When studying other religions, no matter how different they are from your own, you must figure out who you are from the beginning in order to take anything away from any other religion. By knowing about other religious traditions, you can know yourself more deeply and in a new and different way (Clooney 4). The Hindu Creation Story is different from most other religions' creation story because creation of the universe was from self instead of a supreme being. For example, in Christianity, God created us

from nothing in six days, where as in the Hindu myth, man created the universe. By learning about other religions in a spiritual way, we enter into a living connection with that other tradition. What is uncomfortable or bizarre to us in the beginning eventually becomes part of the greater self that we are only beginning to understand. We are nurtured by that wisdom and it becomes a part of us (Clooney 5).

In the creation myth, the "need to create comes from within oneself; this need is as strong as the need of male for female, female for male... the original pure solitude turns out to be only the briefest opening moment in a drama of self-discovery" (Clooney 5). Male is also very dependent on female, despite the fact that she is shameful of their unification, because he needs her not only for reproduction, but to fill the void in himself that is causing him loneliness. By continually changing her form and by him persistently pursing her, the "self keeps becoming one again, and each time comes a

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Approximate Word count = 679
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)