According to my good friend, Gurudeva Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Hindu women wear the dot on the forehead for these three reasons:
Answer #1: The dot in the middle of the forehead of the Hindu woman is a beauty mark not unlike the beauty marks European and early American women used to wear on the cheek.
Answer #2: In the old days, Hindu men and women wore these marks, and they both also wore earrings. The dot has a mystical meaning, for it represents the Third Eye or spiritual sight which Hindus seek to awaken through yoga. Today, only the most traditional men observe this, but women continue to follow these traditions.
Answer #3: There are many marks other than the dot that we Hindus use. Each mark represents a different sect or denomination of our vast religion. We have four major sects, Saivism, Vaishnavism, Saktism and Smartaism. By these marks we know what a person believes, and therefore know how to begin conversations.
(information provided by Christy Lawsonarubskinskuvacnylocke)
4 comments:
That is very intersting. But more interesting is the last names of those people!!! Are those for real???
Of course they are.
I've wondered about that dot in the past. Thank you for appeasing that subconscious, nagging curiosity that has haunted my days.
Truth in the truest sense.
I'm not even married yet. Wait till I get married to Bob Refsignetloustevewne.
**whew**
I'm rushing out right now to get mine!
On a side note, some of my coworkers are leaving for india today and tomorrow...they were going to try and smuggle in some "slim jims" and beef jerkey to see if they'd get stopped at customs...
Post a Comment