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Yogaswami says:

"No evil shall ever befall those devotees
Who know their own true self,
And discern Sivam within their inner self."

--Natchintanai. 142--143.

Cybertalk: Today's cybertalk is Part 7 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 today's part 7 Arthur asks Gurudeva about how one can change impressions made in one's subconscious mind and thus get the subconscious mind to work for us rather than against us.

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

Do you have questions for Gurudeva? Send to questions@hindu.org.

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Transcription of One of Gurudeva's CyberTalks
Date: May_06_1999
Title: What Makes a Religion
Category:
Duration: 4 min., 43 seconds
Date Given: May 06, 1999

What makes a religion a religion? Sacraments, a priesthood, a ministry, training for the ministry, which means a school, a college or university, a doctrine, one major book which all look to and members of the religion, who are not members of any other religion.

This is what is rather peculiar about New Age people. Their families think they are Jewish or Christian but they think they are Buddhist or Hindu. They are attached to their families and attached to their new-found friends within the religion they think they are a member of. They are on the outside of the window looking into their family's home and into the religion they think they are a part of. Kind of, in a limbo state. They are not making progress and they spend most of their time polishing both windows. The family window, to try to keep their family happy, that they are not really in a cult, that they are really a good Jewish boy or girl or a good Christian, Protestant or Catholic. They polish the window of the Buddhist or Hindu faith or Shinto, trying to convince them of their sincerity and their humility. Their dilemma is obvious because they made no commitment. Of course, the New Age people are totally dedicated to making no commitment. They are committed to making no commitment with a great fervor.

Those people who are sincere, sever their relationships with their former religion and enter formally into their new religion through a series of sacraments, a legal change of name, a change of lifestyle. So sacraments are very, very important. Priesthood is very, very important. The ministry is very, very important.

Hinduism does not have one pope, it has many popes. Each of these Sampradayas (lineages) within Hinduism has a head. It has the same authority as the pope of Rome. Maybe a little bit more, because Hinduism is inner as well as outer expression. Figure that one out for yourself..

We don't want to make too many comments about the other religions. We do think that the other religions should bring everyone home, who are drifting off into Buddhism, Zen and Hinduism and living in this limbo-land having made no commitments, one way or the other. Perhaps, Hinduism made the individual religious. When they return home to Christianity or to Judaism, they'll be really religious people. Figure that one out for yourself.

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As yesterday, we had a lot of drop in devotees today, who seem to be taking advantage of the 3 day weekend to get away to paradise. Here is Sundaram and Lalitha Swetharanyam from Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Here we have a wonderful family from Sri Lanka. This is Mr. S. Balachandran (right) and his wife Mrs. Maheswary Balachandran (left) and their son Yogeswaran in the middle.

They originally hailed from the small island of Karainagar, off the Jaffna penninsula, Sri Lanka. Balachandran worked as a banker for India Overseas Bank. He is now retired in Columbo.

He also served for 10 years as an oduvar (temple singer) in the Muthu Mariamman temple of Kotahena, Columbo.

Maheswary taught Hindu religion classes during her earlier life and continues to sing and expound the great traditional hymns like Kanda Puranam in various temples.

Two of their daughters moved to USA and Yogeswaran ended up in Vancouver, Canada. The elder couple are on a short term Visa and will return soon to Sri Lanka. Yogeswaran promised he would bring them to Kauai Aadheenam before they went home, so here they are.

They also spent time in Vancouver and during the two months they were there, Balachandran did Sivathondu at the Durga Amman temple in Burnaby, Vancouver, BC, Canada. He and his son Yogeswaran had the honor of performing pada puja to Gurudeva when Gurudeva passed through on the way to Edmonton last year.

A religious couple to the core, Mahesvary has become an avid reader of these daily web pages and is a practiioner of Raja Yoga and very interested in meditation. She will be going home with a packet of books. Balachandran says he will serve to help spread the teachings in Sri Lanka and make more aware of the great temple we have here in the middle of the Pacific.

The Srinivasans from New Jersey.

Mr. and Mrs. Prashant Sonnekar from Indianapolis.

Our lovely press shop looking bright after renovations received a gift recently. . . a hand carved wooden image of the ubiquitous "Gekko" lizard that is everywhere in these tropical islands. The actual lizards are only about 3-6 inches long. The chirping of the lizards and the actions of the lizards are part of the ancient science of omens. For example if you speak of something and the lizard chirps on your right, it is said to be a devonic confirmation of the truth of your insights.

Continuing our saga of the mission to Asia and Mauritius:

Here Yoginathaswami joins our long time members in Union-Flacq, Mauritius. At the home of Mr. and Mrs. Pareatumbee he give holy ash to one of the neighbourhood kids who came to meet the swami.

Saranamutha and Mootoosamy Pareatumbee have been studying with Gurudeva for nearly 20 years. Saranamutha was originally from Singapore. Mootoosamy became a very successful chef and trainer at 5 star hotels and eventually started his own business. Here they are with their daughters, Padmini and Bijamati.

The famed Senpagar Vinayagar temple in Singapore has a base in the Sri Lankan community and has been very active through the years and always supportive of Gurudeva, his devotees and activities. They host Gurudeva and the swamis when we come to Singapore. Yoginathswami does a "book signing" at the temple, showing Gurudeva's books and explaining their contents to the group.

Our wonderful Singapore mission members and students. They have been fortunate through the years to reside at a major "junction" where Gurudeva and the monks always pass through. Singapore is really an upbeat city. This small but dynamic group are very active in distributing Hinduism Today, fund raising for Iraivan temple and pushing Gurudeva's mission objectives forward.

Mr. and Mrs. Dohadeva and Nagavathy Samugam got up very early to go to the Arasa Kesari Sivan Temple. Here Nagavathy receives Mantra Diksha from Gurudeva over the phone. She is the chief force behind Hinduism Today distribution in Singapore and manages a small subscription data base, receives magazines from USA every issue and the whole family has fun mailing out the magazine to Singapore subscribers and to a few shops around town that sell them. Thank you Amma!

Then Samugam and Nagavathy who have been serving, studying and practicing diligently for many years, receive their Vishesha Diksha also, Gurudeva listens over the phone while they read aloud their pledge. Samugam has been a strong mainstay for the Singapore Mission over the years, a pillar of strength and dedication. He and his wife and some others in the Singapore mission have been actively working to end corporal punishment in Singapore schools. In fact they did get one teacher dismissed who had been using corporal punishment on very young children.

A small group was in attendance for the auspicious event which started at 4:30 and went on until 7:45 am. These initiation ceremonies are detailed in the ancient Saiva Agama scriptures and the priest of the temple was delighted to have a chance to finally perform them in a complete way. Thus the ceremony went on for over three hours. The priest did a full puja, followed by a parade and finally he poured water over Dohadeva and Nagavathy, giving them an Abhishekam! They come out from the ceremony as Kulapati and Kulamata.

The priest was a wonderful soul. He explained, "We have a difficult time. Our shastras prescribe the details of the ceremonies and we are obligated to fulfull the scriptural injunctions, but on the other side people are in a rush, and they want us to cut things short. What can we do? We have to eat, so we comply.

What a joy it was to hear you wanted a Vishesha Diksha performed and that we could take all the time to do this properly. That is a rare privilege and wonderful opportunity for me to be able to fulfull the mandates of our shastras like this."

At the Pan Pacific Hotel right next ot the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Yoginathaswami talks to some of the young men. This mission was meant to be one of "Love, Light and Upliftment" and Yoginathaswami talked frankly with the young men about their families and bringing love, kindness and forgiveness to bear in their relationships, now and in the future. Left to right, Nandakumar, Kanesh, Ganeshkanth and Saravan. We have known these young men since they were little boys... soon they will be ready take on mature responsibilities for Sanatana Dharma.

Gurudeva's other monastery in the island country of Mauritius
in the Indian Ocean near South Africa

This morning the monks made the annual Sivaratri pilgrimage to Ganga Talao-the sacred lake at Grand Bassin. Here's Sadhaka Haranandinatha near several kanwars that are waiting to be carried down the mountain.

It's 7AM and the pilgrims are already heading towards home carrying their
kanwar. It's raining heavily as they walk through the pine tree forest.

Another website describes the event just perfectly. So we'll duplicate it here: "In Mauritius, several days prior to the Maha Shivaratri, Hindus perform a pilgrimage to the Grand Bassin sacred lake. They erect a Kanwar - a large wooden structure decorated with white paper and mirrors, which they carry to Grand Bassin. Devotees dress in white as a symbol of purification. The pilgrimage can last several days as devotees walk from their respective village or town to the sacred lake.

Several breaks are made along the way for a short rest and meal (bananas, water, milk or tea). Many voluntary and religious associations set up special stopovers along the road to welcome pilgrims and offer them a break and food. Local public transport authorities organise special routes to and from Grand Bassin to facilitate the access to the sacred lake. Prayers and devotional songs are held in the Grand Bassin Temple where devotees offer bilva leaves, fresh milk, pure water and other sacraments over the Siva Lingam . Other rituals are performed by the lake and some water (from the lake) collected and taken home. On Maha Shivaratri day, devotees pour the water collected from the sacred lake onto the Siva Lingam at their respective temples."

Further down the mountain the sky has cleared. Pilgrims and traffic share the narrow road through the sugar cane fields. These people seem to be headed toward Cluny or Rose Belle.

Har Har Mahadeo!

The monks have arrived at the Kaylasson Temple in Port Louis. Here we've caught up with our own kanwar carriers from La Pointe des Lascars. (see yesterday's photos). They are resting from the long walk here in the shady temple compound.

Two bright young souls from our little village posing with the kanwar. They are happy to make the pilgrimage with their elders and happy to see us. We'll be going on ahead now. They are planning to rest through the night. Tomorrow we'll welcome them back home with a simple little ceremony at the Ganesha Mandapam of the Spiritual Park.

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 no immediate travel plans.

And

2001 EUROPEAN INNERSEARCH

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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