Today Gurudeva answers a question about why woman refrain from entering the temple or home shrine during their monthly period. He then talks about how all of experience is part of life itself, a concept easy to understand intellectually, but difficult to cognize in actual experience. He explains how running away from the experiences of life only creates more karma.

Unedited Transcript:

Today at Kauai Aadheenam. 18th of April. Greetings, everyone! We are so happy. We are having a beautiful day here at Kauai Aadheenam.

We have a question. This is a controversial question, one with an easy explanation. "Why aren't women allowed in temples and shrines when they are having their monthly cycle?"

It is because of the blood. It applies not only to women but would apply to men also if they had cut their hand or cut their foot. Or children, if they had cut their finger. They would not be allowed into the shrine or the temple. Why is this? This is because every good situation or spiritual situation has a negative situation around it. They are called asuras. These are low-minded astral people that are attracted by blood. They are not attracted by fruit and flowers, as the high-minded devas and Gods are. I hope this answers that question. Hinduism is very reasonable. This is not only practiced in Hinduism, but also in the Shinto religion, Buddhism and all through Asia. It is well understood.

Many people are running away from situations, without facing those situations. They spend time and energy even denying that they exist. These kinds of people try to meditate to get away from something. That is not a positive kind of meditation. Now what do I mean by running away from situations? Situations between people and people. mental arguments between people that can never be won. Holding hard feelings against other people, without letting them go and realizing that it is all in the experience of life itself. Whatever happened to us is our own creation. I have said that so many, many times over the last 50 years, it is amazing! To understand intellectually is very different than to understand experientially. We have to experience *the law of karma* for ourselves. To run away from the situation without solving the situation, without making amends, without harmonizing the prana flow of energy between us and others, or between us and ourselves is detrimental because it creates more karma.

Now in a small village in India, it is impossible to run away from a situation. But, in a large country like the United States, you can move to another city, get a whole new group of friends and start life all over anew. Pack away the problems in the subconscious mind and wait for them to remanifest because that which was not solved is still festering within the mind and will remanifest. Just give it a little bit of time and the right circumstances. Those of you whom this applies to, in cyberspace, listen again and again and again. If you do speak another language, listen to this message in your own language.

We will be back again tomorrow, in our Cyberspace Ashram. So happy that you pushed that button and tuned in today.

Aum Namah Sivaya!