Blog Archives
April 20, 2001 
It's a quiet day today. Gurudeva goes through his email with Shanmuganathswami, reaching out to devotees around the world from the middle of the Pacific. Every morning he has been speaking to the monks about teaching the Yamas and Niyamas as the foundation principles. A small booklet containing the Yamas and Niyamas, called "Hindu Ethics," has been prepared, drawing from the text of Living with Shiva and this is presented in the temple by the monk on vigil to guests, visitors and pilgrims who come between 9 am and 12 noon.
ANNOUNCEMENT:
For those who downloaded the Nandinatha Sutras eBook. Our first "beta" testers found a few bugs. Most notably the copy function wasn't working properly. This has been fixed. Go to:
/books/ebooks/ to get your updated version.
Our audio man has a new duty, which is to take the afternoon vigil in the temple from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm on certain days. This means we may not get you a new audio file on that day. So.... this gives you a chance to enjoy a talk from the archives.
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Click to send Gurudeva a spiritual question he will later answer for all to benefit. |
transcription begins
Date: April_14_2001
Title: Hindu New Year Part 2
Category: Hinduism and Tradition
Duration: 3 min., 29 seconds
Date Given: April 13, 2001
Children are abused, raped, and subjected to incest within the homes. It is quite prevalent in the Hindu community. If they are abused in anyway - slapped, hit, pinched, verbally put down, made to fear the elders - it is the duty of the stewardship of the temple, the trustees of the temple, the elected members of the community to bring in counsellors. It is their duty, in the name of ahimsa, to bring in outside help so that Hinduism has a good name in the world. Ahimsa is the very heart and core of Sanatana Dharma. Ahimsa is not hurting physically, mentally or emotionally.
Young people are on illegal drugs. Counsellors should be brought into the community to warn them of the consequences that they may be facing if they continue with this practice. Hindu communities worldwide will be model communities, if they take care of their own problems. Each temple has only one hundred to two hundred core devotees for the stewardship, the trustees of the temple to work with and clean up the mess within their homes. Clean their hearts and their collective community, of mess such as back-biting, making up stories about one another. All the low minded things that are going on in the temples today, will go on to tomorrow and get worse, unless a stop is put on the situation.
Some of these crimes against dharma, are often crimes within the state or county where the temple exists. If members of the congregation and members of the board of trustees know of these crimes and don't do anything about it, they are the silent participators in the crime and share the bad karma that goes along with it.
I would like to see the stewardship or the trustees or the board of directors of each temple look at themselves in the mirror very closely. If they cannot perform this spiritual function, this religious function, this function of maintaining dharma, they should resign. Let someone who is in more control of themselves, more deeply associated with the Sanatana Dharma take their place.
This new year, we have the planets working with us. The power of the Gods, the cooperation of the devas and Satguru Siva Yogaswami are all working very closely to the earth to make this happen. This is the year of will power, accomplishment, aggressiveness. Let us take advantage of it. As we say, "Happy New Year" to each other, let us say also, "Let us get to work."
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A wonderful family came to join us today... Naren & Sharayu Phanse, with their daughter, Neelu (middle) and her son Sachin. They recently moved from London to California.
This is Lord Ganesha in the Publications building. We worship him first before beginning any worship or spiritual practice.
"Iswara Pujana" or "Worship of God" is one of the Niyamas. Today we had some visitors from California who said they practiced "Ashtanga Yoga." But they didn't even know the meaning of the word "Ashtanga." They were surprised to learn that "Ashtanga Yoga" was not just physical exercises, but the "Eight-Limbed Yoga"
- Yama- Ethical Restraints
- Niyama -- Religious and Spiritual Observances
- Asana -- Yoga Postures
- Pranayama -- Breath Control
- Pratyahara -- Withdrawal of Mind from the Five Senses
- Dharana --Attention and Concentration
- Dhyana -- Meditation
- Samadhi -- Oneness/Realization
These are both independent practices and progessive stages, each one a foundation stone for the next higher stage. So, first things first. Yamas and Niyamas need to be in place in one's life otherwise there will be no fruit to the yoga, no stability, no long term sustained spiritual growth.
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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
April 19, 2001 
Things are moving forward at the Aadheenam. While all is quiet, BIG things are in the offing. We all feel like we are watching some giant wave off shore rolling steadily home: travel plans for the temple artisans to come to Kauai, six containers of stones at sea now making their way to Kauai, "maha" planning sessions for Gurudeva's travels to Germany and the coming Northern European Innersearch, the re-publcation of Dancing with Siva and Lemurian Scrolls in the Russian language in the Ukraine, culmination of the translation of Merging with Siva into Russian and proof reading by Sophia Publishers editor in Crimea, little nibbles from Argentina for the possible publication of Merging with Siva into Spanish for distribution throughout South America and Spain and a "teaching" push to put forward the key principles of Living with Siva: the Yamas and Niyamas and the Nandinatha sutras. Finishing up Living with Siva and sending it to the printers and 10 day count down to complete the July/August issue of Hinduism today. A big subscription promotion push in United Kingdom. . . all orchestrated from our little grass hut in the middle of the Pacific. . .amazing when you think about it!
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Title: Do we take on karma by watching TV? |
Cybertalk: Cyber cadet, Jutikadevi, asks Gurudeva if we take on karma when watching certain television programs. Gurudeva says if you are not emotionally affected by what is going on the television screen then this indicates that those karmas you have gone through and now you are no longer affected by it.
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 Sivadevanathaswami
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Click to send Gurudeva a spiritual question he will later answer for all to benefit. |
transcription begins
Date: April_13_2001
Title: New Year Part 1
Category: Hinduism and Tradition
Duration: 3 min., 14 seconds
Date Given: April 13, 2001
We want to wish everyone a very happy New Year. This is a very important year for Hindus around the world. It is the year of aggressiveness, the year of accomplishment, the year of will power. This year we except a lot of accomplishment worldwide, in all the temples that have been established outside of India.
Hindus worldwide have demonstrated enough of togetherness and generosity, in working to build temples and have them dedicated in the proper and authentic way. Many ask now, "Why did we build the temple?" and answer, "Well, so we can get together in community, hold the community together and stop conversion."
True. Very, very true. That was the first goal and that has been accomplished in several hundred temples worldwide, in many countries. Now, the trustees of the temple are becoming looked at more and more, as the spiritual leaders of the community. If a government representative wants to talk to the spiritual leader of the temple, who does he ask for? He asks for the president and the president comes forward in that capacity. Maybe momentarily, but he does come forward in that capacity.
I want to see the stewardship of each temple to take the leadership responsibilities seriously. The temples are built, the temples are dedicated, the Deities are there, the priests are there, the congregation is there. It is up to the core elected leadership, the trustees of the temple to actually become full-time spiritual leaders and make a difference in the lives of the parents, in the lives of the children and change the community to being a model community. If members of the community who attend the temple drink alcohol and because of that become angry and because of that, are a problem within their family and neighborhood, they should go to Alcoholics Anonymous. It is the duty of the trustees of the temple to visit their homes, talk with them and see that that happens. If wives within the community are beaten, slapped, verbally abused, it is the duty of the wives of the trustees of the temple to see that they are put into a safe place and the situation is corrected within the community.
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Task forcer Sivaneswaran from Malaysia is looking happy and healthy. He just received his graduation certificate from Himalayan Academy yesterday from Gurudeva.
Arvindraj also received his graduation certificate. This is really a great accomplishment as the requirements are quite thorough. Both Sivaneswaran and Raj have completed the following:
1) a year study of Merging with Siva, 365 daily lessons, 52 weekly sadhanas.
2) The study of the Master Course and related text comprising: Living with Siva, Dancing with Siva, Merging with Siva, the Saiva Dharma Shastras, Loving Ganesha, God's Money and books on Positive Discipline.
3) Test questions on the above books comprising nearly 700 questions in total (The questionaire for Saiva Dharma Shastras alone is 350 questions.)
4) a verbal quiz.
In addition both of these great souls have taken their three vratas: a) vegetarian vow, b) tithing vow c) lineage vow.
And they have both completed their Maha Vasana Daha Tantra.
Wow! Congratulations to both Sivaneswaran and Arvindraj!
Here is also the "fruits" of the seva of Sivaneswaran and Arvindraj: sacred rudrakshas in a box. They are freshly picked fruits from this year's harvest, hand cleaned and drilled and oiled. It is traditional for non-monastics to wear a single one around their neck and we are calling this box set "Rudrakshas for the whole family." The monks have decided not to get into the "jewelry" side of making a necklace, but to leave that to the wearer, to choose something as simple as a string died in tumeric powder, or as exotic as a gold chain with caps on both sides. . .as long or as short as you want... made up by a local jeweler of your choice.
One box is $20.00, payment at this time can only be made by check or money order mailed to:
Iraivan Temple/Sacred Rudrakshas
Kauai's Hindu Monastery
107 Kaholalele Road
Kapaa, HI, USA 96746-9304
Of course, please be sure to include your address. Every purchase will go to the San Marga Building Fund, in a remarkable synergy of our sevaks, Siva's trees, ancient tradition, modern mail order and your generosity -- all teaming up to help build another a temple that will last 1000 years, a monument, a beacon for dharma for generations to come!
At the urgent request of the editor, Andriy Kostenko of Sophia Publishing in Kiev, Ukraine, Gurudeva dictated a beautiful preface for the second Russian language printing of Lemurian Scrolls about to be printed in just a week or two. It was so beautiful we are sharing it here with everyone:
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Preface to the Second Printing of the Russion Edition
of Lemurian Scrolls, publisher:
Sophia Publishing, Kiev, Ukraine
"Lord Karttikeya, the God of war, domiciled within the Pleiades, is at this time paying special attention to all of us here on Earth. He was created by Lord Siva to preside over and resolve conflicts and confusions, discontent, misunderstandings and all that has gone wrong. Misnomered as the God of war and often taken as the God who starts wars and perpetuates wars, He is often beseeched by warlords wanting to motivate their peoples into modes of destruction and aggressiveness. But this is not true. Karttikeya, the God of war, is the God who stops wars and conflicts, arbitrates misunderstandings, settles disputes of all kinds. He is depicted as six-headed with twelve arms and holding a spear, indicating that his wisdom is as wide as the breadth of the spear and its action is as sharp as the point of the spear. Once thrown into the heart of asuric confusions, such as war, conflicts of all kinds, it returns of its own self back into His hand. His six heads and twelve arms represent his variety of powers. He is the God of yoga, of healing and tapas. He is the first renunciate to throw down matters of the material world in favor of an innersearch, a discovery of Absolute Truth within. Dear to the Tamil people as Murugan and Kumaran, He is the God of South Indians, and of Sri Lankans, who have dispersed themselves all over the world because of ethnic conflict. (continued below)
I take this opportunity to tell devotees in the great continent of Russia that we avoid and have discarded the Puranic stories about Gods and Goddesses. These stories, which are so popular nowadays and are so often repeated to children, are more than often totally against ahimsa, nonhurtfulness physically, mentally and emotionally, which is the central core of Sanatana Dharma. They have been perpetuated by rulers wanting to motivate their people in the name of the Gods and Goddesses to go forth and kill and extend their properties, or by pundits and scholars endeavoring to build up their sect within Hinduism to put down other Gods and Goddesses and the people that worship them. We here in the United States do not repeat them, read about them and above all let the children know that they exist.
Unfortunately, the Bhagavad Gita, which has been so popuarly advertised, came up as a major scripture, promoted to stimulate the Indian people to throw out the British. Imagine Krishna telling Arjuna that it's okay to kill your guru, your relatives and dismiss the outcries of his own conscience. If you read the Gita with this in mind, you will see it as a motivating scripture toward war, not away from war.
(continued below)
Lord Karttikeya is the arbitrator for win-win situations in all circumstances. Pray to Him when difficulties arise and notice that He will respond. Then you will see clearly that, according to the yamas and niyamas, Vedic restraints and observances, His wisdom is supreme.
With all this in mind, let me say that, quite spontaneously, the remarkable dissertations that you have so lovingly translated into your beautiful Russian language were revealed to me from Lord Karttikeya's library within the akasha and read day after day in 1973. Please be aware that it was by no accident that this happened, and after keeping it in 25 years of hibernation, read only by our cloistered monks, we were inwardly inclined to release this remarkable document to the world. We prepared the in-house book for publication and sent preliminary copies to scholars and pundits, historians and psychics and educators for their review and comment. Only after we read what they said were we assured that it was proper to release these akashic findings presented to me from Lord Karttikeya's, or Lord Subramaniam's, personal library.
We know you will enjoy what your Lord, our Lord, has revealed to us of how we should live, move and have our being on planet Earth as we near the day that the new age begins, when the last person kills the last person to be killed. That is the great day preluded by the time when man lit by his own devices the night. That was the beginning. Let's all work together for this end, this glorious turning point, and may we all live to see the beginning.
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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
April 18, 2001 
Having completed "Living with Siva" the third book in his "Master Course Trilogy," (Living with Siva, Dancing with Siva and Merging with Siva) Gurudeva has been in the past few days actively guiding the monks on how to bring these core basic teachings of this important work into our daily lives and teaching programs. By now you would all have the email version of the wonderful Nandinatha Sutras. And, if you missed the announcement, the Nandinatha Sutras are also available as a very useful "eBook" with a search feature, Table of Contents and a great picture of Gurudeva for your computer. Go to:
Living with Siva is based on the "Yamas" (Restraints" and "Niyamas" (Observances) which are the foundation of religious and spiritual life for all Hindus. In Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, they also form the "first limb" of yoga practice. If the only thing a Hindu understood and implemented in his or her life were these twenty simple guidelines, they would be a good Hindu and make great strides in spiritual unfoldment. And, if the practice of Yamas and Niyamas is absent or weak in someone's life, the practice of yoga, performance of japa and meditation etc. will be nothing more than mere physical or mental calisthenics -- without the foundation of proper living there will be no fruit to spiritual practice. So, first things first! To read about the Yamas and Niyamas, go to the October 1997 issue of Hinduism Today and read the Insight section entitled: Twenty Vedic Laws for Living a Good Life.
Announcement
Gurudeva's travel plans are shaping up and he has also just received an invitation to go to Hamm Germany for special religious celebrations in August. Following these he will depart for London to being the 2001 Northern European Innersearch. Please note, for pilgrimage to Kauai, Gurudeva will not be on Kauai from July 31st to August 31st. If you are planning a visit and hoping to have darshan, please schedule your pilgrimage before or after that time. For Hindus in Europe who might like to join Gurudeva at temple functions, stay tuned to the gurudeva_travels.html page for news and updates in the days and weeks ahead.
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Title: Hindu Sects |
Cybertalk: A cyberspace devotee in Texas wants to know if he was born into a certain Hindu sect must he remain in that denomination for the rest of his life. Gurudeva says that it is very flexible within Hinduism and that if he finds another sect within Hinduism that suits him better he should throw his entire energy within it.
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 Sivadevanathaswami
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Click to send Gurudeva a spiritual question he will later answer for all to benefit. |
transcription begins
Date: April_11_2001
Title: Energy in the spine
Category: Karma
Duration: 1 min., 19 seconds
Date Given: April 11, 2001
A cyberspace devotee in Michigan in the United States, asks about the energy flowing from the soul through the spine. "How do you feel that energy?"
You would feel that energy, if it wasn't there or was inhibited in some way, such as a vertebra out of place and the energy was not feeding one part of the body or one organ of the body or another. Therefore, you would go to a chiropractor and get the spine properly aligned.
Open and close your hands. Feel the energy opening and closing the hands. That's easy. Now, we will center the awareness in the spine. Simply move your back forward and back, and side to side. Feel the energy moving the spine. That's very easy also.
There is nothing magical about this feeling. You must just identify it and also, know that the energy is coming right from God Siva. That is why, the Vedas tell us, "Siva is the life of your life."
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Acharya Palaniswami and Sadhaka Thondunatha discuss plans for Gurudeva's travels to Germany in August where some religious events are planned in Hamm, followed by the 2001 Northern European Innersearch.
Here is Acharya Kumarswami who works every day on Gurudeva's books. He is now actively finishing up the "back matter" for Living with Siva, getting it ready for printing. The focus today is the Glossary and Index. These are big tedious jobs, but they make for a very professional, useful reference work for serious students and teachers. This attention to detail has made Gurudeva's books reach even university classrooms as standard texts for comparative religion courses. Dancing with Siva has been especially useful in this context.
In another new innovation at the Aadheenam, we have started to harvest and process our rudraksha beads in mass quantity. These are fresh from the trees this year. Sivaneswaran on the left and Arvindraj on the right are having a wonderful time preparing these sacred beads. They will be sold and the proceeds will be contributed into the San Marga Temple Building fund. This is a wonderful "circle" as the fruit of the land that the temple is on will be helping to build that temple!
In our already finished small, Kadavul Hindu Siva temple, there is the "prayer basket." Devotees write prayers and fold them and place them in this basket. Other prayers come by mail or fax. The priest will burn them in the sacred eternal flame in a small fire altar that is just at the feet of Lord Nataraja. Prayers are burned only on the auspicious days when the "channels between the earth plane and the Second and Third Worlds (Devaloka and Sivaloka, the astral and causal planes) are open. On days when these channels are closed the prayers are not burned except during an auspicious three hour period. On certain days, even that period is not available and the prayers are held over for an auspicious day or until the Sun One homa. This homa ceremony opens the channels between the three worlds regardless of the astrology of the day.
This lovely Ganesha was sent to us by someone in Malaysia. The image reminds us that Lord Ganesha is the Guardian God of all nature, of all manifest material Being. For non-Hindus who are seeking entrance into the Hindu faith, they must first develop a personal relationship with Lord Ganesha, which is very easy to do as He is very close to the physical realm and easy to contact and be in touch with. Every Hindu should also be in touch with Lord Ganesha every day. Learn more about the Benevolent Third World Being by reading: Loving Ganesha
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Our 11-acre village in India is home to 75 Indian master craftsmen who live there and work each day on the carving of the sacred white granite Siva Temple which will soon be shipped soon to Kauai and assembled. See our latest February 2001 Building Fund Progress Report and join our family of contributors today! |
Here is an old picture of our temple manager on the right, Jiva Rajasankara, honoring the world famous Hindu architect, Ganapati Sthapati who designed the Iraivan temple. Ganapati Sthapati will be here on Kauai next month for the special 'prathama sila" or first stone laying ceremonies for Iraivan.
Please join our international family of temple builders and donate generously today!
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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
April 17, 2001 
Today's Sun One Homa ceremonies were full of samskaras.... sacraments performed for little ones. Sivajnani Nagapppan has come from Malaysia to join his wife, Amala and their little boy Yajatadeva. The fortunate child receives a blessing from Gurudeva: sandalwood paste on the head after Sivajnani had shaved the head.
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Title: Marriage Compatibility |
Cybertalk: A cyberspace devotee inquires about the physical, mental and emotional compatibility in a marriage. Gurudeva says that the astrological compatibility of the couple tells us the physical and emotional compatibility of the couple plus the karmas of the future.
Title: Marriage Compatibility
Category: Relationships
Length: 1 min., 58 seconds
Date Given: 04/11/2001
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 Sivadevanathaswami
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Click here if you have a question Gurudeva answers questions from CyberCadets, and welcomes your spiritual queries. However, he responds only to matters of general interest and not to personal or intimate matters. |
transcription begins
Date: April_05_2001
Title: Organ Donation at Death
Category: Karma
Duration: 1 min., 17 seconds
Date Given: March 21, 2001
A cyberspace devotee, Arumugam Muniandi from Malaysia, mentions that he thought donating organs at death would be a very good karma. "But how does that stop our soul from going into higher realms?"
It may be a good karma for the person who gets one of your organs. But, it will certainly keep you earthbound, attached to the person who is using your former heart, kidney, etc.
Earthbound means living in the Preta Loka, which is the duplicate of this external world that you see with your two eyes and going through all the karmas that the person who is using your organ is going through and experiencing all the experiences that he or she would be experiencing. It would not be a happy situation, if it was an unhappy person that bought one of your organs.
Now you will probably ask, "How do you get out of a messy situation like that?"
Well, you would just have to be earthbound in the Preta Loka until that person passed on. Then, you would be free to soar to higher planes and perhaps, get a very good birth.
transcription ends
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Sitting before the fire, Yajatadeva received both his Namakarana Samskara -- Name-Giving ceremony -- and his Karnaveda -- Ear-Boring. Here his father reads aloud the declaration of the child's name that goes with the Name Giving ceremony:
The father says the following three times in the childs right ear:
"Oh child, thou art born of the family of Nagappan
So thy name is also Nagappan
And thy given name is Yajatadeva."
Now the father says three times so all can hear:
"Oh Divine Ones, we beseech your blessings,
In the sacramental name-giving of this Saivite Hindu soul.
We vow to raise this child according
To the principles of the Sanatana Dharma."
"Please bless this child,
Whose family name is Nagappan
And whose given name is Yajatadeva."
Sivajnani writes the name of his son in a tray of rice with the kusha grass:
"YA JA TA DE VA"
Next, the ear boring. The golden ear-rings are said to bring health to the child.
Gurudeva blesses the fortunate little boy.
Performance of "Samskaras" is considered an obligatory duty for Hindus... making sure that the transitions in life are sanctified in a temple before the sacred fire. By putting such positive impressions into a child's mind, a solid foundation is created for his or her future spiritual life.
Following the ceremonies everyone gathers on San Marga. The little boy has lots of "ammas and aunties" to take care of him. The value of extended family, especially for the ladies, is a big support group for the young mother. Much different from the sadly unsupportive young mother of today's nuclear families who struggle alone to raise their child.
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Our 11-acre village in India is home to 75 Indian master craftsmen who live there and work each day on the carving of the sacred white granite Siva Temple which will soon be shipped soon to Kauai and assembled. See our latest February 2001 Building Fund Progress Report and join our family of contributors today! |
Stone wrapping in Bangalore.... we are happy to announce that Visa petitions for the silpi workers are progressing well. Soon a diplomatic pouch will leave Washington D.C. bound for Chennai where the US Embassy there will be ready to send our artisans to Kauai.
Crated stones ready for loading.
Actually at this time all the stones are already loaded in the containers and have already been shipped from India!
These stones are on the high seas and scheduled to arrive in Hawaii on May 12th. That's less than 1 month away!
Gurudeva's other monastery in the island country of Mauritius
in the Indian Ocean near South Africa
Recently, disciples of Gurudeva Gathered at the dharmasala and Spiritual Park to receive instructions and begin to take a very active part in managing and enlivening that center. Here we have the elders of the elders of Gurudeva's Saiva Siddhanta Church of Mauritius, the 8 kulapatis (heads of extended spiritual families), Saivism's movers in their country. Left to right, Kulapati Mooneenagen Koothan, Kulapati Mootoosamy Pareatumbee, Kulapati Manogaran Mardemootoo, Kulapati Anba Dayananden Valayten, Kulapati Kulagan Moonesawmy, Kulapati Parmesh Pallanee, and Kulapati Souria Kumaren Moorghen. Kulapati Rajen Manick is also part of the team but couldn't make it for today's photo.
And here are six of the eight kulamatas (spouses of the kulapatis), spiritually mature and powerful ladies who mostly behind the scenes, but also sometimes in the forefront (organizing and teaching classes in positive parenting, for example), do all they can to perpetuate and preserve dharma in a wonderful way. Jai to the great Matas of our faith! Left to right, Kulamata Oomavadee Pallanee, Kulamata Poospawadee Koothan, Kulamata Saroja Valayten, Kulamata Sornumbal Mardemootoo, Kulamata Seedha Lutchmee Moonesawmy, and Kulamata Moilavadee Moorghen. Kulamata Saranamuta Pareatumbee and Kulamata Premila Manick are also part of the Kulamata group but couldn't make it today.
This beautiful couple, Mr. and Mrs. Adi Sankara Perumal, attended parts of the same gathering. They came mostly to meet the dedicated souls they aspire to join one day, and toward which end they are working diligently. When he was just nine years old, Mr. Perumal happened upon the very first literature of Gurudeva ever to be printed in Mauritius (the old Catechisme et Credo, 1983). At that young age, he was immediately taken with Gurudeva's teachings. Recently he married the very spiritual Donnanathi and together they now wish to officially become students and then full disciples of Gurudeva. They have both studied music in India, are accomplished performers and teach at the prestigious Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Mauritius. Jai!
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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
April 14, 2001 
In between a full morning of monastery meetings, Gurudeva was available for darshan today, meeting with pilgrims from the mainland and Europe.
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Title: Hindu New Year Part 2 |
Cybertalk: In the second and last part of Gurudeva's New Year talk he urges temple trustees around the world to help eradicate backbiting and other low minded things from the community to create a Hindu community that will be a model community worldwide. Gurudeva says this is a year of will power, aggressiveness and accomplishment and encourages everyone to take advantage of it.
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 Sivadevanathaswami
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Click here if you have a question Gurudeva answers questions from CyberCadets, and welcomes your spiritual queries. However, he responds only to matters of general interest and not to personal or intimate matters. |
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Date: April_04_2001
Title: Thought Manifestations in Meditation and Life
Category: The Mind
Duration: 1 min., 44 seconds
Date Given: March 21, 2001
A wonderful question from cyberspace devotee, Ron in Arizona, who is studying 'Merging with Siva', the beautiful book, 365 daily lessons. His concern is about thought. "As I watch my thoughts, am I watching the manifestation of the thought or the thought that is about to be manifest?"
In 'Merging with Siva', all answers to all questions are within the 1000 pages of this remarkable book. But in short, I can answer your question by saying that thought is a combined group of pranas that makes pictures in the mind. It has a form, color and sound. It is in itself a manifestation.
People that don't control their thoughts and only half-manifest one thought and then half-manifest another thought are also not controlling their daily life, because the thoughts that they think is the life of tomorrow. So, be careful of your thoughts because that manifests your life tomorrow.
If you have fears and think about your fears, you are manifesting what you are afraid of in the future. If you have worries and think about your worries, you are manifesting what you are worrying about. You will walk right into it and have to live it because you created it. If you think of success, happiness and joy, these thoughts will manifest a wonderful future for you. Get your happiness from making others happy.
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Our neighbors, the Stoddards, brought some friends to join pilgrims from several continents for the monastery tour today.
Raja and Rani Gourinathan and their son Ramanan came for the first time to Kauai. They had met Gurudeva before in California.
Jeeva Rajan from Houston, Texas has been here for a three day pilgrimage to receive New Years blessings from Gurudeva.
Jesvir Mahil from England was visiting Hawaii and heard about the monastery from friends.
Though Jesvir Mahil is of the Sikh tradition, she too was eager to receive blessings from Gurudeva.
Our temple door has this wonderful brass relief of Lord Ganesha. The first God to be worshipped in Hinduism. You can learn all about Ganesha in Gurudeva's wonderful book: Loving Ganesha
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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
April 13, 2001 
Happy New Year! Puttandu Vallthukkal!
Today Gurudeva was "roaring like a lion" in his annual New Year's message which was directed this year to the officers, directors and administrators of temples. "This is the year of Vrisha, the year of aggressiveness, will power and accomplishment. Stewards of our Hindu temples have been elected to serve and they should take a more aggressive, active role in nurturing the lives of the members of the congregation of the temple. If they find out that some member of the temple has a problem with alcohol, coming home at night drunk, beating his kids, the stewards of the temple should take the responsibility to counsel him, see to it that he goes to AA. If the wives of the stewards of the temple find out that one of the women in their congregation is being abused by her husband, they should see to it that she has a place she can go to, to be protected, and to make sure professional help is brought in to counsel the family. Every officer of a temple should stand up before a mirror and ask himself if he really can live up to upholding the Sanatana Dharma, which is ahimsa, non-violence, the very core of our faith. And if he can't, then I recommend he resign!" Listen to it in today's and tomorrow's audio.
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Title: New Year Part 1 |
Cybertalk: Gurudeva sends his best wishes and blessings to all to mark the beginning of the New Year. In his New Year talk he speaks out to temple trustees around the world encouraging them to take the leadership responsibility seriously.
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 Sivadevanathaswami
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Click here if you have a question Gurudeva answers questions from CyberCadets, and welcomes your spiritual queries. However, he responds only to matters of general interest and not to personal or intimate matters. |
transcription begins
Date: April_03_2001
Title: Reincarnation into Animal Bodies
Category: Change and Transformation
Duration: 1 min., 0 sec
Date Given: March 25, 2001
A cyberspace devotee from bellsouth.net. Surya wonders, "Can humans incarnate into animals?"
Yes, that has been done occasionally. When someone has a very serious automobile accident, where the entire physical body is injured, if they have been murdered or in war time. They often incarnate into an animal, often a cow, as a resting situation to get all of the pranas and currents reorganized within their bodies. Their next life would be a human life. It doesn't mean, you have to reincarnate into an animal. It is only a convenience, for reorganizing the pranic forces and rejuvenating the astral body.
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At exactly 8:11 AM this morning, the Sun moved into Aries constellation-- this is the classical new year as deemed so by Vedic astrology. It also marks the beginning of the "Nartana Ritau" the season of the year with Saiva Siddhanta Church opens its mission doors and satsangs to friends and relatives.
The morning weather teetered between clouds and sun as we walked to the flag pole. All the trees that were planted in the last ten years are gaining in maturity and every where the property is full of beauty.
Gurudeva also spoke this morning to the local congregation and to those young men going back to Malaysia about our island wide push for a "Drug Free Kauai." He made it clear again as he does over and over again:
"If you know of drug use, or child abuse, you are duty bound to take action. If you do not, you are also party to the crime. Just in the same way.... if you were driving in a car and stopped at a petrol station and your partner got out, went in and robbed the convenience store and then came back to the car and told you to drive off... If you did not protest, you would be an accessory to the crime, equally culpable. In Mauritius, we found out that a young man was being beaten by his father. I told my monks and my Kulapatis... It's very simple: tell that man if he ever again lays a hand on that boy, we will put him in jail."
A joyous day as the coral colored flag of Hindu dharma is lowered.
Our flag is quite large, being nearly twenty feet long and ten feet high.
Aravindraj attached the flag for the new season.
The orange colored dvaja (flag) of Hindu dharma will fly for four months.
Gurudeva meets with the Kulapatis of the Wailua Mission. Iraja Sivadas on the left foreground is moving with his wife, Kulamata, Nilani, back to California. Today he asked Gurudeva how they could, while being far away, stay in tune with his darshan and feel his vibration. Gurudeva advised, "Get involved with the Golden Gate Mission. Get behind the goals and the agenda there and put your energy there."
Meanwhile we just recently had another joyous occasion in California with the marriage of Easan Sankara to Gowri Sivanesan from Malaysia. Another "cross national" marriage that will strengthen the bonds between Hindus in Malaysia and America, breaking down barriers in the microcosm between people, countries and cultures, bringing up a wonderful new race of children.
Easan and Gowri we wish you all the happiness and success in your new life together. May your union be the foundation of a home and family in which dharma flourishes and the world is enriched with fine children who will make great contributions to the Hinduism of tomorrow!
http://www.sealetter.com/Nov-00/newamst.html
This link takes you to a review of the cruise ship that Gurudeva will be conducting the Northern European and Russian Innersearch on. Read about Holland America's brand new, state-of-the-art, pride of the fleet MS Amsterdam. This Innersearch voyage will begin on August 10th for 12 days sailing to 10 historic ports of call. Join Gurudeva on this great mystical adventure. Visit /innersearch/ for more details.
This Innersearch voyage will begin on August 10th for 12 days sailing to 10 historic ports of call. Join Gurudeva on this great mystical adventure. Visit /innersearch/ for more details.
This picture shows Gurudeva steering the MS Volendam forward during the 2000 Caribbean Innersearch. Gurudeva was given a special tour of the bridge - the navigational command centre of the chip � by Captain Edward van Zaane, standing to the left of Gurudeva. Also in the picture is Chief Hostess Appollonia van Ravenstein and Sadhaka Thondunatha. Incidentally, Captain van Zaane and Chief Hostess Appollonia will be navigating us through the Baltic seas come this August.
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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
April 11, 2001 
We are coming to the end of Sadhu Paksha and all is quiet at the monastery. Now with Living with Siva finished, Gurudeva has been using his editing hours for giving some wonderfully lucid dictations regarding his expectations for his sishya, Church Membership and various other matters for the future.
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Title: Energy in the spine |
Cybertalk: A cyberspace devotee wants to know how we can feel the energy in our spine. Gurudeva says one simple way is to centre awareness in our spine and simply move our back forward and back and to the sides. Gurudeva also says that there is nothing magical about this feeling and that to know that the energy is coming directly from Lord Siva.
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 Sivadevanathaswami
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Click to send Gurudeva a spiritual question he will later answer for all to benefit. |
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Date: April_02_2001
Title: How do I choose a God to worship?
Category: God and Lords of Dharma
Duration: 1 min., 24 seconds
Date Given: March 21, 2001
A cyberspace devotee, Devananda in Rosehill, in the beautiful country of Mauritius asks, "Hindus are supposed to identify one or another God to worship and choose their own Ishta Devata. How do they know which one to choose?"
Devananda, it works exactly the other way around. The God or Gods that you are to worship choose you, to communicate with you, through Their image within the temple.
You mentioned in your question that you are drawn to Lord Ganesha's shrine within the temple. You are drawn to Lord Murugan's shrine within the temple. This means that Lord Ganesha and Lord Muruga have messages for you, training
for you and They want to communicate with you. So even as you think of Them, it is like thinking of a friend or your mother or your father or your Guru. You are communicating psychically.
This is the great magic of the Sanatana Dharma and why it is on the earth today, through all the many ups and downs and attempts to destroy it. It is still here, a religion in renaissance, moving forward and spreading very rapidly into every corner of the world.
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Even during Sadhu Paksha the temple is open every morning... here is the Rajendra family from Virginia.
Our TAKA photographer catches Sannyasin Sivakatirswami and Sannyasin Skandanathaswami in a "walk by" consultation on some Hinduism Today distribution matters.
During our three-day full moon retreat six monks and one sevak, Sivaneswaran, went on a hike into the foothills of Waialeale Mountain.
The little known Pilau Ridge Trail takes you 6 1/2 miles up the hills through some pretty rough terrain.
At trails end....looking up the face of the mountain... further excusion would start to qualify as "climbing" and not just hiking.
These are the hidden "Shangri-la" areas of our precious island tropical paradise. We reached 1281 feet above sea level. And from there we could see all the way to the edge of the island and to the ocean beyond. It is always a wonderful experience, the purity of the environment, the sound of nature without the intrusion of any man made machine noises which normally permeate our modern atmospheres... just the wind, the birds and a quiet hush.
We turned back and went down to visit our new property across the river from the monastery. The land is bounded on one side by the Wailua River that passes in front of the monastery. The "inland" perimeter was another three-mile hike, taking us around our 406 acres. 327 of that is flat, arable land, the remaining 79 comprising gulches and rocky ravines, the home of wild boar that roam the landscape of our Hawaii "outback."
Gurudeva's other monastery in the island country of Mauritius
in the Indian Ocean near South Africa
The Hindu Monastery, Dharmasala and Spiritual Park receive some wonderful visiting souls almost daily. Today we had the visit of Brahmachari Navind Sagum, dedicated performer of sadhana (spiritual practice) and highly successful student of computer science at the University of Mauritius. At the monastery, he enjoys a special program whereby he comes to stay on week-ends for a refresher and a boost, while sharing in the life of the monks. Welcome, Navind!
And here, we had the visit of a long-time sadhana practitioner and devotee of Gurudeva, Moorghen Caremben. He is also a dedicated helper of our monastery, helping in many ways. Thank you, Moorghen!
His wife, Mrs. Ragini Caremben, also a long-time dedicated disciple, and a model for all younger ladies. "All hail the great servants of Siva!" would say our Paramaguru, Yogaswami of Jaffna. AUM Namasivaya.
Here is a shot from the Curepipe April Book Fair, where we are happy to see several books of the "Positive Discipline" series on display. This series teaches effective ways of raising and teaching children in a spirit of mutual respect and cooperation--without hitting, belittling, threatening, criticizing or generally hurting the child. Classes, seminars and discussion groups in this blessed science are being offered all over Mauritius. For information, call +230-412-5054 / 7682.
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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
April 10, 2001 
We just passed through a three-day full-moon retreat. On the first day, the entire monastery works together on projects for the Iraivan Temple Project for the first half of the day. Sadhaka Thondunatha who coordinates the temple fund raising shares news on progress and delegates the various tasks.
Visit the archives of talks for some interesting questions and answers from past days.
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Click here if you have a question Gurudeva answers questions from CyberCadets, and welcomes your spiritual queries. However, he responds only to matters of general interest and not to personal or intimate matters. |
transcription begins
Date: March_30_2001
Title: Nature of the Soul
Category: Soul
Duration: 1 min., 22 seconds
Date Given: March 21, 2001
A cyberspace cadet, who has had the satisfaction of having a few questions answered, asks another one, from Kentucky, the United States of America. Sean wants to know about the nature of the soul. He is aware he is not his physical body, this is his earthly experience. "But how about the mind and emotions? Do we carry them with us? What is the nature of the soul?"
The nature of your soul, Sean, is absolute bliss, perfection, solidarity, alertness. The mere fact that you can make the remark, "My mind wanders all the time." What is seeing the mind wander is the eye of the soul that is not wandering.
I just finished a wonderful book, 'Living with Siva', over a thousand pages, explaining in detail more about the nature of the soul and how you can minimize emotions, get control of thought, and realize that you are a pure, untarnished soul, that has a mind, that has emotions, that has a physical body. The soul has these three great tools.
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Sadhaka Thondunatha says: "Having the whole monastery work one day is worth two full time staff members, because these men all have such diverse talents and we can put them to work on projects that otherwise our department would never be able to accomplish on our own."
We were honored with a visit from a representative of Banta Publications Group who prints Hinduism Today in Liberty, Missouri. This is Judy Harness who was the Customer Service Representative at Banta when Hinduism Today converted from a newspaper to a color magazine in 1996. She worked with our team over the phone for nearly two years and was instrumental in helping us get started. This is the first time a Banta rep has come to visit our monastery. Banta Publications has been doing an outstanding job with the pre-press, printing, addressing and distribution of the magazine and we can't thank everyone at Banta enough for the great job they do and the wonderful attitude of service and "problem solving" spirit that they bring into the relationship.
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Our 11-acre village in India is home to 75 Indian master craftsmen who live there and work each day on the carving of the sacred white granite Siva Temple which will soon be shipped soon to Kauai and assembled. See our latest February 2001 Building Fund Progress Report and join our family of contributors today! |
The Iraivan Temple work site outside the city of Bangalore in the state of Karnataka, South India, is in a dry cool area. Here 11 acres were kindly granted to the project by His Holiness Sri-la-Sri Balagangadharanathaswami who is the head of the Adichunchanagiri Mutt. This is a very large monastic institution in Karnataka which manages 100's of smaller institutions throughout the state including numerous hospitals, orphanages, homes for battered women etc.
After the land was chosen, in 1991 we went to Balagangadharanathaswami's office with a map of the site and a water "dowser" was brought in. Using a pendulum, he carefully went over the map of the land (this event took place many miles away from the site itself.) until the pendulum's movements indicated to him where the location of water was. Both Acharya Ceyonswami and Acharya Kumarswami were also present at this event.
Our workers went to the site and drilled a well right at that location on the map and lo! water was found. Since this area is relatively dry, this was a great find and the water that was found at the temple worksite now serves the needs of the people in the surrounding area, as well as provides for the needs of the lovely gardens that have been propagated by our temple manager family, Jiva Rajasankara and his wife Kanmani and sons Thuraisingam and Sentiladhiban.
Wrapping stones... you can see parts of pillars on either side.
Now to loading into the container.
We need your help! The final phase of the temple which is the jointing and erection of the already carved stones is soon to begin on Kauai. Please donate generously.
Into the container.
Ready for Kauai. If you are a temple donor and would like to join us for the first stone laying ceremonies, please contact Acharya Ceyonswami for details.
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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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