Blog Archives
July 22, 2001 
Guru Purnima, Day Two: This was a special homa this morning because, for the first time during a ceremony, we were graced with the music of the Tavil and Nageswaram. The spine tingling power of this traditional South Indian temple music brings a new power and energy to the rites. The two musicians from Toronto were in excellent form.
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Date: September_30_1998
Topic: Energy, Willpower, Effort, Discipline
Category:
Duration:
Date Given: September 28, 1998
Today at Kauai Aadheenam, it is September 30. Our Shingon Buddhist priest came with a group of his devotees in the neighboring temple, to teach us the secret of pickling radishes in the monastery way, with cultures that are over a 100-years of age. We videoed it, hoping to put the video for you to see here on the internet at 'Kauai Aadheenam Today'. We just received our video camera, a digital one. So, keep looking. We'll soon be there.
We had a wonderful meeting of our 'Vision Kauai' group, consisting of community leaders, the Mayor, Head of Council and everyone who motivates this island on to the future. We decided that everyone on this island, in the unity and diversity coalition, is called 'Kauaian'. This is a new thing for this garden island, to be a Kauaian. We are printing big posters, pamphlets and bumper stickers. We are looking forward to a 20-year vision of the island of Kauai, which will go into the General Plan Update of the core Council of this island. We are also, asking every resident of the island to give his vision and what he wants to see in the next 20 years. It is a chance to hear his voice.
Concensualocracy. We all agree on the Vision of the Island of Kauai. We are moving ahead to a glorious future.We have been meeting for over a year and a half. Many changes have taken place. Economy has improved. We are very grateful for the Divine energies that come through this group, that prays to the Divine for inspiration to know the direction for guiding the people of Kauai into the next millennium.
Paramacharya Bodhinatha in India has attended a great parade and function of Sri Sri Sri Balagangadharanathaswami. A four mile parade, celebrating the twentieth year of his mission in lifting up the people of his community, in establishing over 200 centers, of stabilizing homes for the aged, homes for the blind, hospitals, training centers and much, much more.
Sri Sri Trichiswami received our pilgrims and gave his words of wisdom. He is one of the great saints of India.
I would like to tell you today, that you can be a saint also. It is not that difficult these days. You have to do a few miracles, of course. But, you also have to be a very good and kindly person.
One of the miracles that you can do is to change yourself. Only you can do that. All the saints of all the ages of all religions of all the worlds cannot change you. Only you can do that. That is a miracle, if you can do that in this lifetime. When you do transform yourself, it is not by what you know intellectually, not by your emotional experiences. It is not as an adolescent changing into a mature person, through sexual experiences, through educational learning or through the unexpected. No. That is not changing.
Changing you is lifting your consciousness. In other terms, transforming yourself by regular, disciplined, spiritual practices at the same time every day, relentlessly, never giving up, never letting down. It takes effort to be a great ballet dancer. It takes effort to be an opera star. It takes effort to hold a position in Hollywood, year after year after year until you are playing adult parts of 70-year, 80-year old, 90-year old person, having started at 14 or 12 or even 6 years of age. That takes willpower and commitment. That takes an energy that you can awaken within yourself. You can be famous. You can be a saint.
This does not mean you have to run a spiritual organization. This does not mean you have to be on TV. This does not mean you have to be in the newspaper. This has to mean that you can make a difference in yourself by creating a miracle within you, by paying attention to yourself. Give yourself a break! Pay to attention to others, if you want them to change. You have mental arguments with others that are never-ending. Nobody wins. You hope that you will, but you don't. Give yourself a break.
Change yourself by disciplining yourself physically, emotionally, mentally. You will become a saint. The first miracle of becoming a saint is to transform yourself into saintliness. Give it a try.
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Newly weds, Ritesh and Indu Tolia received a blessing from Gurudeva. They had come to Kauai yesterday, not knowing any temple was here. They mentioned to a local person that there "weren't any Indian people around," and were told "Actually there is a Hindu temple here...." They came yesterday and were astounded to find hiding behind our humble front office and banyan tree walkway a "wonder world" of Hindu culture in full swing for Guru Purnima. They came back today for Gurudeva's blessings. He gave them his traditional "shawl of reconciliation" where he says: "Now, if there is any disharmony, you spread this shawl out on the floor, you sit on one side, you sit on the other and don't get up until it is resolved!" Then he asked Ritesh, the groom "Will you promise me anything?" Ritesh said "Yes," Gurudeva laughed, "He has a lot of faith to promise me anything and he doesn't even know what I am going to ask.... OK, promise me this, you give your wife Indu everything she needs and everything she wants and then her shakti will flow through you and make you strong and successful." Ritesh and Indu went away overjoyed and also overwhelmed to find such an amazing place. Indu said "There is no way we could have planned this, it must be a divine coincidence."
Meanwhile today was the long awaited "open house" where we had invited all our island friends, neighbours and collaborators in our mutual endeavors to make a better Kauai community, to come and view the early stages of the temple building. Early arrivals gather under the cool banyan tree near our front entrance.
Our monks are posted along the path to guide the arrivals along their way to the Iraivan temple site.
We counted at least 380 souls that passed through out gates. Adding to this the monks, local devotees and Guru Purnima pilgrims we had a crowd count of about 450 people....our kitchen staff was hard at work all morning with monks from other kulams pitching into to do all the necessary preparations. In the wheelchair is our dear "Grandma Nanaka", elder (97 years old) of the Shingon Buddhist community.
Jothi Sendan videos the days events as Gurudeva awaits the group to parade to the temple site.
Sadhaka Thondunatha is our tour day coordinator and pilgrim guide... he stands waiting with Gurudeva as the guests arrive.
Now we are off. The tavil drummer leads the way and the nagesvaram follows. They lend an authentic touch to the event.
It was a remarkable gathering of young and old from all walks of life, ethnic backgrounds and cultures that joined together today under the "light of Iraivan" temple and Gurudeva and his monastic order. "We are all Kauaians."
Coming up onto the foundation, our friends finally get a hands on, up close look at what we have been talking about and working to manifest all these years.
It was a great day for kids as there were more than enough things to see and do to satisfy the curiosity and energy output of any youthful spirit.
We had our temple model on display near the actual temple site so everyone could visualize the final building.
Up on the foundation everyone watched as the silpis performed some of the tasks of their trade.
Here everyone is treated to a view of the finer ornamental carving in progress.
The honorable Mayor of Kauai, Maryanne Kusaka was present, wearing an Indian Sharwal Kameez outfit that was gifted to her by the ladies of our congregation.
Next...a demonstration of "moving the stones," which included the chant that is made as the silpis work in unison with iron bars to move the stones into place. Tomorrow we will continue with more pictures of the events of the day.
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Blog Archives
July 21, 2001 
Today was the first day of Guru Purnima celebrations on Kauai. A group of devotees from various countries arrived to join us. Several from Toronto, Canada. A young man from Johor Bahru in Malaysia and a number of devotees from mainland, USA.
Gurudeva answered questions today from the audience at the Sun One homa. One of the devotees asked what was the relationship between the light in the lotus of the heart and the kundalini and which should one meditate upon. Gurudeva replied: "The kundalini is the source of the light within all the chakras. It is best for family people to meditate on the light within the lotus of the heart."
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Date: September_27_1998
Topic: Hospitality and the Importance of People
Category:
Duration: 8 min., 26 sec.
Date Given: September 27, 1998
Today at Kauai Aadheenam, September 27. It is Sunday here and 'Vision Kauai', an island-wide vision group meets. We are a part of 'Vision Kauai 2020'. It is a little group that formed about a year and a half ago. At first we were meeting every month for a year and now, we are meeting every 2 months and we are looking into the future, a vision for the beautiful island of Kauai, of the next 20 years. Shall it be surf-and-sand? Shall it be sugarcane? Shall it be commerce? Shall it be a heartfelt, sustainable society? These are the questions before this group of community leaders and county leaders, who see far enough to find out from within themselves, listening to the superconscious mind, what to do for the next generation and the next one coming up.
We have prepared a 16-inch by 20-inch poster to share, of the Aloha spirit. There is one right now, in every schoolroom on the island of Kauai, over 600 schoolrooms. We have a vision-card for everyone. This is our gift to the community. A vision card, a small card that every resident of the island, over 50000, can write their vision of how they see this beautiful garden island progressing in the next 20 years. That is how we have got a wonderful event of an island vision gathering, when thousands of people will gather around October 11 and share what they need, what they have, and what they want, as a collective community of Kauains.
Sri. Chandrababu arrived today, from India. He is the Vice-President of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Kerala. He informed us that he has a beautiful award for Gurudeva, as the 'Voice of Hinduism This Century', as well as an ancient book of Ayurveda, written in grantha, that he wants us to have as a token of esteem from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, in Kerala to us and 'Hinduism Today' here on Kauai.
Today's message, you will appreciate. It is on 'Hospitality'. The guest is God, not an intruder. All Hindus have a heart to receive the guest as God. This is very important for us to remember because guests come and guests go. Often, guests come and never come back, because of subtle inflections in the voice. Because, they forgot to be served even a glass of water, which is traditional in Hindu culture. The guest is God, not an intruder. When someone steps up to you, drop your work. People are more important than paper People are more important than giving oneself to the computer. People are more important than anything else. People are the working-out of your karma.
Computers and other distractions, perhaps, are making new karma, especially if you are into pornography. Naughty, naughty. Especially if you are into pornography which is readily available right now on the internet and flowing through cyberspace. The internet has chakras from the bottom of the feet, way up to the top of the head. You can choose where you want to go and what realm in cyberspace or the astral plane that you want to be in. We advise people who are addicted to pornography, that each time they fulfill that driving force of their addiction, to eat only fruit, yogurt or milk for a 24-hour period, right after. That lets the instinctive body know that there are consequences. Pornography perhaps is an evil force. But, in the freedom of today's world, it is there.
You all have a choice, we all have a choice. We must use that power of choice, not only to benefit ourselves but benefit everyone around us. Let us conclude this about pornography and say that it is not fun for the whole family. It is not fun for the whole family. You do not leave the door open. I am sure there are little catches upon it. Or, if it is unlocked, you know just the key to push to blacken out your screen, if somebody comes in, especially your young son. So, you know it is wrong. You know that. Don't kid yourself. If you were to die watching pornography, according to the laws of karma and reincarnation, you would be born as one of those lustful women or men. You would. Because, our next life is determined by the desires of this life and our last thought upon the moment of death.
Well, back to a more cheerful subject. Put the computer to sleep and turn around to talk to a human being, who might share a little love. A computer is a loveless instrument. It does not return any love, though you might love to watch it. People now are getting kind-of tired of surfing the web, takes a lot of energy, takes a lot of time away from the family.
In our spiritual fellowship, we have a 'Monday evening at home'. All the family gets together. If the family is away, they call in and talk to one another on the speaker phone, share and trade energy. Try it. People are more important than paper. People are more important than computers. People are more important. Why? Because, the guest is God.
So, in cyberspace, I will be seeing you
in all our old familiar places
which is right here
at the computer
looking at you
It is the best we can do right now, when I am not travelling. We are exchanging love together, trading energies together through cyberspace, which is the astral plane, on a certain inner, miraculous level.
Aum Namasivaya, everyone! We'll get together again tomorrow. People are more important than paper.
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Sadhaka Tyaganatha had raised a might fire this morning. During the festival a homa is held every day to bring up the vibration and bless all the devotees who have come from such long distances.
A special treat this year are the presence of Nageswaram and Tavil musicians from Toronto, Canada. There are over 20 temples in the Toronto, Canada area...a place one could call "Little Jaffna" with so many Sri Lankans that the area supports 12 different publications in the Tamil language.
Nothing can beat the "out of this world" power of live nagaswaram and tavil drumming. There is a strong karmic connection here as the young drummer on the right was one of the boys who attended the Sri Subramuniya Ashram classes held at Gurudeva's Alaveddy ashram in the early 1980's. Later he moved to Canada and now joins us in Hawaii. This is a remarkable testimony to the spread of the culture of Tamil Saivism around the world.
Chinnu is the "silpis assistant" who has come with the others from India as the official cook for the team of stone carvers and what a great cook he is too! At the up-and-coming annual Kauai "Coconut Festival," Chinnu will be a "star" and offer various samples of dishes made of Coconut. This will be an unusual opportunity for Kauaian's who, despite the large quantity of coconuts grown on the island, do not make as much use of them as a food item as is done in India and other parts of South Asian.
Aside from the week long Guru Purnima festivities, tomorrow is the grand "Taste of India / San Marga Open House" event where we have invited all our island friends and neighbors for a gathering and Indian feast. We are expecting about 400 guests and for the first time in a long while our quiet monastery is gearing up for a big crowd. Here is the tented area where speeches by the Mayor and local VIP's will be given.
Our family men and monks are all pitching in to get ready. We get a lot of support and cooperation from the local community and we wanted to give all our local friends and supporters an opportunity for a close up inspection of the temple building that has just been started these past two months.
On the right: Rajkumar Manickam is originally from Malaysia, but he moved to the US after marrying Ananda Alahan, daughter of Vel and Valli Alahan--two of Gurudeva's devotees. Rajkumar and Ananda live with Vel and Valli in Vale, Colorado where Raj now works.
On the left: Ravichandram Krishnan from Johor Bahru is a student of Gurudeva and active in the distribution of Hinduism Today in that area of Malaysia.
One of Gurudeva's long time sishya, Jnanideva from New Mexico is with us...here he helps decorate the tent, for the open house tomorrow.
We have never done fund raising on the island of Kauai itself as the community is comprised of a majority of none Hindus. But for this one event we are offering the local people the opportunity to be part of this great project by making a donation. Here two of our silpis move some small stones up to the podium under the tent which will be part of the presentation.
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Meanwhile there has been steady progress at the temple site... Here from a distance we see a tall bamboo pole which indicates the very top of the future central sanctum.
And a lifesize representation of some of the pillars have been mounted and are being placed on the side, showing the height of the pillar and the future temple ceiling.
Thambynathan Girish Samugam who lives in Singapore, is having a wonderful time working outside helping with the team.... This is a representation of the "Badra Pillar" which is one of the very ornate pillars that will be in the temple. These pillars are available for sponsorship and would be a truly great gift. Such work is rarely done these days. If you are interested, please email Iraivan@hindu.org for details
Our silpis get into the act... hanging woven coconut fronts aroud the edge of the tent that sheds off the rain from the work area.
Here we have a look at work in progress. At ground level, retained by sand, you see course number one. Course number two is complete and a few stones of course number three have been placed for display. Please donate generously. We need to raises another 12.5 million dollars.
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12 Glorious Days, 8 Enchanting Countries and One Chance in a Lifetime! Imagine spending 12 days with one of the greatest spiritual leaders of this century. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami will be leading this exotic educational and spiritual voyage himself combining the mystical path of Indian spirituality with a superlative retreat from it all. Take advantage of this one chance to be in close proximity with a living master. Come with us on an inner and outer voyage to Northern Europe and Russia. www.innersearch.org
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Blog Archives
July 18, 2001 
Guru Purnima celebrations begin next week. This is the time when devotees around the world honor the spiritual preceptor, acknowledge his presence in their lives with gratitude and rededicate themselves as sishya. It is this coming forward every year that tells the spiritual preceptor that indeed the devotee is open to and wants his guidance for the coming year. The devotee also renews his or her inner pledge to the Guru, assuring him that with all sincerity and integrity the devotee will work to follow the path of dharma the Guru outlines. Otherwise, if you are not on the path, then you don't really need a Guru in your life. If someone doesn't come forward, then, the Guru knows this is a sign that he is no longer needed and withdraws his prana, inner spiritual connections and psychic protection from the devotee.
In the old days people would just go to visit the Guru. These days we use modern methods and every year people send a written dedication to Gurudeva at the Aadheenam.
European Innersearch 2001 is shaping up well. If you live in Europe and would like to meet Gurudeva go to his travel page for details on land events at temples.
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Date: September_26_1998
Topic: One Energy Pervades All
Category:
Duration: 6 min., 08 sec.
Date Given: September 26, 1998
Today at Kauai Aadheenam, it is September 26. We have had a wonderful day. We have had several groups of guests today. They are so devoted. They feel the peace of Kauai Aadheenam.
Why is there peace here at Kauai Aadheenam? Because, every misunderstanding, which rarely comes up anymore, is settled before bedtime. If any conflict of a negative nature arises, all religious service stops. Religious service cannot be done if there is misunderstanding or conflict among the group that is performing religious service.
Well, today we received a letter from the Governor of the State of Hawaii, giving a beautiful endorsement for Iraivan Temple. The entire community is behind this San Marga project. We are very grateful.
Art arrived from the great artist Manivelu in Chennai, showing Lord Hanuman carrying Iraivan Temple on His hand, from India to the Garden Island of Kauai and placing It gently down on the foundation.
We received a very nice report from pilgrims that we sent on a mission to India. Paramacharya Bodhinatha, Yogi Tapodana, Markandeya Sendan and a new monk, Nilakanta Velan. They are in Bangalore now, and overwhelmed with the immense pillars that are being created there. They had no idea of the magnificance. The silpis, professional stone-carvers, commend us for allowing them enough time to perform their art, without rushing them in any way.
Well, I am seeing you and you are seeing me. Here we are. Everyday we have a theme of what we teach. The theme of today is 'Hospitality'. Loving each other enough to treat the guests as God and not an intruder. Often times, in modern society, especially when Mom and Dad are both working, the guests seem to be the intruder. To treat the guest as God is posturing and that posturing has the feeling of being unreal. We must relax with our guests. We must love our guests, for God is inside of them.
Now, how is God inside of a guest? Have any of you wondered about that? God is inside of a guest because all the energy within the body of a guest is coming from God. Just like all the energy in the body of you, is coming directly from God. That is why we can say, "One God, One World." It is people that make up the world that we know of today. But that One energy, flowing through all people and all animals and all fishes and all birds and all kinds of microscopic creatures, is coming from God. It is One energy which pervades the whole universe. One God, One World. The guest is God.
We want to encourage friendliness. We want to encourage hospitality. We want to encourage us to open our hearts to those we know. When they are well, show appreciation. When they are ill, show that you are interested in them, and that you care. Don't turn away. Turning away is not what we should do. We are a one family, living on this planet.
We are one family, living on this planet. All religions are good because they were started with good intentions. The only problem with all the religions of the world - and they do have problems, Hinduism included - is the people within the religion. The people with the closed hearts, the people that are not generous, not caring. The people that flare up in anger over little things, the people that are jealous. They are not really in their religion. They are sort of hanging on to the religion as a lifeline and those of you, who are not angry, those of you who do not experience jealousy, those of you who are generous, and those of you who are hospitable have to pull that lifeline in.You have to help them out of their despair, out of their misery. That is your duty, because your energy is within them and their energy is within you and it is all coming from God.
Tomorrow I'll be seeing you
in all our familiar places
that this heart of ours embraces
in our hi-tech ways
on our internet highways
we'll be together in cyberspace
in every lovely summer's day
I'll always think of you
and be there
right by your side.
That's magical, isn't it? That magic is religion.
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Our new "Himalayan Academy Pavillion" has received a very special and unique version of the traditional "Navagrahas" shrine. In temples in India, outside the temple or off to the side of the main mandapam there is usually a small pedestal with statues of the 9 planets which traditionally have been the Sun, Moon and 7 major planets of the solar system. These small shrines have sometimes taken over the whole purpose of the temple as devotees flock on Saturday to propitiate "Sani" or "Mars" in hopes of warding off negative influences.
Gurudeva decided he wanted a slightly more true to life Navagraha Shrine and ordered brass statues of the Planetary overlords with roller bearings underneath. These are placed on the zodiac and moved to their actual astronomical positions each day so that our Navagraha Shrine is a true representation of the actual Jyotisha (astrological) configuration of the day.
Here is the snake hooded planet of Ketu who is in the house of Sagitarius. Eventually this entire rasi chakra will be a raised platform, three feet high.
Lord of Astrology and representing planet Earth in the center is none other than Lord Ganesha! We had this small Pancha Mukha Ganapati in the temple and a small granite lotus from India and they made the perfect center piece for the Navagraha shrine. Note the big congregation of planets in the upper right house of Gemini: Chandra (Moon), Budha (Mercury), Guru (Jupiter) and Rahu (North Node), while the nearby Surya (Sun) just entered Cancer a few days ago.
 The Remarkable Vision |
Iraivan Temple Progress Update |
Join this historic undertaking. Please contribute generously. Sponsor a stone today! |
Our temple project financial goal is 16 million dollars. To date we have raised slightly over 3 million and need another roughtly 12.5 million. Please donate generously.
As course two is being wrapped up, materials to fill the "void" spaces are being loaded onto the retaining wall of sand.
The outer retaining wall of sand serves not only to protect the lower courses from damage as the temple rises, but also provides a much needed work platform immediately adjacent to the sanctum.
Time to sharpen chisels again.
The kevlar gloves we had were much appreciated for this blacksmith work, where a slight touch of skin against anything in the immediate proximity of the forge means a serious burn!
A few skillful blows and the hot iron is back in shape.
Then into the water.
Next, into the cooling rack.
This set of chisels is now ready for another day's work. Actually, a single chisel will only be used for a few minutes of chiseling... and will be dulled in a short while. Harder steel could be used, but the force of the hammering is channeled back up the arm and creates too much stress for the worker, so, soft iron continues to serve an ancient craft.
Gurudeva's spiritual center in the island country of Mauritius
in the Indian Ocean near South Africa
Vanessa Maistry and her friend carefully planned a one day retreat and chose the Spiritual Park to hold it. She later emailed us to share her feelings:
" It is a great pleasure to know that in our small island of Mauritius we have such wonderful places....I thank you a lot . We had a nice retreat . We enjoyed our day's work and we hope that we will be back for a next visit soon.....I would like to thank the whole group which is engaged in the maintenance of this Spiritual Park. On behalf of the Eau Coul�e Sai Centre, we wish you all good luck in the work you have been engaged in.
Thank you. Sai Ram
Vanessa."
The participants of the Eau Coul�e Sai Centre are attentively listening to instructions regarding their day's work. The favorite spot for seminars is always in the mango groves because of its refreshing shade and the beautiful sea view in the background. Other spots of natural beauty exist on the park. The next photo speaks of itself.
Visitors can also enjoy the shades in the newly coming up pine forests at the park. This is one of the rare spots in the island where one can see "bengali" birds during the day. These small brownish grey colored beautiful birds are now not so much seen in Mauritius. They like nature and do not usually breed in highly active human settlements. Your kids would enjoy them... Many scriptures in Hinduism associate birds to lovely devas, divine beings that hovers in the atmosphere.
A group of ladies of the local Marathi community led by Mrs. Vidula Babajee, of Coromandel, dropped at the park and were fascinated at the Keralan architecture of the Ganesha Mandapam. They wanted to know more about Lord Ganesha and our host read them many answers to their questions from the the very informative and instructive book, Loving Ganesha, which is also on sale at the Mandapam.
Another dynamic youth, Sailendra Lochan of Quatre Bornes brought a bus full of Sai devotees to the park one Sunday evening. They sang such beautiful bhajans at the Ganesha Mandapam that one would have imagined being on a great festival day there.
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12 Glorious Days, 8 Enchanting Countries and One Chance in a Lifetime! Imagine spending 12 days with one of the greatest spiritual leaders of this century. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami will be leading this exotic educational and spiritual voyage himself combining the mystical path of Indian spirituality with a superlative retreat from it all. Take advantage of this one chance to be in close proximity with a living master. Come with us on an inner and outer voyage to Northern Europe and Russia. www.innersearch.org
|
Blog Archives
July 17, 2001 
Gurudeva blesses a box carried by Sadhaka Japendranatha that is bound for Kuala Lumpur... by the time you read this, Living with Siva color proofs and CD's with all the data files will be in the air via DHL on their way to Malaysia. The team has been working over time for the last few days and things came together today at 4:00 PM.
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Date: September_23_1998
Topic: Give, Make a difference
Category:
Duration: 7 min., 48 sec.
Date Given: September 23, 1998
Today at Kauai Aadheenam, September 23. It is a beautiful, sunny day. Yesterday, we had a havan, a beautiful homa in the Kadavul Hindu Temple. All the devotees, who live on the island, were all there. The youngest was about 6 years old. We invoked Lord Hanuman, to carry Iraivan Temple to the Garden Island of Kauai. Only He is the strongest God, closest to the physical plane who can do this momentous task.
We had some beautiful visitors, too. Mr. and Mrs. Krishnaswami and family. Sixteen years, they have been lifetime subscribers to 'Hinduism Today'. They read every word, have great compliments. "I mean, this is better than 'The National Geographic'." I thought that was really wonderful. "There is nothing like it," they said, full of praise.
Well, we have to take praise and blame, equally. One follows the other, the next one follows the other and that is the life in this bhuloka. 'Bhu' is kind-of scary. But, it is a word, bhuloka. Why do they call it that?
Everyday, including today, I talked from 12:00 to 12:30 to the 'young men' here at Kauai Aadheenam. 'Young men' means they are 17, 18, 19 years of age and they are here for 6 months. During those 6 months, they learn Saiva Atmartha Puja, about the Vedas, the Yajurveda and the other 3, Rig and all. They get a good foundation for their future, which would be one of two ways. These are young men, who are born in Saiva Siddhanta Church. I held them in my arms when they were babies and now, they are much too big for that. They will make up their minds, months after they leave after 6 months of being here, as to which of the two paths they will follow. Either that of the householder or that of the sannyasi. Most choose the householder path and we arrange a nice marriage for them, with girls who are also born within Saiva Siddhanta Church. How does this happen?
In 1999, we celebrate for an entire year, our 50th Anniversary. 50 years of bringing the best of the East to the West. Of course, the best of that is culture, art, music, song and dance.
I hope you enjoyed my little song. I am not really very good at singing. But, I have been practicing 'I will be seeing you'. It is a theme song now. But, before we do the theme song, let us talk about something that you can do to make a difference in your community.
You can smile. That is one thing you can do. Keep a smile on your face. You can show appreciation and say, 'Thank you". For every little thing that comes your way, show appreciation. That makes the other person feel good. Now, philosophically you know that everything that comes your way, good and bad, is because you put that into motion in a past life. There is one language in India, where they have no word for 'Thank you". Everybody assumes that they are getting back what they, at one time or another, gave out. But, this is today. This is 'Hinduism Today'. We have to show appreciation. We have to be grateful to make the pranas flow properly. We have to do that. That is how you can make a difference. Smile and whenever possible, say "Thank you."
Another way you can make a difference is to give. Give little things. Just give. Be helpful. Never leave a room unless you improve that room. That is an unseen gift that will be appreciated by others, who enter the room at some future time. There are many little things that you can give, physical things, I mean, and little things you can do that don't cost anything. Just a little bit of extra energy, that is all it costs. That extra energy that you put out feeds back to you, keeps you happy. That 'Thank you' feeds back to you and keeps you happy. That smile feeds back to you and keeps you happy. There are a lot of lonely people in the world today. You can make them happy, giving, giving appreciation, smiling and having a positive affirmation in your mind that you are alright, right now.
I am seeing you
in all our old familiar places
that this heart of ours embraces
all day through
in Chennai
in our cyberspace cafe
in our hi-tech way
our internet highways
under the banyan tree
I see your reflection
on the waters in the well
and if you get too far away
out there is another guru
Vishwaguru Maharaj
that will keep you
so entertained, so educated
that you will want
to rush back home
to Gurudeva
He is the world, the world is the Guru. He teaches learning through experiences of making mistakes and correcting yourself.
We follow dharma. The corrections in our great scriptures are always made clear to us, of how to live. So, we have learned from other people's mistakes, what not to do. They have made it very clear in the 'Thirukural' and the Vedas, how we must live, have a happy life and a good birth next time around.
So, I'm looking for you
I will find you in the morning sun
and when Siva's moon is new
I am looking into cyberspace
right now
and I am seeing you
in this darshan
Our darshan session is wonderful. We'll see you tomorrow. A big hug and a lot of love.
transcription ends
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Sannyasins Sivakatirswami and Guhanathaswami wrapping up the final task before the book left: to make a complete photo copy of the entire manuscript.
Nearly two-and-a-half years of work, drawing together another amazing compilation of Gurudeva teachings on the practical aspects of life is here distilled onto 11 CD's containing about 7 Gigabytes of data comprising Quark Express page files and tons of artwork in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop eps files.
Everything into the box ready to ship. Here is a sneak previow of the book's Table of Contents. (please excust the Diacritical Marks which are not here translated to the standard ISO character set.)
Dedication�
Author's Introduction�xiii
The Master Course�� xix
Hindu Family Life�Hindu Grihastha Dharma� xxv
Part ONE: Dancing Joyously
chapter page
1 See God Everywhere 3
2 Noninjury and Truthfulness 17
3 Nonstealing and Other Virtues 29
4 Compassion, Honesty and Diet 43
5 Purity and Remorse 55
6 Contentment and Giving 69
7 Faith and Worship 81
8 Scriptural Study and Cognition 95
9 Vows, Incantation and Austerity 109
10 Celibacy and Fidelity 121
11 Physical, Mental, Emotional Foods 133
12 Chemical Chaos 145
13 Discipline for Self-Transformation 157
14 The Meditator 171
15 Obstacles to Meditation 183
16 Harnessing Willpower 195
17 Life Is Meant to Be Lived Joyously 207
18 The Power of Penance 221
Part two: Living Dharmically
19 The Hand that Rocks the Cradle Rules the World 239
20 Her Power, Her Domain 251
21 Marriage and Family Life 263
22 Family Togetherness 275
23 The Wisdom of Early Marriage 289
24 Modern Matchmakers 303
25 Divorce and Abuse 315
26 Bringing Up Children 327
27 Positive Discipline 339
28 Teenage Trials 353
29 Language that Hurts 367
30 Bribery and Bad Money 381
31 What about Computers? 393
32 Adultery and Pornography 405
33 Birth, Abortion and Suicide 417
34 Old and Gray 429
35 Beyond Death, Astral Life 443
Part three: Merging Courageously
36 The Joys of Hinduism 461
37 Duty and Destiny 473
38 The Wheel of Karma 487
39 To Do No Harm 499
40 War and Peace 513
41 The Power Called Forgiveness 527
42 Nurture Gratitude, Be Considerate 539
43 Zero Tolerance for Disharmony 553
44 Why We Need Religion 567
45 Palaces of the Gods 579
46 Sending Prayers to the Gods 591
47 The Spirit of the Guru 603
48 S�iva's Monastics 617
49 Passing On Our Heritage 631
50 Saivite Culture 645
51 Hindu Solidarity 659
52 Stand Strong for Hinduism 675
Part FOUR: Hinduism's Nandinatha Sutras
Introduction 693
Section 1: Right Living
s�tras page
1-5 The Purpose of Life 698
6-10 Facing Life's Challenges 699
11-15 Yoga in Action 700
16-20 The True Values of Life 701
21-25 Spiritual Disciplines 702
26-30 Personal Disciplines 703
31-35 The Nature of God 704
36-40 The Nature of Souls and World 705
41-45 Evil and Expressions of Faith 706
Section 2: Ethics
46-50 Yamas: Ten Classical Restraints 710
51-55 Niyamas: Ten Classical Observances 711
56-60 Ahi�s�, the Foremost Discipline 712
61-65 Regrettable Exceptions to Ahimsa 713
66-70 Reverence for the Environment 714
71-75 Self-Control 715
76-80 Worldly Activities 716
Section 3: The Family Path
81-85 Instructions for Men 720
86-90 Instructions for Husbands 721
91-95 Instructions for Women 722
96-100 Instructions for Wives 723
101-105 Instructions for the Widowed 724
106-110 Instructions for the Unmarried 725
111-115 Arranging Marriages 726
116-120 Sustaining Marriages 727
121-125 About Divorce 728
126-130 Hospitality 729
131-135 Household Ethics 730
136-140 Raising Worthy Children 731
141-145 Preserving Family Unity 732
146-150 Preparing Youth for Adult Life 733
151-155 Duties of Young Adults 734
156-160 About Wealth 735
161-165 God's Money 736
166-170 Guidelines for Business 737
171-175 Politics and Vocation 738
176-180 Edicts for Parliamentarians 739
181-185 Edicts for Scientists 740
Section 4: Personal Life
186-190 Diet and Food 744
191-195 Health and Exercise 745
196-200 Tobacco and Drugs 746
201-205 Alcohol 747
206-210 The Four Stages of Life 748
211-215 Approaching Death 749
216-220 Death's Aftermath 750
Section 5: Spiritual Interaction
221-225 Respect for Saints and Dignitaries 754
226-230 Social Injunctions 755
231-235 Interfaith Harmony 756
236-240 Avoiding Alien Influences 757
241-245 Devotion to the Satguru 758
246-250 Working with the Satguru 759
251-255 In the Satguru's Presence 760
Section 6: Religious Culture
256-260 Temples and Priesthood 764
261-265 Weekly Gatherings 765
266-270 New Members 766
271-275 Coming Home to �aivism 767
276-280 Detractors and Adversaries 768
281-285 Raising Sons for the Monastery 769
286-290 Sacred Scriptures 770
291-295 Temple Worship 771
296-300 Symbols, Mantras and Names 772
301-305 Cultural Accomplishments 773
306-310 Spiritual Study 774
311-315 Occultism 775
Section 7: The Monastic Path
316-320 Monastic Holy Orders 778
321-325 Monastic Mission 779
326-330 Monastic Spirit 780
331-335 Monastic Attitudes 781
336-340 Monastic Restrictions 782
341-345 Monastic Personal Care 783
346-350 Monastic Travel and Retreat 784
351-355 Monastics and the World 785
356-360 Instructions for Sw�m�s 786
361-365 Instructions for �ch�ryas 787
Resources
Hatha Yoga 791
Religion's Dues 819
Conclusion� 843
Glossary� � 851
Sanskrit Pronunciation� a 901
Index� 903
Scriptural Bibliography���str�ya Sandarbhagranthas�ch� 923
Index of Inspired Talks�Preraka V�rt�nukrama�� 925
Colophon�Antyavachanam 933
The box is placed at the feet of Lord Nataraja in our temple for a blessing before being carted off to DHL.
We will share here a review from one of the few great Mahatmas of our age.
=========
"Swami Chidananda Saraswati
President of the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh, India
All the Hindus of our global Hindu brotherhood are verily indebted to Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami for his super compendium of Hinduism so carefully compiled, classified, carefully arranged, edited and published by this great soul, Mahatma, and lover of Hinduism and the sincere followers of Hinduism all over the world. Today it can be unhesitatingly proclaimed that he is a genius of Hinduism. He has put millions under a deep debt of gratitude by his unprecedented literary work. This marvelous practical guidebook for all modern Hindus is a stupendous task undertaken by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami as a labor of love. It is a most comprehensive and almost complete summary. True, books have been produced to present to the public with the knowledge of our religion, but most of them have been limited in their scope.
This present second edition of Living with Siva is a super publication which will doubtlessly girdle the globe. Once upon a time the saying that was current declared, "The sun never sets upon the British Empire." Even so, the light of Hinduism will never stop shining all over the world as long as this great book remains in circulation. The very praiseworthy feature of this book from the Hindu Monastery of Kauai is the interesting way it has been presented in four parts and in the form of 365 lessons for a systematic perusal which makes for easy reading. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami has broken new ground and become a pioneer in the field of religious and socio-cultural literature, even as Sir Edmund Hillary and the renowned Sherpa Tensing Norkay in the field of mountaineering and scaling of unscaled peaks. Nevertheless, inspite of the greatness of this achievement, it is inspiring to note his great humility as a chela, or disciple, of his worshipful guru, Satguru His Holiness Sri Siva Yogaswami of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, who was a living guru even till the year 1963 when he attained mahasamadhi. [continued below]
The box is blessed with vibhuti which will "shine" in the astral world and allow the devas to keep track of the package and follow it to Malaysia.
[Swami's comments continued:]
"What greatly enhances the value of Living with Siva is that its pages do not merely constitute a learned dissertation upon a subject, but rather they address themselves to the reader, i.e. the devout religious minded Hindu individual living his life in the framework of Hindu society as well as human society as a whole and carrying on his daily duties and activities as a brahmachari, or a grihastha, or a retired vanaprasthi, or as a monastic sannyasin even, in the true spirit of Saivism and of Hinduism. The ideals of all four of these stages, or ashrams, just mentioned are brought and presented in a nice manner so as to constitute a guideline for the individual reader to live up to it.
I warmly congratulate revered Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami for this gift of his to 21st century mankind and wish the book the widest possible circulation that it richly deserves. May God bless you. Aum Namah Sivaya.
The warm summer has allowed our Siddhidata Kulam to undertake a lot of beautification with a focus on flowers at the temple.
The ever classy and elegant antherium.
 The Remarkable Vision |
Iraivan Temple Progress Update |
Join this historic undertaking. Please contribute generously. Sponsor a stone today! |
Progress continues daily. Here we have one of the silpis working on a high spot...
Here he is smoothing out a joint, making where the two stones meet absolutely flush.
|
12 Glorious Days, 8 Enchanting Countries and One Chance in a Lifetime! Imagine spending 12 days with one of the greatest spiritual leaders of this century. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami will be leading this exotic educational and spiritual voyage himself combining the mystical path of Indian spirituality with a superlative retreat from it all. Take advantage of this one chance to be in close proximity with a living master. Come with us on an inner and outer voyage to Northern Europe and Russia. www.innersearch.org
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Blog Archives
July 16, 2001 
Dr. Arun J Mehta and his wife came to visit from Northridge, California. A strong supporter and reader of Hinduism Today for nearly 20 years, Mr. and Mrs. Mehta had never met Guru until today. We gave them a grand tour of our publication facility and they went off saying "We will be back, now that we know you are here and this is the place where Hinduism Today is published."
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transcription begins
Date: September_22_1998
Topic: Love and Color Sadhana
Category:
Duration: 6 min., 14 sec.
Date Given : September 22, 1998
Well, our retreat has finished and here we are again. Sun One, September 22 at Kauai Aadheenam. Welcome for the darshan of the day. I am seeing you, you are seeing me in cyberspace.
Yesterday, we had a tree-planting with a beautiful, traditional Buddhist priest from Japan, of the Shingon order. It was the tree that Tirumular sat under for his enlightenment. Also, the Buddha. The priest said, "The Buddha sent me here. I didn't come on my own. The Buddha sent me here to help and bless this sacred tree." It was a beautiful event. Drums playing, conch shells, and cymbals. A big parade led this wonderful person, out into the 52 acres of Kauai Aadheenam land and this holy tree was planted.
Then, in our casual conversation yesterday, Arumugaswami, who has a hobby of making daikon pickles, asked him that we would like have the 100-year old culture that makes the daikon pickle so special, for the monasteries of the Buddhist monks in Japan.We have been trying to get this for such a long time. It is a secret, a very well-kept secret. He said, "Well, I will be happy to tell you the secret. We have had these cultures for a 100 years. I have it right with me and I will teach you how to make it." Well, what a breakthrough! We are so happy because according to Ayurveda, they are very good for something in the stomach. Everything is so good for you. We have all the good things. We believe in keeping healthy. We believe in not becoming ill. So, we are preparing our daikon pickles, which we grow right here. He will be back in 5 or 6 days to teach us this ancient mystery. We feel so blessed. We say, "Thank you. Merci. Nanri. Thank you, thank you, Shingon priest."
The Shingon Buddhist sect is very close to us. They worship Siva Nataraj and Lord Ganesha. In fact, we presented him with a beautiful Siva Nataraj, a beautiful shawl, a wonderful Ganesa. They were so happy to receive from the blending together on the beautiful Garden Island of Kauai, between the Hindus and Buddhists.
Today I am seeing you in cyberspace and I wanted to tell you three important words. Three important words, very important words. Courage, courage, courage! You need courage to face the kaliyuga. You need courage to face the working world. You need courage to face your family. You need courage to bring love through your family, love through the working place and love into the world itself. The world needs love, it is so lacking in love. You can give that love. You give love through a smile. You give love through a feeling. I am not telling you to go around hugging everybody. That is not love, not in the way that I am talking about love. I am talking about love in a way that is indescribable, imperceptible. But, it is there.You know it when it is there and you know the absence of it, when it is not forthcoming from someone.
You can give love. How do you do that? You do that by realizing and accepting the fact that all energy in your body comes from God, all energy in everybody's body comes from God. Those energies from you go into and awaken the divine energies in the people around you, through visualization of the color blue, through visualization of the color yellow, through visualization of the color pink. Visualize these colors and send out rays of colors to not only those you love, but those that need love. They will appreciate it. That is the sadhana for today.
I will be seeing you
in all our old familiar places
that this heart of ours embraces
all day through
in our hi-tech way
in our cyberspace cafe
on internet highways
I will always
be seeing you
and you will be seeing me
in every lovely summer's day
I will always think of you this way
And with Siva's moon
at noon
I will be seeing you
through cyberspace
and we will be together
I will find you
on the astral plane
and bring you to some
of our great Himalayan Academy schools there
where great rishis from long, long ago
are alive today,
imparting the Vedas in a live, live way.
So, we will be meeting. Have a wonderful day, today and tomorrow.
transcription ends
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Dr. Himayakanthan, with his wife, Jill and their daughter Methini from the United Kingdom. He is the son of Sivasidambaram, now living in Australia, who was with Yogaswami in Alaveddy, Sri Lanka at the time Yogaswami initiated Gurudeva. Dr. Himayakanthan plans to video interview his father about what he witnessed as Yogaswami gave Gurudeva his name, Subramuniya on that auspicious day in 1949.
Sadhaka Japendranatha is working on the last minute details and adjustments of the incredibly awesomely fantastic, first book we have done in color, Living With Siva.
 The Remarkable Vision |
Iraivan Temple Progress Update |
Join this historic undertaking. Please contribute generously. Sponsor a stone today! |
Course number two is nearly complete now and ready to be filled in. We can see the first ornamentation now on the outer wall.
It is interesting to note the way the stones are offset in size on the inner edges. This is where the mortar and rock fill will go (in between the inner sanctum and the outer wall.)
After the stones have been smoothed and leveled, a thin mortar carefully added in between the joints.
These stones of the inner wall are still 2 feet under the inner sanctum floor level and will not be seen when the temple is complete.
Please give generously. Aside from the monthly income from pledges, which averages about US$30,000.00, we are needing to raise immediately $350,000.00 to cover all the costs to complete the rest of the courses of the main sanctum (31 total courses). This includes the costs to ship the needed 23 containers of stones from India and the salary of the silpis here on Kauai.
If we want to keep our team here without having to send them home in 6 months, we need an extra push from you today! Please contact iraivan@hindu.org to see how you can help.
|
12 Glorious Days, 8 Enchanting Countries and One Chance in a Lifetime! Imagine spending 12 days with one of the greatest spiritual leaders of this century. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami will be leading this exotic educational and spiritual voyage himself combining the mystical path of Indian spirituality with a superlative retreat from it all. Take advantage of this one chance to be in close proximity with a living master. Come with us on an inner and outer voyage to Northern Europe and Russia. www.innersearch.org
|
Blog Archives
July 15, 2001 
Rohit and Shila Shah and their daughters Puja and Tulsi are readers of Hinduism Today. On vacation from New Jersey, they came for the 9am Sivapuja in Kadavul Temple and to meet with Gurudeva.
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transcription begins
Date: September_19_1998
Topic: Unfailing Law of Karma
Category: Karma
Duration: 5 min., 50 sec.
Date Given: September 19, 1998
Here we are at Kauai Aadheenam. We are seeing each other again through cyberspace. Welcome! September 19, it is Saturday here. Welcome to Kauai Aadheenam.
Today was 'Guest Day'. We had 15-20 guests, 2 infants, on their very first outing and they came to the Siva Temple from far-off places. One was named Siva and the other Nataraja. Siva is a boy and Nataraja is a girl. The mother was asked, "Why Nataraja? That is a masculine name." She said, "Nataraja is a pure soul, neither masculine nor feminine" She wasn't a born-Hindu either, an ardha-Hindu, meaning half-Hindu.
We had a wonderful visit from Jay Robertson and a woman of vision, Dory, head of Kauai's 'Seven Steps Program'. They came here to discuss with us the October 10, 'Future Fair' and the Monastery's participation in it. We have prepared vision cards for everyone on the island, all 50000 of the island inhabitants will write their vision of the Island of Kauai as Kauains, for the next 20 years. Many thousands of dollars are being spent on this 'Future Fair' to stabilize the vision of Kauai, and to emphasize that we are all Kauains. We as a total group here, all 50000 of us, are working towards a unified vision, an island-wide vision. It is exciting.
Well, the mathavasis, the monks are installing all the new computers that were made available to us by a great Saivite supporter from Sri Lanka.
Swami Sachchidananda called to say, "Thank you to Gurudeva", that is me, for the beautiful book 'Lemurian Scrolls'. He complimented all the mathavasis on all the wonderful things that they are doing for the Hindu religion. He is one of our senior Swamis in the United States. We all touch his feet. He also talked to some of the young brahmacharis and gave them encouraging words on the telephone. We are very happy to receive his call.
Now, to you. Did you enjoy my song yesterday? 'I will be seeing you in all the familiar places'. Mainly, this familiar place, my screen to yours, in cyberspace, the new akasa. I don't know whether cyberspace is in the Vedas or not. The akasa certainly is a reality not only in science, but in Hindu metaphysics dating way back beyond recorded dates and times.
You are a wonderful person. I see you now in your etheric body, which is made of quanta of light, all shining out. I would like you to claim the knowledge as a reality to yourself that you are an etheric being, a soul that has much power. You have a physical body. That means you can function on the Earth. You have an astral body. That means you can function on the astral plane, in the antaraloka. You have a soul body. That means you can function in the brahmaloka, the sivaloka. You are complete this very moment.
Now you may be going through experiences that are uncomfortable and I know that many of you are. I have absorbed within myself many of your experiences through confession and I have given out prayaschitta. This is the time of the year when we give penance to devotees. Those experiences all have a lesson within them. It is like a school. We are here on Earth for a certain number of years. We are going to school. We are learning. We are maturing. Like grammar school, middle school, university, all mature us intellectually. But, life itself matures us spiritually.
Don't fight the experiences that you are going through. They are good for you. After all, you created them yourself by what you did in the past. So, hey, it is all coming back. You deserve what you get. Give garlands to those who give back to you, all the nastiness and hurtfulness that you gave out at a former time. If love is coming to you, appreciation is coming to you, the gratitude is coming to you then, you gave a lot of gratitude and appreciation out at a former time and you are just getting it back. Don't get all puffed up about it and strengthen the ego. Let it strengthen the soul by gaining the knowledge of the great and unfailing law of karma. It is unfailing and consistent like the law of gravity and any other laws of this galaxy and our planet.
I will be seeing you
in our familiar place
All the many races
and all familiar faces
Till tomorrow
I will be seeing you .....
transcription ends
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Sadhaka Tyaganatha, our priest for the Sun One homas had a giant flame today and the atmosphere was scintillating.
The Arati lamp is waved before the fire itself
Gurudeva answered many questions today from both the congregation in the temple and from those in Cyberspace. Our sound department is closed for a while as we are preparing for the coming European Innersearch, but later we will have a backlog of talks to share with you all. After the "upadesha" the monks come forward for vibhuti and leave the temple. Some of the questions today were about the elderly in our homes and the attitudes we should hold toward them. For example, what if they are not vegetarians and not very religious, are we still duty bound to take care of them? Gurudeva said, yes, of course, and you would have to set up two sets of pots or two kitchens. Ideally if it is possible for a young couple to set up a separate apartment in the same complex, then the elders can be living virtually in the same home, but keep their independence.
The Jagdish Bathija family from Ohio also came for worship today.
Another shot of the happy Shah family from New Jersey, originally from Gujarat. Both girls, however, were born in USA.
The big push is on as today is the final day of production on Living with Siva. The entire Ganapati Kulam staff is hard at work, proofing, updating art pages, make all the final touches, scanning the index. A special thanks to Chamundi Sabanathan for the 100's of hours she spent on the index for Living with Siva, a most tedious task, that she did with her usual fantastically, fastidious attention to detail.
Tomorrow the book will be shipped by DHL to the printer in Malaysia. It's really quite a landmark production for us... the first color book of the Master Course Trilogy.
|
12 Glorious Days, 8 Enchanting Countries and One Chance in a Lifetime! Imagine spending 12 days with one of the greatest spiritual leaders of this century. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami will be leading this exotic educational and spiritual voyage himself combining the mystical path of Indian spirituality with a superlative retreat from it all. Take advantage of this one chance to be in close proximity with a living master. Come with us on an inner and outer voyage to Northern Europe and Russia. www.innersearch.org
|
Blog Archives
July 12, 2001 
Guest day brought many wonderful souls from the island, the mainland USA and Canada. On the right is Atul Joshi, now retired. He lives in Calgary, Canada and has been a long time reader of Hinduism Today. Now, in his later years, he is seeking a more contemplative path in life. He was originally from Ahmedabad, not far from the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi.
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transcription begins
Date: September_18_1998
Topic: Lift the Self up
Category:
Duration: 5 min., 52 sec.
Date Given: September 18, 1998
Here at Kauai Aadheenam on the Garden Island of Kauai, it is Friday, September 18. Aloha!
'Aloha' means the spirit of love and trust, encompassing everyone. Everyone is our friend in the Aloha spirit on this island of Kauai. We are all one family, we are Kauains.
Today, Acharya Kumaraswami gave a beautiful talk to the congregation here on Kauai, that comes to the temple on Sun 5, on our mystic moon calendar.
Perhaps you have noticed that we have better technology. We hope it helps because we have set up a new microphone system for me to talk to you and you to hear me. So let me know, if it has any kind of improvement on your computer screen, as we are looking at each other, today.
Well, we have 20 or 30 new computers arriving today. After 4 or 5 years of using computers, new and faster ones are coming from our wonderful benefactor in California, who so graciously has given this boon. We are so grateful. Honestly, all the monks who are renunciates are not so much a renunciate today, because they have a bigger, a faster, more memory computer than they have ever experienced in their lives. You know, it is really amazing that as soon as we get a faster computer, somehow or other when it gets plugged in to the network, all of our other computers become slower. How does that work?
Paramacharya Bodhinatha and team, our ministry in India, have left Chennai for Salem today, to visit a fund-raising team for the Iraivan Temple that is working there in the Indian community. We wish you well and are waiting for your report, so that we can explain what you are doing on our information page. We are trying to focus all of our members of Saiva Siddhanta Church in enrolling new subscribers for 'Hinduism Today'. You can help, too.
'Hinduism Today' is the prow of our ship. It is our public service, it is our outreach. We need more subscribers. Not that we don't have enough, but there is always a desire for more, because it is a beautiful magazine. It is the only one that encompasses all of the Hindu religion.
Now, to you. I have been thinking about you today. Everyday I sit overlooking the sacred Wailua river with Sannyasin Saravanathaswami reading to me the mail and e-mail that I receive. I give him my replies to forward back on to you. All of you are very special people who are looking at me today and myself, looking at you.
You are courageous. You are happy. You are strong. You fear nothing. That is the great potential of you that the Vedas declare, "That is the real you." Let no one make you fearful. Let no one make you doubtful. Let no one break your spirit. You are here on Earth to lift yourself up and once you have done that, lift others up. That is the purpose of our being here. No other purpose. To realize the Self, love your Self.
That does not mean to realize your individual, little, low, ego identity, depart from your family and run away from home, disobeying them and going into a gang or experience all the lower life. That is not lifting your Self, that is degradation. That will be many, many lives for overcoming the karmas that you create by doing that. So, give up that idea, if you have ever had any in your head. I may not be talking to you. But, there is someone out there that will see this and realize what I am talking. When you do, that is you.
You are a divine soul, impervious. You can only be touched by other divine souls. We are touching our souls today. This is darshan. I am seeing you and you are seeing me. I am always reminded of this little song.
I will be seeing you
in all those familiar places
that this heart of mine embraces
All they seem
in that small way ....
through our computers
They are like a yogi cave across the way
a magic inner bell,
a wishful, wishing tree
the light of lives lived well.
I will be seeing you tomorrow
in every Indian summer day
in everything that is bright and gay
I will always think of you that way
I will find you in Surya's morning sun
and when it is Siva's night at noon
I will be looking at my ...
Macintosh screen!
....... and seeing you on your PC or your Macintosh!! I will be seeing the soul of you, as you are seeing the soul of me. Until tomorrow!
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Island friend, Marty Khan, had his 55th birthday yesterday and came to the Aadheenam with his wife Carol and a group of friends for the tour day. Gurudeva gave Marty a shawl.
Gurudeva and Acharya Palaniswami talked with the group. Kauai Aadheenam and the monks have always maintained an open and positive relationship with the island community. Gurudeva has often told the monks that we are privileged to be on this island and our duty should be to "give back" in various ways. In turn island residents are very supportive and feel honored to have Gurudeva and the monastery as part of this small island community of only 60,000 residents.
In the Ganapati Kulam, our publications team is 100% focused on the final stages of production of "Living with Siva." Here Sivakatirswami helps with a project to import digital art pages into the Section and Chapter Heading pages. If you look at your copy of Dancing with Siva, or Merging with Siva, you will see the black and white/greyscale backgrounds at the beginning of each chapter. In Living with Siva these will be all in color as well as the exquisite paintings by A., Manivel such as the one you see here on the left. The paper will also be glossy stock and the book hardbound with two lovely book marks, one for the lesson of the day for those studying the Master Course and the other for whatever seciton you might be reading through. Accolades have been pouring in from reviewers of the early edition bound galleys and we will be posting these on the web in the days to come.
If you would be interested in being notified as soon as the book is ready for distribution in the USA, please send and email to: books@hindu.org. We will let you know the moment it is ready to ship.
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12 Glorious Days, 8 Enchanting Countries and One Chance in a Lifetime! Imagine spending 12 days with one of the greatest spiritual leaders of this century. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami will be leading this exotic educational and spiritual voyage himself combining the mystical path of Indian spirituality with a superlative retreat from it all. Take advantage of this one chance to be in close proximity with a living master. Come with us on an inner and outer voyage to Northern Europe and Russia. www.innersearch.org
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Blog Archives
July 11, 2001 
Today, after our morning worship and meditation, Gurudeva gave his weekly Sun Five, inspired talk on family life for the "Grihastha Shastras." At the end of the talk he sends the monks who come forward for the daily blessing of holy ashes on the forehead.
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transcription begins
Date: September_15_1998
Topic: Realize Untarnished Perfection
Category:
Duration: 3 min., 56 sec.
Date Given: September 15, 1998
Good morning! Here at Kauai Aadheenam, it is Tuesday, September 15. Another day, the second day after our retreat.
During our retreat, we don't turn our computers on. We just started that, because the computer demands so much time. It is so demanding that we forget about people. There should be some time, when we are not just sitting in front of the computer. A computer is like a typewriter. It is a tool to be used to produce, not for entertainment. A whole-family entertainment is watching the television. That is one good thing. Everybody in the family will be together, even though they don't talk together. But, a computer separates the family. Modern psychological study has shown us that people who are facing a computer all the time experience depression and loneliness. A computer cannot love you back, no matter what you love on the computer.
So, follow our example. Take two days a week. Don't watch anything on the computer for entertainment. Use it as a tool to get your work done, as a sadhana.
No ... I am not reading what I am going to say next. I did read 'Merging with Siva', Lesson 156. But, what I am going to say next is just for you, just between you and me, between us.
I just want to convince you that you are a beautiful soul living on planet Earth. Unfortunately, and we don't why it happened, we are living in a physical body and an astral body. We have tools of emotions and intellect to deal with, either to use or to be used by them. Get that new identity, get that new identity. Get that new identity that you are an untouched, untarnished, perfect soul, evolving on planet Earth. Free from taint, free from tarnish, your true nature is happiness. Your true nature is peace and infinite intelligence. This of course, you learn on an inner path after proper initiation in the tradition of our great Sanatana Dharma. But, you can realize right now that you are a soul, living in a physical body, having the use of an intellect, having the use of emotions, not being controlled by them.
So, don't be controlled by your computer. Don't be controlled by what you see on television. Don't be controlled by anything but, the direction that comes from your soul, that still small voice, that knowledge of what is right and what is wrong. It will never, never, ever fail you for it knows dharma, which is the great scriptures of our religion which came from the Vedas, the Upanishads, came from the souls of great people, came from Siva who created the souls of these great people.
You are also a great person and you can make a difference on this planet. Realize your true identity. It is not difficult. I am not asking the impossible. I am asking you to stand up, sit up, be free. Become a spiritual leader. Make others happy. Get your happiness from making others happy. Make others secure, by feeling secure yourself. We will talk more about this again tomorrow, as we have darshan together.
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Today we were blessed with that always amazing event of nature called a "swarm" of bees. This is when one colony of bees decides it is overcrowded and they raise a young virgin queen and see her off with a couple of thousands of bees to find a new home. After the young queen takes flight all the bees that are with her will swarm in the air. In this state they are perfectly benign and have only one thing on their mind: "Is the queen mother among us?" It is an unusual sight and sound. As soon as they determine she is present in the air, on signal they will all form a cluster on a branch.
While they cluster a few old "scouts" will go out to look for a home. We were all praying they would move into the walls of the Guru Temple. We had bees in the roof of our Guru temple for over 20 years and then had to remove them to make the area safe for roofers putting in a new roof. But bees are highly auspicious and a sign of wealth. Gurudeva had requested that after the new roof was installed that openings be left under the eves to allow a new colony to take up residence again inside the walls ... That was two years ago and today, just as Gurudeva wished, the scouts found the old bee site and moved in. You can put your ear to the wall of the meditation room now and hear them humming inside.
As young palms grow their sometimes sharp, thorny fronds are cut away to open up the area underneath. Today this palm got quite a hair cut!
Summer brings visitors with their children who are out of school. Mr. Prabhaben Patel from San Francisco and Yogesh Joshi and family also from California.
Later they all went out to the rudraksha forest to search for rudraksha seeds.
 The Remarkable Vision |
Iraivan Temple Progress Update |
Join this historic undertaking. Please contribute generously. Sponsor a stone today! |
Some final touches on a corner. Course number two is proceeding well.
After checking height and position and leveling the stones it is now time for final placement. A thin layer of mortar is spread and the stone is put to its final resting place.
Final adjustments are made, while the mortar is still fresh. Thousands of years from now. it will still stand as a testimony of the faith, dedication, tapas, sacrifice and vision of Gurudeva, his monks and all the devotees who are participating in the project. Shanmuga Sthapathi stands supervising every little move. This man was responsible for the erection of the famed statue of Tiruvalluvar which stands over 140 tall at the tip of India. Made entirely of stone it is like the "Statue of Liberty" for India... So we have the right man for the job!
With over 20 more courses to go up on top of these stones, it is imperative that each surface be perfectly level as we go up.
It appears they only have about ten more stones to place to complete course two.
Please sponsor a course today! Email Iraivan@hindu.org to make your monthly pledge
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12 Glorious Days, 8 Enchanting Countries and One Chance in a Lifetime! Imagine spending 12 days with one of the greatest spiritual leaders of this century. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami will be leading this exotic educational and spiritual voyage himself combining the mystical path of Indian spirituality with a superlative retreat from it all. Take advantage of this one chance to be in close proximity with a living master. Come with us on an inner and outer voyage to Northern Europe and Russia. www.innersearch.org
|