![]() Satguru Siva Yogaswami Jaffna, Sri Lanka |
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![]() Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami Kauai's Hindu Monastery, USA |
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July 7, 2001
July 7: Sravana until 12:04AM Sun HST July 8: Dhanishtha until 2:57AM Mon HST Hindu Year 5103: Vrisha, the "Year of Fulfillment" |
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Gurudeva answered questions today from Cyberspace... to many of them he is responding with a common theme, as for example when someone as several questions about performing japa (meditative repetition of sacred mantras) : "First you should get a clear intellectual concept of the philosophy. Then the japa will come alive."
Take this opportunity for an adventure. Close your eyes and click to get a message picked at random from our vast audio archives
Date: July_01_2001 Title: Diplomacy and Controlling Speech Category: Inspired Talks for Families--Grihastha Shastras Duration: 4 min., 21 seconds Date Given: June 26th, 2001 The inspired talk today is on 'Diplomacy'. Many problems are caused in homes and in business by people telling everything that they know. People's minds are like a sieve. Put something into it and it goes out the other side, often as distorted information or misinformation which causes all kinds of problems. You really have to be very careful about what you tell members of your family or people in the workplace. You have to know whether they can contain the knowledge, or whether the knowledge will just spill out the other side because they won't discriminate. Wisdom is the timely application of knowledge. Since wisdom is the timely, diplomatic application of knowledge and dissemination of that knowledge, there are some things that we just don't talk about at all. They are called unsolvable problems, again within the home or in the workplace. A problem that cannot be solved should not be spoken of, because it will only create unhappiness, argument or distressful situations. We must ask ourselves, "What is spiritual life?" Spiritual life is keeping the prana between ourselves and other people or groups of people, flowing very, very nicely. The prana uplifts everyone. Worldly life is the prana that is like a churning ocean. It is not always uplifting. Often, it pulls your consciousness down. It is often antagonistic, extremely complicated, like tangled-up energy. In spiritual life, the prana flows beautifully. So, for a harmonious home, harmonious office or being harmonious among everyone you are associated with, watch your words. Words often disturb the prana. Words often tangle the prana, create arguments, unnecessary discussions. We watch our words by watching our thoughts. Keep the pranas flowing beautifully at all times. That is spiritual life. How do you know what not to talk about? Test the situation. Suppose the husband and wife are of different religions. Every time they talk about their religion, it creates an argument. Then, they should not talk about religion. That is an unsolvable problem. Allow each one his religious freedom. This is only one of many examples we could cite. There are many, many more examples of what we cannot solve. We don't try to solve those problems and situations. We live with them and enhance what we are doing in a happy, wonderful way, to keep the pranas flowing properly. So, the big point today is, spiritual life is keeping the pranas flowing properly, harmoniously. Worldly life is, often, pranas that are tangled, antagonistic, bouncing around and hurting other people's feelings, as well as your own. Keep the prana flowing beautifully.
Thambynathan Girish Samugam blows the conch during the final Arati. Girish is from Singapore and first came to Kauai Aadheenam when he was about 10 years old. He then spent a few months at an ashram in India before returning home to Singapore where he is being home schooled. He's spending his summer break at Kauai Aadheenam. After the cyber space questions are finished our group of devotees ask questions. The lovely Kadavul Hindu Temple has an "other worldly" vibration to it, especially after a homa. Today Gurudeva talked about "good money" and "bad money," that is, money earned by means approved by dharma and money earned by illegal and unethical means. Devotees bring fresh fruit and vegetable offerings to the temple to help feed the monks. We really appreciate it!
At the work site our silpis have made dynamic progress in a short time. They've completed the first course of the main sanctum and begun the second. Leveling and fitting is moving forward well. Please, if you have not made a monthly pledge, make one today. In order to keep the silpis on Kauai and also to maintain the work flow in Bangalore we need to increase our monthly income for the temple to $39,000.00. Make a pledge today or increase your monthly pledge if you can. Email Iraivan@hindu.org for information A fork lift was used to get the stones up from foundation level to the working level, and then placed on boards. Here the silpis roll one stone off into position. Then with slight movements of the bars, coordinated with Shanmuga Sthapati's gentle chant "Aisa, Aisa, Aisa...." the rock moves into place. Simple implements of the trade, square, hammer, iron chisel and a level. The second course is actuall the first set of stones that appear above the floor level of the temple. The traditional up-turned lotus shape adorns the edge. A set of blunted chisels sits in a pile to be returned to the blacksmith forge for sharpening. Its quite amazing what a tight fit and how perfectly the stones match up....how do they do it? Well, in Bangalore, they lay out the entire course and the stones are checked and fitted there before being shipped to Kauai for the final fitting which then only requires small adjustments. It takes one person one to three months to prepare each of these stones from a rough piece of granite, depending upon the amount of ornamental detail.
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