Blog Archives
January 25, 2001 
This is Gurudeva up and going for a walk before a meeting with some of the monks. He is exercising daily now and the acupuncturist says he is building up a lot of muscle tone.
Yogaswami, speaking of his Guru as the "Sivathondan" (the servant of Siva) says:
LEAD KINDLY LIGHT.
"The goodly Sivathondan strides in all four directions,
and spreads the message of the lotus Feet of the Lord,
forget Him not in your hearts and hearths--
He who reiterates that we are all One in Siva.
Armed with inner purity and the heart repeating
the Five letters in tuneful notes, he speaks out
that no other worship is needful in the search after God;
that there need be no setback for the devotees of Siva.
Who doth hail the Guru without a second, this great Peer
the Sivathondan brings you repast of stories old and new.
Those followers of Siva who shall meet and delight
in his friendship, will also do good to the land.
In their country shall the rains descend,
their searching hearts shall be sweetened,
in wisdom shall they wipe out all wrongs,
and realise that Sivam abides in the soul.
Thus shall Sivathondan light the way with love;
his sound expositions of truth shall reveal
that Vedanta and Siddhanta are not separate paths,
but are the essential facets of the luminious One.
Not to bind oneself the Sivathondan guides,
to work for work's sake eschewing selfish ends,
and experience the bliss of selfless performance.
Lo, the holy Feet Sivathondan adorns my head.
--Natchintanai. 74-81.
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Title: Liberal Hinduism; Retreat after death |
Cybertalk: A cyberspace devotee wants further explaination on the term
liberal Hinduism. Gurudeva says that he looks at it as a new Indian creation
to sort of be a Hindu and sort of not be a Hindu. Another cyber devotee asks
what she should do during the 31 day retreat after a death in the family.
Gurudeva says it is what you don't do that is important and that one should
not go to the temple, worship in the shrine room and visit holy men and
women.
Cybertalk Ends"
For more information about listening to Gurudeva's talks online and to hear them in other formats, click here.
Do you have questions for Gurudeva? Send to questions@hindu.org.
Please note: Gurudeva only responds to questions from the general public on matters that are suitable for our public cyber audience. Personal or intimate questions sent to this address are not answered.
A detailed index of past inspired talks is available here.
transcription begins
Transcription of One of Gurudeva's CyberTalks
Date: January_18_2001
Title: Holy Ash, Do we Really have Free Will?, Burn the Good Memories?
Category: The Spiritual Path
Duration: 3 min., 10 seconds
Date Given: January 11, 2001
A cyberspace devotee in Ontario, Canada does a puja twice a day within their home and accumulates a lot of Holy Ash, and wonders what to do with the excess Holy Ash.
Holy Ash, which we call vibhuti, is put onto the body. Generally what we do with our excess vibhuti is give it to friends and family. Be generous with it. It is the gift of the Gods. So let everyone share in your abundance.
A cyberspace devotee Rolando, who is living in Virginia in the United States, wonders about free will. "Do we really have free will? Or if everything is Siva, perhaps it is Siva's will that is guiding us all of the time and we don't have free will at all."
Well, everything is Siva. Siva is the all pervasive energy, the light within your eyes, the energy within your body. But it is up to you as an evolving soul, to evolve. To do that, you have to make choices, between good and bad, joy and sorrow. Everyday you are making choices. You are the master of your own destiny. Remember that.
A cyberspace devotee named Bill from Brooklyn, New York wonders, "About the Vasana Daha Tantra, that mentions you write down all the bad things and burn them up and release the emotion out of the memory. But what about all the good things?"
Well Bill, to really practice these tantras and get the transformation that they promise, you need a foundation. I've just finished a little book 'How to become a Hindu.' Get it, read it, understand it, make strong commitments in your life. Then, the deeper tantras of Sanatana Dharma will come to life within you.
Also, what we are talking about here are vasanas of the inner mind or memories that are vibrating with emotion. This means something bad that you did or was done to you caused an emotion to vibrate the memory. Even many years afterwards, it is constantly vibrating within you. Likewise, something good happens, develops a happy memory and the emotion is vibrating within the memory pattern. There is no difference between the good or the bad ones.
So, write down all the good memories too. Burn them up too. Let your subconscious mind, which is the past, clear. Then, you have nothing but a bright and wholesome future.
transcription ends
Sun One Homa Fire at Kadavul temple.. . .our Vedas tell us:
"Light is Agni, Agni is light. The one who is light, he calls light . . . Agni offers
itself in sacrifice to the rising Sun and the setting Sun offers itself in sacrifice to
Agni in the evening; Night sacrifices itself to the Day and Day sacrifices itself to
the Night."
Kaushitaki Brahmana
Paramacharya Bodhinathaswami speaks to the devotees this morning about the two levels of experiencing inner light as explained in Merging with Siva: first, the moon-like glow, and second the more intense clear white light. Bodhinathaswami explained in practical terms what it is that obscures the natural experience of inner light.
A lovely photo of the area where the Iraivan Temple will be built. Presently we are waiting for Congress to pass a bill on religious workers' visa regulations and when that happens, which it is expected it will, we will bring over the silpis from Karnataka.
The banyan tree at the north end of the temple site. Our small Ganesha Deity is slowly disappearing inside the tree.
Thambynathan Nutanaya, always a bright, intelligent and very responsive, helpful young man. He has had a nice break these past two months after arriving from Malaysia but soon he will "start school" as we are gearing up for his home schooling work using the "Seascape" courses which provide an excellent education. So soon he will be "hitting the books." He is also learning a lot "on the job" here at the Aadheenam, helping out with the "real world" tasks that children in school don't normally get to experience.
Everyone sings the Arati song at the site of the Iraivan foundation:
"Om Jai Jagdisha Hare
Swami Jai Jagdisha Hare
Take away all of our problems
Take away all of our illness
Send your shanti to us now
Om Jai Jagdisha Hare "
"Joy and peace and love
Shine them brightly in our hearts
Swami shine them brightly in our hearts
Shiva when we think of you
Shiva when we think of you
Shed karuna on us all
Om Jai Jagdisha Hare "
"You're our Mother and Father
Who else can we turn to for help
Swami who else can we turn to for help
We can be with no one but you
We can be with no one but you
You're the shakti of our lives
Om Jai Jagdisha Hare
You are the over soul Shiva
You are in us one and all
Swami you are in us one and all
You are the Lord of all worlds
You are the Lord of all worlds
Swami Tri loka pate
Om Jai Jagdisha Hare
The homa fire is raised once again at the temple site.
Our Kauai "winter" means a cool breeze that keeps the sacrificial fires bright and strong.
A bright couple today visiting from Chicago, Sridhar and Saraswathy.
An eleven acre site in Bangalore, India, where 75 Indian families live and daily carve the sacred white granite edifice of Iraivan Temple which will soon begin to be assembled on the island of Kauai
Our documentary of the recent festivities at Jayanti in Bangalore, with captions from Thuraisingam, continue:
U. Adaikalam, one of the selected silpis expected to go over to Kauai. He is a well disciplined silpi who is an example to others. He was prepared to serve Gurudeva at Kauai and do his very best.
Everyone is singing the Natchintanai songs after the puja.
Chidambaram Sthapati is sharing his experiences.
The silpis are listening to my father who was giving a brief
autobiography and his experiences with Gurudeva.
The silpis are laughing at a joke shared by my father.
A closeup of some of the silpis.
Gurudeva's other monastery in the island country of Mauritius
in the Indian Ocean near South Africa
This group of youth are from Rose Hill which, as you might guess, is in central upland section of the island. They've come to visit Ganesha on their way home from the Kylasson temple's on-going kumbhabhishekam celebration. It's two groups actually. One, the Kalei Magul Bajanei Kourttam, sings bhajan at the Tiruttani Mourugan Kovil and the other, the Fellowship First Aiders, does volunteer first-aid work at public gatherings. For example, during Sivaratri time they'll be stationed at Grand Bassin for 6 days to give first-aid to any pilgrims that need medical assistance. Great karma
yogis and yoginis.
After a lovely bhajan session with Ganesha and a tour round the park they are on their way home. Come back again soon and don't forget to visit our web site often!
Mr and Mrs Kogulapalan from Bandar Sri Damansara in Kuala Lumpur. He's helping set up an internet business here in Mauritius and has come for Ganesha's blessings.
Four friends: Kemraaj Sewsagur, Shweta Ramkaun, Usha Seesa, and Prakash
Geerish from Port Louis, Triolet and Terre Rouge.
This day last year was a retreat. No page was archived.
"How to Become A Hindu"! Gurudeva's latest book release is now available Hot Off the Press! Visit the Himalayan Academy Book Store Web Site get the book and read the incredible testimonies of the early pioneers from the west who chose to make a full and complete conversion to Hinduism, legally change both their first and last names to Hindu names, change their lifestyles, sever their formal connections to previous faiths and joyously face the challenges in joining the tribe of the Sanatana Dharma
Visiting Kauai's Hindu Monastery
If you are planning to visit Kauai, please go first to our our visitor's page. Thank you.
Click here for information about Gurudeva's travels. He is presently staying on Kauai and has not immediate travel plans.
And
12 Glorious Days, 8 Enchanting Countries
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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.
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