What are Bedouins? What are asanas? What is an imam? If you don't know, you're not doing your job...look them up.
What do you think Pi found appealing about the Muslim baker and his practicing of his faith?
Pi says that when he brought his forehead to the ground in prayer, "it felt like a deeply religious contact." Explain how you think that could be possible.
Mr. Kumar (the Muslim, not the scientist) is a hafiz. What is that and why is it impressive?
Have you ever been somewhere that made you feel as though it was heaven? Share that experience and describe your surroundings at that time to the best of your ability. What made it feel like heaven?
What do you think "a vision beyond a vision" is? Have you ever experienced this phenomenon?
11 comments:
A Bedouin is a nomadic Arab of the desert. Asanas are yogic postures. An imam is a Muslim leader who leads prayer in the mosque. I think Pi found the Muslim baker appealing at first because the baker was very friendly to Pi and invited him into his home. When the Muslim baker prayed, Pi was mesmerized. He described the Muslim baker’s practicing of his faith as “quick, necessary, physical, muttered, striking” (60). Pi immediately became interested in the practicing of the Muslim faith. When Pi visited the mosque with the Muslim baker, he sat cross-legged listening to the imam and prayed alongside his fellow worshippers. Pi said, “It felt good to bring my forehead to the ground. Immediately it felt like a deeply religious contact” (61). Pi was attracted to this faith, which was so foreign to him; yet, brought him closer to God. A hafiz is a Muslim who knows the Qur’an by heart. This is extremely impressive considering it must take an incredible amount of time and patience to memorize the entire Qur’an. I have never been somewhere that made me feel as though it was heaven. I think a “vision beyond vision” is a vision that can be seen, but cannot be rightly described by only using sight. In other words, sight cannot do the vision justice. When Pi recounted his experience of seeing the Virgin Mary, he said, “I felt I saw her, a vision beyond vision” (63).
A Bedouin is someone who was born in the desert or mountains and is generally a nomad. When Prophet Muhammad travelled from Mecca to Medina, he gained support for Islam from many of the Bedouins he encountered. Asanas are any of the various poses in yoga. An imam is to Islam as a Priest is to Christianity. An imam gives a speech or tells a story that explains the life lesson he is talking about that day and then leads the prayer for everyone in the mosque. Hafiz translates into memorized, so it means that Mr. Kumar memorized the entire Quran, which is very impressive because in the Islamic community the Quran is considered the “word of God.” Being hafiz is equivalent to being able to recite the entire Bible from memory.
Having prayed the way that Pi is talking about many times in my life, I can honestly say it is different for everyone and I can’t explain the feeling it brings. That being said, everyone has his or her own relationship with God, even if that relationship involves doubt or disbelief, so it is hard to pinpoint what praying in any religion will feel like for each person. For Pi, he felt the most faith and connection to God by praying according to the Muslim faith, but others may feel the same “deeply religious contact” by praying according to Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, or any other religion. It all depends on in which religion someone’s personal faith feels strongest.
Bedouins are Arabic people from the deserts. Asana is a yoga position, usually one used in deep, prolonged meditation. An imam is the Muslim equivalent of a priest; spiritual leaders that often lead services as well as the Muslim community.
I believe Pi found the baker’s strong faith appealing. The way he stopped mid-sentence to pray to his God shows a deep and very respectable loyalty and devotion. I think he also found his method of worshiping peculiar, almost like exercise. And because it was so eccentric and so much more than how he prayed (sitting stationary on his knees, head bowed), it seemed like it meant more. Like when he thought it felt like “a deeply religious contact”. It’s just more; more of an effort, more strain, and more devotion to God.
A hafiz is someone who has completely memorized the Quran. How is that not impressive? To memorize, word for word, a whole entire book? Much kudos to anyone who can do that. I’m impressed with myself for being able to memorize the 14-digit number on the back of my library card…
When I look out over the water at sunset or sunrise I feel like I’m in heaven. When it is that in-between phase, when it’s not exactly dark out but it’s not quite light either. It is so beautiful, so peaceful. My mind wanders to a happier place, one I wish I could stay in forever.
When Pi says a “vision beyond a vision’, I think it is more of a feeling rather than something he sees with his occipital lobe. It’s not so much sight as it is knowledge.
I think when Pi said, "it felt like a deeply religious contact," he was talking about actually practicing what you preach. My interpretation of this, is like when you help someone out, or you do a good act. Pi was saying that he felt as though he was actually praising God, not just talking about it.
Bedouin: An Arab and wanderer of the desert in Asia or Africa.
Asana: Any of the postures in a yoga excersise.
Imam: The officiating priest of a mosque.
Pi probably found it most interesting that he was so focused on praising, and that he was praying out loud instead of in his head like the Christian religion.
A hafiz is one who knows the Qur'an by heart. That is extremely impressive because it's knowing the entire muslim bible verse by verse. I'm not sure if I could spend the time to memorize the bible.
I've felt close to God in a way thats more spiritual than physical or emotional, but I don't think I've ever felt myself in a heavenly atmosphere.
I think a "vision beyond a vision" is a state in your mind where you're invisioning something during like a daydream. Or during a time where simply your mind is just wandering places. I think I personally have expirienced it before in campaigners. It's almost unbelievable on what you see compared to what you want to believe you saw.
The Bedouin are an Arabian ethnic group that live in the desert. Asanas are the body poses associated with yoga. Imam are the worship leaders within the Muslim faith.
I think Pi found the Muslim baker appealing because of the foreign nature of the baker's religion. He seems to be fascinated with the ritual act of the baker's praying. Pi also seems attracted to the strong connection the baker has with God. That he stopped what he was doing to pray.
A hafiz is someone that has completely memorized the Qur'an. Because of the dedication necessary to do this, it's quite impressive. A large amount of time and effort must be put towards this just like memorizing any other literary work. Not only must one memorize the Qur'an just once, but must also be able to consistently remember it, requiring a constant commitment to prevent memory loss.
A vision beyond a vision might be the stronger feelings and understanding beyond what can be physically seen.
I didn't quite feel like I was in heaven, but I did get that whole "out of body" feeling. I was walking down the road, which is for the most part empty and quiet, and the marsh is out on the right side with corn or some kind of crop on the left. The sun was setting, but there was a storm coming so the whole place had that "it's too dark for the time" look. I had my headphones in with some piano song by David Nevue playing. In the distance, I could see the rain start falling from the clouds, coming right my way. It was pretty awesome, and so gorgeous. It also felt somewhat like how Pi described his meeting with the Virgin Mary, or so I think. I felt like I could relate to what he said without having to ponder it too much.
A bedouin is a person that is Arabic that lives in the desert. An inman is the religious leaders for Muslims at the Mosque. I think that when Piscine felt a deep religious contact when touching his head to the ground in prayer was because he was moving he wasn't just sitting. It was like he was bringing himself to a different contact with God.
Personally, I have never had "a vision beyond a vision", but I have heard of people that have. I like t think of it as an out-of-body experience.
It is special that Mr. Kumar is a hazif because it means he has completely memorized the Qu'ran. I think is shows his devotion to his religion.
A Bedouin are Arabs from the desert. An asana is a yoga position used in mediation. An imam is Muslim leader that leads prayers in the Mosque. I think Pi found the Muslim baker appealing because of how friendly he was to begin with. Then Pi saw the commitment the baker had to his religion and Pi was intrigued by this. When he brought his forehead to the ground to pray, I think Pi felt more of an effort being made to be with God, showing God his commitment.
A hafiz is someone who has memorized the Qur’an. It shows his commitment to his religion. A lot of time and effort must be made to accomplish this task.
A vision beyond a vision, I think, is more of a feeling than anything else. I believe that it is such a strong feeling that you feel like you could see the vision beyond the vision. I’ve never experienced this, but it seems like an amazing thing to have experienced.
The end.
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