idol which she will pass it on to the Obama after it is sanctified.

The idol is being presented to Obama as he is reported to be a Lord Hanuman devotee and carries with him a locket of the monkey god along with other good luck charms.

An hour-long prayer meeting to sanctify the idol was earlier organised at Sankat Mochan Dham and by Congress leader Brijmohan Bhama, Balmiki Samaj and the temple's priests.

"Obama has deep faith in Lord Hanuman and that is why we are presenting an idol of Hanuman to him," said Bhama.

Accepting the souvenir, Sauvage-Mar, who is chairperson of Democrats Abroad-India, said, "Obama has extended his thanks for the support."

However, questions on Obama's religious beliefs elicited just a smile from Sauvage-Mar, apparently to avoid controversy back home where the Democrat senator is pitted against the Republican Party's John McCain in the Presidential polls.

The idol will be kept at the temple for 11 more days and then sent to US.

"We will perform the prayers for 11 days and then hand the idol to Carolyn who will send it to Obama," said the temple priest.



http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Hanuman_idol_for_Obama/articleshow/3160730.cms

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on edit: i think this is very cool, though i do question Obama's devotion to Hanuman...

http://www.time.com/time/politics/whitehouse/photos/0,27424,1811278,00.html

I wanna monkey god....

LOL!

Pretty sure no Muslim carries one of those.

where it simply is a basis for classic folk stories and art.

All of Indonesia's traditional classic dances (as well as Thai and Cambodians) are based on stories from the Ramayana.

....

And other more exciting sci-fi characters

.

Hanuman himself is a great character.

He spent time in Indonesia,so he must have been exposed to Hinduism.

I'm a non-theist, but my heritage is Hindu, Obama is 3 years older than I am. I was born and raised in New England. Back then people thought Hindus were Hare Krishna people. When my grandmother visited from India people would stare at her in her sari.

I think it's all myth, which put me at odds with my grandparents. My grandmother had Hanmuman, Rama, et al all over her house, she believed deeply. But it's nice to read this article. I never thought I'd see the day when a candidate for president would understand there are religions outside of Abrahamic Religions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamic_religion

Thanks for the link.

kind of Aesop's Tales on Steroids.

Obama records his first encounter with Hanuman in Djakarta passing by the huge statute there in "Dreams of My Father".

Mahabharata, etc are all very popular stories in Buddhist Asia. It's a shared heritage. Just like Christianity, Judaism and Islam share common stories.

It's shaped western pop culture, although a lot of westerners don't realize it.

I grew up reading the Ramayana & Mahabharata, most kids at school had no idea what I was talking about. But I saw echoes of the stories everywhere.

In the grander human sense we all share same stories regardless of religion.

which is not to say it isn't true.

that myths can be true. They are not factual, but can be profoundly "true".

Myths can offer some important life lessons. Joseph Campbell's books and PBS series on Myths are favorites of mine.

And the Mahabharata is one of my favorite stories, I re-read it often. Along with the Upanishads, which hold a lot truth with regards to the human experience.

I'm reading the comic book versions of the Mahabharata & Ramayana with my children, hoping they will see the beauty in these stories, even if none of us believe literally Rama is an avatar of Vishnu or Hanuman walked the earth and helped Rama defeat Ravana.

The deeper meaning is the quest for justice, loyalty (Hanuman's to Rama, Rama's brothers' loyalty to Rama, Rama's loyalty to his family), love, compassion to name just a few issues we've been exploring together. 8 years old is a great age!

Yep.

"HE SACRIFICES TO IDOLS!!!!! HE'S GONNA SACRIFICE WHITE PEOPLE TO IDOLS!!1111!!! SRSLY!111!!!! THIS IS HUGH!11!!!


:eyes:

And yes, Axelrod happens to be a monkey god patron of good fortune. Do you have a problem with that?

:evilgrin: