Blog Archives
May 24, 2001 
Today marks a new era for the Aadheenam and Iraivan temple. Our Architect, Dr. V. Ganapati Sthapati has arrived from India with his son and assistant, Selvanathan, to join us for the first stone laying of the Iraivan Temple.
Today Ganapati Sthapati also released his new book, "Building Architecture of Sthapatya Veda" at a Building Inspector's Conference held on Kauai. Sthapati presented the first copy to Gurudeva for blessings.
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Title: Worshipping the Gods |
Cybertalk: A cyberspace devotee wants to know if he should worship all the Gods equally or is there a particular God that he should worship first. Gurudeva explains that Hinduism has four major denominations, each worshipping a different God. But what ties them together is that they all worship Lord Ganesha first.
Cybertalk Ends"
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Gurudeva will be happy to hold "Prasnottara Satsang" -- "Questions and Answers" over the telephone with any Hindu religious societies, Hindu youth groups, Radio talk show hosts etc. All you need is a phone with a speaker and an enthusiastic audience. Arrangements may be made in advance by sending email to Sadhaka Mahadevan
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Click to send Gurudeva a spiritual question he will later answer for all to benefit. |
transcription begins
Date: May_02_2001
Title: Temple Prasadam; The Inner Body of the Soul
Category: Hinduism and Tradition
Duration: 2 min., 22 seconds
Date Given: April 28, 2001
A cyberspace devotee, Radharama, asks about Mahasivaratri prasadam that she received from our temple. What is it made of and can she eat it? Can she share it with others?
Well, prasadam is blessed by the Gods and contains the vibration of the entire ceremony. Yes, you can eat it. Yes, you can share it with others. Of course, non-Hindus wouldn't understand. The vibhuti is made from burnt cow dung, which represents the entire Universe will be ashes one day, when Siva has His Mahapralaya and then begin again.
By applying the vibhuti to your forehead you participate in the ceremony, just as if you were here physically.
A cyberspace devotee by the name of Girish, wonders about the soul and asks all kinds of questions from the Gita and also from the Vedas about the soul..
Girish, it is very, very simple. You are a soul and you are a soul body that has various tools. One tool is an astral body to move on the astral plane. Another tool is the mental body to move on the mental plane and another is the physical body to move in the physical world.
But essentially, you are the soul. You are the observer. You are the motivator of your mental body, of your astral body, of your physical body.
Look to the Vedas. The Vedas came from God, through the Rishis. Bhagavad Gita came from man.
transcription ends
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Today was our Sun One Homa and was attended by our honored guests, Sthapati, Selvanathan, Prof. Kumar Mehta, the engineer responsible for the "miracle" foundation of Iraivan temple, and Deva Rajan, who has been instrumental in coordinating many activities related to the contruction of the temple.
Gurudeva blesses Ganapathi Stapathi and Selvanathan.
In attendance was an American student of Ganapati Sthapati, Michael Borden, who is carrying the tradition of Vastu to the West. Michael is Sthapati's only western student and is now the most knowledgeable westerner on Sthapatya Veda. Michael has already designed a factory complex that was built in China according to the principles of Vastu, as well as residences in USA and India. Sthapatya Veda iin China is also known as Indian Feng Shui.
Gurudeva answers Cyber Cadet questions today. Everyone listens intently.
Professor Mehta offers Gurudeva a gift.
It is a stained glass image of Lord Ganesha... a fitting present to bless the beginning of the erection of the stones of Iraivan.
After the ceremonies everyone parades out to the Iraivan site. Another joyous event was the arrival a few days ago of Thambynathan Hurditya Deva (left in white with glasses). Hurditya Deva was born in Thailand. He is in the "Aspirant" stage of monastic life and just completed a long pilgrimage to India.
 The Remarkable Vision |
Iraivan Temple Progress Update |
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As you can see from the above banner we are starting a "new section" on our daily page which will feature the Iraivan temple progress. Please give generously. The fund raising goal to complete the temple is 12 Million dollars.
Here Sadhaka Tyaganatha blesses the temple foundation with the water from the early morning homa.
Professor Mehta who formulated the concrete mixture for the temple, using coal fly ash and no metal reinforcement bars and supervised the actual pouring of the cement, was heard to assure Ganapati Sthapati, regarding the strength of the foundation: "This temple on this foundation will be like a fly on the Himalayas." That's very reassuring!
Acharya Ceyonswami talks with Sthapati and Selvanathan. as we make our traditional Sun One circumambulation around the foundation.
These stones are resting here only for display and have not yet been "jointed" or fitted permanently to the foundation.
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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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