[pillut48]

I have several cients who are Indian and it is fascinating how many of our Orthodox customs, especially surrounding commemoration of the dead, seem to have a remarkable similarity to Indian practices. Yes, that is what is fascinating to me too! I wonder if it was the traditional British influence, or the missionaries to India, because Hinduism seems to 'absorb' pretty much every other religion into itself.

[Kolokotronis]

“Yes, that is what is fascinating to me too! I wonder if it was the traditional British influence, or the missionaries to India, because Hinduism seems to ‘absorb’ pretty much every other religion into itself.”

Oh, I think its quite the opposite. I believe those practices have pre-Christian roots and are indigenous to the cultures they arose in. These sorts of practices are examples of what the Fathers called “spori” or seeds of the True Faith which they, and we for that matter, saw in virtually all pre-Christian religions.