 Satguru Siva Yogaswami Jaffna, Sri Lanka |
|
 Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami Kauai's Hindu Monastery, USA |
||
|
September 4, 2000
-
Jyeshtha Hindu Year 5102: Vikrama, the "Year of Fulfillment" |
||||
    
|
||||
 Gurudeva arrives home this evening on Kauai, but we will be continuing our photo documentary of his recent mission to the mainland. After leaving New York Gurudeva went to Chicago and then to Memphis, Tennessee which is home to one of American's most beautiful Hindu temples. Key temple man, organizer and host is Mr. Prasad Duggirala and his wife Vijaya. Here is their son, Ravi Duggirala (on Gurudeva's left) and friends Ron Miller and Steve with Gurudeva at the Borders in Memphis. Ravi and Ron are working hard to enter training for the Navy Seals, famed elite fighting group. Twenty-eight-year-old Ravi hopes to eventually enter the astronaut program.
Cybertalk: A e-devotee in Germany asks about wealth. Gurudeva explains how many people approach wealth as the accuMulation of money and possessions. But the spiritual, asian way of wealth is different. True wealth is based more on having time to enjoy what one already has, spending time with friends and family, and the truest wealth is a firm inner contentment.
Do you have questions for Gurudeva?  Booksigning at the huge Borders Bookstore in Germantown, Tennessee, just outside of Memphis. About 50 people attended, buying about 40 books total.  People surround Gurudeva at the booksigning table. Merging with Siva, Loving Ganesha, Lemurian Scrolls and How to Become a Hindu were popular.  Gurudeva with long-ago devotees Richard Joseph and his wife, Susan. Richard had accompanied Gurudeva on the 3-month Indian Odyssey Innersearch Travel-Study program in 1969, and had not personally seen Gurudeva since 1970, so this was a moving reunion. Susan says he has many stories of those adventures.  Ravi's young cousin with Gurudeva. Later at the temple's youth group session with Gurudeva she asked many excellent questions, among them what does the pottu mean?  Gurudeva takes an early morning stroll near the hotel in Memphis' record triple-digit heat. It was the hottest September 1st since 1951.  Beaming priests greet Gurudeva at the India Cultural Center and Temple just outside of Memphis, Tennessee, along with the temple's dynamic founder and president, Prasad Duggirala. Two priests are from the Vaishnavite tradition, one is a Saivite, another is Smarta. Together they manage the forest-gird temple which serves about 600 Hindus who drive here from other Southern states for events and festivals. After the property was acquired they discovered it was actually the highest point in the entire county. The next-door dairy farm supplies an occasional calf for ceremonies.  Temple youth met privately with Gurudeva--no parents allowed! The bright boys and girls had a lot of questions, ranging from why do we wear a dot on our foreheads to whether the temple rituals are really scientific to--from 12-year-old Krishna--"Can you explain how do we merge with Siva? Gurudeva, what is it like to merge with Siva?"  Prasad Duggirala introduces Gurudeva to the devotees. He spoke eloquently of Gurudeva's life and global influence among Hindus, of his great publications (Hinduism Today was called "the National Geographic of religious magazines) and about his personal experiences last week in New York when he attended the ceremony at the United Nations where Gurudeva received the U Thant Peace Award (pronounced You Tant). About 250 in the temple heard Gurudeva's wide-ranging and hard-hitting talk. They had come from as far away as Alabama, Missouri and Mississippi for the final day of Ganesha Chaturthi.  Gurudeva addresses the assembled devotees. He talked about how a man can only be successful when his wife is happy, when he has her shakti behind him, which makes him charismatic and magnetic. To make his wife happy, he has to "give her everything she wants and everything she needs." Gurudeva related a story about a man who came to see him because his business was failing. Gurudeva said, "Your wife is unhappy." He said, "How did you know?" "Because your business is failing." So the man went back, promising to give his wife everything she needed (which was a medium size list) and everything she wanted (which was just one thing--that her husband be home for dinner each night). When these adjustments were made, the man's business began to turn around. Gurudeva also talked about the need for ahimsa in the home, especially that there be no corporal punishment of children, none whatsoever, and no abuse of the wife. He talked about the absolute necessity for the priests in the temple to be treated right, for an unhappy, abused priest will be unable to invoke the blessings of the Gods into the temple. Especially the priests should be given respect, and "not treated like hospital orderlies."  Young Krishna volunteered to help with Hinduism Today magazine, as one of our growing team of youth correspondents. So did Abu from Nepal, but we didn't get a photo of him.  Gurudeva with Marsa and Dylan O'Sullivan at the Embassy Suites Hotel, Memphis. Dylan is just 16 but he has deep spiritual aspirations and has expressed an interest in Hindu monastic life, so he and his mother were invited to meet Gurudeva in Memphis. They drove 400 miles to be there, and also attended the booksigning that evening and temple event the next day. Marsa has a connection to Indian spirituality, too, having been following the teachings and meditations of Guru Maharaja for over 25 years.   We had some wonderful guests today. The Sudhakar family from New Jersey (in front) who moved from Tirupati, India, four years ago. Also the Om Sharma family (hiding in back) from the Richmond, Vancouver, Canada area, who saw Gurudeva recently on Canadian TV, looked us up on the web and came to visit. They are originally from Fiji.  Pictures from Homas past. . . The Rig Veda says:
"Bright hath he beamed, "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 Gurudeva's Travel Itinerary/Visiting Kauai's Hindu Monastery Click here for information about Gurudeva's travels. He will be to New York for United Nations events from August 24th through August 29th. And if you are planning to visit Kauai, please go first to our our visitor's page.Thank you. 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. Sign our guestbook and we will send you a free issue of our global full-color bi-monthly magazine, Hinduism Today. 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. Home | About Gurudeva | Cyber Talks | Guest Book Hawaii Ashram | Iraivan Temple | Saiva Siddhanta Church | Himalayan Academy | Books Hindu Basics | Hinduism Today | Hindu Heritage Endowment | Art & Aums | Resources How Can I Help? | Thank You Gurudeva Fund Newest Book: "How to Become a Hindu." Contact Us Copyright © 2000 Saiva Siddhanta Church. All rights reserved. |
||||