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Gurudeva is working to change this mode of operation among his own devotees worldwide. Each Kulapati family has a "roster" of other devotees who are "members" of their extended family. Perhaps they don't live in the same home, but at least we are working to establish a broader base of community support for small networks of individuals.

A recent article in the "Khabar Magazine" gave a nice testimony to the extended family system in Hawaii: "The one extremely great thing about Hawaii is that the people who live here are predominantly of Asian origin so the cultural values are very similar to that of India. Every one respects their elders, friends and cousins and neighbors are an extended family. And truly we have this spirit of "aloha" ingrained deep within us. You can see the beauty of the islands in pictures and films but you really have to come and live here to appreciate the inner beauty, the warmth and kindness of the people who live here."

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Date: August_27_1998
Title: Tools of The Mind
Category:
Duration: 3 min, 21 seconds
Date Given: August 27, 1998

What all of my sishyas do in the evening is meet with their extended families. Our Saiva Siddhanta Church is made up of about thirty-two extended families, worldwide. These families are in the country of India, Sri Lanka, Germany, Mauritius, Singapore, Malaysia, America and on our beautiful island of Kauai.

Every member of our Saiva Siddhanta Church becomes a foster member of an extended family and they meet on Monday. That is the day of togetherness. That is the day of love. That is the day of sharing. That is the day of communication. That is the day to work on the sadhanas of the Master Course, our life-long study of these wonderful teachings of Dancing with Siva, Living with Siva, Merging with Siva, the Shum Tyaef Lexicon and much, much more.

It is very important that we remember today that we are a soul, living in a physical body. We have some tools. One of those tools is the mind, which can be trained into an intellect, either with wrong thoughts, wrong motivations or right thoughts, right motivations. We have another tool, which is emotion, which can be used in a very bad way, totally out of control or it can be controlled and used in a very good way, to be a productive part of the human race and to be a leader. Leaders are few these days, most are followers. Of the leaders who lead, many of them follow their own emotions, their own wrong thinking, their adharmic concepts. Finally, they look behind themselves and they find they are not elected, they are not leaders anymore. They lost their followers.

A true leader follows his spiritual intuition. A true leader has a dynamic will, has a purpose, a plan, persistence and plenty of push to make that plan work. A true leader can be you and you and you. I see many faces here looking at me through the cyberspace, internet, the wonderful network that the governments of our world have released funds for, to give us all the ability to communicate, to love each other through cyberspace, to think together, work together, be together. Being together is very, very nice. I love you and you love me. We love each other. That is very important, because .... why? Because we are souls, we all love each other. A happy day for each and everyone of us.

Aum Namasivaya.
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It was tour day at the monastery and Neesha Alahan (green sari), a member of Saiva Siddhanta Church who lives nearby, helped to show a nice group the monastery gardens today.

Later in the morning, the Natarajan family dropped in from San Jose, California.

Shaswath and Aneesh Natarajan marveled at the hand carved capstone of Iraivan Temple. When they are grown with their own children they will make yearly pilgrimages with their families to San Marga Iraivan Temple. Please donate generously to help Gurudeva build a monument that will inspire this coming generation and be a citadel of Sanatana Dharma, a beacon of spiritual teachings and wisdom for tomorrow's Hindus.

Hinduism Today, managing editor, Sannyasin Arumugaswami at work on the September/October issue of Hinduism Today. We work far in advance to gather news from the world over

Our spring summer season is bursting with flowers. Here is the famed Passion flower that will yield a wonderful fruit full of Vitamin C. The flower itself is a magnificent structure.

Photo, left: Caribbean Innerseach, 2000. Morning classes with Gurudeva on the ship.

With less than 3 months to go before Gurudeva and the Innersearchers set sail for eight enchanting European countries and a voyage of a lifetime, we are wanting to let everyone know that some of the cheaper cabins that our group has reserved will be up for grabs by the general public come May 15th. Holland America Lines is telling us that May 15th is the time to firm up our reservations, or let the cabins go for others who are waiting. Holland America has received a tremendous response for this unique itinerary which their brand new ship, the MS Amsterdam, one of the top ships sailing the globe today, will be cruising on August 10th. So if you are planning to join Gurudeva now is the time to sign up. There are fewer cabins available with each passing day. And later the cabin prices will be higher.

Photo, left: Caribbean Innerseach, 2000. Gurudeva at the dock on arrival in Trinidad

Here's the current itinerary for the coming Innersearch in August. Click here to find out more. It's going to be really fantastic. Please don't miss this one!

Pre Innersearch Events

Saturday, August 4th, 2001: Hamm, Germany
All Innersearchers are invited and encouraged to join Gurudeva and about 20,000 Hindus at the Ganesha Temple in Hamm for the annual grand chariot festival. See the Hindus in Europe at one of their noblest sacred events. This is an optional excursion just days before the ship's departure, and will give you a couple of days in Germany.

Wednesday, August 8th, 2001: London, England
Gurudeva will be at the Highgatehill Murugan Temple
Time: 5:30pm to 9:00pm
Venue: Highgatehill Murugan Temple
200A Archway Road
London N6 5BA
Tel: 44-0208-348-9835

Photo, left: Gurudeva and the monks with innersearchers on the navigation deck of the ship with

Post Innersearch Events
We have also planned a post Innersearch event which is optional and not part of the Innersearch. This will take place upon disembarkation in Copenhagen, Denmark, on the 22nd of August.

The program is as follows:
Wed, 22nd Aug: We leave Copenhagen for Brande by bus in the morning (4 to 5 hour bus ride)

Photo, left: Our classic final group shot. One day YOU will be in this photo!

Thurs, 23rd Aug: We will visit two temples and take part in the Sri Ganesha Temple (Herning, Denmark) and Sri Abhirami Amman Temple (Brande, Denmark) events planned.
Fri, 24th Aug: Leave Brande for Copenhagen (We should be back by 1:00pm)
The post Innersearch tour is about US$170 per person. It includes:
- 2 nights hotel in Brande (plus breakfast). Visit Hotel Dalgas at http://www.hoteldalgas.dk/default.htm
- Transportation to Brande from Copenhagen and back by bus. Possible sightseeing too. (We will have the bus for the three days)
- Bus driver's hotel and accommodation.

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