This is such a cool thread.
Summy - Great story, truly beautiful. It made me remember a story my friend once told me about the prophet Mohammad (I'm sure this is a more famous parable, I'm just retelling from memory).
I forget the exact beginning, but the premise is that the Prophet used to go out on this particular road every morning (perhaps for a walk or some given purpose). And every morning, he would pass by the house of a very disrespectful man who would give him "gaali" (insults) and curse at him, calling him names (dog, kamina, bad words, etc.) And each day the prophet would smile back and say "good morning to you too" or something to that effect - completely unaffected. For many months this passed, the uncivilized man and the prophet were both relentless in their habits.
Then one day, the prophet went out for his walk as usual, but noticed that the man was not on his usual spot, shouting insults - he was nowhere to be seen! Wondering what happened, he stopped by the man's house and found him lying sick in bed. The sick man, surprised to see the prophet at his bedside, asked "What are you doing here!?? What is the meaning of this??"
The prophet replied, "I noticed you weren't at your usual post, and was concerned something had happened to you." He proceeded to care for the man and bring him back to good health. Of course, that man never cursed at him again.
Anyway, it's unusal for me to be touched by parables of this sort, but I really liked this story - if anyone knows how it really goes I would love to know a better "version."
Two other things brought up in this post which I found interesting:
1) Summy's story about which way to point one's feet, since God (or the House of God) is considered to be everywhere - I have always wondered this. In gurdwaras, temples, and mosques, it is customary to remove one's shoes, and even clean one's feet before stepping inside. When a priest flicks droplets of holy Ganges water on Hindus, my elders in India and here have maintained that one should cover the feet and make sure no water falls on them. It's also impolite to show the soles of one's shoes/feet in Middle Eastern cultures I believe (I think it was Mike Wallace or some other 60 minutes reporter who went to interview Saddam Hussein. When Saddam first entered the room to begin the interview, he had barely sat down before he abruptly left again. Puzzled, the reporter asked what was going on, and one of Hussein's aides told him that he had tilted his soles upwards and thereby insulted Saddam since one should not expose the soles of the feet in the presence of others). Many of my elders apologize if their feet touch someone else's by mistake or get insulted when it happens to them and the "culprit" doesn't excuse themselves.
My question is, why this stigma with the feet being associated with the lowest/most disrespectful part of the body? You may answer that they mix with dirt and dust, and are unclean, or as Summy mentioned, dirt on the shoes can contain organic matter from decomposed organisms - and death or things associated with death should not enter a holy place.
However, this seems strange because most faiths hold that God is present in all things (dead AND alive, feet AND head) that death is part of the life cycle and is inherently not something "bad." The feet are part of the body, isn't it? Why must they always be hidden or facing away from sacred objects? Even when they are clean? Besides, if one's mind and soul are pure and just, should it matter what orientation their body is when they are thinking of God and praying? Cleanliness applies to mind first, and physical cleanliness second, in all religions, no? After all, an evil but hygienic person is no better than a saint who hasn't showered for a few days.
I can understand why people shouldn't use this argument to justify pointing one's ass or nether parts towards holy things (that is obvious), but the feet/shoes thing might be overdoing it.
2) Idol Worship: one thing I have noticed among Christians, Muslims, and Hindus alike is the wearing of talismans or lucky charms. Many Hindus wear a necklace with a pendant showing a saint's picture, or the symbol of Om. Some muslims wear a necklace with Allah's name written in calligraphy, and the Cross as a pendant, or rosary, is commonplace. Can this not be a form of idol worship?
I know the answer is probably: no, no one is worshipping these inanimate objects, they are simply there as a reminder or a helper - to help someone think of God in the abstract sense - like the kara for Sikhs is not something to be worshipped but rather a constant reminder of one's duties etc...but many people all over the world take the cross, the Om, too seriously I think - clutching it all the time or kissing or bowing to it - rather than keeping everything in the mental realm. Anyway what do you guys think...
