Blog Archives
These guidelines established by Gurudeva in his Nandinatha sutras are so applicable today’s photos:
“Siva’s devotees know that for eons our religion has come forward to recreate a Hindu unity. Therefore, they are dedicated to building whenever necessary, and keeping strong always, an invincible Hindu solidarity. Aum.”
“Siva’s monastics honor and support the good causes of Hindu lay ministers, priests and pandits of all lineages to create a dynamic solidarity in diversity to carry Sanatana Dharma to each succeeding generation. Aum.”
~~~~~~~~
END OF PHASE
Today is the last day of our phase
This edition of TAKA will remain posted
Over our coming three-day retreat,
Until Tritiya Tithi, Sun One, Monday, August 2nd
Which will be the start of Sadhu Paksha
Don’t Miss the Show! Join Us for the
Gala Cultural Iraivan Temple Benefit
Click for more Info…
Three more photos from Houston. Here is Bodhinatha on the last day, afternoon. With Pandit Sharma (right) his wife Asha (far left ) and Asha Chaku, their friend and long time reader of Gurudeva’s books.
Yogi Japendranatha writes:
“We had a pleasant meeting in the lobby with Pundit Rajendra Sharma, his wife and their friend Asha Chaku, all three of whom have visited Kauai Aadheenam together a number of times. They are such sweet people. They brought some snacks, and we had a nice chat. Asha asked Bodhinatha for some personal advice, Punditji’s wife told stories about her very successful Mystic Mouse classes, and Punditji and Bodhinatha discussed ways to better teach children, get children involved and make sure they get hooked in to their religion. Punditji gives lectures in colleges using Gurudeva’s books, mostly Dancing with Siva, as well as incorporating some Hinduism Today material.”
TRAVEL NEWS! Bodhinatha’s next visit is August 11 – 17: Toronto, Canada. See travel page for more information.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
Click for most recent TAKA page with an Iraivan Temple progress update. |
||||
“Like Vijay Pallod, Pundit Sharma is also very excited about increasing Hinduism Today subscriptions amongst the large Hindu population in Texas. The Mystic Mouse classes that Punditji’s wife holds sound impressive. In a six-week course, she has the children read and discuss the book and tell the story in their own words. They do vasana daha tantra together, which she says is making a huge difference for the kids. Some of them, in college now, report to her that they still do it, and they have even taught the practice to their parents.”
Bodhinatha then went to visit Vijay Pallod and saw the class room where the Hindu Student’s Council hold classes. One of Vijay’s friend’s greeting Bodhinatha by given him a tilak at the little classroom.
~~~~~~~~~~~
We don’t have photos for this part as we ran them already yesterday… but here is more story from yogi on the last day morning’s events at the BAPS temple:
“We had a great day yesterday. We had arranged to meet some of the swamis for more interviews and conversations, so they sent our driver, Vatsal Shah, to pick us up at about 9:30. Everything was calming down from the grand intensity at the Swaminarayan Mandir, being the day after the main event. There were still lots of people around, as the festival doesn’t officially end until August 2 when Swamishree leaves for a carbon copy of this festival which will be happening in Chicago, opening their new regional center and same style traditional limestone and marble temple there. Amazing they can do two of these just a week apart. No other group we know of could make that happen.
Our first meeting was with Jnanpurush Swami, our gracious monastic host who looked after us so well and made sure that we were always attended to and taken care of in all the right ways throughout our visit. We interviewed him for Hinduism Today, which went well. Topics included BAPS plans for the future in the US, youth, the upcoming BAPS centennial, the importance of Gurudeva’s instruction to them when he visited their Indian centers in 1995. This was about the fourth time one of their swamis told us the “Obey your guru…” story about Gurudeva and how important that is to them, this time, eyes wide open, adding “Three times! He said it three times!”
After that, he brought us over to Pramukh Swami’s residence, where we sat for another conversation with Dr. Swami. He asked Bodhinatha some trenchant questions, seeking his advice, as well as seeking to do some teaching in our direction. He told the “Obey your guru…” story, too, and also said “Three times!” with a big, bright smile on his face. Other topics with Dr. Swami included asking Bodhinatha for feedback on the event and just for their organization in general, western management principles that they take into account when planning events, a story about Swami Chinmayananda, asking if there is any advice Bodhinatha has so they go deeper in their sadhana (to which Bodhinatha responded with praise for their example of having temples with qualified teachers, their sadhus, resident in them), happiness and joy, what to keep in mind when speaking and teaching in the USA, external and internal approach to teaching.
Suddenly, the door opened and amidst a flurry of Gujurati with many occurrences of the word “Bapa” (one of their affectionate terms for Pramukh Swami), Dr. Swami did namaskaram and we were quickly whisked out the door, down the hall and into Pramukh Swami’s room. He has a beautiful room with a very thick carpet, beautifully carved guru chair, etc. The vibration was noticeably different in here, very, very high and sublime. The swamis presented Bodhinatha with a chair directly facing Swamishree, just a couple of feet away, and I sat on the floor next to him. Jnanpurush Swami translated as Pramukh Swami greeted us and told us how happy he was that we came to the festival. He speaks quietly and with a very even tone, but even without knowing the language one can gather that his words are very precisely chosen. Jnanpurush Swami prompted me to ask the questions I had prepared from Swamishree. We got through three out of the four before Bodhinatha indicated we should curtail the interview. It had gone on a while and he didn’t want us to tire Swamishree out. Swamishree then proceeded to ask Bodhinatha some questions about our monastery, such as how many sadhus we have, what our daily routine is, if visitors can come and stay at the monastery and if not, how do we arrange accomodations for them, etc. Jnanpurush Swami later pointed out that the fact that Swamishree was so interested in how things work at our monastery was unusual and really impressed him.
Bodhinatha then presented Swamishree with a Know Thy Self, a new Aum CD and a Dancing with Siva pocketbook, which Swamishree was very happy to receive. He asked his assistants to tell him exactly what they were, which was nice. Swamishree then gave instructions for some gifts to be presented to us, and moments later a nice orange bag full of prasadam (which we are bringing home), brochures, pictures of Swamishree and the temple, japa beads, etc. was presented to each of us. Shortly after that Jnanpurush Swami appeared with a sealed envelope of dakshina for each of us. The sadhus never touch money, so the cash had been prepared by the householder men, these worldly tasks for which there are always several men available nearby.
We said our thank-yous and good-byes, and we were on our way. Quite honestly, Bodhinatha and I both got a little spaced out in Swamishree’s very divine presence. When we left, it was as if we were floating in the clouds.
Out into the hot Texan sun we went, in an electric EZ-GO people mover, over to the Sabha Mandap (the giant main tent) to meet with Akshaymuni Swami. Akshaymuni Swami is their chief engineer and temple architect, and we had asked to speak with him to compare notes about temple building. He was joined by a grihastha man of their congregation who is clearly a knowledgeable engineer and quite involved in this temple project, possibly others of theirs as well. Our first topic was shipping, and they offered to help us ship the Iraivan stones to Hawaii, through some contacts they have. Numerous other topics were discussed, from fly-ash raft foundations to lightning rods, and we have all the details on that. They were pretty surprised that our temple building is progressing so slowly. They built this temple in Houston in about two years, from the shipping of the first raw stones from Turkey and Italy to carving sites in India, to the completion of jointing and opening of the temple here in Houston. They have 1500-2000 silpis at 16 sites throughout India carving the stones for their temples, and 68 jointing silpis here in Houston. The pledged total support, and they really want to help in any way they can. They said, “Our gurus have a common vision, and we are building these temples together. Let us help.”
Back at the Aadheenam, today was the last day of this phase and the tour day for this week… a small group of about 25 today…
Prenuptial ceremonies for the wedding of Sivaram and Devika in Penang Malaysia continued… Such a rich cultural tradition makes a wedding in American look very drab!
Applying chandana on a wooden stick which willbe installed outside Sivaram’s home invoking Lord Ganesha’s blessings and protection. This is called as Kalyana Muhurtha Kaal ceremony.
Sivaram breaks a coconut before the wooden stick to begin puja.
Next comes the Nalunggu rituals held at Sivaram’s home. This is a time when all the relatives of the bride and groom bless and honor them both.
Sivaram’s aunt applies sesame oil on his head.
Devika’s aunt doing the cleansing ceremony for her.
The Nallungu ceremonies continued on into a second day.
Sivaram’s aunt applies kumkumam on his forehead.
Everyone has been applying chandana on Sivaram. Kulapathi Sivajnani Nagappan makes sure no bear spots are left anywhere.
Devika’s mother applies chandana on her cheeks and arms.
Sivaram’s aunt applying kumkumam for Devika.
Devika, during the ceremony.
Sivaram and Devika after the nalunggu, still wearing plenty of chandana.
No Audio Today
|
Take this opportunity for an adventure. Close your eyes and click to get a message picked at random from the vast audio archives of our Satgurus’ discourses |
And click here for an Index to All Past CyberTalks. Study Gurudeva’s teachings. Visit the Master Course site! |
|
MORE UPLIFTING THINGS |
Color Trilogy Complete! We are happy to announce that the new edition of the enormously popular Dancing with Siva is now available in hard back with all new color artwork. It’s truly an amazing and beautiful work, with more art than any of the collection. This completes the fulfillment of the vision that Gurudeva had of his Master Course Trilogy being produced in full color. In addition, Bodhinatha is taking pro-active steps to bring Gurudeva’s teachings out in a new forms that can be broadly disseminated in the mass mind. With this in mind we, are also pleased to announce that the Dancing with Siva pocketbook is also available. Keep the three-pound book in your shrine room, and take the little one with you on the airplane or subway! How little? It’s just 3″ by 4.5″ — truly pocket-sized, and just over half an inch thick. Yet it is a full 375 pages, containing ALL of the 155 sutras. Available now at our online store. The complete Trilogy is being offered at a discount. |
|
|
View the fabulous full-color PDF’s of the latest edition of Island Temple Magazine, and order copies if you don’t have one. | |
|
1. SIGN OUR GUESTBOOK and receive a FREE GIFT |
||
| 2. Newest Book: DANCING WITH SIVA — Pocketbook | ||
|
3. Visiting KAUAI’S HINDU MONASTERY |
||
|
4. Contribute to THANK YOU, GURUDEVA FUND |
||
From Our Gurus' Teachings
Archives are now available through 2001. Light colored days have no posts. 1998-2001 coming later.
