With just a few day's notice, Sadasivanathaswami and Arumuganathaswami flew off to attend a two-day meeting of USA priests and pandits, the first-ever of its kind. They were there to lend support to the priests, following Gurudeva's decades of work to improve the living conditions of pujaris brought to America to guide the worship in hundreds of temples.
They were not always treated well, and Gurudeva's insistence that they be given the respect, acknowledgement and salary-lifestyle of their Christian counterparts made a difference. Today things are far better, but far from perfect. So the Kauai monks joined the noble event to speak our support of the noble Hindu pujaris, to share some expertise we have gained in fields like immigration, visas and such, and to bring some books and literature we have developed for educational needs the priests have.
During his presentation, Sadasivanathaswami called the local youth to the stage and presented them with 108 Rudraksha seeds from Kauai. Then he asked them to work with Kauai monks on a special project, to get Rudraksha trees planted in the temples of all those present. The boys enthusiastically agreed, and the priests all signed up with their addresses.
The conference ended with a wave of palpable energy, a shakti that seemed in the last hour to pour forth from all those wonderful servants of God, happy, it seemed, that they had come together, shared their concerns, listened to solutions to their shared problems and met new friends.
The priest of the Sri Venkateswara Temple then took the two Kauai monks on a tour of his temple, some 20 minutes away. It is a dynamic one, with an amazing array of activities, a full staff, and beautiful facilities. It was our first visit, and we were duly impressed.
Then back to Kauai to finish the current edition of Hinduism Today (a story of the conference will appear in the following issue.)
After a long flight, and a short rest early today, Sadasivanathaswami and Arumugaswami joined the Hindu Mandir Priests's Conference, 2012, which opened this afternoon in the Hindu Jain Temple, Monroeville, Pennsylvania (Just east of Pittsburg) Here are the priest performing the opening chant. Sadasivanathswami writes:
Dozens of priests inaugurate the conference in Pittsburgh's Hindu Jain Temple with a long series of beautiful chants. It is evening and the confluence of servants of the One Great and Holy Lord is palpable.
Chief priest of the Hindu Jain Temple welcomes the swamis from Hawaii and all the priests from around the US.
Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami and Acharya Arumugaswami are off to Pittsburg for a whirlwind one day flight, one day on the ground and oen day fly back on Sunday. The Hindu Mandir Executive Council has organized a meeting or priest to discuss key issues for our temples and Hinduism in the US.
Gurudeva made support of our Hindu priesthood a key part of his global mission. We are going to provide our support, insights on issues that may be helpful and to also take interviews for a future feature article in Hinduism Today magazine. Stay tuned for more...and pray for them both because we don't know how much sleep they are going to get in the next 72 hours!
Our April 2012 news video covers events in March 2012, including: Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami's retreat with the Hindu Students Association in Austin, Texas; our monthly chitra pada puja for Gurudeva; Bodhinatha's work on Gurudeva's Shum language of meditation and a Character Building workbook; the visit by the Kauai Interfaith Roundtable; and footage from the interfaith event held in West Texas.
Stepping back in time to Bodhinatha's recent mission on the east coast, yoginatha has some final photos to share:
"Here we are the home of the Hindu/Jain temple Mr and Mrs. Bhalakia and their friends. He is the president of the temple."
"Here are sishyas Gaurav, Ripla and Aran Malhotra. They made a 7-hour drive from Chicago to be with Bodhinatha. While with us in Pittsburgh Gaurav didn't miss the opportunity to drive us around to several events. Little Aran was every happy to be with Bodhinatha and gave us few of his paintings!"
Gurudeva taught us all to see the light in others' eyes. It is particularly evident in this photo.
This is a very unique temple because it shrines Siva Lingam and the murti of Sri Mahavira. The temple also has shrines several other deities following the North Indian Smarta tradition. You can read about the temple's history on their website http://www.hindujaintemple.org/
Twenty-five years ago they invited Gurudeva for the installation of the temple. Now Bodhinatha gave his talk on the Silver Jublee of that auspicious event. We went for the morning Rudra Abhishekam with Sri Rudram chanting--beautifully done by the three Pundits, bhajans, then Bodhinatha's talk. The morning ceremony at the temple concluded with Bodhinatha giving rudraksha gift to a group of the temple devotees who successfully completed the Kailas Yatra recently and the puja sponsors. Som Sharma and others did a wonderful job oganizing the whole event and took care of us with extreme devotion and love! Thank you!
The Thamizhar Senthamarai is a leading Tamil newspaper in Toronto and other provinces in Canada. The attached article appeared in this paper this week-end, reporting on Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami's presence at the 48th Yogaswami Maha Samadhi Pooja, at Sangamam Hall, Toronto.
Inspired Talk: Title: Decisions, Discover and Use Your Intuition
Category: Change and Transformation Duration: 15 min, 6 secs
Date Given: 2012-04-30
Given by: Bodhinatha
Description:
As a human race we don't solve problems until we have to; then we get highly motivated. Forget worry, blame, past, future. Higher philosophy: Everything that happens to us is created by only one person. Benefit by acquiring knowledge from experience. Quiet the mind; discover the always existing keys to intuition within. Master Course, Lesson 18.
