Chapter 1§
Overview
सारपत्रक
S WE LOOK FROM A MOUNTAINTOP PERSPECTIVE AT THE GRAND INSTITUTION MANIFESTED THROUGH THE GRACE OF MY SATGURU, SAGE YOGASWĀMĪ, WE SEE THE FIRST HINDU CHURCH ON THE PLANET. FOUNDED WITH HIS BLESSINGS IN 1949 IN SRI LANKA, IT IS DEDICATED TO PROMOTING ŚAIVISM BY BUILDING SPIRITUAL CHARACTER THROUGH A WORLD OUTREACH MISSION FROM OUR HAWAII ĀŚRAMA AND INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS. §
1 ¶Śaiva Siddhānta Church is a progressive institution vowed to uphold its spiritual heritage, derived from the Śaivite Hindu traditions of South India and northern Sri Lanka. We urge members and other devotees to “Know thy Self” through self-inquiry, meditation, traditional temple worship, scriptural study, guru bhakti and selfless service. We strive to bring members, devout śishyas of the paramparā, into a pure, ethical life and guide them toward enlightenment and a direct consciousness of the Divine within, the necessary preparations for the Vedas’ stated ultimate goal: moksha, freedom from rebirth, whence the soul, released from worldly desires, goes on in its evolution unencumbered by a physical body, a continuing unfoldment that finally leads to the complete and irrevocable merger of the soul in God, viśvagrāsa. Jīva becomes Śiva. Therefore, all our Kailāsa Paramparā vrata and dīkshā śishyas are considered to be on the sādhana mārga, having experienced, matured and perfected the two preparatory pādas (charyā and kriyā) in their ongoing daily sādhanas. These devotees are on the path to moksha, for which the celestials revealed the subjective language Shum. Camped at 13,000 feet in the Himālayas near Tibet, at Sandakpu, in November of 1969, I entrusted to sixty-five seekers pilgrimaging with me the sādhanas, called mamsane and mambashum, delineating for all my śishyas efforts for a lifetime, efforts which lead toward the inevitable—mature, mystical, transforming happenings, discoveries and experiences within the soul. Those who draw near, sensing our fondness for sincere seekers, will find our fellowship traditional in its loving spirit, loving in its spiritual strictness and strict in its expectations of itself and its every cherished member of our international extended family.§
Founding, Incorporation And Service§
2 ¶Śaiva Siddhānta Church, founded in 1949, was incorporated under the laws of the United States of America in the State of California on December 30, 1957, and received recognition of its US Internal Revenue tax exempt status as a church on February 12, 1962. Its USA employer identification number is 94-6108645. Among America’s oldest Hindu institutions, it established its international headquarters on Kauai, Hawaii on February 5, 1970. From this Garden Island in the Pacific Ocean, northernmost of the Hawaiian chain that forms the world’s most remote land mass, the Church broadly serves the 850-million-strong Hindu faith (fully one-sixth of the human family). The Church’s ministry is dedicated to nurturing the membership and local missions in four continents and to serving, primarily through publications, the community of Hindus throughout the world.§
A Summary Of Church Attainments Years§
3 ¶Over the last nearly half-century, our Church has created a swāmī order and a theological seminary to train young men from many nations and mold them into religious leaders to later take holy orders of sannyāsa. We have nurtured an extended family membership that upholds and sets new standards of personal dedication, inner effort, home culture and public protocol in these contemporary times when the diaspora of Hindus has brought them to nearly all countries of the world. Further, in a broader way we—our monastic order and close family members and I working in one-mindedness—have played a crucial role in Hinduism’s transition from the agricultural era into the technological age and on into the age of information and the new age of space. §
An Impact Beyond Small Numbers§
4 ¶These efforts have indeed been amplified beyond our small numbers, furthered in many ways: reporting globally to a quarter-million readers through our award-winning journal, HINDUISM TODAY, and more through the Internet and its World Wide Web; translating and publishing scripture and religious literature; coordinating related graphics and art projects; collaborating and sharing resources with hundreds of individuals and institutions who share our commitment to effectively spreading Hindu Dharma; conducting children’s schools, youth retreats and gurukulams; training monastics and providing for members temple services, including sacraments such as name-giving, first-feeding, marriage and funeral rites. In these efforts, we have worked closely with an advisory council of priests, paṇḍitas, śāstrīs, swāmīs and aadheenakartars in India, Sri Lanka, the United States, Mauritius, Malaysia, Europe and South Africa and followed their wise advice and guidance. Our congregation has grown as a strict and traditional global family of monastics, close initiates, novitiates and students. It is, therefore, intentionally not large. It takes a humble place among legions of Hindu institutions substantially larger and far older, some founded more than two millennia ago. The measure of this body of devotees is not its size but its spiritual commitment and integrity.§
By austerity, goodness is obtained. From goodness, understanding is reached. From understanding, the Self is obtained, and he who obtains the Self is freed from the cycle of birth and death.§
KṚISHṆA YAJUR VEDA, MAITRU 4.3. UPR, 810§
About the Name of Our Fellowship§
5 ¶The name of our Hindu church is Śaiva Siddhānta Church, meaning “sacred congregation of Supreme God Śiva’s revealed Truth.” These two Sanskṛit words and one English word we consider to be our international trademark. No other terms should be substituted for the word church when writing or conversing in English. The word church may be translated into other languages for purposes of conversation. It may also be so translated for legal documents, such as for registration of mission groups, as deemed preferable by the parent Church. Such translations shall always use the official terms approved by the Church. In such translations, based on the pattern of well-established local churches, we choose words that most strongly convey this meaning: a one-minded, hierarchical body of devotees, following a single doctrine of belief, with strict codes of conduct, an initiated priesthood, ministry and missionaries, well-defined sacraments, shared scriptural authority and exclusivity of membership free of other alliances. We know that the term church will, in some communities, carry great respect and power, and in other communities it may be demeaned and belittled. Knowing theirs is the world’s first Hindu church on the planet, our members use the name Śaiva Siddhānta Church (or its equivalent as traditionally rendered in the world’s many languages) boldly in all instances, defending its use when needed. Finally, it must be emphasized that while we adhere strongly to the institutional structure of church, we do so to most effectively convey the pure, traditional Sanātana Dharma as expressed in the Vedas. As one of the world’s most orthodox congregations, our use of this institutional structure should never be misconstrued as carrying or even implying any Christian or Western religious content.§
Church as a Legal, Social Structure§
6 ¶While the Greek-based word church is most commonly understood as a place of worship, the full meaning encompasses the religious congregation and organization on many levels of activity. Church takes on special importance in legal and governmental discussions, where matters of church and state are frequently focused on. In more and more nations, in federal and state governments, religion is defined as church, and the separation of church and state is respected and constitutionally enforced. Such protections, grounded in the concept of church, are crucial to the rights of all religious groups. These include protection from government and from other religions which may seek to dominate faiths with less political power. §
Establishing The Church Internationally§
7 ¶When the Church is legally founded in other countries, the registered name would include the country, with the board of trustees comprised solely of the Guru Mahāsannidhānam and his select group of āchāryas who are the stewards of the international Church in the United States. A prime example is our Śaiva Siddhānta Church of Mauritius, registered in 1986 through an act of parliament, with the Hawaii-based stewards in absolute control. Only in this way can we own property and establish branch monasteries. Outside the United States. §
Ecclesiastical Headquarters In Hawaii§
8 ¶The Church’s international headquarters is Kauai’s Hindu Monastery, Kauai Aadheenam, located in the Wailua Homesteads district on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. This is a traditional, male cloistered Hindu monastery. One of Hawaii’s most tropically lush and sacred spots, the Aadheenam occupies fifty-one acres on Kauai’s eastern side, four and one-half miles from the Pacific Ocean, overlooking and bordered on its south perimeter by 1,500 feet of the Wailua River at the foot of the extinct volcano and Kauai’s tallest peak, Mount Waialeale. At the Church’s core is my ecclesiastical authority and that of my Śaiva Swāmī Saṅgam, an order of sannyāsins who serve full time at Kauai Aadheenam, our international headquarters, āśrama and theological seminary. This is the site of the Kailāsa Pīṭham, the seat of spiritual authority for this ancient guru lineage, formerly located in northern Sri Lanka. Here we protect the purity of the faith and decide matters of education, publication, innovation, theology and Church law. Here young brahmachārīs are prepared to eventually take their holy orders of sannyāsa. From here the teachings radiate out to 250,000 readers in 120 countries through HINDUISM TODAY, our World Outreach Mission, and through our local missions in over eight countries. §
The Monks Are Our Ordained Ministers§
9 ¶From Kauai Aadheenam and our other monasteries, the āchāryas, swāmīs, yogīs and sādhakas assist me in overseeing the worldwide teaching and publications of the Church and in guiding its membership. These ordained monastic ministers are entirely supported by the Church and receive no remuneration. They arise at 3:45AM for a joyous, disciplined life of worship, meditation and selfless service, abiding by the ancient traditions of Śaivite monasticism under vows of purity, humility, confidence and obedience, and, for the swāmīs, the vow of lifetime renunciation. Of these monastics—sādhakas, yogīs and swāmīs—dedicated to a life of spiritual enlightenment, more than half have lived under vows for 15 to 30 years. We look forward to a brilliant future with many more sannyāsins. §
The cosmic soul is truly the whole universe, the immortal source of all creation, all action, all meditation. Whoever discovers Him, hidden deep within, cuts through the bonds of ignorance even during his life on earth.§
ATHARVA VEDA, MUNDU 2.1.10. BO UPR, 682§
Activities Of our Maṭhavāsis§
10 ¶My maṭhavāsis serve in a number of capacities: teaching haṭha yoga, philosophy and meditation, counseling lay members through telephone contact, correspondence and personal visitations; conducting youth retreats and other seminars; giving darśana to large and small groups; publishing, translation, cyberspace communication and knowledge-resource development for other Hindu organizations worldwide. They oversee and participate in monastery care, cooking, carpentry, planting and harvesting, dairy management and groundskeeping. Maṭhavāsi āchāryas, swāmīs, yogīs and sādhakas also serve as priests in our temples. For elaborate ceremonies, however, we call upon the venerable Śivāchāryas, the preeminent lineage of Śaiva temple priests, the elders of whom have trained and sanctioned our maṭhavāsis to perform certain rites for Church members in our temples. In this capacity my monks are known as monastic priests or aadheenārchakas. In Hinduism, temple priests and maṭhavāsis comprise two separate traditions. One is married; the other is unmarried and celibate. Tradition demands that monks not identify too closely with the priestly vocation, lest they become overly involved in the concerns of the public. §
Our Monks Comprise a Sādhu Ministry§
11 ¶Instead, my maṭhavāsis identify with and immerse themselves in the concerns of the over three million sādhus and swāmīs of India, a number published in 1995 in the Washington Post in an article about the Godmen of India. This is a seemingly vast number, but is actually only an average of four renunciates for each of India’s 700,000 villages and countless cities comprising a total population of 800 million. Thus, in India, roughly three out of every 1,000 persons have taken up the full-time spiritual life. These are the holy ones, dharma’s lighthouse, the perpetuators of the faith. India’s ratio of monks to gṛihasthas, lay persons, falls in line with the proven demographics of successful ministry: of one pastor serving the spiritual needs of one hundred families, or about 300 people, in order to maintain a healthy, viable congregation. §
Householder Missionaries And Teachers§
12 ¶For the sake of those who may think of an āśrama as a commune accommodating all seekers, regardless of gender, we must reaffirm that our āśramas are strictly cloistered monasteries for celibate men. We follow the aadheenam traditions of South India. Gṛihastha members of our fellowship live in their own homes in the local community, apart from the monasteries, conclaving in local mission groups. Trained missionaries and teachers within the family membership provide counseling and classes in Śaivism for children, youth and adults and perform other missionary services, such as organizing periodic youth retreats and travel-study programs, distributing The Master Course trilogy, HINDUISM TODAY and other religious literature, and lecturing to public groups. They and my noble maṭhavāsis all follow the path of service so vigorously hailed by Āsān (spiritual master) Yogaswāmī in his many Natchintanai hymns which embody our philosophy. He said, “When both macrocosm and microcosm are seen as That, to render service is the proper thing. We are the servants of Śiva. We are the servants of Śiva. We are the servants of Śiva. We are the servants of Śiva. This is charyā; this is kriyā; this is yoga; this is jñāna. This is mantra; this is tantra. This is the panacea.”§
Every Satguru’s Traditional Duties§
13 ¶With all that my maṭhavāsi ministers and gṛihastha missionaries and other members do, there is much that they do not do, and this too must be proclaimed. In 1995, as satguru, I am in exclusive intimate spiritual communion with each of my devotees. My helpers are not so personally involved with this mystical process, though according to their capacities they do give support and encouragement, provide follow-up and assist me in the intricate ramifications of the process of spiritual unfoldment. Still, I am the one and only one at the center of each seeker’s life, beating in each heart, aware in each thought, good, bad or indifferent. Our Guru Śāstras require that the number of students and members should never be allowed to grow beyond the guru’s ability to minister to each soul personally. This injunction applies in full force to all future guru mahāsannidhānams. I keep the threads of every śishya’s karma. I alone am the spiritual voice of dharma in their lives. All others participate on different levels in support of my fundamental duty, and none dares to encroach on that. This is the highest fulfillment of our ancient tradition, established in Bhārat, India, by the sādhus, swāmīs and satgurus of yore, and it works beautifully in unspoken perfection in the highest of cultures. But to those seeking to understand our subtle tradition, it must be openly stated that the satguru is the keeper of all the intertwined threads, the repository of all intimate knowledge, the knower of the continuities of all his followers’ karmas and dharmas, the confidant of each one’s secret heart, the listener to their most painful confessions in sealed confidentiality, the giver of their mind-quieting penances, or prāyaśchittas, the interpreter of their transcendental, light-filled breakthroughs, visions and dreams, the guardian of the future of each śishya, each student and each member. He, and no one else. §
The Self cannot be attained by the weak, nor by the careless, nor through aimless disciplines. But if one who knows strives by right means, his soul enters the abode of God.§
ATHARVA VEDA, MUNDU 3.2.4. BO UPM, 81§
The Śishya’s One Step to the Guru’s Nine§
14 ¶The covenant between guru and śishya is based on the renewable, once-a-year-during-the-month-of-the-guru rededication required of each follower. It is based on the ancient precept that if the śishya takes one step toward the guru, he in turn takes nine steps toward the devotee. But if the śishya does not take that one crucial step in the prescribed way at the ceremonial July Guru Pūrṇimā rededication, the guru withdraws his prāṇic energies, knowing that all impetus must come from inside the devotee’s heart and soul. Sūtra 246 states: “My followers shall seek the satguru’s blessings, act in harmony with his will, trust in his supreme wisdom, seek refuge in his grace, and rush forward to rededicate themselves yearly during the month of the guru. Aum.” §
The Pitfalls Of the “Lenient” Approach§
15 ¶The alternate motivation, which is abhorrent to the tradition, is for the individual to draw the guru out into worldliness to satisfy the devotee’s whims and fancies, or to seek membership in the fellowship solely for the social comforts it provides. Proceeding in this way has been the downfall for many Hindu gurus and their institutions. The one-step-nine-steps, ekapāda-navapāda, sādhana must be followed, because if the guru oversteps his nine, he enters the worldliness he formally renounced, and the family community begins scheduling his appointments and running his life according to their outer needs and mundane concerns, rather than his directing their life according to inner, unearthly needs. §
Detachment: Guru Pūrṇimā Rededication§
16 ¶The guru traditionally does not opt to “save souls,” knowing that they are in a constant state of perfection. Nor does he work to “hold the flock together.” He shares his wisdom and gives sādhanas to those who are open and ready to receive. The ardent seekers need no reminder to come forward at Guru Pūrṇimā in July each year. They look forward to the inner or outer pilgrimage. Others who tarry are given six months’ grace until Satguru Jayantī in January. Those who do not come forward after this are encouraged to seek out another preceptor, a swāmī, guru, yogī or paṇḍita, who may be more lenient in his expectations.§
Beware of Perpetual Consumers§
17 ¶The maṭhavāsis, as well as our family members, are admonished not to stop or tarry on their San Mārga to help those who—while they are being trained to help themselves by performing sādhana, personal transformation through self effort—refuse to respond, are deceptive and mislead the monks, make promises they have no intention of keeping and imbibe the strength of the monks to supplement their own. The monks must further refrain from associating with those who build up their ego, personal image, by well-chosen words they barely mean and those who want their sādhanas done for them by the maṭhavāsis, leeching their vital energies. To remain with those who come for advice and do not follow that advice, who ask for sādhana but do not perform it, request penance then reject it, is to personally give up the Nātha Mārga for the āṇava mārga, the gilded path of the personal ego. To wear a tinsel tin crown is not becoming to those of the Nātha tradition. To dance the dance of egoism, serving those who take and take and then demand more, is to deny the very core of the Nātha sādhana path to themselves and others by the example they set. We court only the producers, those who perform sādhana and progress on the path toward moksha. §
A Culture For the Lion-Hearted§
18 ¶Ours is a traditional hierarchical system of government, upheld within our family and monastic communities, established when the Vedas were created. It is also a system where the elders, in a loving way, speak down to the younger and disallow them to speak up argumentatively or contentiously to them, so that there is always an atmosphere of respect and meeting of minds. But never is scolding heard or feelings hurt or arguments provoked or sincere answers left unanswered. Here love is the sum of the law, and the heartfelt feelings going out from the elders protect and support those who will one day themselves be elders. Thus we create a secure and loving society in which intelligence overrides controversy and the only rigid rule is wisdom. Thus the prāṇic magnetism of the family or monastery is maintained and ever building for sustainable success and spirituality. Ours is a system in which wives vow to honor and obey, and are not partners to their spouses. Ours is a system that requires great dedication, fulfillment of the maturing of intelligence to understand and abide by. Ours is a system for the lion-hearted, those who are philosophically astute, culturally refined and spiritually motivated. It is not for the common person who has little respect for principles, who makes a promise, then forgets or reneges within a short period. To the materialistic or unresponsive this system does not apply. Ours is a system that is exclusively and unapologetically unable to be compromised and has survived since shortly before the beginning of time and will continue for millennia after millennia until just after time ends. Satguru Āsān Yogaswāmī Mahārāja boldly proclaimed, “More precious than life itself is rectitude. Those who practice rectitude possess everything that is worthwhile.”§
As water poured into water, milk poured into milk, ghee into ghee become one without differentiation, even so the individual soul and the Supreme Self become one.§
ŚUKLA YAJUR VEDA, PAINGU 4.10. UPR, 921§
Himālayan Academy and Publications§
19 ¶The educational institution and publishing arm of our Śaiva Siddhānta Church is the Himālayan Academy which I founded in 1957. Central among its purposes is to teach The Master Course, a course on the Śaivite Hindu religion, and more specifically monistic Śaiva Siddhānta, the Advaita Īśvaravāda of Sri Lanka and South India. The Academy also conducts periodic youth retreat programs and travel/study pilgrimages to India, Hawaii and elsewhere. One of the foremost activities of the Academy is the publication of pamphlets, posters, lessons, books and bulletins, produced by the monks as they record my teachings and make them available to seekers everywhere, as well as strive to bring Śaivite scripture into modern English. Thousands of books are sold each year from Himālayan Academy Publications, and tens of thousands of its pamphlets on Hindu dharma are distributed freely around the globe by my followers as part of our World Outreach Mission. Every quarter, the publications department creates the magazine, HINDUISM TODAY, a computer generated, graphically rich, English-language journal focusing on Hindu spiritual leaders, institutions and events internationally, freely accessed on the World Wide Web and elsewhere on the Information Highway.§
International Family Congregation§
20 ¶The membership of Śaiva Siddhānta Church extends to many countries of the world including the USA, Canada, Mauritius, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Sri Lanka and several European nations. Hundreds of thousands of individuals participate in our teachings through lessons, literature, study courses and youth retreats. Several thousand actively pursue the spiritual path under our guidance. At the core of this group is the formal, tithing membership of the Church and its Academy, approximately 1,000 fully dedicated individuals, giving ten percent of their income as “God’s money” each month to advance the Church’s work. These men, women and children are family persons or single individuals living in their own private residences in the world and pursuing their chosen professions and family goals. §
A Theology Of Monistic Theism§
21 ¶Our theology is called monistic theism, Advaita Siddhānta, Advaita Īśvaravāda or Śuddha Śaiva Siddhānta. It is a unity of Siddhānta and Vedānta rooted equally in moksha—life’s ultimate objective, God Realization and liberation from rebirth—and the three other great human aims: dharma, righteous living; artha, wealth; and kāma, pleasure. All these are reflected in Śaivism’s vast religious culture, its traditions and customs, arts and sciences, protocol, sacred hymns and forms of devotion and worship. §
Nandinātha Lineage of Masters§
22 ¶Our known spiritual history dates back 2,000 years through the guru lineage of the Nandinātha Sampradāya’s Kailāsa Paramparā. But, in truth, the mission of this order started at the beginning of time. Over time it has given rise to various institutions to embody and disseminate its teachings. Its two most recent manifestations are the Śivathondan Society, founded by my satguru, Siva Yogaswami, in 1935; and the Śaiva Siddhānta Church which I founded in 1949 with his blessings when I established the Śrī Subramuniya Āśrama in Sri Lanka. The venerable sage proclaimed that the āśrama “will be a three-story building.” That was shortly after he had initiated me into the ancient order of sannyāsa. Our lineage of siddhas, spiritual adepts, is a major stream of the Nandinātha Sampradāya, ardent proponents of the ancient philosophy of monistic Śaiva Siddhānta, or Advaita Īśvaravāda. §
The Church’s Ten Broad Objectives §
23 ¶Our order’s mission is to protect, preserve and promote the Śaivite Hindu religion as embodied in the Tamil culture, traditions and scriptures of South India and Sri Lanka. Thus, the Church is unequivocally oriented to serving those of Tamil descent, especially those from Sri Lanka. Yet, its membership is open to—and we wholeheartedly serve—seekers of all ethnic backgrounds who wish to follow this most ancient and venerable religious and cultural pattern. The overall purpose of Saiva Siddhanta Church can be summarized in the following ten objectives. §
1. To protect, preserve and promote Śaivite Hinduism, especially the enlightened monistic Śaiva Siddhānta philosophy, Advaita Īśvaravāda, of the Nandinātha Sampradāya’s Kailāsa Paramparā. §
2. To live and share with others the spiritual teachings of our lineage as capsulized in Dancing with Śiva, Hinduism’s Contemporary Catechism, to share with mankind the path which leads souls through service, worship, sādhana and yoga toward God Realization. §
3. To nurture among members a rich, rewarding and spiritually fulfilling extended family life based on the traditions and culture of Śaivite Hinduism, strengthening family love, inspiring security within the home and encouraging regular religious study and daily sādhana. §
4. To foster Śaivite monasticism among those who qualify, training and caring for those who have dedicated their lives in selfless service to others and to God, Gods and guru, encouraging all monastics to follow and exemplify the strict ideals and disciplines found in their vows. §
He is Brahmā. He is Śiva. He is Indra. He is the immutable, the supreme, the self-luminous. He is Vishṇu. He is life. He is time. He is the fire, and He is the moon.§
ATHARVA VEDA, KAIVU 8. BO UPR, 928§
5. To support and strengthen Śaivism by maintaining Kauai Aadheenam, with its San Mārga Iraivan Temple and Kadavul Koyil, as a citadel of pure, orthodox Śaivism, and by developing a worldwide membership with strong family missions. §
6. To assemble and translate into modern English and other languages the sacred scriptures of Śaivism and to produce and publish as needed religious books, texts, audio and video recordings, *newspapers and literature. §
7. To raise the general awareness and commitment of all Hindus toward their religion, educating them in the depth and beauty of the planet’s oldest faith, through the World Outreach Mission by distributing HINDUISM TODAY and other religious literature, promoting the sharing of knowledge and resources among Hindus of all sects. §
8. To generate international interest and support, through the Hindu Heritage Endowment, for Hinduism’s diverse institutions, such as temples, societies, schools and the Church’s own missions, so that these institutions and the religion they protect will continue to flourish. §
9. To develop services and leadership among local communities by fostering family ministry, Śaivite monasticism and the Śaivite priesthoods. §
10. To foster international alliances with organizations of all sects of Hinduism based on the doctrine of Hindu solidarity, with the objective of providing a firm foundation for the Sanātana Dharma to persist in the future with the same potency which has made it the world’s spiritual leader and guide for thousands of years. §
Local Family Societies or Missions§
24 ¶Family members gather in homes in sacred fellowship to participate in the fulfillment of the ten Church objectives. Each of these family groups is known as a Church mission. They foster satsaṅga, prayer and hymn singing, reading of scripture, selfless service and the distribution of religious literature. Within these missions, families work together to generate activities for youth, men, women and children year after year. They seek in every way to make their spiritual life a vital force in the community at large by setting new standards in traditional dress, music, philosophy and protocol. Inwardly they seek to propel each and every one onward along the path toward God as they perform sādhana, dance with Śiva, live with Śiva and merge with Śiva. The focus of their seva is the fulfillment of the goals established by the Guru Mahāsannidhānam of Kauai Aadheenam.§
Satellite Monasteries: Dharmaśālas§
25 ¶Dharmaśālas are branch monasteries of Kauai Aadheenam. The land and buildings of all dharmaśālas are owned, leased or rented solely by the parent Church. Wherever this is not possible, a dharmaśāla cannot be established. Each monastery branch is patterned after Kauai Aadheenam, maintaining the same schedule and following the same protocols. All activities at monastery branches are coordinated by Kauai Aadheenam through close, frequent communication with the dharmaśāla’s senior group of elders. Local family missions are guided not by our branch monasteries, but by Kauai Aadheenam directly. Our monastic centers extend out from Kauai Aadheenam as one spiritual network. Within each monastery, our monks perform sādhana and pūjā and promote Śaiva Siddhānta through seminars for members and students. The primary forums for teaching are periodic youth retreats organized with the assistance of nearby fellowship missions. Family members gather regularly at specified areas of branch monasteries for worship, satsaṅga and karma yoga. When a dharmaśāla ceases to fulfill its function, it becomes the duty of the Church stewards to consider selling the property and reassigning the monks to other centers. §
Monastery/Family Relationship§
26 ¶Our Śaivite Śāstras, verse 44, foretold a unique synergism between the monasteries and the family missions: “There was a great feeling of ‘There is nothing happening here.’ The śakti was strong and fulfilled its purpose. The dalingm [family members] began to send their sons to the monastery well-trained, as well as assume their position in training young men of other families. Their daughters were kept virgins until marriage, as were their sons, and a new Śaivite culture began to bloom surrounding each monastery as the śakti more and more fulfilled its purpose of stabilizing the intensity of Śaivism in the minds of the dalingm and surrounding community. Even other religions, such as Buddhism, began to flourish in the śakti radiations from the Śaivite monasteries.”§
The Many Languages of Our Church§
27 ¶Our members, students and close associates are drawn together by their mutual love of Lord Śiva, their shared beliefs and their desire to serve the mission of the paramparā. This grand society has grown into a multi-lingual, international congregation. Tamil, Malay, Hindi, Gujarāti, Kannāda, Marāthi, Malayalam, Telugu, Bengāli, Oriya, French, Mauritian Creole, German, Dutch, Danish, Russian, Japanese and Chinese are but a few of the tongues spoken or into which translations of our teachings are gradually being made. Sanskṛit, the universal religious language of Hinduism, is used for our sacred liturgy, in pūjā for both the temple and the home and for a multitude of sacred mantras to bless every important occasion. Sanskṛit also provides many important terms both in our Church structure and our philosophical teachings, as it is the original language of our Vedas and Āgamas. These terms are easily absorbed into other languages—such as Hindi, Tamil, Kannāda, Malay, German and French. Śiva’s language, Shum, is used in daily guided meditations and as a supplementary tool for communication within our monasteries to aid in maintaining a contemplative mind flow. As stated in sūtra 83: “All my followers should embrace Sanskṛit as their language of ritual worship, Shum as their language of meditation, and Tyaf as their script for offering prayers to the Gods and devas through the sacred fire. Aum.”§
By knowing Śiva, the Auspicious One who is hidden in all things, exceedingly fine, like film arising from clarified butter, the One embracer of the universe—by realizing God, one is released from all fetters.§
KṚISHṆA YAJUR VEDA, SVETU 4.16. BO UPR, 736§
The Central Importance Of Temples§
28 ¶The Śaiva temple is the center of Śaiva life, possessing a ray of spiritual energy connecting it to the celestial worlds. Our members have always been encouraged to take full advantage of Śaiva temples. Sūtras 293-295 of Living with Śiva explain: “My devotees wisely settle in areas where Gaṇeśa, Murugan or Śiva temples exist for their frequent pilgrimage, worship and spiritual security. None should live farther than a day’s journey from such sacred sanctuaries. Aum. My devotees hold as most sacred and pilgrimage to each at least once: Śiva’s San Mārga Iraivan Temple on Kauai, His Himālayan and Gaṅgetic abodes, His five elemental temples and the Madurai Meenakshi citadel. Aum. My devotees all revere and pilgrimage to Nallur and Lord Murugan’s six South Indian temples, Gaṇeśa’s many temples and shrines, especially Kumbalavalai, and the holy samādhi shrines of our lineage. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.” Sūtra 260 adds: “My devotees worship at their home shrines, dharmaśālas, Kauai Aadheenam and all Śaivite temples. They do not attend temples of other denominations except on pilgrimage or when required socially. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.” Our Śaivite Śāstras state in verse 154: “The temples of Śaivism in the Satśiva Yuga were profound. Nearly everyone had a small image of the Lord Naṭarāja in their home and in the appropriate private shrine. Shrines were built for Umāgaṇeśa and Lord Skanda, but Śiva-Śakti Naṭarāja presided. His dominant darśana quelled all others.”§
Training in The Priestly Traditions§
29 ¶All boys are expected to join a pāṭhaśāla group to serve the temple and learn the incantations and procedures of the Śaiva Ātmārtha Pūjā, liturgy for the home shrine. A vital part of this service is to assist the priests in preparing for pūjās, homas and abhishekas, washing and wrapping the brass pots, lighting the lamps and caring for the Deity clothing. The swāmīs and senior sādhakas keep a watchful eye over these brahmachārīs, from age seven to nineteen, as to how they are being raised, so they do not go astray. This training enriches family life by enabling young men to help maintain their home shrine as a true extension of the temple, a radiant home of the Gods and a refuge from worldly forces. This provides the skills families need to fulfill sūtra 291: “All my devotees must have an absolutely breathtaking home shrine, used soely for meditation and worship of Śivaliṅga, Naṭarāja, Murugan, Gaṇeśa and the satguru's tiruvadi. This is the home’s most beautiful room. Aum.” §
Monastic and Śivāchārya Priesthoods§
30 ¶As stated in sūtra 258: “My Church honors our maṭhavāsis as its official priesthood. For samskāras and special festivals we may engage closely devoted Tamil priests, as well as hereditary Śivāchāryas, who preside at all temple consecrations. Aum.” Here we are referring specifically to the Ādiśaivas, a hereditary order of priests, today consisting of several thousand families, dating back thousands of years and extolled in the Śaiva Āgama scriptures as the only ones to enter the Śiva sanctum in performance of certain sacred rites. As of 1995, we rely more and more on the Śivāchāryas for the performance of temple ceremonies, including the essential sacraments, including nāmakaraṇa (name giving), annaprāśana (first feeding), karṇavedha (ear-boring), vidyārambha (beginning of learning), vivāha (marriage) and antyeshṭi (funeral), as well as the vrātyastoma, the purification rite to welcome back into the Hindu community anyone who has previously strayed from the fold. The Śivāchāryas are also empowered to administer the various vratas of our Church, including brahmacharya (celibacy), śākāhāra (vegetarian), daśama bhāga (tithing), and paramparā (spiritual lineage), as well as the nāmakaraṇa saṁskāra for adoptives or converts to formally accept them into the faith.§
About the Parārtha Pūjā§
31 ¶Due to the Adiśaivas’ gracious sanction and training of my monks, Kauai Aadheenam and its dharmaśālas have through the past fifteen years provided instruction in the traditional Āgamic temple pūjā, called Śaiva Parārtha Pūjā, to monastics who have advanced to the level of the postulant natyam, living under the four vows of purity, obedience, humility and confidence. This pūjā was originally taught to our senior swāmīs in the mid-1980s by two expert priests—Śrī Kumarswāmī Gurukal and Śrī Shanmuga Gurukal—sent from India to Hawaii for this purpose by Śrī Śivasāmbamūrthi Śivāchārya, head of the Then (South) India Archaka Saṅgam, the preeminent association of Śivāchārya priests. §
Śuddha Śaivas meditate on these as their religious path: Oneself, Absolute Reality and the Primal Soul; the categories three: God, soul and bonds; immaculate liberation and all that fetters the soul.§
TIRUMANTIRAM 1432. TM§
Covenant Regarding the Parārtha Pūjā§
32 ¶Instruction in the Śaiva Parārtha Pūjā was freely given but with the proviso that this liturgy would be passed on only to monastics under vows and not to members of the lay community. This covenant with the Archaka Saṅgam, which extended themselves beyond the bounds of tradition in honor to our lineage, has to this day been strictly observed, as reflected in sūtra 292: “My initiated devotees perform the Śaiva ātmārtha pūjā, but only in home shrines, not in temples. Unless formally, traditionally authorized, they are prohibited to learn, teach or perform the parārtha temple pūjā. Aum.” Sūtra 350 adds that if a monastic does not renew his vows or is dismissed he is forbidden to perform or teach the Parārtha Pūjā thenceforth. §
Valued is the Inner Glow Not Outer Show§
33 ¶As explained in our Śaivite Śāstras, verses 233-236, “The ceremonies in the temples were basic and simple. There was no effort made through the years to make the ceremony complex or complicated. In fact, the stress was for simplicity. Rather than the emphasis being on the outer form of pūjā, the natyam stressed their personal inner attitudes and preparation prior to the time of holy worship. The brāhmins [monastery priests] set the pattern for all ceremonies, and it was followed throughout all monasteries, temples and shrines, right into the dalingm home. It was the attitude in which the ceremony was performed that was the important thing to be observed, for this attitude opened the channels to pull through the greater darśana flow from deep within the transcendental bodies of the devotee. In performing the ceremony, the test was to become as nothing—transparent and with head shining in inner light. If there was a semblance of physicalness, the senior minority would have the Umādeva call this to the attention of the devotee, for this transparency of the person was the most important thing in pūjā. There were pūjās given for various different reasons. Each one was predominantly the same. For the more complex and complicated pūjā, the Śaivites traveled to the Holy Land of India and visited the temples there. ‘Work not for outer show, but the inner glow.’ Sometimes Indian brāhmins in their state of brahmacharya visited the temples and conducted pūjā, but always in the same spirit of transparency.” Verse 248 adds, “The natyam and sādhaka were well aware that all pūjā and ceremonies conducted within the Śaiva Siddhānta Yoga Order were for the purpose of seeking the aid and cooperation of transcendental beings, which through their service and devotion, also to Lord Śiva, were in fact members of the Order, protectors and disseminators of the śakti and heralds of the Golden Age.”§
Our Church’s International Alliances§
34 ¶In keeping with its singular focus, Saiva Siddhanta Church does not join with or become a branch or a member of any other organization. Nor do its local missions. We stand alone as a citadel of strength and belief, as did the ṛishis of olden times whose breath was Śiva’s breath manifesting the holy Vedas, the primary revealed scripture of Hinduism, the oldest on this planet. The Church, however, does share informal international alliances with many organizations of all sects of Hinduism. §
About the Following Chapter§
35 ¶The glorious Kailāsa Paramparā, whose gurus have since the beginning of time returned to Earth of their own volition from time to time when needed, is told of in the next chapter. It was when the religion of the masses of peoples cried out for clarification of dharma that they returned. It was when a new crop of initiates were ready for their holy orders of sannyāsa that they returned. It was when their guru or gurus commanded their return under sealed secret orders, concealed cleverly within their prārabdha karmas, only to be revealed during their life on Earth. Yes, the Nāthas are mysteriously mystical, and their lives are to be emulated by the most fortunate of souls. §
Lead me from unreality to reality.
Lead me from darkness to light.
Lead me from death to immortality.§
Śukla Yajur Veda, BṛihadU 1.3.28. HH, 202§
He is the Supreme Brahman, the Self of all, the chief foundation of this world, subtler than the subtle, eternal. That thou art; thou art That. §
Atharva Veda, KaivU 16. UpH, 930§
The initiation for the attainment of liberation can only be obtained from the guru. Without the help of the guru no penance could ever be helpful in producing the desired result. The guru teaches the pupil. The guru becomes the object of glory for the disciple and enhances the pupil’s dignity. Hence the disciple must have immense regard for the guru. The guru is Siva Himself, and Siva is called the guru. Whether guru or Siva, both have been accepted as vidya. Vidya is not different from both of them.§
Chandrajñāna Āgama, Kriyā Pāda, Chapter 2, Verse 7§
