A Daily Chronicle of Kauai's Hindu Monastery

Satguru Siva Yogaswami
Jaffna, Sri Lanka

A Daily Chronicle of Kauai's Hindu Monastery

Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
Kauai's Hindu Monastery, USA

December 30, 2000
December 30: Satabhisha Until 4:18AM Sun HST
December 31: Purvaprostapada Until 7:04AM Mon HST
Hindu Year 5102: Vikrama, the "Year of Fulfillment"

With Gurudeva being away from us while his back is healing, we take the opportunity to reflect on the great blessings of having a spiritual preceptor in our lives. In our hearts we echo these wonderful words by Siva Yogaswami about his Guru, Chellappaswami:

THE OMNIPOTENT MAHAVAAKIAM

(The All Powerful Great Sayings) 'Detach, and in attachment, see detachment,
Espouse righteous living with awareness, my dear
Thou art myself'--Thus spoke he.
"No intrinsic evil is there,' so said he,
'And Truth is Absolute,' he added my dear.
Yet he behaved like a dumbman, dear.
'Accomplished is His Will--there's neither before nor after.'
Like thunder, he echoed these words, my dear
What more can I speak, my dear.

'That is: Who doth know?' so said he.
No parallel to him can I conceive, my dear.
Dazed and motionless I become, my dear.
'We know not,' declared the wise teacher.
A wholesome life bequeathed he, my dear
Fled are all the unrighteous acts, my dear.
In oneness did I see the universe in and out.
Yet I see not that which seeth so, my dear.
The link of causation too hath vanished, my dear.
Dweller at Nallur my dear, known by the holy name
Chellappan, so they called him, my dear.

His abode is the canopy of the chariot.
The devotees who adore him are selfless folks,
Who do not see the merging of day into night,
They claim his Feet as their sole refuge, my dear.
--Natchintanai. 165.

Title: Working in the microcosm, Temple repair
Category: Hinduism and Tradition
Duration: 2 min., 52 seconds
Date Given: November 17th, 2000
Date Posted: December_30_2000

Cybertalk: A cyberspace devotee puts forth a question to the e-Guru today wanting to know about working in the microcosm and affecting the macrocosm. Gurudeva says that everybody is affecting everybody else and Gurudeva says that by printing books, pamphlets and writing letters to the editor of a newspaper has an affect on the mass consciousness. Another question comes this time from Australia from a cyberdevotee wanting to know how the temples in his area can be repaired and the priests kept happy and encouraged. Gurudeva says that the Hindu Heritage Endowment was created for purposes like this. Gurudeva also mentions that Hinduism Today is constantly encouraging everyone to care for respect and to keep priests happy in order to have a happy temple and a happy congregation.

" For more information about listening to Gurudeva's talks online and to hear them in other formats, click here.

Do you have questions for Gurudeva? Send to questions@hindu.org.

Please note: Gurudeva only responds to questions from the general public on matters that are suitable for our public cyber audience. Personal or intimate questions sent to this address are not answered.

A detailed index of past inspired talks is available here.

Transcription of One of Gurudeva's CyberTalks
Date: December_26_2000
Title: Aum Saravanabhava Mantra, Monastery for Ladies, Merging with Siva
Category: Hinduism and Tradition
Duration: 3 min., 42 seconds
Date Given: November 9, 2000

A cyberspace devotee in Iowa asks about, "The mantra 'Aum Saravanabhava' - Should we use that other than just 'Aum' or do we have to be initiated?"

Well, the first step is to become a member of the Hindu religion, in one or another of the four sects of the Hindu religion - Saivism, Vaishnivism, Saktism or Smartism.

For the Saivite Hindus, 'Saravanabhava' is the first mantra often given before the initiation into mantra diksha, which would bring the Hindu after training into 'Aum Namasivaya'. Those who have not taken this step toward Hinduism, should chant 'Aum', which is the sound of the universe. Aum, Aum. With each mantra, are mudra and visualization, as part of the mantra. Otherwise, it is just empty sounds going out into the air.

A cyberspace devotee, Sarvan in Cyprus, asks another question about the mantra 'Saravanabhava'. "What does it mean?"

It means a thicket of reeds around the lake that Lord Murugan was born into. With the proper visualization, it calms the mind. That is the purpose of this mantra, to make the mind as calm as the lake.

A cyberspace devotee in Mauritius, a 17-year old girl, is wondering about joining a monastery for ladies.

There are quite a few monasteries for ladies, headed up by wonderful lady gurus. Yes, you can join a monastery and detach yourself from the world. The ashrams that mix boys and girls together are more like hotels. They are called ashrams, not monasteries.

A cyber devotee, Sivakumaran in Maryland, wants to merge with Lord Siva. He goes to the Murugan temples there and wonders if this is possible for him.

Sivakumaran, I don't know if you have the beautiful book, 'Merging with Siva', the 365 daily lessons, that take five to seven minutes to study everyday. They are fifty years of all of my divine teachings on the Earth. There are many steps in merging with Siva until the final one, visvagrasa, is attained. Actually, the energy in your body and the light that lights up
your mind is coming from Siva this very moment. That is a form of merging with Siva.

It is a very slow process and detachment from the world is an essential part of it. If you have a career, don't go too far in merging with Siva. Otherwise, the world will renounce you and you'll loose your career. The best advise is to close off the lower nature. No anger, no jealousy, no fear, no pornography. There are a lot of no's in our Yamas and Niyamas, within Saivite Hinduism.

A mainstay of our day is the morning puja and meditation. Here are all the monks at 5:30 AM each day, for the worship of Lord Siva. followed by meditation from 6am to 7am.

Our young Thambynathan Nutanaya is helping with the morning arati at the Muruga puja which is held at 6:00 AM every day, 365 days a year.

Eight Young Ladies Retreat participants (those who have so far kept at bay the winter flu bugs) attended the simple, but famous, San Marga puja this morning, a puja that's continued every day for decades. Our Aspirant Thambynathan Sivaram from Malaysia meticulously performed the puja with devotion. Arati is performed here to Lord Muruga.

Arati to Lord Muruga.

Puja is done to the Swayambhu (Self Manifest) Sivalingam under a rain-be-gone Quick Tent. This is the famous place where Gurudeva had a vision of Lord Siva years ago and inaugurated the Iraivan Temple project. Lord Siva was seated on the large flat rock in the right in the foreground and indicated the stone in the center to be worshipped. This sacred site will be maintained as an outdoor shrine. There is a great shanti that permeates the atmosphere here.

Abhishekam to the Sivalingam.

More bright souls who came for Siva's darshan during the holy-day season.

This is Mrs. Shanmuganathan along with her daughter, Priyadarshani, on a pilgrimage from England. Her family are ardent devotees of Siva Yogaswami, and it has been her long time wish to visit Kauai Aadheenam. Today is the first day of a ten day festival for Siva and she sang the special Tiruvembavai songs to Siva Nataraja after the morning puja.

This is Ariel Lewin, from Georgia, a Merging with Siva student. She is visiting for a week, coming to the temple daily, and created this beautiful birthday card for Gurudeva that depicts her meditation at the beach. Up close it is quite a work of art.

Here is a close up of the beautiful work done by the ladies of the Kauai mission. Wow! Such an uplifting sight! The foundation feels like a temple already!

Red and white stripes are traditional markings on the walls of Hindu temples in India.

Thanks to all the ladies of the Kauai mission who worked so tirelessly to complete this festival curtain. (the river rocks are temporary).

At 8am Guhanathaswami conducted a class for the Young Ladies Retreat at the Villa Aloha on "Lotus of the Heart." It was a guided meditation from Merging with Siva where they explored their inner recesses as being like a beautiful lotus flower.

Later Saravanannathaswami facilitated classes for the Retreat in hatha yoga, concentration exercises and music appreciation. The column on the left side of the board shows their current frequency in performing hatha yoga. On the far left are listed the benefits of performing hatha yoga. The right column shows the Retreat participants' new goals of more consistent hatha yoga practice, even if just for a few minutes at a time. The group was guided to set realistic goals they could actually manifest when they return home.

The Retreat participants demonstrate a clapping-hands-and-pass-the-cups game which requires a lot of concentration and is great fun.

Retreat participant Anousha Samugam, a Singaporian, displays all the emotions felt by the group as a they listened to various kinds of uplifting music.

Retreaters having their almost daily class with Acharya Ceyonswami in the Guru Temple, today on a chapter from the Lemurian Scrolls. The youth were also asked for their reactions to the trance mediumship done by Arthur Pacheco yesterday, and they all gave testimonies on how it was a major experience in their life, giving first hand experience of the next world.

Listening intently with their diary books open, ready to take notes.

An eleven acre site in Bangalore, India, where 75 Indian families live and daily carve the sacred white granite edifice of Iraivan Temple which will soon begin to be assembled on the island of Kauai

This is C. Loges, one of the few silpis from Karnataka. He is working on the Beam stone. He has been working with us on the carving of the Iraivan temple since 1993.

Gurudeva's other monastery in the island country of Mauritius
in the Indian Ocean near South Africa

Today was a quiet day. Only a few visitors. Here's a photo of Siven and Ragini Veerasamy and child taken at the open house a few days ago. Siven is our groundskeeper and "jack -of-all-trades." Right now he's keeping the 2,000 young trees of the park alive by watering with a hose! All day everyday during this scorching hot dry North Coast Mauritius summer. He's a professional block layer by trade....able to build entire buildings from concrete and block. He and his family are very devout Hindus. This week he is on vacation. Part of his free time will be spent at the local temple digging a huge, long pit for its upcoming firewalking ceremony.

Here's Siven doing what he does best. Working with concrete.

Siven has been taught by the monks how to raise bees. (Gurudeva's monks have kept bees for years.) Siven also has his own beehives. A couple of days ago he harvested a little bit of honey (3 frames yielding about 6 litres) from our monastery beehive. Here's a photo of Brahmachari Navind next to the monastery's beehive holding a sample of the honey. Looks like he doesn't want to get too close!! Actually the bees are quite gentle. And the honey they have produced is delicious. It's a been made by the bees from a mix of mango and eucalyptus flowers. Navind is on break from University and will be with us for a few days.

Click here to view this day last year.

"How to Become A Hindu"! Gurudeva's latest book release is now available Hot Off the Press! Visit the Himalayan Academy Book Store Web Site get the book and read the incredible testimonies of the early pioneers from the west who chose to make a full and complete conversion to Hinduism, legally change both their first and last names to Hindu names, change their lifestyles, sever their formal connections to previous faiths and joyously face the challenges in joining the tribe of the Sanatana Dharma

Visiting Kauai's Hindu Monastery
If you are planning to visit Kauai, please go first to our our visitor's page. Thank you.

2001 EUROPEAN INNERSEARCH
12 Glorious Days, 8 Enchanting Countries
and One Chance in a Lifetime!
Imagine spending 12 days with one of the greatest spiritual leaders of this century. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami will be leading this exotic educational and spiritual voyage himself combining the mystical path of Indian spirituality with a superlative retreat from it all.

Take advantage of this one chance to be in close proximity with a living master. Come with us on an inner and outer voyage to Northern Europe and Russia.
www.innersearch.org

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THANK YOU, GURUDEVA

For those who have been touched spiritually by Gurudeva's work, his books, his guidance, his inspired life and example and even his website, the "Thank You, Gurudeva Fund" has been established within Hindu Heritage Endowment.

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