Blog Archives
August 23, 2001
Though the Northern European Innersearch 2001 is over we will continue to share photos as they come in. The last days of the program coincided with Ganesha Chaturthi which we celebrated here at the Aadheenam two days ago and which was also celebrated in 1000's of locations around the world.
The last hours of Innersearch involve taking photos with Gurudeva and saying goodbye's to everyone. Here is Mrs. Nageswary Nagalingam and her two daughters, Dhanika and Meena, who will soon be back home with Dad in Kuala Lumpur. More pictures below.
Title: Hindu view of diet items |
Cybertalk: A cyberspace devotee from Boston asks about onions and garlic and
other diet issues. Gurudeva explains his view of holistic health and diet,
and cautions against village superstition.
Cybertalk Ends"
For more information about listening to Gurudeva's talks online and to hear them in other formats, click here.
Gurudeva 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
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Click to send Gurudeva a spiritual question he will later answer for all to benefit. Study the
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transcription begins
Date: November_02_1998
Topic: Want-to or want-to-want-to Person?
Category:
Duration: 7 min., 23 seconds
Today at Kauai Aadheenam, it is November 2. Sun 5 on our Vedic calendar. Tomorrow and the next day, are our retreat.
Paramacharya Bodhinatha arrives today, late evening with Nilakantha. Bodhinathaswami has been away for 2 months. We'll be very happy to receive him back and then the following 2 days, he will be debriefed. This will mean he will tell us all of the adventures, the ins-and-outs of everything, about the wonderful, worldwide congregation that he has been visiting in the homes of our missionary families in Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius and India. We will get all the information and will be able to move Saiva Siddhanta Church forward.
Also, Sadhaka Thondunatha and Yogi Tapovana are doing very well in their fund-raising mission for the Iraivan Temple foundation. Now, that is a temple that's being made of stone in India, in Bangalore and then the stones are being brought to Hawaii. But, we have to build a $300,000 foundation. They already have pledges and cash, in their first day, of $75000. Congratulations to you both.
Well, on the spiritual path and I am looking out at my cyberspace congregation. I am looking out at cyberspace through yesterday and the day-before and I see your faces, because ... why? You still have what you saw at our cyberspace ashram in your mind. Therefore, your faces are floating in cyberspace, thinking about it.
Now, you may be one of two types of people. You can identify yourself. One type is - "I want to progress on the spiritual path. " Another type is, "I want to want to progress on the spiritual path."
We saw a program on the richest person in the world, Bill Gates of Microsoft. He didn't say, "I want to want to be the richest man in the world." He said,"I want to be the richest person in the world." and, he did it.
There is a small dividing line, so small you can't see it, between "I want to want to" and "I want to". Think about it. If you want to want to do things and then just go ahead and proceed with confidence and don't do them. Are you the kind of person that says to yourself, "I can't", then, " ... but I'll try", and then you proceed and find out that you can't, but you did try.
Look in the mirror. When you turn away from this screen and from my voice, go into the bathroom or your bedroom. Look into the mirror, and ask yourself, "Am I a want-to person? Or, am I a want-to-want-to person?" This is a good sadhana. This is a good test to get to know yourself a little bit better.
Over the past 50 years of my spiritual ministry in the Saiva Siddhanta Church and we are celebrating our 50th Anniversary in 1999, I have seen every kind of a person and listened to every kind of a problem. You know, there only about 50, less than a 100 problems that humankind goes through. They all have a solution. The people who want to find a solution, find the solution and move on through life. The people who want to want to find a solution, find a solution and they want to put it into action, they really, really do. They want to want to do that, but they never do. They don't move on through life. They live with their problems as their closest, dearest friend.
The spiritual path is a razor-edge path. As my Satguru Yogaswami said, "It is at times like walking on a hair, over a river of fire." But also it is a beautiful path, full of bliss and happiness, contentment and well-being, as we work through the karmas and understand the karmas, that we brought with us in this life. There are 3 kinds of karmas - the karmas that we make in this life, that action and reaction are experiences; the karmas that we bring with us in this birth; and the karmas we can't do much about, that we leave in the inner world to be brought forward to another birth.
This might seem like a play upon words to you. "I want to" and "I want to want to". But, it is really, really true. Let's take smoking, for instance. "I want to give up smoking," people say. "I want to want to give up smoking." Well, you talk to people like that. Those who want-to-want-to still smoke and are probably going to die pretty soon. Those who want to and did are probably going to live, a long time.
That's the sadhana for today - November 2. Thank you for coming into cyberspace ashram at Kauai Aadheenam on the beautiful garden island of Kauai. I'll be seeing you in about 3 days, after our retreat. Adios. Ciao. Auf weidersein. Aum Namah Sivaya.
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At the Aadheenam two days ago we had a beautiful ceremony in the temple at 3:00 PM. The marvelous and gigantic Maha Ganapati image in Kadavul Hindu temple looked magnificent after the vibhuti abhishekam.
Arati in the sanctum of Ganesha.
After the puja some small Ganeshas were brought out of the sanctum and put on a small palanquin to be taken to the river.
Jothi Sendan and Deva Katir carry the Lord of Categories of to Merge in the Waters.
Out from the temple ....
and down the path to the river.
This ceremony is called "Ganesha Visarjana" or "Farewell to Ganesha", celebrated widely in many Hindu communities and is a Hindu solidarity day, bringing together Hindus of differing denominations to join in the mystic merger of Lord Ganesha back into the Ocean of Consciousness.
The path to the river is steep and our duo had to be very careful...
Sadhaka Tyaganatha performs one final arati and then the murthis were taken out to the middle of the pool and offered into the depths.
Meanwhile we have a touching photo from Gurudeva's devotees in Phoenix, Arizona. Vignesh Sukumaran, his wife, Darshani, and their daughter, here pictured: Abhirami. Darshani writes:
"Vignesh's Amma sent the mold for the Ganesha last summer. Now a man from our temple is making the Ganeshas as karma yoga to make money for the temple. They turned out very nicely I think. Ours has yet to be painted. It was a team effort to figure out how they do it in India and try to reproduce it here and now the mold will be used for many more years to come. The man is so dedicated, he's a new immigrant from India here with his wife and two young daughters. They live in a humble apartment and he made the Ganeshas on the back patio of their place in his spare time.
Himalayan Academy Travel Study Programs
Northern European Innersearch, 2001
[Photo Retrospective]
Innersearchers taking a break in the Java Cafe. Most of the Innersearchers have never met one another before and have now made some very special
friends.
Dhanika (from Malaysia) and Devika (from California)
Kamala Srinivasan (from Toronto) and Yatrikadevi Shivam (from California)
Loganathan and Yatrika Shivam from Los Angeles.
Hotranatha Ajaya and the Innersearchers made a clay Ganesha over the 12 days which they placed in the ocean on Ganesha Chaturthi in a wonderful ceremony
conducted by our Mauritian Innersearch priest.
World's 2nd longest bridge connecting Sweden and Denmark
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