Blog Archives

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!

Satguru Bodhinatha, Sannyasin Muruganathaswami and Sadhaka Jivanandanatha are all well and still in transit. In Taipei they were able to take a break in a business lounge and logged in via wireless airport and were having some real time on-line chats with the monks here during their lay over. All is well. Click to check his itinerary if you haven't already.

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End of Phase Notice
This is the last day of this phase
This edition of TAKA will remain up until
Dvitiya tithi, Sun One, Thursday, August 28th

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. 14 minutes, 2 seconds

				Live Web Cam Pix!

Meanwhile at home its been just another beautiful day in paradise. It rained last night and this morning the remaining mists gave us some spectacular rainbows.

We had a small tour day group. Famed Kauai photographer, Tim Dela Vega (in front with camera bag) who has been doing a long shoot of the Aadheenam, brought his whole family today.

Meanwhile August is vacation time and a steady stream of Hindu families has been coming every day.

Mr. Palendira and his wife and their daughter Polil stand in front of our 12 feet tall Dakshinamurthi. They had another wonderful morning. After spending some time at Kadavul temple and attending the Siva puja there they toured Muruga Hill and the Path of the Saivite Saints.

Sridevi and her husband are here from California. Their first visit as well and they enjoyed very much their tour of the grounds and Iraivan Temple.

Sailesh and Kunjal Harwani from Chicago are here on Kauai for a few days. Gurudeva had visited Sailesh's home some years back and had given his family a copy of Dancing with Siva. So Sailesh said he is happy to be able have the chance to visit Gurudeva's home now.

Kailasa Paramapara devotee, Iraivan Temple supporter and Himalayan Academy student, Dr. Nigel Subramaniam Siva, from Maryland sends us to photos from our beloved Sri Lanka where his wife and son are visiting. He writes:

" Kali Kovil Ganesha: When I was in Jaffna in 1982-1983, I used to go to a Kali Temple almost everyday, and this is near the Sivan Temple, where I saw Gurudeva for the first time. The Kali Temple priest told me this story about this Ganesh, whose shrine is under a big tree that is right across the street. When they were building the Kali Temple, one day Kadaitswami passed by, and he spat on a piece of rock and asked the silpis to make a Ganesha in from it. The busy silpis carved this Ganesha from that rock (not a well carved job, they just did it because Kadaitswami had told them). Some how I was attracted to this Ganesha whenever I went to the Kali Temple. Now, I understand why."

"Nallur Theradi: This is the place where Siva Yogaswami met His guru Chellappaswami, the Nallur Theradi (chariot shed). Chellappaswami shook the bars of these gates to call Siva Yogaswami. My wife (Inpah) and son (Ragavan) are standing at these gates. This is a special place for all of us."

Saiva Siddhanta Church
Kauai Mission

Deva Seyon sends this report on activities on Kauai in preparation for Ganesha Chaturthi:

The Wailua Mission gathered together last week to start preparations for Ganesha Chaturthi. Making small clay Ganeshas to be worshiped in the home shrine is a wonderful activity enjoyed by young and old alike.

As Saivites we worship the great Mahaganapati . . .
Oh ruler of heaven and earth . . .
Sweet Lord with the elephant's ears . . .
Who in sacrifice surrendered your beautiful tusk . . .
Oh great God with a slow gait and a mother's love . . .
Hold us to the path of dharma with your mighty noose
That your five radiant Shakti's will flow through us
Freely, out to the world.

It is a moment of great joy when little Shaila Pushpa arrives.

Before the afternoon events begin the presiding Ganesha under a nearby Rudraksha tree is invoked for a wonderful afternoon.

A loving and powerful shakti flows from the simple shrine.

Fresh wet clay and the creations begin to emerge.

Arjun, Vidya's little one is a little shy at first, but soon becomes the life of the party!

Anjali gets a little help from Priya in making a big pot belly.

Ganesha starts to emerge in many forms!

Chudika is here on Pilgrimage during this wonderful event.

Neesha painstakingly peeled Jack Fruit seeds for a truly remarkable dish we had later.

Amma is making a dancing Ganesha!

Neesha takes a prize for her reclining Ganesha!

Little Shaila Pushpa looks worried. Did we forget to let the cat out before we came?

Everyone loves to be close to Shaila Pushpa!

Shakti looks quite mesmerized by her own creation!

Deva is making a beautiful Ganesha with a mushika too!

Durvasa is busy working on the raft that will carry the Ganesha's to the middle of the Wailua River.

The raft is really shaping up with all the shakti colors of Lord Ganesha attached.

All the Ganesha's get on the raft for a trial run.

Durvasa invokes Ganesha's presence in each of the little murthis. Ganesha is happy with the days events and more and more camphor is offered to thank Him for His inspiration as the day ends.

All the ladies brought delicious curry's for a feast.

Isani (left) just arrived home from her pilgrimage to Mount Kailas in India!. Vidya Nathan (right) enjoys the prasadam and is a fantastic cook as well

This is Mauritius.. .a small foot bridge on our property there... in a few days the whole Spiritual Park of Mauritius will be host for a gigantic crowd.... with Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami presiding.

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Date: June_04_2003
Title: Saiva Siddhanta, a Path of Knowing Thyself
Category: The Spiritual Path
Duration: 12 min., 55 seconds
Date Given: March 12, 2003
Given by: Bodhinatha

This morning, getting ready to go to Toronto in April. We have four different events we are going to, that are being arranged by the Hindu community there, plus some television coverage. So, we are getting ready. This is the first draft of a talk for the second event, 'Saiva Siddhanta: A Path of Knowing Thyself.' It will be translated into Tamil. We have to send this up in a week or two, so they can practice translating it, get it all straight.

Siva Yogaswami was both a consummate Sivabhaktar and Sivayogi, a great devotee of Lord Siva as well as a profound meditator. This combination of devotion and meditation is unique to the path of Saiva Siddhanta. Other Hindu traditions focus on either devotion or meditation but not both. In Saiva Siddhanta, deep devotion to God is, in fact, considered a prerequisite to meditation. Meditation is considered a practice that all need to eventually take up, after devotion has awakened.

That is, of course, a unique quality, as we know. Charya, kriya, yoga and jnana. We prefect our devotion in kriya and then we move on to yoga and learn how to meditate. So devotion in the kriya pada precedes meditation in the yoga pada.

As we mentioned, Siva Yogaswami was a great yogi. He would sit for hours, even days in deepest meditation. He would also stress the importance of meditation to his devotees and formulated a key teaching or Mahavakyam to help them meditate. Thannai Ari. In English, Know Thyself.

Here are some of Yogaswami's sayings on Knowing Thyself.

You must know the self by the self.
Concentration of mind is required for this.
You lack nothing. The only thing you lack is that you do not know who you are.
Truth is not encompassed by books and learning.
You must know yourself by yourself. There is nothing else to be known.

Of course, his first 'Natchintanai' begins with the famous line, "Our Gurunathan made me to know myself."

Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Gurudeva, began taking his monks to Jaffna in 1970. Yogaswami, of course, had passed away in 1964, so we did not have the opportunity of meeting him. However, Yogaswami's disciple, Markanduswami, was living in a hut outside of Jaffna and would share Yogaswami's teachings with all who visited. So, many of our senior monks had the opportunity to visit him and listen to his explanations of Yogaswami's teachings.

Markanduswami liked to stress the teaching that Yogaswami only gave us one work to do and would say, "Yogaswami did not give us a hundred odd works to do, only one. Realize the Self yourself or Know thyself or find out who you are." In Tamil, Thannai Ari. He would say, "You cannot find the truth in a thousand books or by listening to people talk, you must realize the Self by yourself."

Of course, as we know, Gurudeva himself, would often speak about knowing the Self in such terms as, "You are here on this planet to realize the Self."

What exactly does it mean, to know thyself?

Satguru Siva Yogaswami explains this beautifully in one of his published letters called "Naan yaar, Who am I? You are not the body, you are not the mind nor the intellect nor the will. You are the atma. The atma is eternal. This is the conclusion at which great souls have arrived from their experience. Let this truth become well impressed on your mind."

This exact thought appears in the first Sloka of Gurudeva's work, 'Dancing with Siva.'

"Who am I? Where did I come from?

Rishis proclaim that we are not our body, mind or emotions. We are divine souls on a wondrous journey. We came from God, live in God and are evolving into oneness with God. We are in truth, the Truth we seek."

Yogaswami and Gurudeva are both explaining that in the great saying 'Know Thyself', self refers to the atma, our internal spiritual nature, our immortal soul. They are also pointing out that many people think that they are the body, how they look is who they are. Others identify with the emotions and memories of the mind. Still others think they are the intellect, the reasoning part of the mind and the will power to successfully accomplish their plans. Of course, much of the modern world teaches us to identify with our external nature. Movies and TV teaches us we are our body and emotions. In school, we are taught we are our intellect. Who is teaching us we are a divine soul? Certainly, only a few.

Yogaswami develops this theme even further in a second published letter entitled 'Guru Vachagam'.

"The atma is eternal, indivisible, whole and perfect. The body is subject to destruction and divisible. When that is so, can we say that they are equal? Is there anything more sacrilegious than to speak in that way? Intrinsically, the atma consists of knowledge. It is purity itself. The body is by nature ignorant and devoid of purity. Can one conceive of any greater folly than to compare the two? The atma is radiant and self-effulgent, the body is darkness itself. Is there then any basis for comparison?"

As we would expect, Gurudeva describes the soul in a similar way in 'Dancing with Siva', where he says, "Our individual soul is the immortal and spiritual body of light that animates life and reincarnates again and again until all necessary karmas are created and resolved and its essential unity with God is fully realized. Our soul is God Siva's emanational creation, the source of all of our higher functions including knowledge, will and love. Our soul is neither male or female. It is that which never dies even when its four outer sheaths - physical, pranic, instinctive and mental - change form and perish, as they naturally do."

Amazing, how similar the wording is!

In Yogaswami's first 'Natchintanai', he includes the statement "Jivan Sivan endran engal gurunathan," meaning "Jiva is Siva, declared our Gurunathan," and repeats it in different ways in many of the 'Natchintanai'.

"Jiva will Siva become for those who offer worship."
"Jiva has Siva become."
"That Jiva is Siva is clear."

In 'Words of our Master', Yogaswami also states this truth as, "You are God, I am God. Only one, no separation. You cannot separate me from you."

Gurudeva expressed the truth of the identity of man and God in saying, "Man is not man. Man is God."

He went on to distinguish between the soul body and the essence of the soul. "The soul body, the anandamaya kosa, is a spiritual body of light that is separate from God Siva and spiritually evolves from life to life. The inmost soul body is the blissful, ever-giving wisdom, anandamaya kosa. Parashakti is the soul's superconscious mind, God Siva's mind. Parasiva is the soul's inmost core. We are not the physical body, mind or emotions. We are the immortal soul, atman. The sum of our true existence is anandamaya kosa and its essence, Parashakti and Parasiva."

This beautiful explanation tells us how we are simultaneously becoming Siva as an evolving soul body and are already Siva as the non-evolutionary essence of the soul.

In conclusion, here are two scriptural quotes affirming our goal of knowing our Self and realizing our oneness with God.

From the Upanishads, "By austerity, goodness is obtained. From goodness, understanding is reached. From understanding, the Self is obtained and he who obtains the Self is freed from the cycle of birth and death."

And, a beautiful verse from the Tirumantiram, "Being the life of Life is splendorous jnana worship. Beholding the light of life is great yoga worship. Giving life by invocation is external worship. Expressing adoration is charya."

That is where it is so far. We want to inspire everyone to know themselves. In fact, we were just getting quotes on reprinting 'Know Thyself', which is very interesting, I was looking at that this morning. We are planning to republish our little 'Know Thyself' book. It was our first effort of color publishing, full color book. Getting the Macintosh computer to generate four-color publication. That was back in 1993, I think. So here we are ten years later gearing up to print it again with just a few minor changes. It will be a wonderful lead-in for those interested in studying the Master Course, to the Master Course trilogy. We will be able to hand it out in a very nice way, for example in Toronto it would make a very nice item on the literature table, 'Know Thyself' and hold it up and talk about 'Know Thyself'. It won't be ready for this time, but we can get ready for the future. A very nice combination.

Have a very wonderful, special Ardra day. We certainly will here.

Aum Namah Sivaya.

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MORE UPLIFTING THINGS		2004 Indian Odyssey Join Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami on an 18 day Innersearch to South India, from Jan 19 to Feb 5, as we pilgrimage to ancient monasteries, magnificent 1,000 plus year old sacred temples and meet with India's holy men in a life-transforming adventure. Click on the above link for more details.
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