INDIA'S RENOWNED RAM SWARUP SPEAKS ON IRAIVAN

"The building of the San Marga Iraivan Temple at Hawaiian Island of Kauai
is an important event. Even on the physical level, chiseling and hand-carving
4000 stone pieces weighing 3.5 million pounds in South India and shipping them
to its new temple-site in Hawaii is a remarkable feat. But the will and conception
that undertook and sustained this effort is extraordinary. History would remember
Satguru Swami Subramuniya who presided over this labor as a man of great vision
and energy, a man who extended the frontiers of Sanatana dharma. The island
of Hawaii, his field of activity (karmabhoomi) is itself likely to become a
significant religious site, a place of special manifestation of Siva in this
part of the world. "A Hindu temple is a miniature cosmos; it is all the Gods
and all the Worlds (lokas) at one place. But at a time when man's mind is divided
and his world so much fragmented, the temple's inscribed motto of 'One God and
One World' serves an immediate need and calls for a special emphasis--though
Siva himself is One and Many at the same time--the eka-aneka-rupa of the Shiva
sahasra-nama--is beyond all numerical designations and is the support of all
lokas.

Though San Marga Iraivan temple is special, it is part of a larger movement
of great historical significance that is taking place in the in the Americas.
Many Hindu temples are appearing there, the importance of which is not immediately
obvious. When Europe came to the New World, it unfortunately brought along with
it such concepts as a "jealous God", a "chosen people", a "promised land", an
appointed "saviour"--all eminently hegemonic ideas which could do no good and
bring no justice. But now for the first time, the new world is receiving through
Hindu spirituality very different ideas--ideas which in their intuition of deity,
man and nature are close to those of its own ancient peoples. Hinduism brings
to them the Vedic ideas of "friendly Gods," of nature inhabited by Gods (isha-vasya),
of man being both good and godly. In this scheme of ideas, there is full recognition
of different modes of worship, acceptance and respect for different fraternities,
peoples, ethnic groups, and jatis. These ideas have the power and potentiality
of helping indigenous America, the Amerindians, in their religious and cultural
revival.

Considered from this angle, the Hindu Gods that are coming are no "foreign"
gods, nor are they going to a foreign land. They belong to a shared spiritual
landscape and sensibility and were already there in the new world and known
under different names. Though they cannot undo the past, they come with the
possibility of healing old wounds and providing a new principle of reconciliation.
"But everything has its time. These Gods could not make their excursions earlier.
America had to get ready spiritually to receive them; she had to pass through
much self-questioning, intellectual ferment and to learn to throw away much
of its old baggage; the New Age movement had to intervene before this could
happen and America could derive benefit from the presence of these Gods.

"This however is not the end but beginning of things. Hindu Gods are projections of
a great spiritual culture; their source is a pure and wise heart; they are sustained
by great sadhana and deep spiritual reflections. Let us hope that the new temples
while they serve the social and religious needs of those who build them, would
also promote these qualities. In this way alone, they would provide truly congenial
habitations for their Gods; become messengers of the ideas of Sanatana dharma;
draw those, now a growing number, who are earnest inquirers and seekers after
the deeper truths of the spirit; and provide a new meeting-point between the
old and the new world.

By Ram Swarup