New Hinduism Today Issue on Balinese Hindus
The latest issue of Hinduism Today for April/May/June 2012 may be ordered online at www.minimela.com in single copies and in multiple copies at discounted prices. This issue focuses on the Hinduism of Bali where we experience the people and explore the temples of this unique Hindu outpost.
Read about the history of Hindus settled in Bali and the Lontar palm-leaf manuscripts which reflect Bali’s connection with ancient India. An expatriate Australian married to a Balinese shares her keen cultural insights, and we tease you with a sampling of the arts, music, painting and dance which permeate Bali’s spirit and unique forms.
Dare we speak about Nyepi, the day of silence, when all of Bali comes to a complete stop. And how do Hindus inside and outside of Bali understand their tradition of animal sacrifice? Find out all about this controversial practice in this issue. Discover why Bali’s cremation rites reflect a cogent understanding of the soul’s passage, and we conclude our Balinese issue with Bali’s reflective response to the 2002 terror attacks which stunned the world.
Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami discusses how our soul matures slowly over time in this issue’s Publisher’s Desk, and Dada Vaswani gives a presentation on Atma Vidya, the science of the Self.
The Insight section features the traditional wedding with a pictorial summary for Hindus in the diaspora.
And, as usual, read our regular digests on Global Dharma, Quotes & Quips and Digital Dharma. With stunning photos and in-depth articles you don’t want to miss this special issue on Bali!
Bodhinatha Honors Suresh Kumar
Some late pictures from Bodhinatha's visit to Kerala. These are from February 11 when Bodhinatha gave a talk at the Cherukolpuzha Hindu Matha Parishad's 100th Annual Convention. A special part of it was honoring our artist Suresh Kumar of Kerala for his spectacular work on the "vision paintings" capturing the visions Gurudeva had which led to the founding of Iraivan Temple. You can see his paintings below.<
Founder's Day
[Slide your mouse up and down. Click the full screen icon on the right above to see large images of this artwork.]
Today marks a special anniversary. It is the 37th year since Gurudeva had three potent visions of Lord Siva that lead to the founding of Iraivan Temple. There are many ways to start a temple. A committee can do it. A wealthy family also. A devotee honoring his tradition. But the most powerful temples begin as a spiritual vision. They are, in a real sense, not begun by man, but by God through man. That is how Iraivan Temple came to be. It all happened on February 25th, 1975.
We will let Gurudeva tell the story as we honor that moment in time, which is still being made manifest decades later.
"Early on the morning of February 15, 1975, I experienced a three-fold vision of Lord Siva. First, I saw Him walking in the meadow near the sacred Wailua River on our fifty-one acre Aadheenam land. Suddenly His face, composed of billions of tiny, hair-like quantums, was looking into mine. I remember this perfect face of all faces clearly today, and with each year the details of this vision become clearer and clearer. Then He was seated upon a great stone. Astonished, I was seated on His left side.
Upon reentering earthly consciousness, I felt certain the great stone was somewhere on our land and set about to find it. Guided from within by my satguru, I hired a bulldozer and instructed the driver to follow me as I walked to the north edge of the property that was then a nearly impenetrable tangle of buffalo grass and wild guava. I hacked my way through the jungle southward as the dozer cut a path behind me. After almost half a mile, I sat down to rest near a small tree.
Though there was no wind, suddenly the tree's leaves shimmered as if in the excitement of communication. I asked the tree, "What is your message?" In reply, my attention was directed to a spot just to the right of where I was sitting. When I pulled back the tall grass, there was a large rock, the self-created Linga on which Lord Siva had sat.
The bulldozer's trail now led exactly to the sacred stone, surrounded by five smaller boulders. San Marga, the straight or pure path to God, had been created. All this happened on February 15, 1975.
Bodhinatha On His Way Again
Bodhinatha and Senthilnathaswami are safe and sound in California after a successful journey over the Pacific on their way for an 18-day mission on the mainland.
Meanwhile a recent visitor sends us this really excellent photo of the Arumugam murthi that lives under our magical banyan tree by the Tiruneri path on the way to Kadavul temple.
"I wanted to thank you for your warm hospitality during a recent visit that my wife and I made to your monastery. We were there on either December 18th or 19th and a gentleman by the name of 'Vel' showed us around. I am attaching a photo that I took during my visit. Thank you. C. P."
Mahasivaratri
Our Mahasivaratri night was powerful and profound as it is every year. There is always a great feeling of renewal, as if we are being spiritually reborn for another year of walking on the straight path of San Marga, the Saiva Neri, every onwards and upwards to merge with God Siva. The night began with beautiful bhajans and flute led and performed by devotees from Chicago, followed by Homa and then the incredible abhishekam and puja to Lord Nataraja. Of course photos of Natarajas are not allowed, so we bring you images from the beginning of the evening ceremonies
Mahasivaratri Pilgrims
We are back after a two-day retreat with our last day of last phase being Mahasivaratri. We catch up here with photos of pilgrims.
Many visitors this Mahasivaratri morning, prior to evening ceremonies. Ganesan and Raja Bala, are lifetime Hinduism Today subscribers from Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Ganesan visited way back in 1983 and met Gurudeva at that time. At that time he was part of the group in Chicago that received a Ganesha murti gift from Gurudeva to start a temple.
It is his wife's first visit. He is on the construction committee for building a large new temple in Indianapolis. The main shrine will house a Sivalingam, which is rare in the USA.
Jagdish and Namrata Ragade with here with their two children Anusha and Shreya. They are here on pilgrimage from Portland, Oregon.
Umapathi and Geetha Cattamanchi and friends are from Chicago area. Maragatham is the sister of Pandit Ravichandran, a priest who helped train some of our monks with Sanskrit chanting.
Mrs. Maragatham is Hindu music teacher, and supplicated Bodhinatha's blessings to be as successful as possible in teaching at her local temple.
After we explained to the group that devotees are encouraged to bring pots of water and perform their own abhishekam to the svayambhu Sivalingam at the end of San Marga path, the group noticed a series of pots at the edge of the tent which had been filled naturally by rainwater They got into a devotional spirit and quickly grabbed all the pots and each performed abhishekam.
Weekly Tours Are Booked to the Max!
We are having a large flow of visitors this month. Yesterday was our weekly tour. Kulapati Deva Seyon who conducted the tour writes:
One visitor remarked: "The only thing I know about Hinduism is what I learned from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." We noticed when he left the Mini Mela he had a copy of "Dancing With Siva" and "The Guru Chronicles" under his arm. That should fill in some blank spots!
Ragade Pilgrims Visit Cows and River
Ragade family met the cows for first time
and visited Wailua river where Ganga Sadhana is performed
Ajay and Lata Krishnan Shah
Ajay and Lata Krishnan Shah visited briefly today. This is their son Rohan with three of his best friends at Stanford university.
Lata joins in on the left
Bodhinatha signed a copy of our Hindu History book for them
