 Satguru Siva Yogaswami Jaffna, Sri Lanka  Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami Hawaii, USA |
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 Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami Kauai's Hindu Monastery, USA 
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March 8, 2002
March 8: Purvashadha until 10:28AM HST March 9: Uttarashadha until 12:44PM HST Hindu Year 5103: Vrisha, the "Year of Fulfillment" |
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 Our latest memorial issue of Hinduism Today has arrived and what a fabulous treasure it will be for everyone to see. One of the "wonderfulments" of the issue is a great map showing Gurudeva's travels and all the places he touched. We are already getting "accolades" from readers: "Swamiji, Namaste, You all did a magnificent job on it. It must have been very trying to capture everything Gurudeva represented. What came across loud and clear was - love! Oh, how proud he must be of all of you. Sir, congratulations."
Our Beloved and Revered Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
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Cybertalk: Gurudeva said there is a need for religion. Gurudeva at first just taught meditation, but then later he started teaching devotion and had everyone building temples. Gurudeva realized his devotees needed a foundation of devotion without which meditation wouldn't really bear fruit. Devotion gives us something to fall back so we don't go down in consciousness. Chellapaswami said, "We do not know." This means that the deepest spiritual experience transcends the intellect, memory and reason. Prapatti, total surrender, softens the ego. We also need religion so we can get some help from the inner planes. [Today's audio is Part 1 of the above talk.]
" For more information about listening to Gurudeva's talks online and to hear them in other formats, click here.
And click here for an Index to All Past CyberTalks.
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Bodhinatha will be happy to hold "Prasnottara Satsang" -- "Questions and Answers" over the telephone with any Hindu religious societies, Hindu youth groups, Radio talk show hosts etc. All you need is a phone with a speaker and an enthusiastic audience. Arrangements may be made in advance by sending email to Sadhaka Mahadevan
If you are experiencing any problems listening to the audio, please to go our Audio FAQ page for sound geeks and follow the directions there.
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Esteemed guest today: Sri Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi came to visit the Aadheenam with his wife and a local lady who is coordinating events on Kauai relating to non-violence. They group sponsored Mr. Gandhi's trip to Kauai.
Sri Arun Gandhi who carries on his grandfather's work to promote non-violence. You can go to his institute at http://www.gandhiinstitute.org
Paramacharya Palaniswami brings Mr. Gandhi to the editorial offices. Sannyasin Arumugaswami is reading to him some of the reports we have received from people about the recent rioting in India. We have asked Mr. Gandhi to share his views on the situation in the next issue of Hinduism Today.
 The Remarkable Vision |
Iraivan Temple Progress Update |
Join this historic undertaking. Please contribute generously. Sponsor a stone today! |
More wonderful pictures from Bangalore on the on-going pillar carving work. The Tripundra... is here carved into the stone.
A depiction of a temple on another panel... the pillars will be a "story book in stone." Someone guiding pilgrims will be able to describe the meaning of each symbol and unfold the entire religion and culture in the process.
Here is the Hinduism Today logo, symbolizing the power of the printing press.
Sun and moon.... please support Iraivan temple and bring Gurudeva's vision to reality.
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Study Gurudeva's teachings.
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Date: March_02_2002
Title: Pujas to Gurudeva
Category: The Guru
Duration: 7 min., 7 seconds
Date Given: March 01, 2002
Given by: Bodhinatha
Tomorrow is our monthly Chitra puja for Gurudeva. In thinking of that, I was thinking about Gurudeva and the future.
Gurudeva has appeared to a number of monks in their dreams and talked about a glorious future. "Don't think about the past. Don't be sad in the present. But, let us think about the future. It is going to be quite wonderful and let us create it together."
There was a very nice event recently which gives us a sense of the future. We had a family of twelve originally from Guyana, who are now in New York, who came up three generations. They got off their cruise ship for a few hours. All of them dressed impeccably in Hindu clothing, even the youngest, came up and spent a few hours here. Worshipped in the temple, sang their hearts out, went out to Iraivan and so forth. We were very uplifted by their stay. In departing, they were very generous. They gave nine thousand dollars to the Iraivan Building Fund. But most interestingly, they enjoyed their visit so much that they said, "Well, next time we come back, we are going to charter a plane and bring a group of pilgrims here. This is such a wonderful spot."
It is just a sign of the future. What we have here is so unique, such a wonderful vibration, such a beautiful setting, such a religious Aadheenam, such devout devotees that it really impresses sincere pilgrims and they want to come back. They feel this is something very, very special. Particularly, something special outside of India. Where on the mainland do you find what we have here? Nowhere.
That they are going to come back was to me, a tangible event reflecting Gurudeva's statements in dreams about a glorious future. If they feel that way, how many others will feel the same way? Imagine when Iraivan is functioning, what will be the volume of sincere pilgrims coming? It could be quite substantial.
Of course, we are not measuring success by quantity but that is part of the future. It is more the quality that I am referring to. How struck they were, how respectful, how much they got out of their visit here. Plus, how uplifted we were by their presence. They were so beautifully dressed, so devotional, such sincere pilgrims. It was a pleasure to host them.
There are some useful quotes in the Saivite Shastras that refer to Yogaswami. But, we can now apply them to Gurudeva as well. They describe where Yogaswami is in the inner worlds and how he comes to pujas that are conducted in his name. It all applies to Gurudeva at this point. To quote, "There are other rooms in the inner mind as well. One governing each of the four winds and another for your Guru in which his Guru lives." I imagine that is where he is right now. Probably redecorating, knowing Gurudeva. Shopping at Wal-Mart and redecorating!
"These rooms of which we speak are like caverns of the mind. In them, we do our work, walk around as you do. We bring everything to us rather than go out to it. Like you do with television and radio. When you close your eyes, you live inside your head and think. This is similar to these thought caverns in the inner mind. They can be created by us in any way, simple or extremely complex, as you build the insides of your house in the outer mind. Your Master's Guruji lives in a simple cavern, as that was his association with the inside of a small room in his ashram in Sri Lanka. He could make it larger with but a twinkling of the eye. But he sits there in deep samadhi, radiating darshan to the sanctified places that do puja in his name. When a puja is conducted in his name, his wall opens up and he is at the puja. He does not go to it, it comes to him, if the vibration of the puja penetrates deep enough."
I put that last phrase there in bold, "if the vibration of the puja penetrates deep enough". So it is not automatic. It is like we were talking about temple worship some time in the last few phases. You go to the temple and your mind is on something else. You don't get the same benefits as if you are thinking about your worship. Particularly if you prepare for it in advance, you get even more benefits. This is the same idea but it applies to those conducting the puja. They need to be focused on what they are doing. Just sitting there conducting puja to Gurudeva and thinking about something else doesn't necessarily go deep enough. Those doing the pujas need to be thinking about Gurudeva and be attuned to his vibration enough for this process to work.
It is a very interesting idea that Gurudeva comes to the puja by the puja coming to him. It is in reverse.
| MORE UPLIFTING THINGS |
Innersearch 2002 in Hawaii! Our next Innersearch Travel-Study program will be held right here on the island of Kauai in the summer of 2002. It's the first such program on the Garden Island since 1974! From July 17 to July 22 we will enjoy daily classes with the swamis, join in the annual Guru Purnima festival, be inspired by local culture, explore the lush tropical island in exciting and non-touristy ways, and more. Be prepared for a wonderful spiritual experience in paradise with meditations, seminars and sacred ceremonies at the Siva temple of Kauai's Hindu Monastery. Many have applied already, and there is a limit of 50 participants, so we recommend everyone apply as soon as possible. Interested? Please request an application from pilgrim@searchbeyond.com |
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