Blog Archives
August 15, 2003 
Sadhu Paksha Last Day
"Good evening! It is wonderful to be in Mauritius and see how strong Saivism is here. You have the advantage, not enjoyed in countries like Sri Lanka and Malaysia, that Hindus form the majority of the population of this beautiful island nation. This makes it possible for you to set a fine example to all the world, to courageously and dynamically teach and preach the Saiva faith through your temple society and other fine institutions. I hope you will do this, and by doing so bring Saivism positively into the technological age. "
--Gurudeva, speaking in the country of Mauritius
Our Beloved and Revered Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
Attained Maha Samadhi on November 12th, 2001
Click to read for Details.
We are pleased to announce the web release of Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami's monumental work on Hindu culture and lifestyle:
Living with Siva.
Click here for the entire text and artwork, now on-line!
Bodhinatha is gearing up for his late August departure to Mauritius and Malaysia. Stay tuned for more details in the days ahead.
Bodhinatha's Sun One Video. Most Recent update: July 30, 2003.
Bodhinatha speaks on Japa, Mantra Repetition, niyama # 9, elucidating the many dimensions of the sacred science of mantrams, chanting a holy syllable, word or sentence again and again.Japa may be done silently or aloud. Sometimes it is best to begin aloud, so the mind is more focused, then slowly let it become internalized as concentration improves. Often japa is done right after attending a puja. Japa is not used to acquire worldly things. Instead, prayers are used for that. People who anger should not practice japa.
The simplest japa is A-U-M. This is the primary sound of the universe. Initiation is important before starting the practice of japa yoga. Once initiated it is essential to continue the practice, to strive consistently and to chant as instructed by the guru.
14 minutes, 2 seconds
Today's Inspired Talk |
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Title: The Niyama of Japa, Recitation Category: Yamas and Niyamas Duration: 14 minutes, 1 seconds Date Given: July 30, 2003 Date Posted:August_15_2003 Given by: Bodhinatha |
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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. Study Gurudeva's teachings
every day. Visit the Master Course site!
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 Sannyasin Saravananathaswami If you are experiencing any problems listening to the audio, please to go our Audio FAQ page and follow the directions there.
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Live Web Cam Pix! |
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Here are some exquisite pieces that came back with the recent pilgrims to India.
Marvelous small statues of Lord Ganesha. This one is about 1.25 inches high, carved from a cat's eye stone.
All the clear crystal ones lined up at the "Mini-Mela Gift Shop."
 The Remarkable Vision |
Iraivan Temple Progress Update |
Join this historic undertaking. Please contribute generously. Sponsor a stone today! |
| Order Rudraksha Malas from Siva's sacred Hawaiian groves; and also single rudraksha beads ready to put on a chain around your neck. Great for Gifts! All proceeds go to the building fund. | ||
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Current Overview  |
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A view of Iraivan from the west side, looking through the Rudraksha trees.
A wider view from the same side.
A close up. The small rocks and gravel have been brought in for the cement work that is to be done on course 17.
We want to send a heartfelt thanks the recent donors who responded to our appeal by email to sponsor shipments of containers from India. One generous donor just sent $7,000.00 for a single container. As we stated earlier, we need seven containers of stone to keep the craftsmen here on Kauai going. Be a part of the magic of transporting the treasures of India to the Rishikesh of the Pacific!
Gurudeva's spiritual center in the island country of Mauritius
in the Indian Ocean near South Africa
The small village where our Spiritual Park of Saiva Siddhanta Church, Mauritius, has long been considered a very poor fishing village. But big changes are in the wind! Read this amazing report from Kulapati Rajen Manick in Mauritius. We think Lord Ganesha, who presides there, is behind all this...
"Pointe des Lascars is the village in Mauritius where is situated our Spiritual Park. This coastal village historically derives its name from Arab sailors, "lascars" who faithfully served �in the French vessels at the time when the island was a French colony until 1810. Today this village, with its 117 families, will experience a new development in its history. It will be converted by the Government into a modern tourist village at the cost of 20 million rupees."
According to the proposed plan by the Government of Mauritius, the main tourist appeal will be a few meters from the lands of the Spiritual Park, at the eastern end, where has been installed the big granite murthi of Lord Muruga carved at Mahabalipuram, India. The spot just near the greenish ocean waters will become a beautiful waterfront that will also serve as a view point. �
An amphitheater will be constructed to overlook these calm waters where the river merges with the sea. A boathouse will provide boating facilities for tourists from here.
Here is Lord Muruga in the background, just a few meters away majestically surveying the whole place. With this new project, the whole village of Pointe des Lascars will be upgraded with better roads and drains, green spots and sports facilities.
This fencing separates the Spiritual park from the waterfront. The Government may erect a beautiful lava rock wall at this place.
The lava rock wall may extend on the northern side of the Spiritual park along the road. A request has been made in this direction to the Government last year and the Mauritius kulapatis managing the Park may have to work with the Ministry of Environment to this end.
The Spiritual Park too is humbly planning ahead. Two new workers have been hired to maintain the land. Here are a �few new bottleneck palms planted along the path that lead to the Ganesha Mandapam from the main entrance.
This garage at the Park is being converted into a modern bookstore. It is just a few feet from the main entrance and will be an ideal spot to serve visitors. Kulapati Amba Valaytan and his dedicated team of karma yogis have been helping a lot at the initial stage of this conversion.
A new door is being fixed at the building. This is just the beginning of a new Bookstore. The plan is to give it a state-of-the-art layout. The floor would be tiled. The interior will be stuccoed and then painted a light color, a bright rice paper color. An air conditioner will be installed and some track lights on the ceiling pointing toward the bookshelves, which will be amply stocked with Gurudeva's masterpieces of Hindu knowledge and mystical insights. The front could be open windows with a shelf for displaying books and other items. The door would be on the right, a glass door. Inside as you walk in on the right would be the literature racks on the wall. Then bookshelves going around the room from floor to ceiling. On the left will be a counter with the cash register, credit card approval machine, telephone, etc. and behind that a chair for the sales person. The sales person would face the road side in order to see anyone who approaches. The counter extends into the room toward the back and then makes an L turn to the left.
There will a swinging door for the sales person to enter. There will be a glass display case to show malas, bracelets, small Ganeshas and other small items. Also under the counter will be a cabinet to store the credit card slips etc and this could be locked up. Towards the back will be a round table with library type chairs around it. By the literature rack would be one of those water dispensers with the upside down 5 gallon bottle with paper cups. There should also be a small hundi inside the shop and a little wall shrine of Lord Ganesha, ordered from India. A hundi will be placed under the Ganesha attached to the wall.
Kulapati Sivakumaren Mardemootoo, shown at the left, is very optimistic about all these developments in Pointe des Lascars village by the Government. He said that the Spiritual Park will now be mentioned on tourist brochures as an ecological attraction and many foreigners are to be expected at the Park in the future. It will be a small spiritual experience for them, prepared head of time by our loving Gurudeva, his monks and all the Muritian devotees. He is very enthusiastic too about the idea of the garage being converted into a bookstore and reading room. He is personally putting his energies into this new project to have the Bookstore inaugurated by Satguru Bodhinatha on His Holiness Mauritius visit on Ganesha Chaturthi, in late August, not far from now.
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Date: May_28_2003
Title: Mahasivaratri, 2003, Part 2
Category: Festivals and Sacraments
Duration: 8 min., 38 seconds
Date Given: February 28, 2003
Given by: Bodhinatha
As part of our many wonderful guests, we have quite a few from Canada and some of whom were very close to Siva Yogaswami and the Kailasa Parampara. We are very happy about that. We are preparing to go to Toronto in April and because Toronto is snowing, 20 and 30 degrees, I am saying we are warming up for the Toronto trip by our talk tonight! I don't want to go there without warming up first. We are going in April and the reason we chose that date, even though it is still a little cold for our Hawaiian blood, is that it is the time of the Annual Mahasamadhi ceremonies for Siva Yogaswami. It is the Aslesha nakshatra on April 11th, so we wanted to be there for that celebration and we will talk a little more about that in a minute.
We are also getting ready and working on trips to Mauritius and Malaysia in August, at the time of Ganesha Chaturthi. We always visit Mauritius and our Center there at Ganesha Chaturthi time. We have a special Ganesha Mandapam.
We are getting ready for our biggest journey, which is a little less than a year from now and that is our India Innersearch, in the middle of January 2004, which is about 3 weeks in length. A wonderful program we are developing, which has a nice balance to it. Sometimes our programs have been almost all pilgrimage, but this program is providing a nice balance between daily classes, pilgrimage to the major temples and nice selections of the best of dance and music and other cultural traditions of South India. We are going to mix together all three elements, pretty much on a daily basis and keep the traveling down too. We are staying just in a few places, not jumping on a bus everyday and go somewhere different. We are starting to get some enrollments in for that program. If you are interested, you can contact Sadhaka Dandapani, while you are all here and assure yourself a place.
Back to Toronto. The reason we want to focus on Yogaswami, there is a very large Saivite community there in Toronto and we wanted to talk about Saiva Siddhanta and use Yogaswami as an example. Both in terms of how he lived Saiva Siddhanta, as well as how he talked Saiva Siddhanta. Because, he is an excellent example of a Siva bhaktar and a Siva yogi at the same time, in the same person. He is a great devotee of Lord Siva, has tremendous devotion for Lord Siva. He is also a great yogi, someone who can meditate profoundly. This particular combination of devotion and meditation, that Gurudeva was talking about also is pretty much unique to the path of Saiva Siddhanta. Other Hindu traditions usually emphasize just one or the other. Either, it is important to be a great bhaktar, a great devotee or it is important to meditate profoundly and worship internally. However, Saiva Siddhanta requires both of those, not just one or the other. In fact, deep devotion to God is considered a prerequisite to meditation, meaning profound meditation. It is not that we cannot sit and have a simple meditation, if we don't have a lot of devotion. But it is rather, if we are really serious about meditation and want to make good progress, really go into the depths of ourselves, first we have to cultivate devotion.
Saiva Siddhanta, as most of us know, but I will mention it anyway, because some of us are not familiar with the terms, describes the spiritual path in four progressive stages. The first one is charya, virtuous conduct and selfless service. Then kriya, devotional practices. Then, yoga, which is meditation and jnana, which is enlightened wisdom. I will read Gurudeva's statement about the relationship between devotion and yoga from 'Dancing with Siva'.
"Hinduism demands deep devotion through bhakti yoga and the kriya pada, softening the intellect and unfolding love."
That is the outcome of the kriya pada or the practice of devotion. It softens our intellect and helps us have a deep love.
"Yoga, union, is the process of uniting with God within oneself, a stage arrived at through perfecting charya and kriya. "
As we mentioned, Siva Yogaswami exemplified these teachings in his life. He certainly is a great Yogi and he would sit for hours at a time and during some periods of his life, he would sit for days at a time in deep meditation, a real profound meditator. He also had the knack, just like Gurudeva, of explaining profound metaphysical, spiritual concepts in very simple language. It is one of the beauties of Gurudeva's teachings. He does not use a lot of complex terminology, very simple. "Life is meant to be lived joyously." You cannot mistake what that means.
So, Yogaswami has one of these statements and it is called a Mahavakyam. There are four of his statements, so considered 'Great Sayings', his core teachings. This one is in Tamil - Summa Iru.
Something parents say to their children all the time, be quiet. So, it has a very practical sense because it is just something that is part of life. Parents are telling children to be quiet. Teachers are telling students, be quiet. Yogaswami is telling Saivites, "Be Quiet". It is so simple but yet it is so profound also. That is the wonderful part of his teachings, Gurudeva's teachings and the Parampara's.
In fact, this teaching is so central. There is a center, the Sivathondan Nilayam on KKS Road in Jaffna, two-storey building. Downstairs is where most of the activities take place. That is where you sing and you eat, you talk. Upstairs, silence only. The whole second storey of the building, you are supposed to be quiet. Even when Guru puja is done, there is no bell, no bell at all. It is quiet. So in the building itself, when you are upstairs you are quiet, be still. When you are downstairs, you don't have to be still. It is symbolic, as you will see.
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2004 Indian Odyssey
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