"man raises arm for 38 years"

[invisible]

If you're ever looking for a volunteer to put their hand up for something, head to New Delhi and ask Mahant Amar Bharti Ji.In 1973, the clerk raised his hand in honour of Hindu deity Shiva – and he hasn't put it down since.
In 1970 Amar left his job, family and friends to dedicate himself to his religious beliefs.
Three years later, feeling he was still too connected to his old life, Amar simply raised his hand as a sign of his devotion.
It's now been 38 years and the arm has not yet come down.
Amar's followers claim his sacrifice is a beacon of peace, while others say he has given up the use of a limb in order to separate himself from the pleasures of mortal life.
Amar's sacrifice has turned his arm into a useless stump of flesh and bone, with a gnarled hand and unclipped fingernails hanging from the end.
Amar says he experienced years of excruciating pain in order to follow his beliefs, but the pain has now passed.
What's left of his arm is now stuck in the bizarre position, atrophied after years of non-use.
Devotees of Hinuisim will often undergo incredible acts of self-sacrifice, sometimes involving starvation or vows of silence.
Many of Amar’s followers have followed suit, raising their own arms for years and even decades.

(source, where you can see pictures of the gentleman raising his arm. warning, raised arm is not pretty!)

i like reading pop media stories about all of the fascinating things human beings do.

do other people have any opinions on this man or on his decisions?

i find this story very interesting, even amazing. my intial gut reaction was of sadness, and that i felt so sad for him, because of an idea i had that he had wasted his life on asceticism when he could have been experiencing the beauty and pleasure of life. then i thought, what's so good about pleasure? most people throw their lives away on the pursuit of pleasure. where does it get them? who does it inspire, what does it give? i admit that i throw a very good proportion of my own life away on it. what does it achieve?

some of the comments on that site that people have posted about the article are very negative. they say things like, he should be helping people. but then again, maybe what he has achieved helps others more than the majority of humankind, people like me for example, who are throwing away large proportions of our life on hedonistic and materialistic things. because we can see the power of faith to overcome horrendous obstacles to achieve something, and we can try and have a little more faith in something that is good, and give up a bit more to achieve something that is meaningful. i'm not a religious person at all, but faith is one of the most powerful human forces that there are. if we can believe in something fully, we can achieve the incredible, and transcend what is natural. the ability of humanity to transcend is very beautiful to me. i think the man is a transcendent human being, he gave himself to something completely, and reached another level in life.

does anyone agree with me, or am i a bit sentimental about this? you have to admit, pop journalism can be quite interesting.

 

[whytiger]

In America, this man would be classified as mentally ill and forced to put his arm down. Why would somebody do this?

 

[invisible]

In America, this man would be classified as mentally ill and forced to put his arm down. Why would somebody do this?

i feel a sense of horror, and that it is very difficult for me to understand, but i realise that the virtual norm in america is for people to act in a range of ways that are also very self destructive, and far more destructive to those around them, and to the environment, with no apparent lasting benefit to society or the world, than what this man has done.

 

[invisible]

at times a human life seems to me to be so fragile, so brief, so easily wasted, so quickly forgotten, so insignificant. it costs so much to raise a healthy and functioning human being yet countries just throw them away in wars, like using a q tip. then they put up a piece of stone in a park and think it makes it mean something to have flushed that massive human potential down the toilet in the name of violence and hatred.

the man could have stayed in the machine working at his clerk job, but instead he showed the world the power of believing in something, in a photograph and a story that would travel so far that it would even reach me. raising my arm to deity is not my way. but it seems to me that there is something very great and very humble in it.

 

[christmas]

this doesn't seem the least bit odd to me. he's just showing us how ordinary and unimportant the flesh truly is. i believe there is something more than this existence. the pain was temporary, and i don't see a life devoted to prayer as a life wasted. by the by, i qualify as mentally ill.

 

[Trifoilum]

Holy cow of India.

If that's what makes he happy, then so be it. Faith can lead to happiness, and faith itself is a good thing.

I'm not sure about the sacrifices though. Not that he's mentally ill...or something. Just I dunno if he paid the worthy price.
But perhaps for him, it is. And I won't judge anything.

 

[Flavus Aquila]

His arm seems a fitting tribute to shiva, known as 'the destroyer'.

 

[acd]

Your sentimentality is beautiful and I admire it. I am judgmental and cynical. I can't help but think that anyone who would willingly harm themselves like this is a fool.

My thinking is that the flesh is necessary, it gives us existence... We should be lucky and grateful that we exist at all and treat our bodies as temples...

 

[Soulful]

when I read things like this, I realize how trite and superficial my life is, even as I strive to not make it so.

I realize how disconnected I am

I the first couple of comments on the page where the article is found. I found myself feeling surprised, then I admonished myself for feeling surprised (the world is filled with people with such reactions -- I should expect them, right.)

This is one person who, as far as I know, is of the world but likely not harming it.
That's probably more good than many people (myself included) do.

 

[aerosol]

religion: justifying stupid shit since forever

 

[invisible]

open your mind.

 

[Sloe Djinn]

Now throw yo hands in tha ayer
And wave 'em like ya just don't cayer
And if ya like fish and grits and all dem pimp sh--
Evahbodeh lemme hear ya say "O yayer!"


Wow, the original ATLien

 

[Kgal]

From wiki and about.com

****Shiva is 'shakti' or power, Shiva is the destroyer, the most powerful god of the Hindu pantheon and one of the godheads in the Hindu Trinity. Known by many names - Mahadeva, Mahayogi, Pashupati, Nataraja, Bhairava, Vishwanath, Bhava, Bhole Nath - Lord Shiva is perhaps the most complex of Hindu deities.

Shiva, in temples is usually found as a phallic symbol of the 'linga', which represents the energies necessary for life on both the microcosmic and the macrocosmic levels, that is, the world in which we live and the world which constitutes the whole of the universe.

The actual image of Shiva is also distinct from other deities: his hair piled high on the top of his head, with a crescent tucked into it and the river Ganges tumbling from his hairs. Around his neck is a coiled serpent representing Kundalini or the spiritual energy within life.

Shiva is believed to be at the core of the centrifugal force of the universe, because of his responsibility for death and destruction. Unlike the godhead Brahma, the Creator, or Vishnu, the Preserver, Shiva is the dissolving force in life. But Shiva dissolves in order to create, since death is the medium for rebirth into a new life. So the opposites of life and death and creation and destruction both reside in his character.****

Reincarnation and karma are expressed in many myths and religions, all around the globe, including christian oriigins, dating back to ancient days. The Hindu, and others, readily accept this concept as truth in their lives. To escape the wheel of suffering, or samsara, one must “transform” themselves, including ways of thinking and perceiving this existence in this human body.

There are a multitude of ways to go about achieving a transformation. In my journey of exploring meditation and transformation I’ve run across some strange ones. (Mortification of the flesh by Jesuit priests comes to mind as one I shy away from. [shudder])

To me this man is seeking a way to transform himself and thus escape the wheel of samsara in his next incarnation. While it appears bizarre - it seems no different than many others. I wish him peace and success in his endeavor.

Focusing on Shiva, the transformer, is much like meditating on a candle flame or a mandala or the tip of one’s nose. It’s not exactly “faith” in a deity - but a tool for focus. The faith comes into play that meditation - and/or acts designed to transform - is worth while during one’s incarnation or lifetime here.

As in almost all of the western “religions” currently on this earth, the focus has shifted away from looking within (meditating or praying) for peace and wisdom for one’s self - to focusing upon a deity for salvation.

But not so much in the Eastern ways such as Hinduism or Buddhism. Especially in Buddhism as Buddha is not worshipped at all. Just revered for his wisdom and teachings. I think of him with profound gratitude for sharing his life learning. ..his creation, if you will. Sometimes I feel the same way about Tchaikovsky or Beethoven for their creations as music moves my soul with gratitude as well.

Thanks for posting this. It gave me pause and a chance to appreciate my life as it is.