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October 14, 2001
Gurudeva's Statement -- Attack on America
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--Gurudeva
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Every day the monks gather in the temple, promptly at 5:30 am. Worship begins with Lord Ganesha. The is one of the most beautiful stone images of Maha Ganapati we have seen. It stands nearly six feet tall. "Hindus worship Lord Ganesha before beginning any worship or task."
After the aratis to Lord Ganesha and Lord Murugan, the daily morning puja to Lord Siva begins.
The monks sit quietly for this "external" worship, while also meditating and doing japa.
We all then stand for the final arati.
And everyone prostrates right after the sacred flames is offered. The puja takes about thirty minutes, ending around 6:00 am. Then we all go to the Guru temple for a one hour meditation, followed by singing a Tamil song, shum chanting and a discourse by Gurudeva or Bodhinathaswami, ending about 7:30 am. This morning period of 2 hours of sadhana is mandatory for all the monks and forms the spiritual anchor of our lives. In addition various monks will have another three-hour vigil in the temple at other times during the day. In this way, Gurudeva has interwoven our religious life and seva into a wonderfully transforming pattern. If you are a young man who loves Lord Siva with the seed of vairagya in your heart, you might consider this as a viable option for your life. But remember, you don't come to a monastery to get anything, you come to become as a pure empty channel in service of God and realize that Divinity you already are.
Today was the last day of a short four day phase and we had a lovely group of visitors for the weekly tour.
 The Remarkable Vision |
Iraivan Temple Progress Update |
Join this historic undertaking. Please contribute generously. Sponsor a stone today! |
We begin now with a long series of photos from India which will stretch over several weeks, highlighting the carving work on specific elements of the temple. We start with a series on the "Lion Pillars."
There are two Lion Pillars in each of the three side gopurams that surround the main sanctum, plus two more special "makara" lion pillars at the main entrance of the temple.
Several pillars are being worked on at the same time. Please give generously to the Iraivan temple project. Make a monthly pledge. Tithe to the temple 10% of your income. Choose a stone to sponsor over time. write Iraivan@hindu.org for information on these large pillars. You can also sponsor small items such as the bhuta stones.
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transcription begins
Date: December_01_1998
Title: Sivalaya Deepam
Category:
Duration: 4 min., 37 sec.
Date Given: December 01, 1998
Today at Kauai Aadheenam. December 1st. Welcome to our cyberspace, electronic Ashram. We are very,very happy to see all of your faces out there. You look very, very beautiful. Today is the last day of our phase, which is our vedic week, and we are looking forward to a 3 day retreat. The entire team, 25 of us, turns out to clean the ashram on the last day.
Tomorrow is Sivalaya Deepam. This is when Siva turns into a pillar of light, and a big fire is set all over South India. If you were to fly a plane throughout the country on this particular day, you would see many, many fires in every single village, all worshipping Siva. The Sivaness within everyone is emulated by lighting a big bonfire and everybody is so happy. It is a beautiful festival.
Also, today the Mayor of Kauai, First Lady of our Garden Island, has invited us with a special invitation to the inauguration, of herself and our county council. She just won the election. So, we'll be going to that.
Well, here is a question that has come in about conversion."Are there any other ways or things we should do to convert, other than the six steps that you mentioned from 'Loving Ganesa' yesterday?"
Yes, there are. If persons who are very religious and have sort of fallen away from their religion, they come to Hindu festivals, make Hindu pilgrimage and find Hinduism as their religion. In other words, they become religious within Hinduism. Then, if they wish to convert, we always suggest they go back to their previous religion for a month or two, a hundred percent, and test it out to see if it works for them. Often, they never return. They stay there as a religious person, whereas previously they were not religious at all in their previous religion.
Often times also, they find their philosophical concepts no longer agree. They talk to their pastor, priest, or rabbi, tell them that and obtain a release or an 'isto facto' excommunication. It is quite necessary to put someone through this, if they have had a history of going to the synagogue, and going to church, or going to mass, so that they are doubly, doubly sure about the great step they have taken in this life, which will affect their future birth.
Well, enough on that subject. We have a few other questions but time is short and the answers are long. So we'll take them up after the retreat. We will be seeing you after our 3 day retreat.
It is holiday time, be careful. Supervise your children well. Take care of your body. Only you can do that. It is the only one you have got. We'll be seeing you on Sun One, when our retreat is over. You can take the retreat with us too, and reflect upon what you did in the last two or three weeks and what you are going to do in the days to come and get a clear perspective. Our future is created with our mind. We can't do a lot about the past, except quiet the emotions that are carried in past memories. We can create a wonderful future for ourselves based on having learned the lessons from the experiences of the past.
transcription ends
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Innersearch postponed
Due to the horrific tragedies of September 11th, Himalayan Academy has indefinitely postponed the Canadian Innersearch scheduled to leave next July. Please be assured, we will re-schedule the Innersearch, but only when the present insecurity around the world settles down. Until then, if you are planning to go on a future Innersearch program with Gurudeva, continue to set aside a little income each month in a special fund. |
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