Blog Archives
February 17, 2001 
Gurudeva seated in the Guru Peetham. Here, after our morning puja and meditation, he will sometimes sit alone and inwardly survey the mission work and activities around the world or discuss important questions with one or other of the monks.
Yogaswami says in his beautiful songs:
"In the harmony of universal Oneness, realise that You and I--myself and Thyself--are knit in indissoluble union
with the infinite Reality"
"There is nothing wonderful nor irrelevant nor even discordant."
"In bliss of harmony, in the supreme felicity of His will lies
our Peace"
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Title: Arthur Pacheco interviews Gurudeva Part 5 |
Cybertalk: Today's cybertalk is part five of a radio interview with Gurudeva conducted by Arthur Pacheco. Arthur Pacheco conducts a weekly radio show in Honolulu, Hawaii and is also a trans-medium. In Part Five today, Arthur asks Gurudeva about guidelines for meditation. Gurudeva suggests that when one meditates he meditates on higher things rather than things of a lower nature.
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: May_04_1999
Title: Samskaras, Love and Kindness
Category: Festivals and Samskaras
Duration: 2 min, seconds
Date Given: May 04, 1999
Today at Kauai Aadheenam, May 4th. Greetings to each and everyone of you in cyberspace. It is darshan time here at Kauai Aadheenam. Our cyberspace ashram doors are open and our hearts are open to each and everyone of you.
Another question has come up regarding the sacraments within Hinduism.
As we know, there are four major denominations - Sakta, Smarta, Vaishnavite, Saivite. Each one has a little bit different sacrament for the children and the adults. But on the whole, they are fairly simple, similar and consistent. Usually done by the father in the home in brahmin families if they know all the mantras. In today's world, they are performed mainly in the temple with the priest performing the mantra or having the priest come to the home.
Traditional Hindus consider it extremely important to give the proper ceremony at the proper time in a child's life, and to make a religious impression go deep into his mind early on. Children have many impressions in their minds. For instance, if you allow them to play killer video games, you train them to be a killer. That killing is a solution to solving a problem really quickly, is impressed in their inner mind.
Parents who beat their children at an early age, teach them that hitting another is a way to solve a problem very quickly. They beat their dogs, their friends and later, they beat their children.
Religion is an institution of love and kindness. Especially Hinduism, which is built on ahimsa - not hurting anyone physically, mentally or emotionally. When we take that to heart, perform these ceremonies for the children at a very early age, right up until they are married, and raise them in kindness and understanding, then, we breed a new generation that is extremely strong and humble. Humility is a strength, not a weakness. We breed a new generation that is, in fact, a new age.
The new age only comes when war stops within the home. If a family can live one month without anyone in the family getting angry, they might eventually turn out to be a new age family.
Aum Namasivaya.
transcription ends
We had a visit from Kauai county's chief-of-police George Freitas who came with two other police officers, Lt Miles Tanabe and Lt. George Klima from Pennsylvania, their wives and a group of young people.
The young people were taken under the wing of Lt. Tanabe who, after observing young people on the streets, hanging around with nothing to do, started thinking of how the community might provide more constructive activities for the youth.
So he started CLOUDS which means
Community
Leadership
Opportunities for
Understanding
Developmental
Skills
CLOUDS is sponsored by the Kauai Police Department and the YMCA.
This is Uday and Lalita Shankar with their daughter Tara. After arriving on Kauai their daughter wasn't feeling too well, so they took her to Dr. Brownstein in Princeville who told them about the temple. So they came to visit. It was a great surprise. They are both quite religious and are originally from Bangalore. They used to live in Pennsylvania, but recently moved to Olney in the Washington, D. C. area so that they could be near the Siva Vishnu temple there. Mr. Shankar said "We were so happy to learn about this temple on Kauai, in fact my wife mentioned as we were driving from the airport that she sensed something very special about the island."
Come back for a yatra next time and spend a few days!
Here is a great shot of Gurudeva with his editing team Acharya Palaniswami on the right, Acharya Kumarswami on the left, Sadhaka Japendranatha in the left rear, and Gurudeva. in the back. They are working now on their new G4 Titanium Powerbooks and a wireless ethernet. The next book, Living with Siva is nearing completion. All four machines can view the same document at the same time.
Today we start a retrospective series from the recent mission to Singapore, Malaysia and Mauritius. We already posted some photos from Mauritius, so we will begin here with Malaysia:
Yoginathaswami meets Dr. Sothinathan who is owner of an important Malaysian firm called Uma Publications. Dr. Sothinathan has for several years been working in close collaboration with Himalayan Academy Publications to get Gurudeva's publications printed in Malaysia.
Here is the printer that Dr. Sothinathan has contracted to print Gurudeva's books. A. Selvam is in charge at the printing company which has 99 percent Hindu shareholders and print the books at very low prices as a way of "giving back" to the Hindu Dharma. They also do an outstanding job in terms of quality work as good and sometimes better than US printers. Sannyasin Yoginathaswami tours the press. His traveling companion, Sadhaka Jivananandanatha, is behind the camera.
A meeting at a temple in Ipoh. Where Sannyasin Yoginathaswami holds a "book signing" showing and explaining our publications.
Another great Malaysian soul, Arjunan Subramaniam, created an endowement for the printing and distribution of Saivite Hindu Religion books for children. These are printed by Uma Publications and freely distributed to little ones throughout the nation. Here is one given out at Ipoh.
At the end of the event, the traditional blessing from a swami: holy ashes.
Gurudeva's other monastery in the island country of Mauritius
in the Indian Ocean near South Africa
We conclude our photo report on the magical
kumbhabishekam at the town of Bon Accueil on 14
February. Here, blessing is sought from a young
cow, from all cows in the world, and from all
other gentle creatures... AUM.
Here is one of the event's colorful priests. He came to Mauritius from Nagpur, India, when he was nine years old. He asked his picture be taken next to Gurudeva. Our photographer was glad to oblige.
Later, these elegant devotees, seen here bringing offerings, chanted a spirited bhajan to Gurudeva, one which must have been created in Bon Accueil, for we had never heard it before.
Here is a Gurukkal from Sri Lanka, Dinesh Sharma Harihar Shastri, who also wanted to have his picture taken with Gurudeva... close to his heart. He introduced himself to us as a devotee of Gurudeva.
In the evening, our team of priests treated us to a rare and beautiful performance of the Wedding-of-Siva-and-Shakti ceremony, which soon became clear was a deeply philosophical "wedding" representing the merging point of the manifest and the unmanifest. The two kumbhas (pots) on the left represent and hold the mystical presence of Siva (God unmanifest) and Shakti (God manifest).
And their "wedding" represented the realization of the great Truth which our Paramaguru, Yogaswami of Jaffna, expressed when he said, "There is only one thing God cannot do... he cannot separate himself from you." This is the most joyous "wedding" of all--where He and me are discovered to be eternally inseparable. AUM
Namasivaya.
Many beautifully arranged offerings are brought to
the Eternally-weds.
After a full marriage ceremony, including
blessing of and tying of the tali (wedding
pendant) unto the Shakti kumbha, two of the
priests embody Siva and Sakti and, tied together
with a white shawl, walk the traditional seven
times around the homa fire.
When the ceremonies are all done, devotees
congregate around the Himalayan Academy book
table where Sadhaka Adinatha (left) and Gurudeva's
student, Vidyaprakash Ganesh, place a blessing
and signature of Gurudeva in each book sold,
answer questions and invite devotees to our
Spiritual Park. Devotees showed a good deal of
interest in what our table had to offer and we
sold an unexpected 20 books.
Many bright people, as these two gentlemen, showed
interest in Gurudeva's teachings. AUM Namasivaya.
Click here to view this day last year.
"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
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Click here for information about Gurudeva's travels. He is presently staying on Kauai and has not immediate travel plans.
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