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

June 7, 2000 - Magha
Hindu Year 5102: Vikrama, the "Year of Fulfillment"

Gurudeva returned from his trip strong and ready to go this morning as if he had only been gone a day.

Title: Overcoming Fear
Category: Self Improvement
Duration: 50 seconds

Cybertalk: Today Gurudeva gives some insights and advice to an e-devotee who wrote in saying, "Fear is a problem in my life." Gurudeva advises not taking on other people's problems and finishing whatever you have started.

" 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?
Please continue to send your questions for Gurudeva to answer in his Cybertalks. E-mail questions@hindu.org.

A detailed index of past inspired talks is available here.

Transcription of One of Gurudeva's CyberTalks
Date: November 12, 1999
Title: Friendship Part 2 clean
Category:
Duration: 3 minutes, 25 seconds

Make a list of everyone. This is an ookanashum, this is a sadhana. Make a list of everyone, who you call your friend. Then analyze that list one person after another and say, "Are they a friend or are they an acquaintance? Are they one with me spiritually, religiously? Do we share the same philosophy? Do we share the same food, the same tastes, the same perfumes, the same incense? Do we share the same cultural events, the same social life, the same friends?"

Nowadays, a friendship is just sharing a bed. And that is called a friendship. That's just a brief encounter with an acquaintance you don't know very well and may never ever know or be acquainted again. It happens to be called that L word. Love? Not that one. It is really the other L word - Lust.

Everyone now, in todays world, is wanting to get back to the roots and straighten out their lives. They are going through all kinds of loops in order to do so. Start with friends and acquaintances. Have a formal relationship with your acquaintances and have an informal relationship with your friends because you know each other and you trust each other. You have a spiritual love, a social love-sharing, a cultural love, an economic understanding in love and sharing. You can trade energies back and forth, without going to bed, also.

You might find that you don't have any friends. Well, that would be something wonderful to know. So, get out those Dipavali cards and Holiday greeting cards and Birthday cards and keep your acquaintances at a slight, polite distance. Invite them into your home and have a sharing of food and don't talk about anything they don't want to hear about. Don't get in on that forbidden territory, don't cross that line into their lives too deeply - you may regret it. You can keep acquaintances going throughout the years.

So we want to, now, take the Kumba to the Iraivan temple foundation. Om Nama Sivaya, everyone. Here we go to Iraivan temple.

Tour day--the last day of our phase, before our two day monastic retreat and Gurudeva signs books for guests.

He said that he probably "signed over 1,000 books in Singapore and Malaysia."

Very intelligent questions from sincere seekers elicit the wisdom of the sages.

In the temple every three hours a monastic takes a "vigil." 3am- 6am; 6am - 9am; 9am - 12 noon; 12 noon-3pm; 3pm-6pm; 6pm - 9pm; 9pm - 12 midnite; 12 midnite-3am. When Kadavul Hindu temple was established in 1973, Gurudeva said:

"God doesn't sleep, so we do not put the Deities "to bed" here. Pujas will be performed every three hours, 24 hours a day, seven days a week and an alert mind will be present in the temple 24 hours a day, taking care of the temple, studying and performing sadhana." This tradition has been maintained by the monks for nearly 30 years now, and is the power behind all our work.

Here Acharya Ceyonswami (passing the flame before Lord Ganesha) has been in the temple from 9am - 12 noon. Sannyasin Shanmuganathaswami stands to be blessed before he begins the next "shift" from 12 noon- 3 pm.

Shanti cat perches before exquisitely colored bromeliads, fixated on some moving bug or tiny creature in the grass, her white coat looking pristine among the tropical colors.

Some retrospective shots from transit through Taipei. Acharya Kumarswami and Sadhaka Thondunatha accompany Gurudeva on a "walking tour."

When Gurudeva signed books in Asia, he gave away the pen he used to the person who had the book. In Taipei he found a company that will supply his pens in the future. Putting his stop over stay to good use!

Sadhaka Japdendra ( who is behind the camera) says: "I really liked the Chinese people, they are so sweet and cultured."

Chop stick time!

Then on to the plane to come home. Stopping over in Taiwan makes all the difference in turning an otherwise overly long and exhausting trip into a opportunity to get some rest and arrive at your destination fresh and ready to face the crowds! And 10 cups of water a day keeps the travel headaches away!

Gurudeva's Travel Itinerary/Visiting Kauai's Hindu Monastery
Click here for information about Gurudeva's travels. Gurudeva returns from his Singapore, Malaysia mission tomorrow. Next on the travel roster will be the July trip to Seattle, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Information on events there and who to contact for program dates and times are posted.

And if you are planning to visit Kauai, please go first to our our visitor's page.Thank you.

INNERSEARCH EUROPE 2001

12 Glorious Days, 8 Enchanting Countries and One Chance in a Lifetime!

Join Gurudeva for Himalayan Academy's 17th travel-study program, the 2001 European Innersearch, themed the "Hinduism Today Adventure".

Go to www.innersearch.org and for more detailed information, please contact Sadhaka Dandapani. Space is limited and filling up fast!

Very Important: Please include your mailing address and telephone number in the body of your message. We will keep you posted as the program develops.

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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.

Proceeds from this fund last forever; they're not a one-time gift. So gifts to this fund have eternal gratitude built into them. They live on in perpetuity.

Each month Gurudeva receives the income from the fund to be used at his own discretion to promote his work and mission around the globe. He loves this, for he knows that it comes from all the good souls who have met him and studied with him, traveled with him or just talked with him over the years. A contribution to this fund is tax-deductible.

This page is updated every day at 5:30pm Hawaii Standard Time.