 Satguru Siva Yogaswami Jaffna, Sri Lanka |
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 Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami Kauai's Hindu Monastery, USA |
| October 19, 1999 - Dhanishtha | ||
    
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 Sun One arrived again and with it the regular weekly homa and blessing of the Iraivan foundation. Meanwhile our trusty "transcriber" of the weekly Acharya talks in the temple has sent us the talk given by Acharya Ceyonswami last Sun Five. ===== Acharya Ceyonswami talked to us this morning about the concepts in Jane Nelsen's book on Positive Discipline and how they relate to the nature of the soul. Some of the young monks are practicing their public speaking and Gurudeva is having them read passages from this book to the Monastery at lunch. Acharya Ceyonswami introduced the idea of perfection to us and how Jane Nelsen relates to perfection in her book. The whole emphasis is on improvement, not perfection. In the West we are taught to be ashamed of our mistakes. Positive Discipline teaches that mistakes are wonderful opportunities to learn. The idea of perfection is presented as a very unrealistic expectation for children and discouraging to those who feel they must live up to it. Being a Saivite we understand that Lord Siva has 3 perfections. We also understand that the soul has TWO perfections. How do we reconcile the Positive Discipline approach with Saiva Siddhanta? It is simple and Jane Nelsen is absolutely right in her approach. The essence of the soul is perfect right now in it's unchanging essence as Parasivam or the depths of Satchidananda, but our soul body is imperfect because it is changing, growing, maturing.
 Positive Discipline deals with the Karma Mala. We have the 3 malas right? Anava, Karma and Maya. Do you remember what Mala means? - dirt, residue, impurity. Karma Mala is the residue of action. We looked up perfection and here is what we found - Perfection: Lacking nothing essential to the whole; complete of its nature or kind. Being without defect or blemish. Complete; thorough; utter. Pure; undiluted; unmixed. So we see that perfection is perfect and does not need to be changed in any way. What you add to perfection is a blemish. Our basic nature is perfection but in the process of evolution it is what we have added that is imperfect and which we have to get rid of. Vasanas are imperfect. They are responsible for how we see ourselves and how we look at others. We remember people by what they did and not who they are during the karma Mala. Identity is shaped by action: "What I have done is who I am" is the karma Mala. The perception of a pure state of being is distorted by the karma Mala.  If you looked at a perfect soul He would have a brilliant clear golden aura extending out all around him - there would be no colors or blemishes. He would act not from karma but from Kriya - with no sense of authorship or notion of being an individual. He would act from the whole of perfection. Well you don't see very many people like that walking around the planet today, so Jane Nelsen is absolutely right. God is the only thing that is perfect and when a soul is perfect well then that's merger. Stepping onto the path is realizing that you are imperfect and for now in a state of becoming. Some Vedantans say - I am perfect now so I don't need to do anything. Siddhantans accept their imperfection right now and move on in their striving and sadhana mastering productive life skills. If we were perfect right now their would be no need to do sadhana - absolutely no reason to do sadhana.  After the homa the monks and members parade to San Marga.  The air was fresh and clean after an exciting night with thunder and lightening. We often experience this as we approach the holy festival of Skanda Shashti.   The morning fun after these storms is always the wide variance of subjective experiences and the attendant "kidding around." Monk 1: "Wasn't that thunder and lightening last night incredible?" Monk 2: "What thunder. . .I didn't hear anything." Monk 1: "Oh, come on, that's impossible! One of those lightening strikes was so close that even inside my hut, when I put my arm up over my eyes to block out the flash, I could see my bones and the clap of thunder was right on top of us. . .the ground was shaking. How could you sleep through that?" Monk 2: "I don't know, but get this, I still heard my little alarm go off at 4:30 as usual."
      The sky this morning was full of so many hues of cool blue as the temperatures dropped today to 60 degrees in the early morning.   Some beautiful souls from UK and Malaysia came on pilgrimage. On the right, Thevendran and his wife Uma from Malaysia who says: "I read every issue of Hinduism Today when it comes out in Malaysia, every single word!" On the left is a Sri Lankan family now living in UK: Dr. and Mrs. Kumar Rajasekeran from Lancashire England.
 The pilgrims visit our publications office. Dr. Rajasekeran was very impressed by Kauai Aadheenam and said:
"You people are doing incredible work. I want to help in anyway I can. We all bless you from our hearts to carry on. Who could ever imagine that this is going on in the middle of the Pacific!"
 Gurudeva meets with everyone and signs their books.  Year 2000 March Caribbean Innersearch Taking Reservations Now Gurudeva says, "Come with me to the Caribbean next March, on the Year 2000 Innersearch. Besides our wonderful study together, we are planning a gala gathering of Hindus in Trinidad for one day." We will depart from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on March 25th and return to Fort Lauderdale on April 4th and be traveling on Holland America's spectacular, brand new cruise ship, the MS/Volendam.
For information contact our wonderful tour agent who will be conducting the Innersearch: Kailash and Indra Dhaksinamurthi of Search Beyond Adventures, Inc. ASAP at Very Important!: |
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