In the first photo-- Athappan and Prabha Nallappan family are visiting from northern California for first time. They are part of Chettiar clan and on the board of the Murugan temple in Concord that we used to run. They presented Satguru Bodhinatha with drawings for a new traditional-style temple which they hope to have groundbreaking for later this year.

Here are just a few uncommon photographs of Gurudeva found in our archives.

It is said that the history of Russia is inextricably tied to Saivism, and many of the youth there are rediscovering these connections. The result: Gurudeva's books are being aggressively translated and published in Russia. If you know a Russian-speaking person, you can share this web resource with them. http://300knig.ru/ezoterika/svitki-iz-lemurii-sadguru-shivajya-subramuniyasvami/

We had run behind with posting Bodhinatha's Upadesha's. We are almost caught up. Satguru Speaks fans can click here to go to this audio catalog page for recent postings.

In the latest issue of Hinduism Today, our editor-in-chief reprises his insights into the Hindu greeting of Namaste, which is becoming something of a global greeting these days, seen on the stages of Lady Gaga and Madonna and in TV episodes here and there. He  explores various cultural forms of greeting, then hones in on the differences between the handshake and greeting others with hands pressed together. Some excerpts:

  "Shake hands and come out fighting." it's the referee's final counsel to two pugilists about to beat each other's brains out with clenched fists. Even outside the ring, a handshake can be a little off-putting. When one returns to the West from an extended sojourn in India or elsewhere in Asia, the hand suddenly thrust forward can seem more ominous than friendly, especially if the hand offered is that of a stranger.
This moment of intimidation has a history. According to some anthropologists, one early manifestation of the handshake in the West arose in medieval Europe. More than a few men approached others on the byways with daggers drawn for self-defense. To fend off the fear of a foe's foul foil, weapons would be sheathed, and men would offer to each other open, visibly empty hands. It was a kind of surety, a gesture of trust which said, "See, I am unarmed. So you may safely let me approach." Soon the gesture itself took on broad meaning, and less lethal men on the street adopted the handshake as the proper way to greet others...

As a test of how these two greetings differ, imagine you are magically confronted with the Divine.  God walks up to you on the street, like George Burns in the movie "O God!" What do you do? Reach out to shake His/Her hand? Probably not. Though suitable between man and man, it's an unseemly expression between man and God. We never shake hands with God. I mean, what if your palms are sweating? So, you namaste instead. The reason it feels natural to namaste before God is that it is, in its very essence, a spiritual gesture, not a worldly one. By a handshake we acknowledge our equality with others. We reveal our humanity. We convey how strong we are, how nervous, how aggressive or passive. There is a bold physicality to it. For these and other reasons, Popes never shake hands. Kings never shake hands. Even mothers don't shake hands with their own children.

Namaste is cosmically different. Kings do namaste. Satgurus namaste and mothers namaste to their own family. We all namaste before God, a holy man or holy place. The namaste gesture bespeaks our inner valuing of the sacredness of all. It betokens our intuition that all souls are divine. It reminds us in quite a graphic manner, and with insistent repetition, that we can see God everywhere and in every human being we meet. It is saying, silently, "I see the Deity in us both, and bow before It. I acknowledge the holiness of even this mundane meeting. I cannot separate that which is spiritual in us from that which is human and ordinary."

You can read the entire editorial at this URL: http://bit.ly/VoIyRs

Saiva Siddhanta Church sishyas Mohana Sundari Gunasegaran and Ashish Chitnis received initiations on December 26.

Click here for more photos and details.

We have various pilgrims here during the holiday season.

Our vegetable garden is an active operation with the Siddhidata Kulam working hard to keep our own food supply flowing every week. It require a lot of attention and careful planning as new plants must be started, seedling's raised and transplanted on schedule.

On the retreat Arumuganthaswami and Sadhaka Tejadeva visited a local nursery owned by Scott Young. Scott is a very knowledgable nursery man and has worked with Swami on Himalayan Acres many times.