Date Given: 2009-07-16
Given By: Bodhinatha
Category: Hinduism and Tradition
Duration: 10 min, 18 secs
Description: Saiva Siddhanta's dual doctrine of faith. Hinduism Today is the primary form of public service for our Mathavasis and a voice and network for Hindus of all sects. Promoting the Vedas as the number one scripture of Hinduism. Application and teaching in modern life to be self-evident that Hinduism can make one happier and more successful.
Audio (English):
Transcript:
I've been doing some research to see what Gurudeva said about Hinduism Today in the Saiva Dharma Shastras to put into a keynote presentation for Houston, Texas in the end of August; that's when it's for. That's a presentation it's called: Diversity and Unity in Hinduism. And it starts out with an introduction about Hinduism Today because many of the people attending aren't that familiar with us. So I was drawing some information on Hinduism Today from Saiva Dharma Shastras.
So, I'm sure most of you remember, we have a dual doctrine of faith.
Enlightened monistic Saiva Siddhanta philosophy of the Nandinatha Sampradaya Kailasa Parampara is one of the doctrines and the Hindu solidarity, unity in diversity, among all the dominations of Sanatana Dharma. And Gurudeva says: "These two streams of consciousness are represented by the two points of our flag." How many of you would have passed that test? What object represents these two points of doctrine? Our flag.
So Gurudeva explains the two doctrines.
The First Doctrine:
"The following concise statement capsulizes the first doctrine of Saiva Siddhanta Church, the monistic theism of Saiva Siddhanta: 'God Siva is within all things and all things are within Him. He is the Absolute Reality, beyond time, space and causation; He is the Primal Soul -- creator, preserver and destroyer of all that exists. Yet, His majestic body is seen and He is talked with by the rishis. So great is He, the Incomparable One. Mysteriously, He is the Creator and the Creation. He is All and within all. Therefore, we preach the monistic theism of Saiva Siddhanta, Rishi Tirumular's Vedic-Agamic theology, which encompasses pre-Shankaran Vedanta and pre-Meykandar Siddhanta.'"
The Second Doctrine
"The following concise statement capsulizes the second doctrine of Saiva Siddhanta Church, Hindu solidarity: 'For all sects of Hinduism to survive in their pristine purity, maintaining their traditions, cultural heritages and religious theologies within our great Sanatana Dharma, each must strengthen the other by strengthening itself. Having found their roots, Hindus of all sects can proceed with confidence and work for Hindu solidarity. The many beliefs and practices common to all Hindus are the meeting ground, the basis of this profound unity in diversity. Therefore, we preach Hindu solidarity.'"
I'll stop there. That just introduces the two doctrines and then next time we can look at what it says about Hinduism Today. There are a few points there that I hadn't remembered.
"Hinduism Today is the primary form of public service designated by me (meaning Gurudeva) for our mathavasis. It was during a world tour through Singapore, Malaysia, (this is a long world tour) Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius, Reunion, Africa, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Europe that I realized Hinduism had no global voice and no network of communication. The Hindus in Durban had no idea what was happening with Hindus in Colombo. Those in London had no connection with Hindus in Canada. Thus, I was divinely directed by inner orders from our Yogaswami Kailasa Parampara, by my satguru in this life, to fulfill the crying need to create an international network that would interconnect all Hindus into one invincible front.
"A few of the basic policies are: to show both sides of every story and let the readers make up their minds; to put forward religious leaders of all Hindu sects equally, in acknowledgment of their special and central role in the future of Sanatana Dharma; to bring into the consciousness of Hindus and onlookers the glories of this most ancient religion on the planet; to support tradition and its maturity into contemporary times. Being strictly nonpolitical is another policy. Further, we seek to give a voice to cultural, artistic and spiritual leaders as well as to the common woman, man and youth."
So that's one of the excellent qualities of the magazine is you not only hear from the Hindu of the year, from a famous swami, you hear from a teenager in South Africa in the same magazine. So we hear from the common woman, man and youth as well as from spiritual leaders.
"In the event that the medium of the printed or electronic word becomes unavailable, my mathavasis will continue this effort by whatever means available to them, to be a voice and a network of communication for Hindus of all denominations, for all those who believe in the three great Hindu principles of karma, reincarnation and all-pervasive Divinity, precepts shared by the noble tribal faiths.
"It is the duty of my monastics to continue Hinduism Today's public service mission as a support to Hinduism and the surrounding mosaic of related, interrelated and loosely related traditions, including select new-age lineages, to be their voice to the world and persist as a global presence, a resource of dharma into the future of futures.
"I also charge my mathavasis with bringing forth all the ancient arts and sciences of the Vedas, to promote the Vedas as the number-one scripture of Hinduism and empower the next generation to come up strong in the richness of their heritage with well-defined metaphysics applicable to modern life, giving them security and faith in their work place, in the corporate office, factory, field, or as a small businessman, entrepreneur, politician or scientist.
"These are ambitious goals for Hinduism Today, but we have found and trained, as of 1995, (when this was written) over 100 articulate people to help in their fulfillment."
So definitely, the staff in the field is very important and the majority of pieces we do, not all of them, come in in written form already. So we have to just polish them up. It sounds simple but takes a lot of work to polish something up that comes in from journalists and others around the world.
So I think one of the beauties of the pattern Gurudeva set is this last point here: "Well-defined metaphysics applicable to modern life." Cause that's what, in many situations, Hindu teachings are lacking. The teaching is beautiful but how do we take it and apply it to modern life? It's not obvious what to do with this great truth. How can we experience this truth? How can we apply it to our life in the modern world?
So Gurudeva's teachings, particularly Living With Siva, are filled with many practical examples of that and we share some of that in the magazine with all these metaphysics of others to try and give that sense that, as I like to say; see if I can get my phrase here. When we teach Hinduism, particularly to teenagers and youth, it needs to be presented in a way that shows them, quite clearly, how it will help them have a happier and more successful life. That's what it means. You know, we want to be happier, we want to be more successful. Hinduism can help us achieve that but it's not self-evident sometimes exactly how. So, to present the teachings in such a practicable way that it's self-evident. This particular Hindu tool will help me be more successful, this tool will help me be happier, so forth. That's what Gurudeva's trying to say here is: "Well defined metaphysics applicable to modern life."
Thank you very much. Wonderful day.
[End of transcript.]
