Jn, since long deserves a special mention here; I wonder how could I be writing about him so late...
When I had joined this school I had met a male teacher named Jn who was a teacher in the same group as mine. He was half American - half German, with the tattoo of Indian God on his clean shaven head and "Sri Krishna" tattooed in huge Hindi letters on his right arm.
I discovered he was greatly interested in Indian spiritualism and wanted to follow the prescribed Indian sacred path. His practicing vegetarianism, habit of offering food to God before consumption, lighting candles in the staff room in front of the picture of God and watching Indian religious songs on youtube in his free time amazed me beyond extent...
Then I had to go to India urgently for about a month and when I returned back he had already left the school.
As destiny would have it, he joined the school again after a year, just about 2 months ago.
And he is truly amazing. He told me he is in relationship with a girl who is also a German teacher but as there is currently no vacancy in this school for a German teacher so she cannot obtain a job here. Right now she is living in another city with her two children by another man.
For nearly 2 months he lived on the school premises, sleeping on the staff room sofa and eating off from the school kitchen or nearby eating joints as he wasn't getting any rental apartments.
Two days ago he told me that he has received initiation into the Hindu sect and now he has been given a new name 'Janardan Das Brhamchari'. Hereafter he has to be strictly vegetarian, practice meditation and become a brahmchari.
"Do you know what 'Brhamchari' means?" I asked.
"Yes. It means no women." He said.
"And does your girlfriend know about this?"
"I have no girlfriend now. We will now live like brother sisters."
He has bought a rice cooker to cook his food himself because he wants his food to be purely vegetarian and ready made food or that cooked by others may have been handled with impurity or mixed with non vegetarian ingredients. And he cooks his own rice, some vegetables in salt water and eats it after chanting mantras in an undertone. He drinks bio milk whenever he is hungry or eats fruits.
He has chosen to rent a house near the Isar river so that he can bathe in it and do jaap and meditation on its banks just like Indian ascetics.
His dedication and sincerity is truly amazing. It shames me in a way because he tries to do so much more than I. I also feel worried for him because he wants to find God and this is not the way to find Him.There is no need to follow such a strict life style or to denounce the world. He only needs to have a strong devotion and he will find God. I tried to explain this viewpoint once but the discussion unfortunately made him doubt himself, "So am I right to do like this?" So since then I have stopped myself from speaking on this subject.
Every person makes his own decision and it is right according to them. I must not be planting doubts in his mind. I wish him all the best. His devotion is really inspiring.
When I had joined this school I had met a male teacher named Jn who was a teacher in the same group as mine. He was half American - half German, with the tattoo of Indian God on his clean shaven head and "Sri Krishna" tattooed in huge Hindi letters on his right arm.
I discovered he was greatly interested in Indian spiritualism and wanted to follow the prescribed Indian sacred path. His practicing vegetarianism, habit of offering food to God before consumption, lighting candles in the staff room in front of the picture of God and watching Indian religious songs on youtube in his free time amazed me beyond extent...
Then I had to go to India urgently for about a month and when I returned back he had already left the school.
As destiny would have it, he joined the school again after a year, just about 2 months ago.
And he is truly amazing. He told me he is in relationship with a girl who is also a German teacher but as there is currently no vacancy in this school for a German teacher so she cannot obtain a job here. Right now she is living in another city with her two children by another man.
For nearly 2 months he lived on the school premises, sleeping on the staff room sofa and eating off from the school kitchen or nearby eating joints as he wasn't getting any rental apartments.
Two days ago he told me that he has received initiation into the Hindu sect and now he has been given a new name 'Janardan Das Brhamchari'. Hereafter he has to be strictly vegetarian, practice meditation and become a brahmchari.
"Do you know what 'Brhamchari' means?" I asked.
"Yes. It means no women." He said.
"And does your girlfriend know about this?"
"I have no girlfriend now. We will now live like brother sisters."
He has bought a rice cooker to cook his food himself because he wants his food to be purely vegetarian and ready made food or that cooked by others may have been handled with impurity or mixed with non vegetarian ingredients. And he cooks his own rice, some vegetables in salt water and eats it after chanting mantras in an undertone. He drinks bio milk whenever he is hungry or eats fruits.
He has chosen to rent a house near the Isar river so that he can bathe in it and do jaap and meditation on its banks just like Indian ascetics.
His dedication and sincerity is truly amazing. It shames me in a way because he tries to do so much more than I. I also feel worried for him because he wants to find God and this is not the way to find Him.There is no need to follow such a strict life style or to denounce the world. He only needs to have a strong devotion and he will find God. I tried to explain this viewpoint once but the discussion unfortunately made him doubt himself, "So am I right to do like this?" So since then I have stopped myself from speaking on this subject.
Every person makes his own decision and it is right according to them. I must not be planting doubts in his mind. I wish him all the best. His devotion is really inspiring.
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