Varun Soni, dean of religious life at USC, describes how his devotion to the Clippers has made him a better Hindu:
For me, being a Los Angeles Clippers fan for over twenty years has taught me firsthand about the spiritual dimensions of faith and suffering, and has helped me better understand my own Hindu tradition. According to the Bhagavad Gita, a pan-Hindu theological text, we should act righteously in each moment and relinquish attachment to future rewards. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna counsels Arjuna on the battlefield and instructs him to act in the present moment without being attached to the fruits of his labor. In this context, Hinduism shares an Indian philosophical worldview with Buddhism that focuses on the process as opposed to the goal, the present as opposed to the past, and the journey as opposed to the destination…
…Yet there is an infectious joy in being a Clippers fan and rooting for the ultimate underdog with unbridled optimism. For Clippers fans, every meaningful victory resembles a mystical experience, a transcendent and ecstatic moment of redemption. In my case, being a Clippers fan brought me into a kindred community of passionate and knowledgeable fans who are the antithesis of the bandwagon and fair-weathered variety (check out real Clippers fans here and here). Rooting for the Clippers taught me firsthand about the Indian philosophical doctrines of causality and non-attachment, and I now have a permanent mantra – “next season!” In all these ways, being a Clippers fan has made me a better Hindu.
The full post is here at the Huffington Post.
