Dirty thoughts

I haven't blogged in so long but I'm excited to have time to finally sit down and do so!  I have had a lot happen in my life over these past three weeks and strangely enough a lot of it ties in to what we have learned in class as well.

Last week we were told the story of the Ramayana.  I really enjoyed the story.  I think the reason why I loved it so much is because there are so many lessons that are being told throughout the story.  I think that the main moral of the story was on the topic of dharma, the way, and doing what is right.  I think that people could learn a lot from listening to this story and how sometimes you have to sacrifice or take the hard road in order to do what is right.  Rama was supposed to be king and after being banished into exile by the king's third wife he does not put up a fight.  He goes into the forrest because it is his duty and in order to keep peace among the kingdom and the people.  Not only that, but his wife and brother go along with him, because it is their duty to stay with him.  I can honestly say that I do believe in doing what is right, and following through with your moral duties.  I think that it is an extremely hard thing to do but if it is the right thing to do then it must be done.  People nowadays I think lose sight in that.  There is sometimes that take all attitude or only looking out for oneself.  I think that here in America we could learn so much from the way people live in India and how the treat one another.

Another element that I found interesting from the story was that of being stuck with some sort of stigma. In this case, Sita is the one who loses her stature or who she is, after she is stolen by Ravana.  Rama goes to rescue her but she is seen as being tainted.  Rama makes her walk through fire to see if she is still pure and although she passes with the fury and determination in her eyes whens they return to the kingdom the people cannot let go of her past.  The idea is that once a dirty thought has been dropped into someone's mind, then it sits there.  The question that I have is once you have this dirty thought about someone in your head are you able to get it out?  You have feelings about a person after first meeting them (first impressions) and then those feelings can change or stay the same as you get to know them better, if you ever get the chance to.  In this case the people of Rama's kingdom may have never got to know that Sita was still pure and good, even though she had been kidnapped by Ravana.  But they were not willing to see past the fact.  They only judged her on what they knew took place, and then made assumptions from that one fact.  Is that what people do today?  Do we get dirty thoughts about people in our minds and then refuse not to get them out?  My main question how do people change the perceptions that people have about them?  In the Ramayana it seems as though you cannot chance though perceptions, as see when Sita decides to just be devoured by the Earth and disappear.  She knew that people would never accept her so she left.  But could there have been a way for Sita to win the people back?  Can you change people's perceptions of you?  Can you get dirty thoughts out of people's minds?