Jai Ganasha!

Hinduism Today's latest issue has gone to press and is now available online. You can also download our free Hinduism Today app and get the entire magazine in a mobile-friendly format for your device at bit.ly/HT-APP.

For easy access, here is this issue's table of contents:

In My Opinion: "What's Your Real Name?"
Reflections on the cultural, religious and social importance found within our moniker
Essential Ingredients for a Powerful Puja
Pondering the mystical elements and knowledge behind Hinduism's major form of temple worship
Global Dharma
Letters
Quotes & Quips
From the Upanishads: At Life's End
Vedic elucidations on the natural transition from human life
Surveys: Nepal Youth Speak Out
Meet a generation balancing the nation's religious and cultural heritage with the impact of modern philosophies and issues
Hindu Heroes: Sewa Tackles the Covid-19 Crisis
Teams from BAPS, HSS and Chinmaya Mission join Sewa International on the front lines to help the most vulnerable during the continuing pandemic
Editorial: Rice with Spice Is Twice as Nice
The fascinating biography and "i didn't know that" facts of the unpretentious grain that feeds half the world
Insight: Raising Children As Good Hindus
Parents Are the First Gurus in Religion, Culture and Character
Dharma: Gita Press Runs into Its Next Century
The venerable religious press has printed more than 700 million books and pamphlets, including 141 million copies of the Bhagavad Gita
Next Generation: A Forum for Budding Hindu Authors
Four stories from Hinduism Today's intern writing program bode well for the future of Hindu journalism
Sadhana: A Daily Regimen of Hindu Practices
Advice for establishing a regular routine of spiritual practice leading to a more fulfilling inner life and a more effective outer life
Spices: The Wonders of Coriander
For at least four thousand years, this versatile herb has enlivened the dishes and drinks of cuisines across the world
Digital Dharma

Jai Ganesha!

As you may know, we've recently started our first small crops growing in our new high-tunnel green houses. Without this protection, growing things like zucchini and cauliflower in Kauai can be quite a challenge. Although these plants are still small, we've just successfully harvested several batches of zucchini. This little squash is greatly enjoyed by Satguru and our monks. Our first harvest gave us 10lbs of picture-perfect zucchini which Chinnu later transformed into a delicious curry. Aum.

Here are two images from Iraivan Temple's gardens. The first is a wide shot from the slope down to Rishi Valley, showing a 2012 photo and one from yesterday. The second is on the terraced entryway leading up to the temple steps from the river. Both show the amazing transformation from raw earth to lush sacred gardens.  

Jai Gurudeva!

Yesterday evening our monastics enjoyed their monthly pada puja to Gurudeva an his shrine in Kadavul Temple. Satguru and the monks gathered around to chant Sri Rudram while Yogi Jayanatha and Nirvani Tejadevanatha performed an abhishekam to Gurudeva's granite paduka.

"If we look at the past and we look at the future as both a series of dreams, and the only thing that we are concerned with is our immediate reactions and what we carry with us now, we see that the past is there to test us and the future is there to challenge us. We cannot change the past, but we can change how we react to what has happened to us in the past, and we can change the future, anytime we want to." Gurudeva

Now and again we bravely post some of Gurudeva's most profound insights and writings. Today is such a day as we share Gurudeva's description of Nirvikalpa Samadhi and actinic energy. It is short, but dense.

We partner his words with a series of microphotography images which have their own mystery and magic to accompany the bhashya.

March 2021 Update — Kauai’s Hindu Monastery is required to follow COVID-19 related restrictions issued by the State of Hawaii and the County of Kauai that apply to all places of worship. These restrictions are independent of travel policies for Hawaii. These rules regarding places of worship require those inside Kadavul Temple to wear a mask when within six feet of those of another household and in general maintain social distancing of six feet of physical separation.

Kadavul Temple’s 9 AM Siva puja has been open to Saiva Siddhanta Church members and active Himalayan Academy students living on the island for some time. Two more categories of those that can attend have now been added. The first is island residents who are not Saiva Siddhanta Church members or active Himalayan Academy students. They are allowed to attend a maximum of once every two weeks. The second category is visitors from off island following an approval process. Observing these restriction, Kadavul temple is open, but with limited capacity (of 14 persons) and a reservation is required. Email: puja@hindu.org to make your reservation. Note that the monastery grounds are still closed.

Early this morning, the monks of Kauai Aadheenam began their day with tribute to Paramaguru Yoganathan on the occasion of his 57th annual Mahasamadhi. Yogaswami left his body on March 20, 1964, the following days would see thousands of devotees from the Jaffna community attend his funeral procession and cremation. Ratna Ma Navaratnam wrote of him:

"For about ninety-two years, Swami was like a luminous ray reflecting the radiance of the Saiva saints down the ages. The Jaffna community in whose midst he lived and moved had grown imperceptibly to accept his presence as naturally as the beneficent sunlight, so that his mahasamadhi on March 24, 1964, created an unusual stir and sorrow among all ranks of people who had basked in his lustre from generation to generation. Swami was venerated as an illumined seer of the twentieth century, one who was Gods witness on Earth, a saint in whom the sacred was secret; he was like the Triveni, a confluence where met the streams of past, present and future. He seemed to have held the whole world in the kinship of the supreme will of Siva. The Master Sivathondan blazoned the trail of service and renunciation, by his universal gospel of Sivathondu, service unto Siva. To live every split second as servitors of Siva was his clarion call to the modern man."

Following this morning's Siva Puja in Kadavul Temple, the monks attended a small puja for Yogaswami at his shrine. They then dove within in their daily group meditation, taking to heart Yogaswami's advice of summa iru—"be still."

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives part two of a series of talks which give insight and elaboration into a verity of fascinating concepts revealed in the Shum language of meditation. Here, Satguru gives special attention to the 54 mambashum—important areas of the mind detailed by Shum.