“Ocean of milk”: I’m friends with a half dozen Hindu devotees or more, some of whom post enormous numbers of images. One of these is of a deity being doused liberally with milk. Must have something to do with your expression “oceans of milk”. Perhaps you’re willing to elaborate?
I probably drive personal friends and family bonkers on Facebook because I have links to Buddhist, Hindu, Baha’i, and even some Sufi pages. Yet am a traditional Catholic with links to traditional Catholic groups and pages too.
Anyhow–Hinduism has always been a bit more daunting and confusing to me than some of the other religions. Thanks for initiating this thread.
Thank you for your comments, question and friendship. As far as Hinduism, keep in mind that this is just a general term or word, like “American,” and is more like an umbrella concept than any specific religion. As for the Hare Krishna Movement, here you will find a religion with a rich history. It consists of both Scriptures and Saints, and is just as “believable” as other religions. You will also find that both Catholicism and the Gaudia Vaishnava Sect (a.k.a. Hare Krishna Movement) have a very mystical flavor, that I personally feel a true religion should have. And very much like Catholicism, the driving motivations are love, compassion, trust, faith, mercy, forgiveness and saving souls. You will also discover a type of Holy Eucharist, but called by a different name: “prasadam” (or mercy). Another similarity I noticed just the other day is how there is a Catholic tradition where the Holy Eucharist is paraded from one holy place to another. I was looking at pictures of this on Wikipedia. So this is another similarity that comes to light when you look at the theology behind the two, but the “parade” in India would be called “Ratha Yatra.” But for sure, there are differences. Understanding these differences is where I would use your words, “daunting and confusing”. The similarities help, but the blatant cultural differences can make it more difficult. Also, I was not born with much of a brain, making this an even a greater challenge. In other words, unlike some whiz kid who can memorize and quote word-for-word just about anything and quickly analyses and postulate, I have to struggle. This makes explaining myself also more difficult. Putting that aside, there are a few things I can say about the “Ocean of Milk.” But on your part you are going to have to read a little. Having said that, again, I want to mention
Chapter 6 (part one) of the book, “Abandoned,” as a good outline for understanding just what this whole “Ocean of Milk” thing is all about. The actual story is found within the pages of Shrimad-bhagavatam. So this is within the Hare Krishna scriptures, which are texts from ancient India. What is interesting is that 3000 miles away in Cambodia, you will find one of the largest religious complexes in the world, popularly called, “Angkor Wat.”
What makes this place even more interesting is that “Angkor Wat” was built to honor the “Ocean of Milk.” The book, “Abandoned” is free and provides a nice story that lays out all the facts surrounding “Angkor Wat.” It is not a long book.
As far as pouring the milk over the deities that your friends have posted, there is nothing too difficult to understand here. Although not that common, still, in some Catholic photos I have seen statues of Mary (deity) adorned with various articles of clothing.
I have no idea how a marble deity (statue) of Mary is dressed (and/or cleaned), but, for instance, there are marble deities of Krishna which are dressed, too. However (I am now assuming) whereas Mary may be dressed in new attire only ever so rarely, the deity of Krishna is dressed 4-5 times a day. He is also bathed (cleaned) and this is where you might find photos of milk, honey, yogurt, water, etc. being poured over the undressed deity before being dried and clothed for public view. Not a foreign concept to Catholic theology, the deity of Lord Krishna is accepted as God and His worship is very detailed, including changing of clothing, offering various foods, flowers, incense, water, etc.
I did find one statue of Mary adorned with clothing and I would post the picture except that it is copyrighted.
