Taka Archives

Swami is also our resident Sanskrit teacher and he has a great memory. He knows more chants by heart than the rest of us put together!

Cybertalk: A cyberspace devotee wants to know if he has a preference for Lord Siva will the other Gods get jealous. Gurudeva says that such concepts of Gods getting jealous are often brought forth in puranic stories and are not true. He encourages this cyberspace devotee to read the Master Course trilogy of Dancing with Siva, Living with Siva and Merging with Siva to get a clear understanding of Sanatana Dharma.

Cybertalk Ends"
For more information about listening to Gurudeva's talks online and to hear them in other formats, click here.

Gurudeva will be happy to hold "Prasnottara Satsang" -- "Questions and Answers" over the telephone with any Hindu religious societies, Hindu youth groups, Radio talk show hosts etc. All you need is a phone with a speaker and an enthusiastic audience. Arrangements may be made in advance by sending email to Sadhaka Mahadevan

Click to send Gurudeva a spiritual question he will later answer for all to benefit.

transcription begins

Date: August_28_1998
Title: Experience, Lessons and Strength
Category:
Duration: 3 min, 24 seconds
Date Given: August 28, 1998

August 28th, and greeting you in cyberspace! Well, this is the last day of our phase on our moon calendar and it is our guest day. We usually have 20, 30 guests here, at Kauai Aadheenam. Wonderful people, who call in on our telephone system and find out what to wear and how to find us and our mysterious temple-ashram.

We want to say, "Have a good day, Jiva and all the silpis that are working on the Iraivan temple, in Bangalore. You are wonderful people, carving away day after day, year after year on this beautiful temple."

The temple site was given to us to use for a number of years by Sri Sri Sri Balagangadharanathaswami. That is a very long name and he is a very powerful swami in that area. He has established well over a hundred and fifty centers for social service, for religious activities, including a hospital, training center, medical school, engineering college.

The temple project is being guided by Sri Sri Sri Tiruchiswamigal, who has a beautiful Rajarajeshwari temple close by.

All the silpis, under Jiva's spiritual guidance, come for puja every morning before they begin their work and every evening they have bhajan. It is a wonderful, happy group. He with his wife and two sons, and of course, Chidambaram and our Ganapati Sthapati, the main architect, manage the temple site of over 75 carvers, just like an ashram.

We are very happy that so many of you have communicated with us that you had difficulty in finding my voice on the world wide web, on the internet. We have made an adjustment, so now it is very, very easy.

You are a strong person.You are a happy person.You are a person that makes your happiness for yourself because you make others happy. That is real happiness, making others happy you become happy. Even if you are sad, make somebody else happy. Get a smile on their face. That smile can wipe away their tears and your tears too if you have them.

We are here on this planet going through life, a series of experiences one after another. It is not the experience, but the lesson that we gain from the experience that really, really counts. It is the lesson that we gain from the experience that really, really counts. So take the cream, take the ghee out of the experience, whatever it may be and memorize the lesson. Then be guided accordingly, because that is your dharma.

Aum Namasivaya.
transcription ends

Sadhaka Tyaganatha is our main "homa priest" who performs the Vedic fire rites. He is in the Lambodhara Kulam, which is the group of monastics which handles the kitchen, cooking, animals, monastic health care, astrology, Iraivan temple coordination and fund raising. Sadhaka is also a fantastic cook and a wizard in the sewing room where he makes clothes for Gurudeva and all the monks from raw fabric. It's a big job and he is training one of the older swamis to help him.

Our young Sadhakas, on the left foreground is Sadhaka Tejadeva, in the left background Sadhaka Nilakantha and in the right background, Sadhaka Mahadevan. They are all great dedicated souls who have been with us four or five years now.

• Does the thought of God occupy your mind most of the time?
• Are you a Saivite Hindu? Or want to be one?
• Has the world lost its magnetism for you?
• Do you want to Realize the Self
• Do you want to sacrifice your life in service of God, Gods and Guru and be free of the lower self?
• Are the seeds of "Vairagya" (detachment) firmly taking root in your heart and mind?
• Do you have an aching desire to manifest the Divine within you and overcome all your failings?
• Do you believe there is no greater service than to dedicate your life, 100% of your time, to help protect, preserve and perpetuate the Sanatana Dharma for generations to come.
• Would you probably make a bad husband because you would be paying more attention to God and meditation than to your wife and children?
• Are you relatively free from karmic baggage?

If so, you may be a candidate for monastic life. Go and read the Holy Orders of Sannyasa

The ever elegant and formal antherium flower, it love the cool shade and is a favorite for flower growers and lovers around the world and shaped like a heart it reminds us of Gurudeva's "magic mantra" Look at someone and draw the heart shape in the air and say in your mind:

"I love you
You love me."

Siva Yogaswami said the same thing: "Everyone loves me and I too love everyone....so must we become suffused with such pure thoughts..."

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

Cybertalk: A cyberspace devotee wants to know how one can learn to love the Gods. Gurudeva says to have love in your heart you have to get rid of all the things in your heart that you don't love. If you are having a conflict with someone mentally say "I love you" and "You love me" and make the energy flowing between you and the person you are having a conflict with flow smoothly.

Cybertalk Ends"
For more information about listening to Gurudeva's talks online and to hear them in other formats, click here.

Gurudeva will be happy to hold "Prasnottara Satsang" -- "Questions and Answers" over the telephone with any Hindu religious societies, Hindu youth groups, Radio talk show hosts etc. All you need is a phone with a speaker and an enthusiastic audience. Arrangements may be made in advance by sending email to Sadhaka Mahadevan

Click to send Gurudeva a spiritual question he will later answer for all to benefit.

transcription begins

Date: April_28_2001
Title: Commitment vs Looking in From the Outside
Category: The Spiritual Path
Duration: 1 min., 58 seconds
Date Given: April 13, 2001

A cyberspace devotee in Redding, California asks the question, "If I hurt two people and one of them forgives me and the other one doesn't, and then we all die. How does this affect the soul?"

Well first of all, ask yourself these questions. Are you in Sanatana Dharma and have you accepted all of the basic fundamental principles of karma, dharma, reincarnation, the existence of an all pervasive God? Are you on the outside, looking through the window to the inside? Or, are you totally committed on the inside and having accepted Sanatana Dharma as the only religion in your life?

If you are a person with a Western religious background, different laws apply. If you are a person who is, 100 percent, living up to the principles of Sanatana Dharma and has made all the commitments necessary, then another set of laws apply.

When we were at the United Nations and the spiritual and religious leaders were gathered there, we met also University intellectuals, who had made no commitment towards Sanatana Dharma. But, they were playing games with the principles of Sanatana Dharma, asking all kinds of questions. The answers only form new questions. They do not get lived in the lives of the intellectual person who has made no commitment - heart, soul and mind.

transcription ends

Mr. and Mrs. Mohan and their and two daughters all traveled from points far and wide to have a family reunion with their elderly grand mother from Hyderabad, India. What a wonderful place for everyone to come together!

The ever shining Agni homa from our Sun One ceremonies reminds us of the great continuity of the Sanatana Dharma from ancient times until today. Much speculation continues in the world of DNA research, among linguists about the origins of Vedic man. The Aryan invasion theory, still widely promulgated in modern text books, has been shown to be a complete myth. On the other hand, Vedic fire altars can be found in Iran, and as far north as Finland! Even today, one of the oldest living indigenous tribal groups in Russia, that have continuity of the religious traditions since ancient days, hold a secret fire ceremony in a forest reserve that can only be entered by members of their faith. One could speculate that the debate of the source of Vedic culture may be permanently clouded in obscurity. But the evidence is clear: Sanatana Dharma covered vast segments of humanity in ancient days.

Our two hosts. Sadhaka Thondunathan and Sadhaka Mahadevan take a break while pilgrims attend temple ceremonies. We are seeing a steady stream now of guests, and expect more to come during the summer season when schools are closed. As the word spreads about the building of Iraivan Temple, we can look forward to a swelling number of people who come to "the place where the world comes to pray."

The reservoir just 500 yards North of the monastery property has been drained enough to allow the AMFAC engineers to make badly needed repairs on the water gates that control the exits and inflows of water to the reservoir. This is one of their last duties before the company turns over the irrigation system to the East Kauai Water Cooperative, of which the monastery is an active part. The small stream that feeds our monastery land with the precious waters of life... we call it our "Narmada" stream in remembrance of that sacred river in India. The Siddhidata Kulam team's affirmation begins with the statement: "The growing of food and the maintenance of the Narmada stream are our first priorities."

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

Cybertalk: A cyberspace devotee wants to know why some Hindus do not like to have pets in the home. Gurudeva says in Hindu villages in India there are no veterinarians to take care of the pets but in the homes of western educated Hindus one would often find pets that are well taken care of and that meet the Ayurvedic sanitation requirements.

Cybertalk Ends"
For more information about listening to Gurudeva's talks online and to hear them in other formats, click here.

Gurudeva will be happy to hold "Prasnottara Satsang" -- "Questions and Answers" over the telephone with any Hindu religious societies, Hindu youth groups, Radio talk show hosts etc. All you need is a phone with a speaker and an enthusiastic audience. Arrangements may be made in advance by sending email to Sadhaka Mahadevan

Click to send Gurudeva a spiritual question he will later answer for all to benefit.

transcription begins

Date: August_31_1998
Title: Sadhana to Uplift
Category: Medatation and Yoga
Duration: 3 min, 41 seconds
Date Given: August 31, 1998

The month of August has been a wonderful month, as you know. You have been following what we have been doing. What we are doing is not what we want to do, we just do the next thing. We have to do it. Therefore, we want to do it. We do what we do, in love. Same with you. Go to your place of work, in love with your work and with everyone there. Don't make differences. Don't like one person more than another, because that causes division. Also it is not professional. A lot of people in the work place have their favorite people and the favorite people together, have their enemies. Often the boss is the enemy.

We must love everyone. Love comes from the higher chakras. Contention, division, gossip, back-biting are the lower chakras. You saw the big chakra man on the pervious issue of Hinduism Today? Look at it carefully and you can lift yourself from the lower to the higher, if you happen to find yourself in the lower. You have the will to do that and only you can do that. The grace of God within you can help you do this.

Of course, visitors have been coming and going, wonderful devotees on pilgrimage coming in the right spirit and when that happens, that uplifts all of us. We really are uplifted by the pilgrims.

Just a word of advise, in summary, to you. Treat everyone equal in your family. Treat everyone equal in your work place. Don't have likes and don't have dislikes. This means, if you don't like somebody, you love everybody. Liking is kind of tolerating their existence, loving is accepting them into your heart. Everyone is your teacher. Some teach you what to do and others have the greater lesson, they teach you what not to do by their example. But still, love them anyway and thank them for who they are. Accept everyone for the wonderful being on the spiritual path of evolution towards the Self, which the Vedas speak so eloquently about.

Aum Namasivaya.
transcription ends

On the right is Ashvin Pundit who is a teacher on Kauai. Today Ashvin brought his parents who are visiting from Bangalore to the morning homa to meet Gurudeva.

Today's homa was bright with the joyful news that our seven silpis who will start the building of the Iraivan temple have received their visas and will be here next Monday!

Paramacharya Bodhinatha leads the parade out to the Iraivan temple. He is Gurudeva's designated successor. Sadhaka Dandapani holds the umbrella for shade -- a traditional way to serve and honor a Hindu religious leader.

This wonderful photo shows the approach to Iraivan temple from the main monastery property. Slowly in the years to come, the temple will rise on this platform to nearly 40 feet in height.

Acharya Kumarswami chats with Kulapati Deva Seyon.

Sadhaka Tyaganatha blesses the foundation with the sacred water that has been transported from the Kadavul Temple to the Iraivan temple.

Before long, this end of the foundation will be covered with a layer of floor stones.

These stones for the main sanctum are here for display but will soon be removed as they will need to be carefully joined together. The granite is remarkably full of crystal.

Acharya Palaniswami talks with Sivananda Katir who recently injured his finger but he's doing well now.

Our colorful multi-national monastic order... Sannyasin Yoginathaswami with Acharya Ceyonswam, Sadhaka Thondunatha and young Thambynathan Nutanaya.

Gurudeva's spiritual center in the island country of Mauritius
in the Indian Ocean near South Africa

In order to reach the large Mandapam where is installed the tall granite Pancha Ganapati, visitors would have to walk over this wooden bridge under which is a very nice pond full of berri rouge, a local koii fish. Children love running over this Japanese looking symbolical bridge which reminds us of the muladhara chakra where our Loving Lord Ganesha sits to pull those who fall into the lower chakras, below the bridge. The next time you cross this bridge remember this spiritual teaching! And to know about lord Ganesha, surf our web.....

A Tamil priest from Bhavani, India, accompanied the delegates of the International Muruga Conference held in the island last month. The worship of Muruga is very popular among Mauritian Tamils who have dedicated most of their temples to this deity. Muruga is mostly worshipped on Thai Pusam with thousand of pilgrims carrying Kavadi as a penance. Thai pusam is also a public holiday in Mauritius, thus allowing people of all faiths to participate in the festival.

Mr. Toddha, man on the right, is the rector of the Royal College Curepipe, one of the best High Schools for boys in the island. Mr. Thodda is on his second visit to the park. Here he is accompanied by his wife and a relative, a neurologist from abroad. Mrs Thodda, a lady from Russia, loves the serene atmosphere prevailing at the park: " I love coming here with my husband. It's such a lovely place !". When asked what he feels about the rat race competition prevailing in local primary schools, Mr. Thodda said:" This is not really necessary. Our educational system needs somehow to be reformed to give more opportunities to creative learning than competitive learning. We should not put primary school kids under pressure. Those who attend the Royal College, mostly come out with a string of 3 A at HSC exams, but do they really become creative and responsible individuals ?".

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

Gurudeva is working to change this mode of operation among his own devotees worldwide. Each Kulapati family has a "roster" of other devotees who are "members" of their extended family. Perhaps they don't live in the same home, but at least we are working to establish a broader base of community support for small networks of individuals.

A recent article in the "Khabar Magazine" gave a nice testimony to the extended family system in Hawaii: "The one extremely great thing about Hawaii is that the people who live here are predominantly of Asian origin so the cultural values are very similar to that of India. Every one respects their elders, friends and cousins and neighbors are an extended family. And truly we have this spirit of "aloha" ingrained deep within us. You can see the beauty of the islands in pictures and films but you really have to come and live here to appreciate the inner beauty, the warmth and kindness of the people who live here."

No new audio today. Take this opportunity to
browse our deep archive collection of past talks.

Click to send Gurudeva a spiritual question he will later answer for all to benefit.

transcription begins

Date: August_27_1998
Title: Tools of The Mind
Category:
Duration: 3 min, 21 seconds
Date Given: August 27, 1998

What all of my sishyas do in the evening is meet with their extended families. Our Saiva Siddhanta Church is made up of about thirty-two extended families, worldwide. These families are in the country of India, Sri Lanka, Germany, Mauritius, Singapore, Malaysia, America and on our beautiful island of Kauai.

Every member of our Saiva Siddhanta Church becomes a foster member of an extended family and they meet on Monday. That is the day of togetherness. That is the day of love. That is the day of sharing. That is the day of communication. That is the day to work on the sadhanas of the Master Course, our life-long study of these wonderful teachings of Dancing with Siva, Living with Siva, Merging with Siva, the Shum Tyaef Lexicon and much, much more.

It is very important that we remember today that we are a soul, living in a physical body. We have some tools. One of those tools is the mind, which can be trained into an intellect, either with wrong thoughts, wrong motivations or right thoughts, right motivations. We have another tool, which is emotion, which can be used in a very bad way, totally out of control or it can be controlled and used in a very good way, to be a productive part of the human race and to be a leader. Leaders are few these days, most are followers. Of the leaders who lead, many of them follow their own emotions, their own wrong thinking, their adharmic concepts. Finally, they look behind themselves and they find they are not elected, they are not leaders anymore. They lost their followers.

A true leader follows his spiritual intuition. A true leader has a dynamic will, has a purpose, a plan, persistence and plenty of push to make that plan work. A true leader can be you and you and you. I see many faces here looking at me through the cyberspace, internet, the wonderful network that the governments of our world have released funds for, to give us all the ability to communicate, to love each other through cyberspace, to think together, work together, be together. Being together is very, very nice. I love you and you love me. We love each other. That is very important, because .... why? Because we are souls, we all love each other. A happy day for each and everyone of us.

Aum Namasivaya.
transcription ends

It was tour day at the monastery and Neesha Alahan (green sari), a member of Saiva Siddhanta Church who lives nearby, helped to show a nice group the monastery gardens today.

Later in the morning, the Natarajan family dropped in from San Jose, California.

Shaswath and Aneesh Natarajan marveled at the hand carved capstone of Iraivan Temple. When they are grown with their own children they will make yearly pilgrimages with their families to San Marga Iraivan Temple. Please donate generously to help Gurudeva build a monument that will inspire this coming generation and be a citadel of Sanatana Dharma, a beacon of spiritual teachings and wisdom for tomorrow's Hindus.

Hinduism Today, managing editor, Sannyasin Arumugaswami at work on the September/October issue of Hinduism Today. We work far in advance to gather news from the world over

Our spring summer season is bursting with flowers. Here is the famed Passion flower that will yield a wonderful fruit full of Vitamin C. The flower itself is a magnificent structure.

Photo, left: Caribbean Innerseach, 2000. Morning classes with Gurudeva on the ship.

With less than 3 months to go before Gurudeva and the Innersearchers set sail for eight enchanting European countries and a voyage of a lifetime, we are wanting to let everyone know that some of the cheaper cabins that our group has reserved will be up for grabs by the general public come May 15th. Holland America Lines is telling us that May 15th is the time to firm up our reservations, or let the cabins go for others who are waiting. Holland America has received a tremendous response for this unique itinerary which their brand new ship, the MS Amsterdam, one of the top ships sailing the globe today, will be cruising on August 10th. So if you are planning to join Gurudeva now is the time to sign up. There are fewer cabins available with each passing day. And later the cabin prices will be higher.

Photo, left: Caribbean Innerseach, 2000. Gurudeva at the dock on arrival in Trinidad

Here's the current itinerary for the coming Innersearch in August. Click here to find out more. It's going to be really fantastic. Please don't miss this one!

Pre Innersearch Events

Saturday, August 4th, 2001: Hamm, Germany
All Innersearchers are invited and encouraged to join Gurudeva and about 20,000 Hindus at the Ganesha Temple in Hamm for the annual grand chariot festival. See the Hindus in Europe at one of their noblest sacred events. This is an optional excursion just days before the ship's departure, and will give you a couple of days in Germany.

Wednesday, August 8th, 2001: London, England
Gurudeva will be at the Highgatehill Murugan Temple
Time: 5:30pm to 9:00pm
Venue: Highgatehill Murugan Temple
200A Archway Road
London N6 5BA
Tel: 44-0208-348-9835

Photo, left: Gurudeva and the monks with innersearchers on the navigation deck of the ship with

Post Innersearch Events
We have also planned a post Innersearch event which is optional and not part of the Innersearch. This will take place upon disembarkation in Copenhagen, Denmark, on the 22nd of August.

The program is as follows:
Wed, 22nd Aug: We leave Copenhagen for Brande by bus in the morning (4 to 5 hour bus ride)

Photo, left: Our classic final group shot. One day YOU will be in this photo!

Thurs, 23rd Aug: We will visit two temples and take part in the Sri Ganesha Temple (Herning, Denmark) and Sri Abhirami Amman Temple (Brande, Denmark) events planned.
Fri, 24th Aug: Leave Brande for Copenhagen (We should be back by 1:00pm)
The post Innersearch tour is about US$170 per person. It includes:
- 2 nights hotel in Brande (plus breakfast). Visit Hotel Dalgas at http://www.hoteldalgas.dk/default.htm
- Transportation to Brande from Copenhagen and back by bus. Possible sightseeing too. (We will have the bus for the three days)
- Bus driver's hotel and accommodation.

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

We were also rather surprised to learn that various aspects of our internet site are growing rapidly. We have over 750 new names of people who signed our web guest book, in less than a month, ranging from lots of people in the USA to Brazil and teenagers in China. Hindu Press International is steadily growing in its online subscriber base (click Today's Hindu News above.)

No new audio today. Take this opportunity to
browse our deep archive collection of past talks.

Click to send Gurudeva a spiritual question he will later answer for all to benefit.

transcription begins

Date: August311998
Title: Sadhana to Uplift
Category: Medatation and Yoga
Duration: 3 min, 41 seconds
Date Given: August 31, 1998

August 31st, everyone. The month of August has been a wonderful month, as you know. You have been following what we have been doing. What we are doing is not what we want to do, we just do the next thing. We have to do it. Therefore, we want to do it. We do what we do, in love. Same with you. Go to your place of work, in love with your work and with everyone there. Don't make differences. Don't like one person more than another, because that causes division. Also it is not professional. A lot of people in the work place have their favorite people and the favorite people together, have their enemies. Often the boss is the enemy.

We must love everyone. Love comes from the higher chakras. Contention, division, gossip, back-biting are the lower chakras. You saw the big chakra man on the pervious issue of Hinduism Today? Look at it carefully and you can lift yourself from the lower to the higher, if you happen to find yourself in the lower. You have the will to do that and only you can do that. The grace of God within you can help you do this.

We are looking forward to our moon calendar phase of five days, very eventful. The day-after-tomorrow, the famous world traveler Swami Pragyanand is coming to Kauai Aadheenam for three days, celebrating his birthday with us. He has a large Ashram in New Delhi, building a multi-million dollar school and center in his home-town, not too many miles away. He is a very important person and we are very happy to have Him with us.

Of course, visitors have been coming and going, wonderful devotees on pilgrimage coming in the right spirit and when that happens, that uplifts all of us. We really are uplifted by the pilgrims.

Just a word of advise, in summary, to you. Treat everyone equal in your family. Treat everyone equal in your work place. Don't have likes and don't have dislikes. This means, if you don't like somebody, you love everybody. Liking is kind of tolerating their existence, loving is accepting them into your heart. Everyone is your teacher. Some teach you what to do and others have the greater lesson, they teach you what not to do by their example. But still, love them anyway and thank them for who they are. Accept everyone for the wonderful being on the spiritual path of evolution towards the Self, which the Vedas speak so eloquently about.

Aum Namasivaya.
transcription ends

Manish and Nita Gupta recently married and are on their honeymoon/pilgrimage from Florida.

The beautiful Narmada Lingam that is installed on the path of the Saiva Saints gives pilgrims the opportunity to worship in a very personal and direct way, just as is done at thousands of small Siva Lingams one finds all throughout India.

Worship of the formless mark of the transcendent absolute from when issues the power that manifests and permeates all of existence. Siva Yogaswami told us, "The medicine you need is at hand: Siva Dhyanam and Siva Thondu. Meditation on Siva and Service To Siva." The path of the Saiva Saints is a beautiful place of seclusion for pilgrims where you can go and leave the mundane world behind.

We are happy to announce that the Chennai immigrations has accepted the documents of our seven silpis and they are expected to receive their visas on Monday. They have reservations to fly from Chennai along with Jiva Rajasankara on May 21st and arrive the same day on Kauai.

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

Cybertalk: Cyberspace devotee wonders if the reading of religious books and the listening to religious music is an escape from the world. Gurudeva says it is an escape from the external world to go into the internal world and by studying Gurudeva's Master Course he will change his approach to Sanatana Dharma. A cyberspace devotee from Brazil wants to know why the cow knocked down Satguru Siva Yogaswami. Shouldn't such great souls be free of karma she asks? Gurudeva says that great souls like Satguru Siva Yogaswami often take on the karma of a group and often it requires a little bit of suffering on the part of the guru.

Cybertalk Ends"
For more information about listening to Gurudeva's talks online and to hear them in other formats, click here.

Gurudeva will be happy to hold "Prasnottara Satsang" -- "Questions and Answers" over the telephone with any Hindu religious societies, Hindu youth groups, Radio talk show hosts etc. All you need is a phone with a speaker and an enthusiastic audience. Arrangements may be made in advance by sending email to Sadhaka Mahadevan

Click to send Gurudeva a spiritual question he will later answer for all to benefit.

transcription begins

Date: August271998
Title: Tools of The Mind
Category:
Duration: 3 min, 21 seconds
Date Given: August 27, 1998

What all of my sishyas do in the evening is meet with their extended families. Our Saiva Siddhanta Church is made up of about thirty-two extended families, worldwide. These families are in the country of India, Sri Lanka, Germany, Mauritius, Singapore, Malaysia, America and on our beautiful island of Kauai.

Every member of our Saiva Siddhanta Church becomes a foster member of an extended family and they meet on Monday. That is the day of togetherness. That is the day of love. That is the day of sharing. That is the day of communication. That is the day to work on the sadhanas of the Master Course, our life-long study of these wonderful teachings of Dancing with Siva, Living with Siva, Merging with Siva, the Shum Tyaef Lexicon and much, much more.

It is very important that we remember today that we are a soul, living in a physical body. We have some tools. One of those tools is the mind, which can be trained into an intellect, either with wrong thoughts, wrong motivations or right thoughts, right motivations. We have another tool, which is emotion, which can be used in a very bad way, totally out of control or it can be controlled and used in a very good way, to be a productive part of the human race and to be a leader. Leaders are few these days, most are followers. Of the leaders who lead, many of them follow their own emotions, their own wrong thinking, their adharmic concepts. Finally, they look behind themselves and they find they are not elected, they are not leaders anymore. They lost their followers.

A true leader follows his spiritual intuition. A true leader has a dynamic will, has a purpose, a plan, persistence and plenty of push to make that plan work. A true leader can be you and you and you. I see many faces here looking at me through the cyberspace, internet, the wonderful network that the governments of our world have released funds for, to give us all the ability to communicate, to love each other through cyberspace, to think together, work together, be together. Being together is very, very nice. I love you and you love me. We love each other. That is very important, because .... why? Because we are souls, we all love each other. A happy day for each and everyone of us.

Aum Namasivaya.
transcription ends

The three ladies on the right came from Seattle to experience the temple puja. On the left is Amrit and Chandan Topiwala who stopped by from a Pacific cruise ship.

Sannyasin Guhanathaswami is having daily religious classes with young Nutanaya during his temple vigil. Here they are studying the "Saivite Virtue Course", which is studied by all young people in the Church before taking their brahmacharya vrata (pledge of purity) between 12 and 14 years of age.

Our two dynamic hosts who daily have guests to take care of. We can all expect busy years ahead as the Iraivan Temple is already attracting more and more pilgrims. Sadhaka Mahadevan on the left and Sadhaka Thondunatha on the right.

Orchids close up. Take a moment, be still, let the mind quiet, observe the beauty before you. Gurudeva told us once:

"You have already had many realizations. So, there is nothing to get. Just surrender to your own realizations and you will discover that you know more than you think you do."

Here are the sacred Rudraksha fruits. Blue-colored symbols of God's Compassion -- the Tears of Rudra.

A plentiful harvest this year... many, many trees are filled with fruits and the earth beneath the trees of the groves is strewn with these precious jewels of nature. The seeds will be gathered, hand cleaned, drilled and made available for sale to help in our temple fund raising. If you would like to order a set, email iraivan@hindu.org for more details.

Gurudeva's spiritual center in the island country of Mauritius
in the Indian Ocean near South Africa

Before their departure for Hawaii where they will be attending the historic ceremony at the Iraivan construction site this month, the monks arranged a shanti homa by a priest from South India to invoke the inner worlds for their blessings. Sivacharya Anandan Gurukkal did a very nice ceremony and home blessing of the Dharmasala building which the Church families will now be able to use as office facilities and for satsangs when matavasis are not actually residing there.

Most of Gurudeva's sishyas turned up at the Saiva Dharmasala to bid farewell to the
two sadhakas and to thank them for all the good works they have been doing
to uplift the Mauritian hindu community at the Spiritual Park. These family
men and women would keep the spiritual vibration high at the park and would
be happily hosting visitors, mostly on weekends.

After the shanti homa, the keys of the Dharmasala were handed over to the most senior kulapati, Manon Mardemootoo who would now have the humble task of gently helping everyone to harmoniously blend their energies together to maintain the sanctity of that place. Kulapati Manon and his son Sivakumaren are well known attorneys of the island who are also joyously overseeing legal matters concerning the Spiritual Park.

One peak moment of the farewell ceremony for the monks was the planting of young rudraksha trees near the entrance of the Spiritual Park. Here Moorghen Caremben and his little son Sukanta are putting one of these plants into its hole while chanting Aum Namasivaya..., the most sacred mantra of the Vedas. Moorghen is a regular karma yogi at the park who enjoys taking care of the huge granite murthis, cleaning and oiling them regularly. The murthis are inspiring spiritual attractions for many visitors at the park.

Before their departure, the sadhakas have been giving intensive training to a few sishyas in a very short lapse of time. One of them, Rajen Manick is receiving last minute coaching from Sadhaka Adinatha. Rajen is an Education Officer with a Honors degree in French and Communication and has been working on Mac computers for many years. He will now be helping at the Dharmasala offices with translations, TAKA , publications and other karma yoga.

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