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Our Beloved and Revered Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
Attained Maha Samadhi on November 12th, 2001
Click to read for Details.
Gurudeva’s Statement on Sept. 11th
In his remarkable book “Saiva Dharma Shastras” wherein Gurudeva outlined in detail the structure and organization of his satsang of devotees, he boldly declared the extent to which he took spiritual responsibility for those few committed ones under his care. While millions know of him and 100’s of thousands have read and reread his books, there were a fortunate few who “stepped up” to the portal and path of spiritual transformation that he offered. For these, his tried and true shishya, he proclaimed:
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“With all that my mathavasi ministers and grihastha missionaries and other members do, there is much that they do not do, and this too must be proclaimed. In 1995, as satguru, I am in exclusive intimate spiritual communion with each of my devotees. My helpers are not so personally involved with this mystical process, though according to their capacities they do give support and encouragement, provide follow-up and assist me in the intricate ramifications of the process of spiritual unfoldment. Still, I am the one and only one at the center of each seeker’s life, beating in each heart, aware in each thought, good, bad or indifferent. Our Guru Shastras require that the number of students and members should never be allowed to grow beyond the guru’s ability to minister to each soul personally. This injunction applies in full force to all future guru mahasannidhanams. I keep the threads of every shishya’s karma. I alone am the spiritual voice of dharma in their lives. All others participate on different levels in support of my fundamental duty, and none dares to encroach on that. This is the highest fulfillment of our ancient tradition, established in Bharat, India, by the sadhus, swamis and satgurus of yore, and it works beautifully in unspoken perfection in the highest of cultures. But to those seeking to understand our subtle tradition, it must be openly stated that the satguru is the keeper of all the intertwined threads, the repository of all intimate knowledge, the knower of the continuities of all his followers’ karmas and dharmas, the confidant of each one’s secret heart, the listener to their most painful confessions in sealed confidentiality, the giver of their mind-quieting penances, or prayashchittas, the interpreter of their transcendental, light-filled breakthroughs, visions and dreams, the guardian of the future of each shishya, each student and each member. He, and no one else.”
This photo was taken also in 1995, when the above words were spoken.
Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami met with Swami Pragyanand today for the last time, to say farewell to our joyful brother from Bharat, a true champion of Sanatana Dharma in modern times.
Cybertalk: We welcome Swami Pragyanand from New Delhi, India. Merging with Siva talks about being thrown off center. Being off center is not a negative thing. It is a spiritual opportunity if we look at it properly. Being challenged is natural and necessary for spiritual unfoldment.
Cybertalk Ends”
For more information about listening to Gurudeva’s talks online and to hear them in other formats, click here.
And click here for an Index to All Past CyberTalks.
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Bodhinatha gives Swamiji a gift, and Swami responds, “Please, you must come and stay with me in New Delhi. And I will also return here, to my second spiritual home on Kauai.”
This was Swamiji’s seventh visit to Kauai Aadheenam.
Swami said: “I keep Gurudeva’s picture in my ashram there in India. People ask me, “Who is that? I tell them he is one of my Gurus, he guides me within. We offer worship to Gurudeva there at the ashram. Please send me a new giant photo of him for me to frame and keep in our temple.”
Every year swami holds a giant Rajsu Maha Yagna in the Katangi area of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, for seven days beginning on the Sukla Paksha Ekadasi day of the month of Kartik following Deepavali. At that time he also holds a “Viklang Seva Maha Yaga” which he defines as a “Charitable Giving to the Handicapped” during which hundreds of hearing aids, wheelchairs and tricycles driven by hand (instead of the feet, for those with crippled legs) are given to those in need. Swamiji has also established a mobile hospital with a medical staff to take care of the needs of the village and rural people of the area.
Swamiji says farewell to the publications team of the Ganapati Kulam, all of whom have “grown up” with Swami and Gurudeva through the years. Swami’s big plans include helping to promote Hinduism Today in India, to get its information and vision into more and more hands. By God’s grace and with more funding, he has even bigger plans for a huge “Eighth Wonder of the World” in his home state of Madya Pradesh where he wants to establish an “Eco-Friendly Township” that will include a university, hospital, temple and 84 “guhas” where people will come, enter into silence for 7 days in an isolated retreat atmosphere with all their needs met during that time, and last, but not least, a 300-foot tall stone Lord Shiva, in standing pose holding a trishula.
Gurudeva was always very supportive of Swamis’ multiple endeavors and asked his monks to set up some web space for them. You can visit his home pages at:
http://www.hindu.org/teachers-orgs/pragyanand/
Mr. Anand Vidyanathan and his wife Utpala Anand and daughter Anushka came to the temple on their 10th wedding anniversary today. Anand works as software engineer in San Diego They are devotees of the Siva Vishnu Temple there. Utpala wrote several articles for HT about 6 years ago and promises to write
again when Anusha starts school next year. She wants to focus her writing on children’s needs and issues.
Mrs. and Mrs. Vidyanathan are close friends of Ajay Shah, a long time friend of Hinduism Today from the early days when Ajay helped found the Hindu Students Council wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in the US. Proud to have made “cross state bonds,” Anand said that his Gujarati friend Ajay had married a Tamil girl and that he is Tamil who married a Gujarati girl, Utpala. It’s really wonderful to see these high-minded, modern-thinking and solidly Hindu couples coming to the Aadheenam. Their little daughter Anushka is four-and-a-half years old (heading impatiently toward five as little ones do) and very intelligent. She wants to make sure you know her birthday is June 18th! Of course, she’s an American Hindu!
Congratulations to Anand and Utpala for the wise decision Utpala made to stop working in the world when she had her baby. She’s a full-time Mom, the most highly prestigious career in the universe from Anushka’s point of view.
Our set of “Saiva Symbols” which many of you may be familiar with has been redone by A. Manivelu of India, in preparatin for the color edition of Dancing with Siva where they all appear.
Today we offer the artist’s rendition of the famed “Mangolam” design, representing the marvelous shape of the mango that is known in the West as the “paisley” — a shape that pervades Hindu art and temple architecture, and which carries the meanings of fullness and auspiciousness, of things in their ripeness, like the mango it mimicks.
In our new carpentry shop Acharya Kumarswami has been working with the John Anderson on the renovation work in the new Lombodara Kulam offices. Here you see a beautiful “combination” saw that has a shaper, table saw, planer, joiner and mortizer all in one. This was a gift from a generous benefactor, and we have been putting it to steady use.
And the story does not end there. The wood being shaped here was sent over from California, reclaimed from buildings there that were “de-constructed” carefully (instead of bulldozed) and all the mature, hard-to-find-these-days wood preserved.
This is exquisite cedar. This old wood is dense, taken from trees early in the 20th century. It is not easy to find such quality wood now as most lumber is now harvested from much new, younger growth trees. We feel proud to be recycling nature’s precious gift. Here Sadhaka Adhinatha gives some molding a light oil stain finish.
The combination saw is allowing us to make our own molding, which is saving a lot of money. Acharya Kumarswami, when he is not crafting Gurudeva’s books and editing Hinduism Today, is masterminding the room upgrades in our monastery buildings, bringing a new and uplifting atmosphere to old spaces that had not been renovated for 30-40 years!
Here we are beginning to see the finished results of a six-month long effort to renovate an area of the monastery just adjacent to our kitchen and temple. This is where our temple priests, “domestic engineers,” “paramedics” and bird and animal care team will be working from. They also have the responsibility to do the fund-raising for Iraivan temple. The back wall has a salt water aquarium inset between this office and the adjacent “Java Cafe” or dining room for the monks.
Here you have a good look at the final results of the carpentry– a functional and truly exquisite wainscotting, hand-made by the monks.
A major upgrade for our hardworking Lombodara Kulam. They deserve it, feeding us three times a day and taking care of all the temple pujas. Watch for them to be moving into the new facility in the days ahead. And thanks to all the great help from the men who were here during Gurudeva’s passage, working so hard to complete this job that Gurudeva initiated. Certainly, Gurudeva is smiling to see this positive and much-needed change in his monks’ lives!
 The Remarkable Vision |
Iraivan Temple Progress Update |
Join this historic undertaking. Please contribute generously. Sponsor a stone today! |
Meanwhile the team in Bangalore steps back a moment, having moved one of the giant Lion Pillars into place.
Elsewhere at the carving site, very fine ornamentation is taking place. First the drawing must be made carefully through a template onto the stone.
Looking closely, you can see the craftsman has placed a thin metal template on the stone, and is using this to mark with red dye where the carvers will chip next. The templates assure that this traditional design will be consistently the same wherever it appears.
The, slowly, slowly, chipping away on the marked lines, the beautiful designs take shape.
This is one of the massive beam stones which sit atop the pillars and support the temple roof. Ultimately, this 6,500 pound stone will be 13 feet above the floor and you will look up to see it.
please give generously to the temple project. Email for information today on how you can participate.
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MORE UPLIFTING THINGS |
Innersearch 2002 in Hawaii!
Plans are in the works for a wonderful innersearch program located right here on the island of Kauai in the summer (July/August) of 2002. Be prepared for a wonderful spiritual experience in paradise with classes, meditations, seminars and wonderful ceremonies at the Siva temple of Kauai’s Hindu Monastery. Details are being worked on and we will be informing prospective participants in the new future of the exact dates. If you would like to be on the mailing list to be informed, please send your full contact information, name, address, phone and email to |
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Check our children and youth section for new items for the young and young at heart! | |
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1. SIGN OUR GUESTBOOK and receive a FREE GIFT |
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| 2. Newest Book: LIVING WITH SIVA | ||
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3. Visiting KAUAI’S HINDU MONASTERY |
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4. Contribute to THANK YOU, GURUDEVA FUND |
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From Our Gurus' Teachings
Archives are now available through 2001. Light colored days have no posts. 1998-2001 coming later.
