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Cybertalk: On this most auspicious day of the first stone placing ceremony on Iraivan temple Gurudeva gives an inspired talk about Lord Siva's island home temple.

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Date: May_18_2001
Title: Understanding the Gods
Category: God and Lords of Dharma
Duration: 2 min., 18 seconds
Date Given: May 09, 2001

A cyberspace devotee, Arun in Colorado in the United States. He has read that God contacts the devotee. He is very fond of Siva, and is wondering though, if he worships other Gods, will they be jealous of one another?

You have chosen supreme God Siva, who pervades the Universe and is most strongly felt in a Siva temple. Just as the sun shines equally everywhere, but take a magnify glass and you can concentrate that energy and start a fire.

Contact with any of the Gods, including Siva, works both ways. You contact the God, the God contacts you. It is just like with people. One contacts another when one wants to.

You have to discriminate however, what you read because often you read puranic stories, that implicate the Gods as asuras or demons. It is the asuras and demons that become jealous and angry and do all kinds of mischievous retaliations.

Years ago, we went through our libraries, took out all the puranic stories that implicated the Gods in a wrong way and threw them in our garbage can.

We suggest you begin the Master Course - 'Dancing with Siva', 'Living with Siva' and 'Merging with Siva'. A 365-day study, year after year after year. You will get a proper perspective of Sanatana Dharma in a contemporary way.

The central tenet of Sanatana Dharma is ahimsa - non hurtfulness, physical, mentally or emotionally. That is what the Gods are trying to create among humans, who call themselves Hindus.
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The morning homa was performed with special guests in attendance. A fine young Sivachariya priest: Kandasamy Sivachariya, who is the nephew of the famed Sambamurthi Sivachariya, (President of the South India Priesthood Association,) joined us for this auspicious day. Sitting to his right is Shanmuga Sthapati, who will be our resident master artisan in residence. Working under his supervision are five trained silpis and one assistant silpi/cook, seven new residents in all... Today they have their first experience of ceremonies in our Kadavul Hindu temple.

Kandasamy Sivachariya is a wonderful, fine young priest who now serves the Hindu community in Toronto Canada. He is more than a performer of ceremonies, but as with the Sivachariyas of old he is also a teacher and counselor to his community. He said he was so happy to come to this event on Kauai and be able to enjoy the serentity of the monastery-- a break from all the problems that people bring to him at his temple. It is wonderful to see the young priesthood of Saivism coming up. Here he gives Gurudeva a gift of a gold kalasa he brought from Toronto.

After the morning ceremonies in Kadavul Hindu temple, we all paraded out to the Iraivan Temple site, which had been festively decorated for this auspicious occasion.

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Kandasamy Sivachariya came to Kauai as a devotee, to join the festivities, but of course his timing was perfect and we invited him to preside over the "Prathama Sila Sthapanam" ceremonies. (First Stone Laying) of the San Marga Iraivan temple. This homa was performed right on the foundation of the Iraivan temple in the exact location where the future yagna altar will be when the temple is finished.

Meanwhile, the Sthapati's are working at the Northeast corner of the main sanctum where the first stone will be placed. On the right, Dr. Ganapati Sthapati, our temple architect and the world's foremost expert on temple architecture and the Vastu Shastras of Hinduism. On the left his apprentice, Selvanathan who is marking the first stone with chandanam (sandalwood paste) and in the center is Sunderam Achari, who is the "line marker" on the team.

As the Sthapatis prepare for the auspicious moment, the homa ceremony continues. It was the first complete ceremony actually performed "in" the Iraivan temple. During the rites, one could feel a big change in the overall vibration. What was before just a foundation, now began to vibrate like the Palace of Siva that it will become.

Part of the ceremony requires cleansing the spirit world of negative forces before the first stone is actually set in place. An effigy of an asura (lower astral plane entity) is made of sticks and straw, and set on fire. this is dragged around the temple site and then, according to Agamic rules, must be dragged completely off the property to a place where three roads intersect. Natyam Tyaganahta here performs this rite and then took the smoking "evil spirit" off the property.

Previously, at the very northeast corner of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, at the northeast corner of the the place where the first stone would be placed, the silpis had carved out a small 4 inch square hole in the foundation. Into this tiny crypt, a the very auspicious moment which was exactly 9:30 this morning, Gurudeva placed a "Navaratna" -- a specially prepared gold piece with nine precious gems.

Here is the Navaratna, along with it were placed other gold items, coins and jewelry. According to the Vastu Shastras. the Divine energies of buildings and temples flow from the Northeast to the Southwest corner. Hence, building is commenced at the Northeast and often precious stones are placed at this spot. In 1995 during the groundbreaking ceremony many gems, gold and silver were placed at this same spot in the ground, which is now seven feet below the top of the foundation....

Then our team of silpis moved into action, with the blowing of conch shells and drumming, they deftly lay a mortar bed and moved the stone into place with bars.

Within minutes the deed was done, the first stone was laid and the building of Iraivan has begun. Gurudeva had his vision of Lord Siva walking this land in February of 1975. Now, 26 years later, that vision is becoming a reality.

Please join our family of over 6,000 donors worldwide. Six containers will be arriving from India in a few days and they contain the first six "courses" of stones for the main sanctum. In order to keep our silpis busy, we need to increase our monthly fund raising goals. So, make a pledge today! We have people donating amounts small and large, but consistency is a key, donating something every month. Don't wait! Now is the auspicious moment to be a part of this historic undertaking.

After the ceremony Gurudeva blesses Ganapati Sthapati, who designed the temple. Sthapati gave a wonderful talk afterwards to the whole group and related anecdotes about Gurudeva: "This Iraivan temple is unique in its purity and is designed in the style of the Chola temples of Tamil Nadu. The only Deity in the temple is Siva.

Years ago, Gurudeva invited me to come to the US. I had never been here before... He told me I should come and help build the Hindu temples in North America. Now, I wish to relate to you a true story. You may know about the famous Nadi Shastra readers we have in India. They have large libraries of ola leaves with prophecies. Before I met Gurudeva I went to one of these. He read my nadi reading and said: "The great King Rajaraja Chola has been reborn, he is a tall man with white hair and he will soon come to ask you to go to the west and build temples there."

"And I tell you it was only later that I met Gurudeva and realized that he was the reincarnation of Rajaraja Chola. So this temple has special significance. It is one of only three sacred temples that face South. This means the temple has the power to grant liberation, moksha."

Ganapati Sthapati also relates: "Until now all the artisans coming out of India have been masons and plaster workers. This is the first complete team of actual stone carvers to come to the west."

Please contribute generously. You are witnessing a remarkable moment in the history of the Hindu Renaissance, be a part of this great legacy which will leave a monument for Sanatana Dharma for our children centuries from today.

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