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PRESS RELEASE GURUDEVA'S SUMMER 1999 TOUR
June19, 1999 Kapaa, Hawaii, USA

(see end of press release
for high resolution photos available on our web site to
accompany this article)

Head:
Satguru Sivaya
Subramuniyaswami on North American tour
Subhead:
Revered Hindu spiritual leader blesses temples, releases
new book

On May 29, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami departed
his island home on Kauai, Hawaii, to preside at the Deity
installation ceremonies for the $1.7 million Murugan
Temple of North America just outside Washington, D.C. It
was the first time the 73-year-old Hindu leader,
affectionately known as Gurudeva, has left the Hawaiian
island of Kauai, home to his ashram, in more than three
years. The tour coincides with the promotion of his just
completed 1,300 page book, "Merging with Siva."

With two of his monastic devotes, he spent three days at
the temple "maha kumbhabhishekam," conducted by nine
priests and attended by more than 4,000 devotees. The
new temple is for Lord Murugan, son of Supreme God Siva
in the Hindu pantheon and especially beloved of the South
Indian and Sri Lankan Tamil people.

The temple stands on 11.5 acres of prime land adjacent
to the Washington Beltwayfrom which commuters can
glimpse the temple's central "vimana," or tower, as they
drive past to the nation's capital. It is also close to the
NASA headquarters.

A temple committee was formed in 1982, and at that
time Gurudeva gifted the founders a two-foot Lord
Ganesha statue and instructed them to "begin the
worship of the Lord of Obstacles,' who will inspire the
devotion of the people and remove all obstacles to the
temple's completion."

"Many people thought this temple was not going to
come," confesses temple president Dr. Gopal Guruswamy,
"but I knew if we got in touch with the hundreds of
thousands of devotees of Muruga, help would come. Today
we can hardly believe we have built such a beautiful
temple as this."

U.S. President Bill Clinton sent his greetings for the
temple opening: "Your beautiful new temple stands as
evidence of the faith and vision of your community, that
enduring faith binds members of a congregation together
in fellowship and prayer, and will help to lead all of you
through the struggles and joys of life. Our country was
founded on a great tradition of religious liberty, which
helps to unite our nation of diverse faiths and creeds and
gives us a common ground for tolerance, healing and
understanding. This celebration is a reminder of the
ways that God's blessings can be used to fulfill our
obligation to help others.

Subramuniyaswami, Swami Satchidananda of Integral
Yoga Institute and Ramasamy Adigal of India, presided
over the complex installation of the temple's several
deities, beginning with the 7 foot, 4 inch high Lord
Muruga and his consorts, Valli and Deyvayanai. Other
deities include Lord Ganesha, Lord Siva in the Lingam
form, Goddess Meenakshi, Lord Palani Andavar and the
Navagrahas (nine planets).

Shortly after the ceremonies in Maryland,
Subramuniyaswami traveled to San Francisco,
California. On June 15, he met with local devotees and
conducted a book signing at the Barnes and Noble store in
Redwood City for his new book on Hindu metaphysics,
"Merging with Siva." It was the most popular book
signing the store had conducted, according to the
manager, and all of "Merging with Siva," and several of
Gurudeva's other books were sold out before half the
attendees had a chance to get an autographed copy.

The following day he left for Seattle where at noon he
helped uncrate a 1,700-pound statue of Lord Ganesha
destined for the Hindu temple to be built in the Seattle
area. The uncrating took place at the Ayurvedic medial
clinic of Dr. Virender Sodhi, a short distance from the
4.5 temple acre site recently acquired for $450,000 in
the Seattle suburb of Bothell. The first portions of the
complex are expected to be completed in a year,
according to temple chairman Virinder Duggal. The local
newspapers, including the large-circulation Seattle
Times and Seattle Post-Intelligence, provided extensive
and respectful coverage of this important event for local
Hindus. The area has about 16,000 Indian residents, most
of them Hindus.

In the evening Gurudeva held another book signing, this
time at the Bellevue Barnes and Noble bookstore. There
was again a large turnout, with many local Hindus and
non-Hindus alike wanting to meet the respected guru.

On the 17th, he flew to Vancouver, Canada, and
immediately visited three temples of the area. At his
first stop, the Siva Subramaniyaswami temple, so many
people had gathered at the house temporarily being used
for worship services that some could only peer in
through the windows, there being no space left inside.
The temple congregation is comprised mostly of Hindus
who have migrated from Fiji to Canada over the last
decade. Gurudeva inspected a nearby parcel of land
recently purchased for the temple.

He then went on to the Sri Murugan Temple, also in
Richmond, and also mainly of the Fijian Hindu
community.

Lastly he visited the Sri Durga Temple run by the local
Sri Lanka Tamil community.

In the greater Vancouver area of one million population,
nearly 300,000 persons were of Indian, Sri Lankan or
Fijian origin, including a large population of Sikhs.

The following day, June 18, Gurudeva boarded the M.S.
Noordham for a week's cruise along the Canadian Pacific
and Alaskan coast with 42 devotees in a travel/study
program called the 1999 Alaska Innersearch. This
intensive shipboard program includes several daily
classes with Gurudeva and his monks, as well as free
time for the devotees to enjoy the cruise. They've
already dubbed this floating 5-star hotel's elegant and
enormous food service, the "death by eating buffet."
During a stopover in Juneau,there will be another book
signing.

Arriving in Anchorage at the end of the cruise on the
25th, Gurudeva will bless the new Hindu temple just
getting started there under his guidance. The evening
ceremonies included priests from the local native
American Indian community who, as the original
inhabitants of the land, will offer their blessings to
sanctify the temple. Similarly on Kauai, he has had the
Iraivan temple project blessed by the priests and
priestesses of the Hawaiian religion. Subramuniyaswami
is encouraging each Hindu temple in North America to
seek the blessings of the local indigenous people of their
area. There are many shared beliefs and practices
between the native faiths of America and Hinduism.

While in Anchorage, he will hold more book signings.

Gurudeva had planned to visit Anchorage once before, in
1964. On the morning of his departure, having a strong
but nonspecific premonition, he cancelled the entire
arrangement. The next day, March 27, the great Alaskan
earthquake destroyed the Westward Hotel, where his
first lecture was to have taken place.

After Alaska, the tour will wind up with booksignings in
Los Angeles at the Bodhi Tree Bookstore on July 2
evening, the Thunder Bolt Bookstore in Santa Monica on
the afternoon of July 3 and at the Koan Gallery in Los
Angeles that evening. Gurudeva returns to his Kauai
ashram on the Fourth of July.


------------------------ Additional Material on
Subramuniyaswami:

Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami is the publisher of
the monthly magazine Hinduism Today and the author of
over thirty books on Hinduism. A living example of
awakening and wisdom and a leader recognized
worldwide as one of Hinduism's foremost ministers, he
began his life on January 5, 1927, in Oakland, California.


Gurudeva burst into enlightenment in the caves of
Jalani, Sri Lanka, in 1948, after long months of fasting
and meditating. Soon after he met his satguru, siddha
yogi and worshiper of Siva, Sage Yogaswami of Jaffna,
Sri Lanka, who initiated him into the holy orders of
sannyasa (renunciation) and ordained him into his
lineage.

Since then, for fifty years Satguru Sivaya
Subramuniyaswami has been guiding seekers on the the
spiritual path, teaching the profound truths of yoga and
Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism). In Sri Lanka, he founded
Saiva Siddhanta Church, the world's first Hindu church,
now active in many nations. Returning to America, he
founded the Himalayan Academy, and opened America's
first Hindu temple, in San Francisco.

In 1970, he established his monastery temple on the
Garden Island of Kauai in Hawaii, where he and 28 monks
from six nations live and serve. Five years later, he
founded on that 51-acre paradise, San Marga Iraivan
Temple, a center where he sees devotees coming "to find
the center of themselves."

From 1976 to 1983, he led 14 Innersearch pilgrimages,
guiding hundreds of devotees to the world's sacred
temples and illumined sages. In 1979, he founded
"Hinduism Today" magazine to unite Hindus in the world
and inspire seekers everywhere. In 1982, he founded a
branch monastery in Mauritius.

In 1986, he was honored by Delhi's World Religious
Parliament as one of five world teachers for his
international efforts in promoting a Hindu renaissance.
He was chosen to represent Hinduism at the prestigious
meetings of spiritual and political leaders, the Global
Forum for Human Survival, held in Oxford (1988), Moscow
(1990) and Rio de Janeiro (1992) and was chosen one of
three "presidents" of Hinduism at the Chicago Parliament
of the World's Religions in 1993.

In 1995, he founded Hindu Heritage Endowment, a public
service trust that provides a permanent source of
income for Hindu Swamis, temples and orphanages.

Today, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami is the 162nd
preceptor of his lineage, the Nandinatha Sampradaya's
Kailasa Parampara. He is the author of more than thirty
books unfolding practical insights on Hindu metaphysics,
mysticism and yoga, including "Loving Ganesa," "Dancing
With Siva," The "Lemurian Scrolls" and "Merging with
Siva," his latest work in which he shares his personal
revelations in a collection of 365 daily lessons. In India
in 1995, he received the title of "Dharmachakra" for his
remarkable publications which articulate Indian wisdom
and striving.

------------------------------ Additional Material on
Merging with Siva

Merging with Siva contains the teachings of a
contemporary Guru who has been teaching the art of
meditation for over 50 years. Subramuniyaswami openly
shares here the recorded inspired talks given to his
close devotees. Many secrets about the control of the
life force as it flows through the mind are revealed, how
to clear the mind of its distracting and
energy-consuming memories and conflicts, how to meet
life's challenges with an inner view of ourselves as
eternal, divine, aspiring souls, perfect and striving to
express that perfection.

He invites readers to "Come on a tour of the mind with
me, into its depths and find out how simple or complex
it can be. See for yourself how easy it is for you to
control your mind and fathom your problems from the
innermost recesses of your being."

Merging with Siva provides an overview of the path to
enlightenment from the Hindu perspective, which
believes in karma, reincarnation and the existence of God
everywhere. Subramuniyaswami begins with a classic
description of the Self within us and how to realize God.
This is the ultimate purpose of life, he reminds us. He
describes the process of spiritual growth, from the
beginning stages to the mystical realms of spiritual
attainment as casually and convincingly as a botanist
might describe the stages of a flower's growth from
seed to stem to bud and finally to flower.

Merging with Siva is organized in 365 daily five minute
lessons, which can be studied before sleep or as part of
one's morning meditation. The lessons show how to lead
a happy and creative life, offering the perspective that
we are not the body, not the mind and not the emotions.
These are only vehicles through which our higher being,
our soul, functions.

Merging with Siva also includes Subramuniyaswami's
earliest writings on Raja Yoga done in Oakland,
California, in 1950. It was then titled Cognizantibiltity,
a collection of aphorisms and commentary explaining the
five states of mind and their interrelation and the
transmutation of the sexual energies. Those who
remember Subramuniya's "Pathfinder Library" (talks
given at his temple in San Francisco and published in the
60's and 70's by Comstock House) will rejoice to those
metaphysical gems in print once again in this impressive
1,400 page masterpiece.

The following photos are available in high resolution
jpeg at: /taka/outgoing/gurutour/

Photo Captions:

"Gurudeva-portrait" Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
in a 1997 portrait by famed Indian artist Indra Sharma
photo credit: Hinduism Today

"Bethesda-Deities" Subramuniyaswami with leaders of
the Bethesda Murugan temple stand in the inner sanctum
before the newly installed Lord Muruga Deity. Bethesda,
Maryland, May 31, 1999 photo credit: Hinduism Today

"Bethesda-Parade" Subramuniyaswami and Swami
Satchidananda (under umbrella at left) parade to the
temple during the Deity installation ceremonies.
Bethesda, Maryland, May 31, 1999 photo credit: Hinduism
Today

"Seattle-temple-arati" Subramuniyaswami performs
"arati," the waving of the sacred oil lamp, before the
newly arrived image of Lord Ganesha destined for the
first Hindu temple of the Seattle area. Seattle,
Washington, June 16, 1999 photo credit: Nitya Nadesan

"Seattle-booksigning" Subramuniyaswami at a book
signing for his newly released 1,300-page "Merging with
Siva." Barnes and Noble Bookstore. Bellevue, Washington,
June 16, 1999 photo credit: Nitya Nadesan

"Gurudeva200DPI" Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami,
June, 1999, taken in Kauai, Hawaii, USA. photo credit:
Hinduism Today

"Vancouver-book-signing" Subramuniyaswami signs
copies of his new book, "Merging with Siva" at the
Vancouver Central Library. Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada, June 17, 1999 photo credit: Nitya Nadesan