Dharmaishta greets Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami at the door of his home, and performs a Tiruvadi puja. He is clearly delighted to have the blessings.
Bodhinatha is seated and welcomed generously.
A seat has been prepared also for Swami Avdeshanandaji.
Swami enters and greets Bodhinatha, offers a shawl and says "This meeting is historic!"
Swamiji listens as Palaniswami explains our gift, a mala from the Western world's only Rudraskah forest, from trees planted by our own Gurudeva.
Swami recalls his two meetings with Gurudeva in Chicago during the 1993 parliament of the World's Religions. He says many sweet things about Gurudeva and his mission and monks.
A marvelous lunch with Swami asveshanda, followed by a beautiful upadesh on sannyas. Swami is the head of the Juna Akara, Hinduism's largest monastic order. How large? At this uear's Kumbhamela he will personally initiate 25,000 sadhus!
The Hinduism Today team took about thirty minues to ask Swamili a series of questions on various issues facing what one PWR delegates called "the first religion" Swami shared his thoughts on the biggest challenge facing modern Hindus, materialism and consumerism.
He urged Hindus to bring simplicity inti their lives, to truly treat all as a one family, and by all he meant even animals and insects and plant life. He spoke loving words about the magazine, saying it is a divine work that is perpetuating dharma, culture, philosophy. "It cannot be called a magazing. It is the face if Hinduism,the soul of Hinduism. I cannot express my amazement and my gratitude in what you are doing."
Swami entrusts us with his private cell, which only 20 in the world know. Jai to the Satgurus, who are called living Vedas.