The recent World Hindu Congress 2023, organized by the World Hindu Foundation, was first held in 2014 in Delhi, then again in Chicago in 2018. It is “a global platform for Hindus to connect, share ideas, inspire one another and impact the common good.”

At the opening plenary session, plaques of recognition were presented to Swami Purnatmananda Maharaj, acting president of Bharat Sevashram Sangh, Bharat, Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, publisher, Hinduism Today, USA and Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, founder Mata Amritanandamayi Math, Bharat.

The award for Hinduism Today was introduced by Shri Milind Shrikant Parande, Secretary General of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bharat.

He began, “The second award is to the worldwide magazine Hinduism Today. In the 1970s Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami established Kauai’s Hindu monastery, Kauai Aadheenam. It is regarded as the single most advocate of Hindu Dharma outside of Bharat. The worldwide magazine Hinduism Today was founded by him in 1979.”

Shri Parande then read the text of the felicitation:

“The Organizing Committee of the World Hindu Congress, 2023 Bangkok wishes to express profound appreciation for the remarkable contributions made by Hinduism Today since its establishment under the guidance of Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, a devoted disciple of Jnanaguru Yoga Swami from Jaffna, Sri Lanka.

“Hinduism Today’s commitment to nurturing Hindu solidarity, fostering unity and dispelling misconceptions about Hindu Dharma is truly praiseworthy. It has served as a guiding light of knowledge, inspiration and awakening for Hindus across the globe. The unwavering dedication to nurturing the ongoing spiritual Hindu renaissance and providing a valuable resource for Indian leaders and educators is immeasurable.

“Hinduism Today’s pivotal role in preserving and promoting the rich heritage of Hindu Dharma is deeply appreciated. We extend our heartfelt gratitude for your tireless efforts in upholding the essence of Hindu Dharma and sharing its wisdom with the world.”

The award was then jointly presented by Shri Parande and Dr. Mohanrao Bhagwat, Sarsanghchalak [head] of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Another report on the event is here.

For the full report including Satguru’s talk:

We took taskforcer Tarun Nathoo (in green) over to Himalayan Acres for the first time, to join us in picking hundreds of pounds of noni fruit. Suresh and Rajkumar also joined us. They got to briefly experience the picking platform to reach the higher fruits, while spending most of the time picking the younger trees from the ground.

The second group of photos shows the Ganapati Kulam updating our Guru Puja pilgrims on some of its media activities, including new artwork commissions, videos to show US sixth graders about students visiting the eastern dharmic religions' places of worship, and the Sanskrit pronunciation website we recently created.

The monks continue almost daily work on the Siva songs of Saint Tayumanavar. Once in a while we wish we could share them all with you, and we will, once the book is published. In the meantime, here are two from yesterday's editing session.

Canto 40, Song 5
Alone, standing as the astounding pure void, if You call all lives to You and merge them in one inextricable mukti of unending bliss that we call God, will it diminish this play of Your manifold creation?


Song 6
Gathering universes all while losing not a single atom, You put them all into an atom. Gathering atoms all, You made them into universes vast. So mighty are You! Do what You will!

Following the model of another free resource, Wikipedia, today we begin our 13th annual November-December appeal for support of our publications development. The success of this drive defines the scale of our digital work in the months and years ahead.

Right from the days he printed his first yoga lessons by hand in the 1950s on a Mimeograph machine at the San Francisco Temple, Gurudeva readily embraced technological changes. One afternoon in 1984, having never seen or even heard of a Macintosh, he encountered this revolutionary computer in a small Apple store in the sleepy town of Kapaa. After playing with MacPaint and MacWrite for fifteen minutes, he walked out with a Macintosh 128K under his arm. Later, he bought each monk a Mac and gradually made the shift to digital typography. Takes one back to the LaserWriter, right? When the Internet swept up on Kauai's shores in 1997, he urged the monks to publish a daily blog of monastery events, and "Today at Kauai Aadheenam" was born. TAKA, among the earliest of blogs, has been issued almost daily since that time.

Gurudeva would celebrate where we have come today. He would love the ease with which his books are available, at no cost, to everyone who owns a mobile device anywhere in the world. The Capricorn in him would love the lack of massive investment costs that are required for major books to be put on printing presses, tens of thousands of dollars for each title. Then come the inventory costs, the shipping, the returns. All of that has been largely rendered unnecessary in the age of digital publishing. In our case, we are doing both, printed editions of the magazine, for instance, and then digital editions based on the elegantly designed PDF pages. Our Hinduism Today app, available to anyone with a mobile phone, anywhere in the world, is an example of the best of the Web.

Gurudeva would love that we don't have to charge struggling Hindu students and seekers for the spiritual teachings, but can make them available for free. In the last decade, our resource-building efforts have shifted massively toward the Web, following the fast-evolving world of communications and publishing. It takes a deft team to gather and sculpt the needed tools and stories for Hinduism Today and our Web resources. Creating and sharing an articulate and graphically elegant repository of Hinduism is neither easy nor without costs.

Hindu youth are learning their spiritual ABCs online, and millions of seekers are discovering Hinduism digitally. What they encounter should be thoughtful, lucid, elegant and authentic. Not to mention relevant in fast-moving times. That's what compels our annual fundraising campaign. It's a chance for you to help us to help explain and share Hinduism globally. In order to provide information without charging for downloads, without showing advertisements on our sites, without commercializing our mission, we turn to you for help.

Yes, we could (perhaps) meet our costs by charging for the online books and magazine, but we are determined not to do that. We ourselves are seldom motivated to pay for online information. We like it when needed information is available without cost. We have come to expect it. But free to the world is not free to those of us who create it. Running our websites entails significant costs, especially when we have to reach out for expert help and skills. A good example of current use of hired developers to transfer massive amounts of database information from our current Himalayan Academy website to our new one which us under development. The goal for 2023 is the same as last year: $75,000. Our Digital Dharma Drive will end at midnight on December 31, 2023.

We hope you will join in helping us meet our goal. In the right hands, and leveraged by the unsalaried work of the monks, these funds will have a profound impact on the future of Hinduism around the world. Please make a generous donation today.

With much aloha from the far islands and warm greetings during the holiday season,

The Editors
Kauai's Hindu Monastery
Himalayan Academy Publications

Today we take you behind the scenes to glimpse the process of creating art for our books. We show Art #3 (there are 10 in this series) which is a canvas showing biographical milestones in the saint's life.

The middle part of Tayumanavar's life is summarized here in four scenes. Seated at the style of desk from those days, he works as the finance minister for King Nayak, performing well the duties of an accountant and advisor. Having been sent back to the world by Maunaguru, he marries. Shortly after the birth of his son, Tayumanavar's mother passes away, and not much later his wife makes her great departure into a world of light. After conducting their funeral rites, the sage ponders the fleeting nature of life. Drawn to the renunciate's life, he determines he is not fit to raise his young son. With difficulty, he gives his possessions and the boy's care to his brother and his brother's wife, leaving the world behind. He adopts the life of a wandering sadhu. In the center the artist shows him seated in his simple hut, practicing yogic sadhanas. After Guru diksha, he experiences Self Realization, shown here as Siva's divine body merging with the sage. It is a foundational principle in Saiva Siddhanta that the efforts of the seeker, no matter how profound or disciplined, are not sufficient for realizing the Absolute. That final step on the spiritual path to perfect unity must be a gift of grace from God Siva.

The following Before and After slider shows the artist's sketch sent for approval, and his final work, fully colorized. Move the slider back and forth to see the effect. You may notice we had the artist add the sage to the lower right scene where he is giving his son into the care of his brother's family.

Today the Rudraksha edition of our magazine arrived from Moscow. Each issue the team there translates the articles, ports the text to our InDesign layout, adds local ads and sometimes a fresh article, the prints and distributes in Russia. An amazing beacon of light in the nation's difficult times. This is the same team that has translated and printed Gurudeva's full trilogy, plus Loving Ganesha, Path to Siva and more. What dedication can do!

The dedicated team that manages the MiniMela was honored in simple ways, thanked for doing all that they do to get Gurudeva's books and techings into the hands of pilgrims to the Spiritual Park. They wanted to share so many ideas for improvements on into the future.

Last phase we looked at some of the art from Kerala being prepared for a 2024 book on Tayumanavar. Today we share a couple of the poems the swamis have been working on.

Countless the habitats lived, countless the names borne, countless the kith and kin possessed, countless the bodies by karma caused, countless the karmas daily performed, countless the thoughts entertained, countless the name and fame acquired, countless the heaven and hell experienced, countless the Gods worshiped, countless the faiths followed. And so, realizing these through the grace of jnana, to that cloud divine that pours the rains of limitless rapture and fills the eyes of devotees and heaven, as with the heavy rains from dark clouds--to our God, to the turiya1 form, to the Existence which is a vast silent treasure that scriptures praise with names numerous, to that inexplicably wise Bliss, to that Immensity, let us in meekness worship.

My mind which frisked like a lamb, I sacrificed. No more the unholy gods of karma for me. To You who is the God of peace filled with the purity of turiya, I have become a serf. With love as the consecrating waters for Your worship, with life as the outstretched oblation, with prana as the flaming incense and light--thus have I dedicated my worship, not for once, but as a constant performance. O rich ambrosia that has been distilled to clarity by the Vedas! O sweet syrup that has been distilled from pure honey, sugar and diverse delicious juices! O rapture that does not satiate! O You, lofty love that comes to commingle, slowly piercing the darkness of the intellect. You, the God of unlimited compassion, dancing rapturously in the Golden Hall defying description!

Who was it that converted my heart into a chamber of darkness and then reduced my reason to a tiny spark? Who was it that decreed all that, like the writing of fate on my head? Who was it that made me believe in the permanence of the body bag and so to indulge in eating and sleeping, without caring for attainment of jnana-bliss-trance? Was it my desire that gave me my father, mother and all the rest of worldly ties? Shall I blame myself, or others? Shall I blame the present bad actions or the past karma for all this worldly bondage? Forsooth, I know nothing of truth, O You who fills all visible space in unbroken continuity! You, the bliss that is perfectly full!

The maya into which the elements subside is the origin of all, so some say.1 The substance into which the sense organs merge is the reality, so some say.2 Where the cognitive organs, the karanas, end, is the ultimate reality, so some say.3 Where the gunas find their home is the ultimate reality, so some say.4 Nadam it is, some say.5 Bindu it is, others say.6 The self it is, yet others say.7 Formed it is, some say.8 Formless it is, if you search deeper, so some say.9 The state where jiva merges, losing identity in full, is the reality, so some say.10 Divine grace is the ultimate reality, so some say.11 The void that has neither beginning nor end is the final reality, so some say.12 And thus and thus, yet other things they say. Sorely troubled by all of these, my mind is in turmoil. Will I ever attain the bliss of transcendental samadhi? O You who fills all visible space in unbroken continuity! You, the bliss that is perfectly full!

Notes: Our poet references major schools of thought and their beliefs, namely...
1) Niriswara Sankhya Vadins, 2) Pasana Vadins, 3) Sangranda Vadins, 4) Niganta Vadins, 5) Sabda Brahma Vadins, 6) Jnananma Vadins, 7) Ekanma Vadins, 8) Sivasama Vadins, 9) Maya Vadins, 10) Bhaskara Charya Vadins, 11) Aikya Vada Saivas, 12) Sunya Vadins.

Saint Tayumanavar (1705-1742) was a mystic poet in the lineage of Tirumular, our lineage. Yogaswami loved and quoted his works, as did Ramana Maharishi, whose website showcases the songs in Tamil. His songs are regarded as among the most beautiful and profound. He wrote some 1,453 songs in all, and the monks are currently editing the English version in preparation for publishing a book next year.

We have been working for about three years on the art that will accompany the songs. Today we look at the canvas about "samarasam," one of the central keystones of the mystic's work. In the slideshow, we reveal the evolution of the art, which may make you smile.

Central to Tayumanavar's teachings is the concept of 'Samarasam,' which literally means "sameness" but also means harmony or equanimity. For Tayumanavar, Samarasam is not merely an intellectual understanding but a lived experience. It signifies the harmonious balance of the mind amidst the dualities of life pleasure and pain, gain and loss, and honor and dishonor. To achieve Samarasam, one must transcend the ego, desires, and worldly attachments. It is this equanimity that allows the individual to remain centered and undisturbed, experiencing inner peace and unity with the Divine.

He applied this idea of non-difference to other paths and faiths, and much of his short life was dedicated to bringing faiths together, eliminating all contention and intolerance. This is depicted by our artist.

While his songs are revered for their personal communion with, devotion to, and ultimate oneness with Siva, perhaps the most consoling message in all the songs of Tayumanavar is his call for unity, his insight that there is no real difference between Vedanta and Siddhanta. During his time, there were contentious debates between Hinduisms two primary philosophical schools. Tayumanavar sought to reconcile these two seemingly contradictory philosophical perspectives through his concept of samarasam. He believed that the experience of oneness with God could unify these two seemingly opposing philosophical perspectives.

Tayumanavar saw samarasam as a state of consciousness that transcended both duality and non-duality, seeing them as complementary rather than contradictory, emphasizing the common goal of spiritual union with the divine. Here the artist shows a Vedantin on the left, with Vedic scriptures, which are a major sadhana for that school. On the right is a Siddhantin, with a lingam before him to indicate his devotional sadhanas. From Sivas divine chalice, light and love are flowing equally into the heads of the two, bestowing on them life, illumination, and grace. Above the Vedantin is a tree of ripe mangos, and behind the Siddhantin is a tree heavy with limes. Thus, the artist has shown us that the philosophical fruits, both abundant, are indeed different. Importantly, the roots of both trees reach into the ground below, intertwining, indicating they share the same source, drawing their life from the same earth.

Aum Namasivaya!

For fun, we are soliciting ideas for captions for this cartoon of a hermit atop a remote hilltop cave approached by a determined seeker after Truth. CyberCadets can send your caption ideas (as many as you like) to sada@hindu.org. One will be chosen to be published in a future edition of Hinduism Today magazine. No names will be used, so it's anonymous.Get ready to flex those funny muscles and show off your wittiness!