Blog Archives
We are nearing the end of the Hindu year and in the season Gurudeva called the “Moksha Ritau,” the Season of Liberation. As we read the daily Master Course lessons we are ever awed by the great gift of Gurudeva’s legacy. Never for a moment did he forget the Divine destiny of the soul, nor did he ever let us forget…
Our Beloved and Revered Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
Attained Maha Samadhi on November 12th, 2001
Click to read for Details.
Click here to read
Gurudeva’s statement on September 11th
Bodhinatha with two of his Ekadanta Kulam staff. Sannyasin Saravananathaswami and Yogi Mahadeva. Saravananathaswami is working on the Hawaii Innersearch that will be conducted here on Kauai later this summer and Yogi Mahadeva is right now preparing materials for the Vision Kauai group who is working toward creating an special “Aloha Year 2004.” This was another “brain child” of Gurudeva’s: he observed the wonderful successes of the Malaysia 2000 year and other similar events held in other countries and cities and felt that Kauai could really benefit by promoting a similar grand scale annual festival like experience to attract tourists to the island which has struggled a bit economically since the hurricane in 1992.
Cybertalk: Many devoted pilgrims are coming lately. One who came was focused
entirely on the worship of Lord Murugan and doesn’t worship Siva. Apparently
some Saivites only worship Murugan. Why is that? How is Murugan worship
different from Siva worship? Saiva Siddhanta only works when the focus is on
Siva, as with Siva worship there is both theism and monism, we worship Siva
in the temple and we are Siva within ourselves. Through the progressive
padas, or margas, we get closer to Siva as we experience him first as a
servant to master in the dasa marga, son to father in the satputra marga,
friend to friend in the sakha marga and finally oneness, Self, in the jnana
marga.
Cybertalk Ends”
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And click here for an Index to All Past CyberTalks.
Study Gurudeva’s teachings
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Bodhinatha 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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This morning Bodhinatha gave his Sun Five talk… in his lively format of covering a variety of topics with concise insights, references to Gurudeva’s writings, readings from the daily Master Course and pithy anecdotes and examples from real life. He shared his message to the youth on the occasion of our first “Youth Day” program held in Malaysia, organized by some of Gurudeva’s devotees there (more news in the days ahead) and then spoke about the Moksha Ritau pointing out that the daily lessons we are looking at right now contain very specific directions on the inner work of Self Realization.
You recently saw the ceremonies in Arizona of the Ganesha temple there that began with the worship of a Lord Ganesha image sent by Gurudeva. Another temple society is starting in Southern California and Gurudeva had previously arranged to send a Ganesha there. Sannyasin Shanmuganathaswami has been putting these boxes together and preparing for the shipments after the Ganesha have remained to be blessed in Kadavul for some time.
And another is going off to a temple society in Michigan, who recently wrote:
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“Many thanks for your note. I consider it as a sign of encouragement, in our
efforts in building a temple in the Grand Rapids area.
I have spoken to the others, and we are ready to receive the Ganesha murthy.
We will keep it in our residences till the temple is built. You may send the
murthy to the address below.
Thanks again for all your efforts.
Namaskarams.
Jai Gurudeva.
Parameswaran.
Here is the “Palm Springs Ganesha” mentioned above that is going to California. The spiritual leader there writes:
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OM Shanti Sannyasin Shangamuthaswami,
JAI Shiva and all prostrations at the holy feet of the Guru. I was very
aware of Gurudev’s mahasamadhi. I have a very large Yoga satsang now and we
stayed in vigil during his passing. He visited me several times and gave a
wonderful blessing.
YES! We would be so honored to receive this murthi and our satsang has
been praying greatly for this! Dear Sannyasin, we have a beautiful new place
where we gather ever Sunday for Hindu puja and worship with Bhajans, Kirtan,
and arati…..but we need a temple here in this desert area for all those
following the Sananthan dharma. I am in hopes as I asked Gurudev, that Lord
Ganesha will clear the pathway to a permanent temple for us! Thank you so
much and we will be so honored to have this final kindness from a great
teacher that as a Swami I utterly respect and love.
Please send our murthi to:
Swami Ramananda Yoga Ashram
c/o K. Kastle, General Secretary
39-955 Estates Rd. Suite 11
Rancho Mirage, CA. 92270
I hope someday you can see our yoga center. We have so many lovely people
there studying yoga and such joyful chanting. I have Gurudev’s picture on the
wall
on our altar. We have many Indian families living here in the Coachella
Valley and this is the first time we have had a Hindu Satsang in the history
of this area of California. I told them that the Ganesh murthi is coming and
everyone is so thrilled that Lord Ganesha is coming to us.
I hope soon to come again to Hawaii to pay my respects at Mahasamadhi.
All my best wishes and OM and PREM to all of the monks.
OM NAMAH SIVAYA!
Dr. Swami Ramananda
We had an enthusiastic group of seekers with us today, that were actually two different seminar groups combined to one: ” A Women’s Way to Wealth”, and “Harnessing the Power of Creation.”
They said, “we are all here together today to learn more about the God within.”
Sunset over Waialeale is always beautiful, and then there are those brief few moments when it moves to another level of a spectacular event, a color and light show that lasts just for a few moments. So it has been around the world for ages that man has observed the rising and setting of the sun, two sacred hours of the day for prayer and reflection. In Hinduism these periods are referred to as the “sandhya” hours of the day… meaning the in-between or crossing-connection. For traditional initiated brahmins it is an obligatory duty to perform the Gayatri mantra at these times of the day.
Our various signs identify specific locations on the property, an important and useful nomenclature that Gurudeva loved to develop through the years. “Pihanakalani” is the name of this land where the monastery resides. Sung of in ancient Hawaii chants, the area of our monastery and temple was revered as hallowed ground “the place where Heaven touches the Earth.” The monastery is perched on the edge of the Wailua River valley. Below is what some think to be a lava tube from the ancient volcano the forms the pool you see here, over three hundred feet deep. This river has flowed for how many millions of years, to have etched this valley into the face of Mother Earth, at the top of which the monks created a path from the monastery to a look off over the pool, a path we call, the Pihana Kalani Trail.
Paramacharya Palaniswami likes to work outdoors on retreat days and has been instrumental through the years bringing hundreds of beautiful plants from all around the world to Kauai Aadheenam. He has developed many of these “mounds” that hold lovely displays of Hawaiian ti plants and other exotic “creatures” of the botanical realm.
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Study Gurudeva’s teachings.
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transcription begins
Date: March_14_2002
Title: Feedback on Words that Hurt
Category: Good Conduct
Duration: 3 min., 10 seconds
Date Given: February 21, 2002
Given by: Bodhinatha
We got some early feedback already from our talk last phase on, “Words that hurt – Teasing and joking.”
Every response so far says, “Well, you know, I put teasing and joking up to the four-fold test of ‘is it true, kind, helpful and necessary?’ and it did not pass.” No one has said, “Well, my teasing and joking passed the test.” No one has said that. Every response conforms to the idea that teasing and joking, gee, does not pass this test.
“But I tease and joke for a good reason. I am trying to make people laugh, trying to lighten the mood. Things always get heavy. There is not enough laughter in the world and so forth.” The motive is good, right? But the method is flawed.
Not as a final list, but just to catalyse our thinking about it, getting it into motion, what are some alternatives to teasing and joking? In other words, we are trying to make things lighter. We are trying to make people laugh because things are too serious, somber, not fun enough, not jovial enough. What can we do?
Hire a professional. Watch a movie or TV show that is a comedy. A Steve Martin comedy, Eddie Murphy comedy. There are some wonderful comedies. Nobody will get hurt, right? Nobody gets hurt watching a TV show or a movie that is a comedy.
Read a humorous book. Yes, books still exist! There are some funny books that you can share with each other, read and have a great time.
Play non-competitive sports, that can be fun and lift the mood.
Take a walk in nature, enjoying a beautiful sunrise or sunset. Beautiful time of year here, both the sunrise and sunset are quite beautiful. Worth getting out there and walking around, enjoying together. It lightens the mood.
Do a different activity you both enjoy, such as planting new plants in the garden. That is always fun, if you have somewhat of a green thumb.
Discuss a different subject you both enjoy, such as certain kinds of cooking. Talk about something different.
So, those are just some thoughts to catalyze your own thinking about, “Gee, what can I do instead of teasing and joking around? How can I lighten the mood, lessen the seriousness, make people laugh, make us all feel more filled with fun and happiness?”
There are plenty of things to do and those are just a few suggestions. I am sure you can think of a lot more on your own.
transcription ends
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MORE UPLIFTING THINGS |
Innersearch 2002 in Hawaii!
Our next Innersearch Travel-Study program will be held right here on the island of Kauai in the summer of 2002. It’s the first such program on the Garden Island since 1974! From July 17 to July 22 we will enjoy daily classes with the swamis, join in the annual Guru Purnima festival, be inspired by local culture, explore the lush tropical island in exciting and non-touristy ways, and more. Be prepared for a wonderful spiritual experience in paradise with meditations, seminars and sacred ceremonies at the Siva temple of Kauai’s Hindu Monastery. Many have applied already, and there is a limit of 50 participants, so we recommend everyone apply as soon as possible. Interested? Please request an application from pilgrim@searchbeyond.com |
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From Our Gurus' Teachings
Archives are now available through 2001. Light colored days have no posts. 1998-2001 coming later.
