Chapter 10§
Church Membership
शिवसम्मन्द
OYOUS SOULS 15,000 STRONG MAKE UP OUR GLOBAL MEMBERSHIP, WHICH IS OF FIVE LEVELS: MONASTICS, INITIATES, NOVITIATES, AND HIMĀLAYAN ACADEMY ASSOCIATE AND HONORARY MEMBERS. THIS IS A GRAND CONGREGATION UPHOLDING DHARMA AND PERFORMING FRUITFUL SĀDHANA IN NORTH AMERICA, ENGLAND, GERMANY, MAURITIUS, SINGAPORE, MALAYSIA, INDIA, SRI LANKA AND ELSEWHERE: ALL DANCING, LIVING AND MERGING WITH ŚIVA.§
183 ¶Because it has always been our aim to build a harmonious, productive, dynamic global fellowship, new candidates for membership and initiation are carefully screened and required to adjust themselves to the cultural standards, beliefs and attitudes that prevail at the time they seek entrance. They must be loyal and dedicated to our philosophy and goals, willing to blend their energies with the existing group of initiates to advance their own religious life and further the broader work of the fellowship. We are strict and demanding in order to build and maintain a core mission group. Moreover, steady improvement is expected from each member through the years. Each has come to me as a śishya for the sole purpose of performing sādhana. None is allowed to lose sight of his or her original intent. Initiates appreciate their life-changing moments and strive hard to keep up with the pace. §
The Primary Emphasis Of Our Church§
184 ¶Sūtra 55 explains: “All Śiva’s devotees do japa daily, counting recitations on rudrāksha beads. Embracing tapas through simple austerities, they sacrifice often, carry out penances as needed and perform sādhana regularly. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.” This is the primary emphasis of our Church. Initiated devotees who have failed in chanting the mantra daily, who are neglecting their daily pūjās, are strengthened by the penance of making up for all days on which sādhana was neglected. This is compassionately supervised by the elders of our community. Ours is not an ordinary Śaiva organization. It is an extraordinary Śaiva organization. Each one is on the path to mukti in this life and is expected to live up to all vratas and the standard of each initiation they have received. Our members don’t just belong to a religion, they are a religion unto themselves, living every aspect, striving for every goodness, fulfilling every vow and sādhana they undertake. It, therefore, is the duty of the family heads, the kulapatis, to see to it that the three vratas and the two inititations are upheld and that necessary correction be made when they are not. §
Strength In Small Numbers §
185 ¶It has always been our expectation that avoiding rapid growth in numbers and seeking for quality in initiated members would in the long run bring great stability and satisfaction. Sūtra 267 explains, “All within my Saiva Siddhanta Church are stalwart and dedicated. Not one is half-hearted or equivocal. Each is a jewel, important to me and to each other. Thus, strictness is necessary when accepting new members. Aum.” The swāmīs have been trained to protect our initiates and novitiates by not admitting newcomers into their extended families until the applicants have proven themselves worthy in many ways. §
High Standards of Acceptance§
186 ¶The devonic helpers who wrote our Śaivite Śāstras explained their view of evaluating potential members in verse 371: “We know who served with us in the ‘in-between,’ and the birth that they took, as well as whether they are candidates for the Society. We then must be consulted as to whether they are impostors or well fit. Ask us in the perpendicular Tyaf script, ‘Are they impostors or well fit to enter the “Society?’ We do not need many; but if many, it must be few, and increased from within itself by large families, supported by endowments from the Church if they dedicate to raise their sons for our seminary.” Verse 371 continues, “When impostors are inadvertently admitted, and when discovered, simply void or do not renew their membership, which was and is today renewable each year. Oddly enough, you must believe that they will not be surprised, for they know who they are. Pretenders to the throne were not born of royalty. They knew this, whereas their more unenlightened subjects did not. Royalty knows royalty. The peasant knows the peasant. Each in his own lot reigns supreme and is only bothersome when he assumes the other’s place. Therefore, those who are bothersome to the Society are not of the Society, not working for the good of the whole, but working, obviously, for increased benefits to themselves. This will be obvious, and we’ll make it so.” §
The Gateway: Himālayan Academy§
187 ¶To keep our fellowship’s standards escalating, our educational institution, Himālayan Academy, provides an on-going study through The Master Course, Prābhu Sanmārga, as well as through travel-study pilgrimages to holy sites worldwide, for beginners and advanced devotees. Devotees seeking to join our international spiritual family enroll in the Academy through beginning The Master Course Correspondence Study Level One. §
Our Levels of Membership§
188 ¶For clarity as to levels of sādhana and accomplishment, we have defined five memberships in my congregation of Śaiva Siddhānta Church and its Himālayan Academy. The Academy has two memberships: associate and honorary. In the Church we have three memberships: novitiate (vrataśishya), initiate (dīkshāśishya) and monastic (maṭhavāsi śishya). §
Where men move at will, in the threefold sphere, in the third heaven of heavens, where are realms full of light, in that radiant world make me immortal.§
ṚIG VEDA 9.113.9. VE, 634§
1. HONORARY ACADEMY MEMBERS§
Honorary Academy members include regular readers of HINDUISM TODAY, registered book readers and our many friends in dharma, supporters who give of their time, talents and finances for Academy and Church activities, temples and publications. Many, regarding me as their guru, seek counsel. §
2. ASSOCIATE ACADEMY MEMBERS §
Associate Academy members are devotees who are formally enrolled in the study of The Master Course.§
3. NOVITIATE CHURCH MEMBERS, VRATAŚISHYAS§
Novitiate Church members, vrataśishyas, are those who have completed the requirements in the Śishya’s Vows and Initiations booklet, including any necessary reconciliation of religious loyalties, having been wholeheartedly accepted into a kulapati family. They take two additional vows: the Śaiva Śraddhādhāraṇā Vrata (the pledge to uphold and preach the Śaivite Creed) and the Nandinātha Sūtra Vrata§
4. INITIATE CHURCH MEMBERS, DĪKSHĀŚISHYAS §
Initiate Church members, dīkshāśishyas, are devotees who have received mantra dīkshā or vishesha dīkshā. To receive mantra dīkshā, devotees demonstrate a consistently orthodox life style. Vishesha dīkshā śishyas, affectionately known as chelas, are members who have demonstrated consistency in upholding all 365 sūtras, are exemplary members of their extended family and have received vishesha dīksha—initiation and obligation to perform daily Śiva pūja. §
5. MONASTICS AND PREMONASTICS, MAṬHAVĀSI ŚISHYAS§
All monastics and premonastics under vows are known as maṭhavāsi śishyas. Their protocol and procedures are explained in the Maṭhavāsi Śāstras and summarized in sūtras 316 to 365 of Living with Śiva.§
Endearing Prefixes For Names§
189 ¶In order to easily distinguish the various age groups within our Church, and for use in our computer database, we use the following traditional Tamil prefixes: §
1. Children through age 12: Putra (boy) and Putrika (girl);§
2. Youth, age 13 to 20: Taruna (son) and Taruni (daughter);§
3. Single adults (age 20 until marriage): Selvan (man) and Selvi (woman);§
4. Single avowed celibates: Brahmachārī and Brahmachāriṇī (who have declared their lifelong vrata during the Ishṭa Mārga Saṁskāra);§
5. Other adults including widowed: Tiru (man) and Tirumati (woman);§
6. Married adults: Kulapati and Kulamātā or Mukhya and Gṛihiṇī;§
7. Kulapatis and kulamātās after age 72: Ṛishipati and Ṛishimātā.§
Being Part Of a Kulapati Family§
190 ¶All family devotees who are Church members, arulśishyas and children of members are a part of one of our fellowship’s many extended families, called bṛihat kuṭumba, under the guidance of the preceptor and that of the family patriarch, kulapati, and his wife, kulamātā. Joining with others as cherished kindred within an extended family enhances the spiritual unfoldment of one and all. Character building for the individual is one of the many benefits. §
Access Cards, Abhaya Pātra§
191 ¶Each Church member receives an access card, abhaya pātra, with the validity period prominently displayed, for ongoing participation in activities on any of our properties. Our Śaivite Śāstras foretold of the access card in verse 339: “The card became a symbol of Śaivism in the West. Renewable once a year, it admitted the Śaivite into the College, onto the Path of the Nayanars and through the temple doors.” Church members are issued one-year access cards at the beginning of the third season, in mid-December. In our monastic community, postulants receive two-year admittance with their renewal of vows in January; aspirants and supplicants receive six-month admittance with their vow renewal each January and July. Other seekers and pilgrims are received as guests and may be given temporary cards for shorter periods of time. Each month during Ardhra Abhisheka at Kauai Aadheenam, the name of each Church member is chanted before the Deity. §
Qualifying New Novitiates§
192 ¶Sponsorship of a novitiate member is the duty of the devotee’s kulapati kuṭumba, patriarch family. After satisfying themselves that the śishya has met the requirements, the kulapati and kulamātā sign their names on the Vows and Initiations booklet as joint sponsors. They submit this document to Kauai Aadheenam for final signing by the Guru Mahāsannidhānam and the ācharyas. Current members are enjoined to bring new members into the fellowship and to assist in their adjustment as indicated in sūtra 269: “All within my Śaiva Church who sponsor new members are responsible for their strengths and failures during the probationary year, their study for initiation and their merger with others as milk poured into milk. Aum.” Those who qualify are accepted wholeheartedly: “All within my Saiva Siddhanta Church accept newcomers as part of their own family. They care for, teach, gently guide and prepare these souls for their first initiation. Yea, they too were once new members. Aum (sūtra 268).” §
Truly, God is One; there can be no second. He alone governs these worlds with His powers. He stands facing beings. He, the herdsman, after bringing forth all worlds, reabsorbs them at the end of time.§
KṚISHA YAJUR VEDA, SVETU 3.2. VE, 621§
Annual Religious Dedication§
193 ¶Each novitiate and initiate member keeps his membership active by fulfilling the varshātma nivedana sādhana at Guru Pūrṇimā during the month of July. Varshātma nivedana, “yearly self-dedication,” is the traditional practice of coming forward to one’s guru with love, gifts and thankfulness, vowing full commitment for the coming year. “For each step the śishya takes, the guru takes nine.” Coming forward at this auspicious time gives the guru permission to inwardly guide the śishya for yet another year. All such renewals of dedication are presented before the tiruvadi at the pādapūjā. As stated in sūtra 246, “Śiva’s devotees seek their 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 each year during the month of the guru. Aum.”§
Cancellation Of Church Membership§
194 ¶Those who do not perform this yearly sādhana—the sincere gesture of taking one step forward, allowing their guru to take his nine steps toward them—thereby excuse themselves silently and are no longer considered members or students. Śishyas may also disqualify themselves by consistent failure to follow the central Nandinātha Sūtras, such as those regarding vegetarianism, tithing, loyalty to the lineage, not smoking and wives not working. Our Śaivite Śāstras explain: “If a family did not live according to the Śāstras, which were not extremely strict, but wise, it was simply considered that they had entered another world and were no longer invited into a Śaivite home, temple or monastery. However, no ill feelings toward them existed, and when they began adjusting their life pattern and obeying the Śaivite law, invitations were then extended. This was generally decided by a senior minority of each family group surrounding a temple in cooperation with a swāmī and generally felt on an inner vibration by all as to the rightness or wrongness of the situation, for no Śaivite ever hurt anyone, they just avoided.” §
Detachment From Former Members§
195 ¶My śishyas are enjoined to discontinue their association with former members, especially those who are hostile or disgruntled, as explained in sūtras 276 and 277: “My devotees abide by the custom of shunning those who oppose, criticize or attack their lineage. By not interacting with detractors, they forestall conflict and thus protect their lineage as well as themselves. Aum. My devotees realize that shunning means tactful avoidance, exclusion, ignoring and ostracizing. Thus a firm, protective wall of silence is built between our lineage and its detractors, whether individuals or groups. Aum.” Since it is important for every seeker to have the guidance of a preceptor, those who have made a firm decision to leave the guru are encouraged to seek out a guru or a swāmī who is more lenient. I advise this so that they can, under his gentle guidance and encouragement, continue to progress and fulfill their prārabdha karmas. They are also enjoined to make new associations among the new guru’s followers and to discontinue associating with our fellowship. One who leaves a guru must also make a clean break from his followers. §
Reconciliation; Welcoming Back§
196 ¶Those who discontinue as members and students and later return may seek to requalify themselves through personally reconciling with the preceptor and undertaking his assigned Master Course study and sādhanas through Himālayan Academy. As they begin their fresh new start they do so without their former seniority, which they surrendered when they left the Church. They are welcomed back into the Academy as new students just beginning. If they pursue their studies, they may qualify as vrataśishyas again, having retaken the six vratas. Once a devotee is accepted back into the congregation by the guru, it is up to all śishya to extend full welcome as stressed in sūtras 278 and 279: “My devotees who refuse to shun those who should be shunned should themselves be shunned. But none shall shun those who have reconciled with the preceptor and been publicly welcomed back into association. Aum. My devotees extend every effort to welcome and bring back into the lineage those seeking to reenter its fold, having formerly left, provided they show grief, remorse and repentance, and reconcile with the satguru. Aum.”§
About Children Of Church Families§
197 ¶1. Children whose mother or father or both are members automatically have access to Church activities by virtue of their family’s commitment. While growing up they are taught Śaivism through the study of Śaivite Hindu Religion, books one through six, in school and-or under the guidance of their parents. §
2. Between the 13th and 15th birthdays, children should begin the Master Course Correspondence Study. By doing so the child becomes an enrolled Śaivite student. He or she may continue participating in fellowship activities as a student until age 20. The Śaivite Śāstras, in verse 331, offer additional wisdom regarding a youth’s coming fully into the Church: “The elderly and retired in the last āśrama of life were graciously admitted, even though single, as well as the children living at home with Śaivite parents, members of the Society. Of course, during this time they were expected to enter one of the two paths. Should they leave their parents’ home to be ‘on their own,’ which would entail a new pattern for their lives, the Society quietly retreated from their view.” §
As the sun, the eye of the whole world, is not sullied by the external faults of the eyes, so the one inner soul of all things is not sullied by the sorrow in the world, being external to it.§
KṚISHṆA YAJUR VEDA, KATHA U 5.11. BO UPH, 357§
3. At any time after age 17, the youth may qualify for adult Church membership as a vrataśishya. To do so, he or she must complete the three levels of The Master Course Correspondence Study and qualify as an arulśishya. §
4. Once a youth has been accepted as a vrataśishya, a welcoming ceremony is held by the families. At this time, the youth’s astrological karmic pattern is reviewed at the Aadheenam and by the kulapati families, and a plan is developed for the coming years, including further education.§
5. All youth must qualify as vrataśishyas by age 20. As explained in sūtra 150: “My devotees require children to decide before age twenty whether to enter Saiva Siddhanta Church of their own volition or to choose another path. If they go away, they are always welcome back. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.”§
The Discipline Of Tithing, Daśamāṁśa§
198 ¶All members of the Church and all arulśishya_students of the Academy take the Daśama Bhāga Vrata (one-tenth vow) and perform the discipline of tithing, giving ten percent of their income each month without fail and reconciling their tithing once a year. All tithing is sent to Kauai Aadheenam. This is regarded as God’s money, and in a deeper sense, all of one’s income is God’s. Ninety percent is dedicated to the family and is governed by a strict household budget. There is a great power in daśamāṁśa, paying religious dues. As stated in sūtra 163, “Śiva’s close devotees delight in the unfailing law that by tithing freely and wholeheartedly, with a consciousness of plenty, they become receptive to God’s blessings and draw to them abundance and happy experiences. Aum.” Living in the consciousness of giving, tithers naturally attract more abundance. In giving, they actually receive. To continually fulfill the discipline of tithing once the vow is taken requires self-control and wise money management through following a monthly budget, curbing desires and controlling emotions. This builds inner strength and character. Novitiates and initiates tithe to Śaiva Siddhānta Church. The tithing of Academy students goes to Hindu Heritage Endowment. §
Avoiding Alien Influences§
199 ¶It is traditional that, after a śishya gives his loyalties to a sampradāya and/or a paramparā, he is restricted from studying with or seeking personal guidance from other gurus, swāmīs, astrologers or other kinds of religious or philosophical teachers without the preceptor’s permission. In our fellowship, this covenant is established at the student arulśishya level when the devotee takes the Paramparā Vrata. Membership in Śaiva Siddhānta Church means discipleship, following the sampradāya’s teachings faithfully, patiently and one-pointedly in the tradition of Śaivism. This injunction also means not inviting teachers or lecturers to speak at gatherings of members unless approved by the Kailāsa Pīṭham. Guidelines for avoiding alien influences are given in sūtras 236–240 of Living with Śiva, as well as sūtras 233–234. My āchāryas, swāmīs, yogīs and sādhakas perform the service of guiding membership activities from day to day. Members are encouraged to communicate with them as needs arise. §
About the Following Chapter§
200 ¶Initiation, explained in the next chapter, is the goal of all Hindus, and an absolute must for all Śaiva souls. This is why they seek out a guru. This is why they manifest in their lives all the good that he would approve. This is why they strive and strive and strive to fulfill, even better than he would expect, all of his expectations. Dīkshā from a satguru is nothing that can be erased, nothing that can be altered, nothing that can be described, as we have tried to describe in the pages ahead. This is why initiation is given—at an auspicious time, in a spiritual mood, at the right moment in the karma of the soul’s long journey from conception in Śiva’s all-pervasive śakti to manifestation in the current incarnation. Dīkshā is a pathway to moksha in this life or a future life. There is no alternative way. There is none. There is none.§