"Everything is permanent, until it changes."

GURUDEVA

Howard Austin flew to our little island today, to have darshan with Gurudeva and talk about the spiritual path. Welcome, Howard! We hope your stay on the island is a fruitful and inwardly rewarding one!

Merging with Siva work continues powerfully, the team working on the fine-tuning of the galleys. And today we unpacked the Time Capsule that arrived from California. What a job! We had to put a dozen handles on the crate just to move it into place in the Bangalore Gallery.

It took over three hours to pry loose the giant crate that Deva Rajan and his team constructed to assure its safe arrival (it worked).

Gurudeva gave an important upadesha for today, about drugs. Click the Satguru Speaks button above to hear his entire talk. If you know anyone who has become involved in drugs, this would be a wonderful message to share with them.

Yesterday, one of Gurudeva's Sishya, Nitya Nadesan who is here with his wife Amala for Skanda Shasti came to the Ganapati Kulam for casual de-briefing on his America On-line seva. They come often to the island but yesterday allowed themselves to be tourists for a few hours on the North Shore. For several years Nitya has been actively posting excerpts from Dancing with Siva to the discussions going on there on various Hindu topics.

For a while he even posted Hinduism Today in a text format. The good news is that Nitya recently applied for and was accepted for the post of "Librarian" for the Hinduism Section of AOL.He plugged in his powerbook and showed Sivakatirswami his great work which most recently has included posting every single Merging with Siva entry from the TAKA pages to AOL.

[The photo is of the stainless steel time capsule beside the fiberglass chamber in which it is imbedded in concrete for its 1000-year hibernation]

A frequent post seen there is "Thank you Nitya, for posting these wonderful lessons on Merging with Siva." Sivakatirswami gave him an upgrade to the MacIntosh "Cyber book" version of Dancing with Siva from which Nitya can drag and drop text to his postings on AOL.Nitya says,"As the librarian now for the Hinduism Section of AOL, I will be able to manage uploads to the library section, but protocol makes improper for me to be the only one putting up Gurudeva's teachings.

[A close-up of a single bolt on the capsule]

So I would like to invite all of Gurudeva's sishya and students to participate in uploading our books and other useful materials from the teachings. If you are interested in participating in this seva please send me an email and we can review it together. Contact Nitya@aol.com. Also, if you have a Mac and you can request a copy of the Dancing with Siva "Cyber book."

Jivananda captured Mount Waialeale last evening! It's the center of our island, the source of our rivers and streams, the stuff of songs and dreams for all who live here. It's also an extinct volcano, as this morning's daytime shot better reveals.

THINGS TO PONDER TODAY

Nitya Nadesan Takes New Post as
America On-Line Hinduism Forum Librarian

(This is a story from a TAKA visitor which he thought you would all enjoy. It's about builders and architects:) Three fine souls worked together for many years, a developer, an architect and a contractor. They built out many beautiful projects that provided wonderful housing and a new look for their communities. Driving out to the mountains one week-end, their car went off a cliff and they were all killed and instantly found themselves in the Devaloka. Looking around, they noticed that some of the buildings were a little worn and out-dated. So they set to work and in "no-time", some beautiful structures emerged and a new, sleek modern look came to grace their community. One day, Ganesha's Ganas were touring the area and in astonishment asked, "What's going on? Where are your permits and approved plans?" The three heros shrugged in their usual feinted embarassment. "Up to your old tricks again, eh?", the Ganas admonished. The three fallen saints drew meaningless designs in the sand with their toes. "You're all going to have to spend some time in the Narakaloka for this," the Ganas said. The guilty three instantly found themselves in a dirty, dark and awful place. In their usual way, they set to work and in "no-time," some beautiful structures emerged and a new, sleek modern look came to grace the (not-so-dark-anymore) Narakaloka. Some Asuras were touring the area and said, "Wow, these improvements were a long time coming, they're great and we're moving in. No permit fees, CC&Rs or transfer taxes either. Let's have a party." The developer, architect and contractor exchanged knowing looks, "Have we been here before?" they pondered. Looking down through the fog, Ganesha's Ganas discovered what was going on with the three fallen heros and informed the Asuras, "These three have learned their lesson and now we want them back. Besides, they left some unfinished work up here (as usual) and we've sort of grown to like the 'new look' of their sleek, modern buildings." "Nothing doing," said the Asuras, "Can't have them back. We like the changes here too and we know how to make these boys feel at home." "No, no, no," said the Ganas, "They rightfully came to us first and if you don't surrender them, we'll sue you." "Is that so," replied the Asuras, "Where are you going to find any attorneys?" (This is really a story about attorneys.)