Tirukural – Chapter 95
Chapter 95: Medicine
Verse 945
Above, a householder is taking his lunch on a banana leaf. He is eating wholesome rice and curry with lots of fresh vegetables. Behind him a family elder who has followed this diet his whole life is smiling and physically fit. Below, a less controlled man is eating and drinking over abundantly. His diet is alcohol, fish and meat. Nearby, an elder in his household, who is following this diet, is suffering from many ailments.
You can access the entire text, in Tamil and English here:
Weaver’s Wisdom
Verse 941
Disease is but deficiency or excess of three life forces,
defined by writers of scientific texts as air, fire and water.
Verse 942
The body requires no medicine if you eat
only after the food you have already eaten is digested.
Verse 943
Once digestion is complete, eat with moderation;
that is the way to prolong the life of the body.
Verse 944
Assured the last meal has digested and sensing a keen appetite,
savor only foods that are fully agreeable.
Verse 945
Life remains unharmed when one eats with restraint,
refraining from foods that have proven disagreeable.
Verse 946
The pleasures of health abide in the man who eats moderately.
The pains of disease dwell with him who eats excessively.
Verse 947
The thoughtless glutton who gorges himself beyond the limits
of his digestive fires will be consumed by limitless ills.
Verse 948
Diagnose the illness, trace its cause,
seek the appropriate remedy and apply it skillfully.
Verse 949
An accomplished doctor prescribes a remedy after considering
the patient’s nature, the disease’s nature and the time of year.
Verse 950
Medicine consists of a patient, a physician, a prescription
and a nurse–each of these having four parts.
Monastery Flowers
San Marga Ganesha Arrives
Aum Gam Ganapataye Namah
With our latest shipment from India, containing the final stones for Iraivan Temple, so too arrived this wonderful little murti of Lord Ganasha. For some time we've had a small unoccupied shrine out along San Marga near the rudraksha forest. This Ganesha will eventually occupy that sacred space, greeting pilgrims as they begin their journey towards Siva's feet. Aum.
Iraivan Dhvajastambha Panels and Sivalinga Tiruvasi Installed
For quite some time there's been a blank space on the four, flat, bottom faces of the wooden dhvajastambha ("flagpole") in the Nandi Mandapam at Iraivan Temple. Blank no more! The gold-plated copper plates arrived in the recent (and final) container shipment, along with the gold-plated Tiruvasi (brass arch) Which will rise behind the Sphatika Sivalinga.
All the items were installed just days ago and are exquisite, as you'll see in this photo collection. Beautiful miniature yallis (guardian figures) mount on the four corners of the dhvajastambha panels.
In the photos the tiruvasi is still wrapped in plastic, which will be removed a bit later.
Rubble Removal
Back in the 1990s, yes last millennium, we poured a massive amount of concrete footings all around the temple perimeter. The purpose was to use this rugged footing to build super-strong supports for the forms that would hold 4 million pounds. These footings weighed 300,000 pounds. though it was buried deep in the ground, some of it had to be removed recently, and in previous TAKA posts we showed Dennis Wong collecting the large pieces and then breaking them up. The next step was to bring in large containers, four in all, and load them with the rubble. They were taken away, ground into small pieces and are being reused in other construction projects on the island.
The Human Aura – Part 4
Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives his weekly upadesha in Kadavul Temple at Kauai's Hindu Monastery in Hawaii. It is part of a series of talks elaborating on the inspired teachings of Sivaya Subramuniyaswami as found in his book Merging With Siva. Here, Satguru discusses "The Human Aura," based on a series of talks given in 1960.
Tirukural – Chapter 94
Chapter 94: Gambling
Verse 940
Under a tree two men have been gambling for hours. The winner, with his hands up, is celebrating and mocking the loser. The loser holds his head in disbelief that he has lost so much. However, he brings a bangle out of a treasure chest and offers to risk it along with his home and vehicles on the next roll of the dice.
You can access the entire text, in Tamil and English here:
Weaver's Wisdom
Verse 931
Do not take to gambling, even if you can win,
for your wins will be like the baited hooks that fish swallow.
Verse 932
To win once, a gambler loses a hundred times.
What a way to procure happiness and prosperity!
Verse 933
Incessantly calling bets on rolling dice causes
a man's rich reserves and potential revenues to run elsewhere.
Verse 934
Gambling brings on many miseries and erodes one's good name.
Nothing else ends in such wretched poverty.
Verse 935
Desiring to win everything, those who love the dice,
the gambling hall and their lucky hand lose it all.
Verse 936
Gambling is Misfortune's other name. Fools ensnared by her
will suffer an empty stomach and distressing sorrows.
Verse 937
Spending time in the gambling hall squanders
ancestral wealth and wastes personal worth.
Verse 938
Gambling will consume a man's wealth and corrupt his honesty.
It will curtail his benevolence and increase his torment.
Verse 939
Those who take to gambling's fickle gain forfeit these five:
raiments, riches, rations, renown and erudition.
Verse 940
The gambler's passion increases with the losses incurred.
Even so does the soul's craving for life grow with the griefs suffered.
Around the Aadheenam
Follow the camera lens of Arunesh as he takes us on an exploration around the Aadheenam and contemplate some words of wisdom along the way.
Brass Shinification
Brass is a beautiful thing, when you take the time to clean it. The tradition cleaning process of lime, tamarind, and vhibuti required quite a bit of effort so some of the many many murtis and other items around the monastery go a while without shinification. So this week we cleaned many of the murtis in display around the Ganapati Kulam as well as a few bells and pots from Bodhinatha's office scrubbing them so vigourously that they will be seen shining in the second world. It's amazing what you can do with a few natural ingredients and possibly the most important ingredient: the grease of the elbow. Aum
Guests on Pilgrimage!
Aum Namah Sivaya
Today our monks had the joy of hosting the Tanzi family from Boston. They're here on an extended two month pilgrimage to the island and plan to make frequent visits to the temple during that time. This is a wonderful time to visit our island. We currently have clear, warm weather and our upcoming celebration of Guru Purnima is only weeks away. Aum.
From Our Gurus' Teachings
Archives are now available through 2001. Light colored days have no posts. 1998-2001 coming later.
