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Yogaswami says:

""In the sanctum of our hearts, we shall find the Lord of Grace showering His bounty as a great Giver.

All Hail Namasivaya!"

"Fix the heart on God with love, the mind on His word with
love, the hands upon His work with love, and then will unfold
in the heart, the radiance of the knowledge of the Self, the
SivaSakti, the dynamic and luminous presence.

All Hail Namasivaya !"

--Natchintanai. 79.

Cybertalk: A cyber devotee asks about the standing arrangements of men and women in the temple. When facing the deity which side should the men stand on the left or right? Gurudeva says that when walking into the temple the men go to the right and the women go to the left and this is the case in all traditional temples. Another cyber devotee had a dream about Gurudeva and wonders what it is all about. Gurudeva says that dreams are the fastest and most inexpensive way to travel and communicate these days.

Cybertalk Ends"
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.

transcription begins

Transcription of One of Gurudeva's CyberTalks
Date: May_23_1999
Title: Vedic Lifestyle
Category:
Duration: 5 min., 25 seconds
Date Given: May 23, 1999
Date Posted:

Aloha, Namaste and Vannakkam. Today at Kauai Aadheenam, 23rd of May. This is Gurudeva. Greetings everyone!

Well, I am just on my way to Borders to introduce 'Merging with Siva' and autograph books. A beautiful invitation, it has been well advertised on our little island. This is the very first time that I've made a public appearance on the beautiful island of Kauai. We'll let you know what happened tomorrow.

A question has come up about Vedic life. "Many people are studying the Vedas, learning Sanskrit, studying about Vedic architecture, Vedic ritual and worship, not necessarily all Hindu people. They are New Age people, scientifically inclined people, who are on the metaphysical side of life. What about Vedic relationships? That seems to be neglected."

It is the spirit of sacrifice. Most people in the West anyway and also in Asia, are driven by arrogance, by independence - "Me first and everyone else out of my way. I am going to build the great Vedic architectural home, I'm going to preach the Vedas." But, how about living the Vedas?

What is the first sacrifice? Sacrifice to the Gods. For sacrifice to the Gods, you have to believe in the Gods. What does sacrifice mean anyway? It means giving up some of your own independence, your own time. It means going out of your way to do oblations for the Gods. It means total surrender, prapatti.

Next sacrifice is to ancestors. Most people in today's world don't like their ancestors or don't even know who their ancestors are. But maybe we can dig up the past and sacrifice to the ancestors. That is having an altar for the ancestors, their picture or some memento. On the proper Vedic day and in the proper way, honor their one-time existence in the past upon earth and perhaps hope, they'll be born again in your own family.

The next sacrifice is to animals. Caring for animals. It doesn't mean eating, or wanting to consume every animal that you see. It means caring for nature, feeding the birds, the little bugs.

The next sacrifice is the community. What are you doing for your community? Or, are you expecting and taking from the community without giving back to the community? Is just paying taxes to the community enough, as far as we are concerned? Or, are we sacrificing, giving up our time, giving up our interests, sharing our knowledge with the community? Or, are we charging for everything? Are we a consumer or are we a producer?

These four sacrifices were extremely important in Vedic culture and still are today. So, if we are going to build that Vedic home, let us live the Vedic way within it.

That is the message for today, cybercadets. Come back to the ashram tomorrow, we'll let you know about signing books at Borders. This begins a whole series of book signings in California, Seattle Washington and Vancouver, in Alaska, in Juneau and also in Anchorage. We are going to have some fun and meet a lot of new wonderful people because the same God-energy is in everyone.

Aum Namasivaya for today and we'll be seeing you again tomorrow..
transcription ends

Ananta--a visitor here on a pilgrimage from Toronto. He is an entertainer, a juggler, stand up comedian and magician. . .a man to make people happy. He performs at times on cruise ships and we have recruited him to join Gurudeva on the innersearch that is going to Europe. Please come! He joined us today at the temple. All day long showers have been happening a mile or two off to the west and the sun from the east and the zenith is having a fun time making colors in the water.

All morning shifting awesome rainbows soared over the Iraivan temple site.

This is a close up with the camera set directly on the ground looking up at Muruga Hill. Our seeding project has turned into a fantastic success as the entire area is now covered with small sprouts. The larger plants in front of the camera are wild flowers that are just about one inch tall and underneath them small shoots of grass spreading out about 1/4 to 1/2 inch off the ground.

The wild flowers will cover and shade the soil and persist for a year or more while the grass underneath gradually thickens and "locks down" the soil preventing erosion. Eventually the grass will take over completely and the wild flowers will disappear.

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

Final shots of the silpis in Bangalore:

Standing from left are Chinniah, Ganesan, Mahalingam and Essaki. Seated
are Saktivel and Arumugam.

Standing from left are Cariyappa, Raja, C. Karupiah and Andiappan. Seated
are Sathayah and Vellaisamy.

Standing from left are Manikandan, Pathmarajah, Sanjiva and a visitor.

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

Once in a while the monks go out shopping for supplies. Today we are in Grand Baie at the Super U Commercial Centre. While walking by the magazine/news stand, what did we see?

Here's Sadhaka Adinatha holding a copy of Hinduism Today (red/black arrow) that had been taken down by somebody from the top shelf. Below you can see the important Mauritius daily newspaper, Le Mauricien (blue/white arrow.) This shows that Hinduism Today has been given a prominent place on the news rack which covers one entire wall.

If you are reading this in Mauritius you should know that you can subscribe to Hinduism Today by contacting Compagnie de Distribution de Presse Ltd. Contact them by phone at 674 5926 or by email at codip@intnet.mu or in person at 15 Edgar Laurent Street, Ramdenee Lane, Curepipe.

You can buy the November/December issue at the following stores:
Curepipe: Librarie Allot, Prisunic, Sik Yuen, How Hong Supermarket; Vacoas: Edition Le Printemps, M. Wahedally, London Supermarket, Le Caverne Bookshop; Phoenix: Le Continent; Quatre Bornes: Deux Compagnons, Quatre Bornes Bookcentre, Le Flamboyant; Rose Hill: Le Cygne, Le Flamboyant, Librarie Mascareignes, Toorawa; St Pierre: Winners; Beau Bassin: Le Goeland; Port Louis: Le Trefle, Toorawa Bookshop, Nalanda Bookshop, Librairie Allot, Le Multipiant, Winners, Papyrus Ltd. L'Express; La Louise: Carrefouor; Triolet: Trio Bookshop, Winners; Plaine des Papayes: M. Ram; Grand Baie: Papyrus, Super U; Riviere du Rempart: Librarie Mudhoo; Flacq: Winners, Babylon Book Centre, M. Bissoondoyal; Mahebourg: Kong Ltee, Hansa; Rose Belle: Appiah, Arc en Ciel.

Ajay Shiv Cahoolesur from the Shiv Shakti Mandir in Bon Acquiel has brought some of his friends, the Oochit and Jhoomuk families from Rose Belle.

The Conjobeeharry extended family from Queen Victorie, Central Flacq shown in front of the monastery building.

Parikash is setting up an e-business in Mauritius. His wife is visiting him for a week from their home in Malaysia.

This young devotee brought his family (in two cars) from Floreal to see "the big Ganesh." It's true.

This day last year was a retreat. No page was archived.

"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.

Click here for information about Gurudeva's travels. He is presently staying on Kauai and has not immediate travel plans.

And

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.

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.