We have known Arthur Brownstein and his wife Nutan for decades. Nutan’s father is the famed Indra Sharma who has since gone to Siva’s Feet, but had done many paintings for the Aadheenam years ago, including marvelous portraits of Gurudeva and Yogaswami.

Indra’s son, Chandra Sharma and his daughter, Veena, Nutan’s sister here behind the painting, are also artists. Chandra Sharma’s is considered one of India’s top contemporary artists.

This painting of Sadasiva was commissioned to be used for a future cover of Hinduism Today. Chandra Sharma kindly did the work for free as a contribution to the cause.

Today we present the fourth and final of the new questions in our series: Hindus traditionally cremate their dead because a fiery dissolution of the body brings swifter, more complete release of the soul than burial, which preserves the soul's psychic connection to its just-ended earthly life. After death, the departed soul hovers close to the earth plane in its astral body, emotionally attached to the physical body and its old surroundings, still able to see this material world. The funeral rites and burning of the body signify spiritual release, notifying the soul that, in fact, death has come. Some of the funeral chants address the deceased, urging the soul to relinquish attachments and continue its spiritual journey. The Gods and devas are invoked to assist the soul in its transition. The fire severs ties to earthly life and gives momentum to the soul, granting at least momentary access to refined, heavenly realms. All attention is on a singular goal, as expressed in this prayer from the Rig Veda: "Release him again, O Agni, to the fathers. The one offered to you now proceeds to his destiny. Putting on new life, let him approach the surviving, let him reunite with a [new] body, All-Knowing One!" (10. 16. 5). Elaboration: Hindus do not believe in bodily resurrection and the reuniting of each soul with its physical body, so they place no importance on preserving the corpse, which is the intent of burial in Christianity and Islam. The Hindu belief in reincarnation gives assurance that death is merely the soul's release from the current life. An ancient text puts it simply, "Even as the snake sloughs off its skin, even as the bird leaves its shell, even as in its waking state the soul forgets happenings of the dream state, thus does the soul migrate from one body to another…" (Tirumantiram 2132). Family and friends take an active part in releasing the departed soul: preparing the body, joining in the rituals, transporting the body to the cremation grounds and lighting the pyre. After cremation, the ashes are ceremoniously committed to a river (often the Ganga), lake or ocean, along with garlands and flowers. While the rites allow family a dignified farewell and an opportunity to express grief, all present know there will be other bodies, other lives. Mourning is never suppressed, but scriptures admonish against excessive lamentation and encourage joyous release. The departed soul feels the impact of emotional forces directed at him, and prolonged grieving can hold him in earthly consciousness, inhibiting full transition to the inner worlds. Hindus speak of death as the Great Departure, regarding it as life's most exalted moment. The death anniversary is called Liberation Day. Cremation is prescribed in the Vedic texts, and Hindu funeral customs are remarkably uniform throughout India. Cremation is also practiced by other Indic faiths, Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism, and is becoming popular worldwide. Many believe the body should be disposed of as swiftly and cleanly as possible and that fire is the purest way to return the physical elements to their source. It is less expensive than burial, with a smaller impact on the environment. Recent figures show cremations are chosen by 35% in the US, 72% in the UK, 99.9% in Japan, 68% in Canada and 49% in China. Infants and small children, however, are buried in Hindu tradition. Another exception pertains to enlightened souls, for whom the body is often interred in a crypt filled with salt, and a shrine or temple is constructed at the site. Sacred texts assert their remarkable disciplines have endowed the physical body with immense spiritual power, which can radiate for generations, giving blessings through this sacred samadhi, especially if that soul remains aware of the Earth plane.

Last year at the HMEC (Hindu Mandirs Executive Council) meeting in Texas, our swamis gave out the then newly printed “15 Hindu Festivals” folder and DVD. It was so well received that Bodhinatha requested we work this year to complete a new edition of our 10 Questions pamphlet, adding four more. It will be printed in a few days and shipped to Ohio for all the managers of America’s Hindu temples to have, free. Today we present question #13

It is a common question, and we need to have an answer to it. One thing people don’t realize is that the divinities of many religions have animal bodies, sometimes made up of several species, as with the Celestial Beings of Christianity (and Judiasm) that hover above the throne of God. The Seraphim have six wings and eyes all over their body.
Below is our full answer.

The various gods in Hinduismís wide-ranging
traditions possess distinct personalities
and forms based on how they
have been seen in visions and how they
are depicted in stories and legends. Hindus
feel no need to question the fact, for instance,
that Lord Ganesha has the head of an elephant.
They know He has been seen in this
way by rishis and even by ordinary devotees.
Did He choose that form to distinguish Himself
as the Lord of Obstacles? No one really
knows. The important fact is that millions of
Hindus worship and receive blessings from
the benevolent Elephant-Faced God every day.
Many Hindus seeking an explanation hold
that Ganesha is a real being who looks like an
elephant. Others believe the elephant form is
symbolic. Millions are content with the ancient
stories in the Puranas that explain how
He came to have an elephant head. Interestingly,
and perhaps because of His endearing
visage, Ganesha is the most popular of all the
Hindu Deities. Numerous other Hindu Divinities
have animal attributes, including Hanuman,
Varuna, Kamadhenu, the Nagas, the vahanas (animal mounts
of the Gods) and four of Vishnuís ten incarnations (fish, turtle, boar
and half-man-half-lion).
Elaboration: An exploration of other ancient faiths shows that
Hinduism is not alone in having Divinities with animal attributes.
The ancient Greeks worshiped the God Pan, who has the hindquarters,
legs and horns of a goat, and the Sea Gods Ichthyocentaurs,
with human heads and torsos, the front legs of a horse and the serpentine
tails of fish. In Egyptís pantheon, Anubis (God of the Underworld)
is a falcon-headed man, as is Ra (the Sun God). Thoth (Lord
of Wisdom and of the Moon) has the head of an ibis or a baboon,
and His consort, Bastet, has the form of a cat or a lioness. The Mesoamerican
peoples worshiped Quetzalcoatl,
a feathered serpent. The
Assyrians feared the powerful serpent Goddess Tiamat and revered
various winged beings. In Japanówhere Buddhism and Shintoism
are intertwinedóKitsune the fox and Tengu the bird man are powerful
shape-shifters who can transform into human or inanimate
shapes to trick humans. Many shrines there are guarded by a pair of
magical lion-dogs known as the Koma-inu or Shishi.
In a discussion with Christians, who tend to ridicule Hinduism
on this point, you can recall that winged angels are half-human and
half-bird. Four-headed beings called the Cherubims were central in
the early Christianity. In the Bibleís Book of Revelation, John writes:
ìI saw a throne standing in heaven; and the One who was sitting on
the throneÖ In the center, grouped around the throne itself, were four
animals with many eyes, in front and behind. The first animal was
like a lion, the second like a bull, the third animal had a human face,
and the fourth animal was like a flying eagle. Each of the four animals
had six wings…î (4:1-8). The description matches an account
by Jewish prophet Elijah centuries before. Importantly, these beings
are the most powerful beings in the pantheon, closest to the Creator.
Over the millennia, worship and awareness of Deities with animal
features was eclipsed in most cultures as the monotheistic religions
grew into prominence. Were these beings mere myth and
imagination, as depicted by modern scholars? Or were the peoples
of ancient times aware of a mystical reality that has been sealed off?
In most cultures, the old Gods have been put in exile. Only in Hinduism
does such worship thrive in unbroken continuity.
One might note the obvious fact that Homo sapiens, too, is an
animal specie, one among many.

We continue today with the four new questions and answers that Bodhinatha and the Hinduism Today team just completed. Tweet them. Save them for future use. But mostly, just enjoy them!

In India, where Hindus are the overwhelming majority, the rights of minority religions have always been honored. Hindus have welcomed, embraced and lived peacefully among other religions for centuries. During those same centuries, Hinduism itself evolved into hundreds of strains, and thus Hindus are fully at home with many different traditions and viewpoints within their own faith. Hence, they are naturally tolerant of other religions, respecting the fact that each has unique beliefs, practices, goals and paths of attainment, and not objecting when the doctrines of one conflict with those of another. Hindus readily accept the idea that it is not necessary, desirable or even possible for everyone to hold the same beliefs. And certainly such differences should never be cause for tension, criticism, intolerance or violence. An ancient Sanskrit verse summarizes the Hindu attitude: "As the different streams, having their sources in different places, all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee." Hindus do not proselytize, meaning they do not try to convert members of other faiths to their own. Proselytizing is based upon the belief that one's religion is the only true religion and everyone else should join it. Hindus hold the view that all faiths are beneficial. A devout Hindu is supportive of all efforts that lead to a pure and virtuous life and would consider it unthinkable to dissuade a sincere devotee from his chosen faith. They know that good citizens and stable societies are created from groups of religious people in all nations. While encouraging others to follow their chosen path with dedication, Hindus hold Sanatana Dharma to be the fullest expression of religion, and do accept sincere souls who seek entrance into Hinduism. Elaboration: When discussing other religions, Hindu leaders often quote a verse from the Rig Veda (1.164.46): "Ekam Sat, viprah bahudha vadanti," meaning "Truth is One, sages describe it variously." It conveys a core Hindu idea: that there can be multiple valid viewpoints about the Supreme. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, philosopher and former president of India, stressed this point: "The Hindu recognizes one Supreme Spirit, though different names are given to it." In expressing religious tolerance, Hindus sometimes cite the above verse to assert that all religions are the same. In reality, all religions are not the same, nor is that indicated by this verse. It simply says that all religions revere the One Truth; all believe in the One Supreme Being. Their beliefs and practices are different; their paths are distinct. Instead of saying, "All religions are the same," it is better to state that "all religions are good." Hindus share values common to all faiths: piety, love of God, respect for tradition, a stress on duty, responsibility and basic human virtues, such as nonviolence, truthfulness, compassion and charity. They know that good citizens and stable societies are created from groups of religious people in all nations. They also acknowledge and honor the many ways that religions differ. For example, meditation and yoga are commonly practiced in Eastern religions but not usually in Western faiths. The heart of a religion is its understanding of the soul's relationship to God. Hinduism and most Eastern religions believe that, at the highest level, God and soul are one, inseparable, while Western faiths maintain that Creator and creation are eternally distinct. Hindus support and participate in ecumenical gatherings with other religions, while upholding their own traditions. They confidently defend their faith, proceed contentedly with their practices and avoid the enchantment of other ways, be they ancient or modern.

We have just added four more questions to our famed “10 Questions” pamphlet. They will appear in the next issue of Hinduism Today which is just now reaching the bookstores. We are sharing these, one at a time for our CyberCadets to enjoy and perhaps use when confronted with the inevitable questions.

Question #11: Is yoga a Hindu practice? Deeply rooted in Hindu scripture and belief, yoga is, and always was, a vital part of Hindu religion and culture. Today it is embraced by tens of millions of non-Hindus seeking its renowned benefits to physical, mental and spiritual health.

In recent years a vigorous debate has arisen as to whether yoga is intrinsically a Hindu practice or a universal science. The word yoga has changed as the practice moved west. Its original meaning, “union with God,” has been replaced with the more secular definition presented by upscale yoga studios around the world that teach a regimen of asanas along with basic breathing and a little meditation. A typical studio ad focuses on the physicality, stating that “yoga increases the circulation of oxygenrich blood, nourishing and detoxifying the internal organs, musculature, cardiovascular, immune, endocrine, digestive, reproductive and nervous systems.” The United States alone has over 20 million practitioners, and there are hundreds of millions worldwide. B.K.S. Iyengar, a renowned yoga teacher, gives a more traditional definition on his website: “Yoga is one of the six systems of Indian philosophy. The word yoga originates from the Sanskrit root yuj, which means ‘union.’ On the spiritual plane, it means union of the Individual Self with the Universal Self.” Elaboration: The term yoga actually refers to a wide range of Hindu practices; so it is important to specify what kind of yoga is being discussed. In common modern usage, yoga typically refers to hatha yoga–the performance of yoga postures, or asanas, which are drawn from ancient Hindu scriptures. Hatha yoga has always been performed by Hindus as a preparation for meditation; today, especially in the West, its health benefits commonly supersede the spiritual. Hatha yoga is just one facet of a broader body of knowledge and practice known as ashtanga yoga, which consists of eight stages. (Ashta means eight; anga means limb). The famous Yoga Sutras of Sage Patanjali, who lived around 200 bce, is considered the first systematic presentation of the ancient tradition of yoga. To appreciate yoga’s spiritual and religious nature, one need only consider each of its eight limbs, or facets. The first is yama, the ethical restraints; of these, the most important is ahimsa, noninjuriousness. The second is niyama, specific religious observances, including puja in one’s home shrine and repeating mantras. The third is asana, the widely practiced hatha yoga postures. The remaining five limbs are all related to meditation: pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (sense withdrawal), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (illumination, or oneness with God). Can those of other faiths benefit from the practice of yoga–without threatening their religion’s beliefs? Certainly followers of liberal religious traditions can do so. However, clerics of conservative faith traditions have spoken against its practice for their adherents. For example, in 2008 the leading Islamic council in Malaysia issued an edict prohibiting the country’s Muslims from practicing yoga. Council chairman Abdul Shukor Husim explained: “We are of the view that yoga, which originates in Hinduism… destroys a Muslim’s faith. There are other ways to get exercise. You can go cycling, swimming, etc.” The Reverend Richard Farr, vicar of Saint Mary’s Church in Henham, England, commented in 2001: “I accept that for some people it is simply an exercise. But it is also often a gateway into other spiritualities, including Eastern mysticism.” The Vatican has issued numerous edicts about the pursuit of yoga. In 1989 it warned that practices like Zen and yoga can “degenerate into a cult of the body” that debases Christian prayer. It is sometimes argued that yoga is not Hindu per se; only the roots are Hindu. The fact that yoga is pursued by many non-Hindus is irrelevant to its validity as a Hindu practice. The roots of yoga, its scriptural origins, are Hindu. The stem of yoga, its practice, is Hindu; and the flower of yoga, mystical union with God, is Hindu. Yoga, in its full glory, is entirely Hindu. Practice at your own risk!

Yesterday and today the Ganapati Kulam held a two-day intensive kick-off meeting with three members of Happy Cog, a leading web-design firm that the monastery hired for a complete, professional redesign of this Himalayan Academy/Kauai’s Hindu Monastery website using funds raised during last year’s Digital Dharma Drive.

Happy Cog has offices in San Francisco, Philadelphia and New York (visit their website and check out their list of featured clients). With us are Kevin Sharon, Creative Director, Rawle Anders, Client Services Director, and Greg Storey, President of Happy Cog West.

Other key players not onsite with us are Founder and Executive Director of Happy Cog, Jeffrey Zeldman and the Project Manager for our project, Blythe Goodell. Blythe listened in on Skype during the proceedings here. Surprise! Blythe spent the first seven years of her life on Kauai!

Greg Storey had his own web development company, Airbag, before merging with Happy Cog and heading up the West Coast branch. He gave us marvelous ideas of powerful ways we can use our TAKA blog to extend the reach of our content delivery to more people around the world.

Greg helped design a new Happy Cog service called Sprocket, which they will provide to smaller organizations for a more affordable price than their usual waterfall site design process. He was instrumental in taking on Kauai’s Hindu Monastery as the first test case for this new web-templates-in-six-weeks workflow. So, thanks truly go to our 2010 Digital Dharma Drive donors and Happy Cog for making this possible. Beyond the crucial look-and-feel redesign and upper-level consultation on user experience that the Happy Cog team is participating in, this project will organize our vast library of publications and other digital assets and present them with a refined user experience that will allow any visitor to the site to locate and experience the content they are looking for quickly and easily, as well as discover and explore new and related content that they may not have otherwise run across before.

Kevin Sharon, the creative director, took the lead in most of our sessions in the past two days, having set up the agenda for the ten hours of meetings we had together.

Kevin started off with some interesting and effective exercises. In one 10-second intuitive reaction test, the Ganapati Kulam staff were exposed to about a dozen web sites and asked to grade them on a scale from one to ten according to how much we liked the design and presentation and thought they might relate to how our site should look and feel. In another exercise we were asked key questions, such as, “On a scale from 1 for nostalgic to 10 for modern, what feeling do you think the new site should convey?” “On a scale from 1 to 10, should it lean toward text or images?” “On a scale of 1 to 10, should the look be earthy or ethereal.”

Sketching exercises were some of the most important and interesting of all the exercises. We break into pairs and sketch out a new home page on giant two-foot post-it notes. Here Sannyasin Senthilnathaswami, who will manage the project on the monastery side, works with Rawle Anders on an idea for a page layout.

Acharya Kumaranathaswami works with Greg Storey.

Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami works with Kevin Sharon.

All exercises were timed; after ten minutes of design time, each team had two minutes to present their ideas to the whole group.

Kevin guides the discussion: “What do we all like about this particular design? What elements work?”

Sadasivanathaswami comments on his theme of wanting our viewer to come face-to-face with content (video, slideshows, books, etc.) as soon as they arrive on site.

After a break, we all switch partners and draft ideas for another page template for the site.

Senthilnathaswami and Sadhaka Satyanatha present a minimalist design during one sketching exercise. A consensus starts to build as we all find agreement on key elements. This is what the Happy Cog team is looking for to give them the solid ideas and feelings they will take into the actual design phase of the project. One of these is to have a “hero,” a large, impactful graphic element, on the high-level pages. This is a large video, photograph, piece of artwork or slideshow that spans most if not all of the top section of the web page.

This team is extremely focused as you can well imagine. After five hours of intense concentration and discussion, they joined us for a lunch and a tour of the monastery grounds and Iraivan Temple. Seeing our property gave them a very good idea of the “look and feel” of our center here in paradise.

Kevin finds the stone ball in the mouth of the lion in a pillar of Iraivan Temple.

Greg at the temple entrance

Rawle tries his hand at stone carving.

Today, day two, we spent another dynamic morning reviewing results from the day before, examining and talking about the example sites we rated in more detail, discussing what we liked and didn’t like, and engaging in another sketching exercise along with an in-depth discussion on basic site navigation, a crucial aspect of this project.

Sadasivanathaswami presents Greg Storey with a traditional shawl to honor him on his departure.

Rawle is very tall! Kumarnathaswami give him the shawl. They remarked that our way of saying farewell is far more fun and interesting than how they usually depart from a client meeting.

Sivakatirswami and Kevin

There is no way to describe how successful this series of meetings was. We have collaborated remotely a lot in the past, but what transpired in the ten hours we spent together with this team will open some amazing doors for the future of internet delivery of the Sanatana Dharma’s deepest cyberspace resource. We couldn’t see it happening another way. It takes the magic of being together and creative, dedicated experts all working in sync.

In the next six weeks, this process will continue—with Greg, Rawle and Blythe in San Francisco, Kevin in Philadelphia, the monks in Kauai—with design iterations and feedback and more, until mid-October when the final page design templates will be delivered. In the meantime, our team of monks here will also work with Andre Garzia, our web application developer in Rio de Janeiro, on the massive database that will hold and serve the vast library of content on the website, preparing it to interface with Happy Cog’s gorgeous designs. When everything is tied together, you will see a momentous change here on our website, and we are sure you’ll like what you see—and what you can do, browsing and searching and discovering dozens of books, hundreds of videos, over a thousand audio talks and more.

Stay tuned.

We have been analyzing the statistics of our website. A few surprises there! During the last month, the most dedicated student of Gurudeva’s teachings came from Szekesfehervar, Hungary. That cybercadet came back 34 times and spent hours many hours browsing, reading and studying.

Gurudeva’s teachings touch people all over the world. Hello Hungary! Szia!

Today is historic. The last day of a 39-year project to produce the biographies of our spiritual lineage, seven satgurus. Here is Yogaswami, doing a little writing of his own, his Natchintanai songs.

When one CyberCadet heard this news, she wrote a poem. Let’s call it “My Welcome to The Guru Chronicles.”

We stand and wait
as you prepare
for your stay with us
for, once you come
we won’t let you go!

Holding You in our hands
Reading the message You bear
Feeling the Love and Grace
of Masters before, now and after
Falling at Their Feet
we know what that is like
Holding us close to Their Heart
is what you will now enable
Peace will flow
and Courage and Strength

You will be the oar
on our boats
the wings on our planes
the stick that will part the waves
of this ocean of samsara

We stand and wait
to welcome you into our homes
our hearts are already Yours!

 
Aum Namah Sivaya Aum!