I went to the Diwali festival the other evening…
 
Let me go Side Bar here on you for a second—just to give you the what’s what.  Diwali, or more properly Dipavali, is the Hindu Festival of Lights. It symbolizes the victory of light over darkness.
 
Anyway, there were thousands of people. And, when I say thousands, I truly mean thousands at the temple. Most, were of South Asian descent. They came as this is one of their high holidays.
 
Everything was great. It was a beautiful event. The temple was lighted with all of these colorful lights, and the people were all truly enjoying themselves, while basking in the holiness of this holy day.
 
I wasn’t the only person of non-South Asian descent there, however. There were a few other Caucasians, and Asians from various other regions of the globe. The one thing that I took note of, however, and the thing that kind of gave me pause, was that I did notice a number of Westerners wearing South Asian garb. Meaning, they were dressed in clothing most commonly associated with India.
 
The thing that kind of made me think, and the things that that gave me pause, was the fact that these people were all behaving in a very, (let me say), disrespectful manner; laughing and joking in the Mandir and the like.
 
They didn’t really get it! They were there, they knew this event was going on, but they weren’t there for the right reasons. Plus, they were doing what is most commonly associated with cultural appropriation. They were dressing in a garb from a different land and a different tradition, but they didn’t even understand the root of the culture.  
 
The thing is, every style of South Asian clothing is worn by a very specific religious sect. Meaning, one type of person who follows the Hindu religion may wear a very different style of clothing than another person who follows the Hindu religion.
 
Now, this is all fine. You see the various styles of clothing, worn by the different people, and it is all very natural. But, these are people that were born into that tradition. They are not people that are putting on a costume and pretending. They live it. The Westerners do not.
 
I don’t know, I find all of that a bit offensive.
 
Certainly, one could have said the same thing about me in my younger years. But, the difference between me and these other Westerners, is that I was actually living the Hindu lifestyle. I was a yogi.
 
I’ve told this story before, but I think it’s very definitive of the difference between someone who dresses up to play a role and someone who is actually living what they are living.
 
As the story goes, I was walking over to the local supermarket, to pick up something for Sister Maji, who was the main chef at the Los Angeles Integral Yoga Institute. I was sixteen or seventeen years old. Anyway, I stood there on Sunset Blvd., about to walk across the street, and some young girls drove up to the stoplight. I believe they had Iowa plates on their car. With their window down, they looked at me, and they asked, “Are you a hippie?” My immediate answer was, “No, I’m a yogi.” The light turned green, and I walked across the street.
 
After I had got what I got at the supermarket, I went back to the IYI, and I told Sister Maji about the story. She said, “You see Shiva Das, God was testing you.” I guess I passed.
 
What I will say is that, I believe, playing dress up is really disrespectful of other people’s culture, unless, like I was, you’re living it.
 
Sure, if it was for a movie, or something like that, I get it. But, to just do it to do it, and not even understand what you’re wearing, why you’re wearing it, what you’re wearing it means, or why you’re even doing any of what you’re doing really robs the entire energy of any situation. Don’t you think?
 
I suppose you could say that cultural appropriation goes on all over the place. I mean, Hinduism was born in India. The Buddha was a Hindu. The religion that was founded around his teachings occurred in India, traveled to China, where it was embraced to a certain degree. But, then it found its true home in Japan, where it flourished. So, people took something, and absorbed it, born in a different land, created by an entirely different culture. Yet, it became what it was to become in a completely separate land.
 
The difference that I believe took place is that the culture of Japan took the understanding of the religion, but made it their own. They lived it! They were not pretending to be something they were not.
 
So, all of this is just something to think about. Ask yourself, do you play dress up, do you pretend to be something you’re not, simply defined by the clothing you’re wearing? Or, do you truly live who you truly are, defined by everything you think, what you do, how you do it, and the all and the everything else?
 
In other words, are you real or are you a fake?