2021 Gurudeva Mahasamadhi Celebrations – Day Two
Today the mathavasis are enjoying their second day of Gurudeva's 2021 Mahasamadhi observances. This morning's padapuja was conducted by Yogi Dayanatha and Nirvani Tejadevanatha. Today we bring you voices from India's Spiritual Leaders and some of our Hinduism Today correspondents, giving praise to Gurudeva's effect on the Hindu world. Aum.
Click here to download today's pdf.
Tirukural – Chapter 60
Chapter 60: Possession of Industriousness
Verse 596
A weaver, a musician and a sculptor are all industriously working at their craft. They give no thought to failure, and therefore failure rarely visits them.
You can access the entire text, in Tamil and English here:
Weaver's Wisdom
Verse 591
Possessing belongs only to the industrious. Do those
who lack such energy really possess their possessions?
Verse 592
Those who own a mental energy possess a thing of worth.
Material wealth is an unenduring possession that goes away.
Verse 593
Those who possess persevering industry
will never say in despair, "We have lost our wealth."
Verse 594
Good fortune of its own accord ferrets out and
finds the man of unflagging energy.
Verse 595
The length of the lotus stalk depends on the water's depth.
Even so, a man's greatness is proportionate to his mind's energy.
Verse 596
Let all thoughts be thoughts of noble progress,
for then even failing cannot be called a failure.
Verse 597
Elephants stand firm even when wounded by a barrage of arrows.
Strong-willed men are not discouraged when they meet disaster.
Verse 598
Without a zealous spirit, one will never enjoy
the proud exhilaration of the world's generosity.
Verse 599
The towering elephant, with his tapering tusks,
still shrinks in fear when a fierce tiger attacks.
Verse 600
An industrious mind is a man's real wealth.
Lacking it, he is immobile--more tree-like than human.
2021 Gurudeva Mahasamadhi Celebrations – Day One
Aum Namah Sivaya!
Jai Kailasa Parampara!
Jai Gurudeva!
Today begins our first of four consecutive days of worship in praise of Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. Every year during the Chitra Nakshatra in October/November we celebrate the day of Gurudeva's grand departure into the inner planes, honoring his life and teachings. This morning began with a puja at Gurudeva's shrine in Kadavul Temple. The monks chanted the sacred hymn of Sri Rudram after which Sannyasin Tillainathaswami and Yogi Haranandinatha performed the puja, offering flowers, incense, cut fruit and passing the sacred flame.
We thought it would be nice to bring you snippets from our 2001 Gurudeva memorial issue of Hinduism Today Magazine, so you can enjoy the outpouring of love and respect from many Hindu leaders. Click here to download today's pdf.
You can also read an online version here: www.hinduismtoday.com/magazine/april-may-june-2002/2002-04-tributes-and-testimonials/
Life the Great Experience – Part 1
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 "Life the Great Experience," a talk given in 1957.
A New Path For Pilgrims
Jai Ganesha!
This week we've started construction on a new pathway which leads into Rishi Valley. This path will be providing visiting pilgrims an enjoyable trek along the edge of the ponds, across the stream, and up to Iraivan Temple. Aum
Improving Temple Roofing
Aum Namah Sivaya
This week Iraivan Temple has been receiving improved roofing material to help it to better shed water and prevent future leaks between roof stones. Our neighbor Bobby's family profession is roofing, and he's happy to have the job of roofing Iraivan Temple. The work is proceeding quickly and they will likely finish very soon. Aum.
Tirukural – Chapter 59
Chapter 59: Espionage
Verse 589
A wise king meets separately and secretly with five different informants. He will only proceed with their information when three of them agree and give him the same report.
You can access the entire text, in Tamil and English here:
Weaver's Wisdom
Verse 581
Competent spies and the respected codes of law--
consider these two the eyes of a king.
Verse 582
Duty requires the monarch to swiftly acquire
knowledge of all happenings among all men each day.
Verse 583
Without assessing the intelligence reports of informants,
a king can never achieve victory.
Verse 584
The working staff, close kindred and known enemies--
all such people are the legitimate study of spies.
Verse 585
An able spy is one who can assume an unsuspicious disguise,
is fearless when caught and never betrays his secrets.
Verse 586
Disguised as a monk or a mendicant, the master spy
moves about investigating all, never careless, come what may.
Verse 587
A spy must ferret out hidden facts,
assuring himself that knowledge found is beyond doubt.
Verse 588
Before believing one spy's espionage,
have another spy espy the information.
Verse 589
See that informants do not know one another,
and accept their findings only when three reports agree.
Verse 590
One must not openly honor operatives.
To do so is to divulge one's deepest secrets.
The Sound of Conversational Shum
Easan and Sundari Katir bring us one of several short videos introducing conversational Shum. In this video their son Kartikkeya has added english captions. You can click the "cc" button in the lower-right, or turn them on via the gear icon so that you can understand the meaning. Moolingshum Easan and Sundari!
You can learn some of the basics about Shum here: himalayanacademy.com/readlearn/shum
Kadavul Temple Tank Walkway
Jai Ganesha!
Recently, thanks to the hard work of our hired workers Doug and Jim, the walkway around the Kadavul Temple Tank has been greatly improved! For some time now the walkway had sported the older painted concrete that lays beneath are other paths. We decided it was finally time to add quartzite as you'll find everywhere else around the temple. After a few weeks of construction the walkway is complete and our visitors can now enjoy a wonderful new temple tank experience! Aum.
From Merging With Siva – The River of Life – Part 7
Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives his weekly upadesha in Kadavul Temple at Kauai's Hindu Monastery in Hawaii. It is part seven 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 River of Life," a talk given in 1957.
From Our Gurus' Teachings
Archives are now available through 2001. Light colored days have no posts. 1998-2001 coming later.
