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Meet Bodhinatha in Malaysia and India, Jan-Feb 2004

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami will be traveling through Malaysia and South India this January/February on his 2004 Indian Odyssey travel-study program. You are welcome to meet him at the below places:

• Mon, Jan 19, 2004 -- Sri Kandaswamy Temple, Kuala Lumpur
• Fri, Jan 23, 2004 -- Sri Meenakshi Temple, Madurai
• Sun, Jan 25th, 2004 -- Sri Karpaka Vinayagar Temple, Pillaiyarpatti
• Mon, Feb 2nd, 2004 -- Siva Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram
• Wed, Feb 4th, 2004 -- Binny Hall, Taj Connemara Hotel, Chennai
• Thur, Feb 5th, 2004 -- Thaipusam celebrations at Arupadai Veedu Temple, Chennai

Click here to go to his Travel Page for details.

The Moksha Ritau is a time for inner reflection and inner purification through the Vasana Daha Tantra. Bodhinatha has been following up closely with all the sishya to see that they fulfill this very important sadhana given to all of us by Gurudeva. For eons the teaching of the Rishis has been the purification of the chitta, the subconscious, the loosening of the tight grip of past experience on present consciousness. Our guide for this great study of the mind is Gurudeva's "Merging with Siva" which is online. Many have hailed this work as a masterpiece in bringing these teachings into a form that one can actually implement in our lives.

In Merging with Siva you can learn about the subconscious mind. Click here to go to that chapter.

Then, click here to go to the chapter in Living with Siva that describes how to perform the Vasana Daha Tantra sadhana.

Bodhinatha's Sun One Video. Most Recent update: September 12, 2003. Bodhinatha speaks on Ahimsa, noninjury, yama #1, which is noninjury in thought, word and deed. The law of karma decrees that it is wise not to harm or hurt others, for we will then receive harm and hurt in exchange in the future. 12 minutes, 29 seconds.

Another powerful and simple spiritual practice for mental purification is called "Ganga Sadhana." Here one of our pilgrims is spending an hour in the early morning by the river. We share with you Gurudeva's teaching:

"While you are sitting alone by the side of the river being one with the perfect universe--the earth, the air, the fire, the water and the akasha, the mind--when a thought arises from your subconscious, something about your daily life, a problem or difficulty, pluck a leaf from a tree or bush, mentally put the problem into the leaf and place it into the river. The river will carry the leaf away along with the thought you placed into it. Then pluck a flower and humbly offer it into the river with both hands in loving appreciation for doing this great service for you. Perform this Ganga Sadhana each month, and you will advance on the spiritual path.
"

"Slowly, slowly, by performing Ganga Sadhana you will blend your external consciousness with our most perfect universal consciousness. While sitting by the river, close enough to touch the water, on a rock or tree limb, you are truly uninvolved with everything but yourself. You are now in tune with nature itself. Earth is there. Water is there. Fire is there. Air is there. Akasha is there. All the five elements are there. They are outside of you to see and feel, as well as inside of you to see and feel. The goal is to release that part of your subconscious mind that doesn't blend the within of you with that which is outside of you. You perform this blending by listening to the river murmur, "Aum Namah Sivaya, Sivaya Namah Aum," the sounds of Siva's perfect universe. "

"Sadhana is performing the same discipline over and over and over again. Just as we methodically exercise the physical body to build up its muscles, we perform spiritual disciplines over and over again to strengthen our spiritual, inner bodies. Perform Ganga Sadhana time and time again. You will rapidly advance. Remember, the outer river is symbolically representing the inner river of your own nerve system, life force and consciousness that flows through you night and day. So, even as you sit on this rock and look upon the water, in a mystical way, see it as your own superconscious energies taking away these problems, worries, doubts, ill-conceived and unresolved experiences of the past. Flow with the river of life and merge in Siva's ocean of oneness. "

Meanwhile, beside dedicated pilgrims we also had a joyous Pancha Ganapati day filled with visitors from afar who are traveling to Hawaii during their winter break. Over 70 people came today! Here a small group is gathered at the Iraivan Temple.

Everyone loves to get water from the stream and perform abhishekam to the giant Narmada Lingam on the Path of the Saiva Saints.

The Christmas and New Year holiday season is shaping up to be a busy time for the Aadheenam as more and more Hindus take this opportunity to enjoy quality family time together.

These two families are the Shankar family from Oregon on the left, and the Pramod Kumar family from California on the right. They found out about us through searching on the Web while planning their vacation in Hawaii.

They greatly enjoyed seeing Iraivan Temple and also sampled some of our fruits along the way. Here they circumambulate Dakshinamurthi. The Shankar family is returning tomorrow to meet Bodhinatha.

India Odyssey Innersearch
Just Three Weeks Away!

We want to take this opportunity to thank Kailash Dhaksinamurthi in Minneapolis who has been working hard behind the scenes to help pull this 2004 Indian Odyssey together. Kailash has been busy making all the flight arrangements recently making sure everybody has their tickets, passports and visas. Thank you Kailash for your enthusiasm and readiness to serve Bodhinatha at a moments notice. We all really, really appreciate it!

Shankar Nathan in Koloa was kind enough to share some of his photo collection to help us highlight points on our pilgrimage. Here are three photos from that most sacred home of Lord Siva, Chidambaram.

The temple tank at Chidambaram. It is hard to describe the inner sanctity and power of this temple. The morning abhishekam is very unusual. The priest will bring out from the inner sanctum a small Sivalingam. The priest for the day is dressed up and is consecrated for the performance of the worship.

As the puja progresses there comes a point when a giant, solid ruby is brought out that has been carved into a Siva Nataraja. The puja of this small murthi causes a shakti to emanate in the temple that can only be known by being there, but never described in words. There are those who have told us that this one religious experience changed their lives forever.

Saiva Siddhanta Church
Singapore Mission

The Singapore members of Saiva Siddhanta Church Mission live on a small island that is mostly urban development from one end to the other. But still they have some delightful opportunities to commune with nature.

This is a "Hike and Yoga, for a healthy lifestyle. " report from that beautiful city.

"Bukit Timah Nature Reserve with the official height of 164 metres is Singapore's primary rainforest since 1883. On 7th Dec 03, all of us met at the visitor center located at the foot of the hill.

There are about 5 routes to reach the summit. Being the first time for some of us and considering our little kids joining us, we decided to take the shortest path, but was extremely steep. This is a popular route among the new hikers and it's known as the Summit Path. A total of 14 of us, 8 adults, 3 youth and 3 children age below 10, set off about 1030hrs. Carrying our small backpack, we get off in 3 small group. The route gets steeper and steeper. We pause a little there as we walk.

As we walk, we admired the trees and creepers, listened to birds chirping and little insects around the nature. We saw little monkeys and iguana. The kids were very excited seeing them. As we get higher, the air was fresher and cooler. Though tired, the greenery and smell of the fauna and flora with the fresh cool air kept us going. It's only at such time that we take a closer look at nature and spend some time listening to them. Finally about we reached the summit within 2hrs. Yes! we made it.

Bijamati, Kavitha, Padmini, Saranamutha and Diviya joined us. Saranamutha is here from Mauritius with her daughter Padmini, visiting her Mother and Father.

We sat to rest after the long walk. Though here they look shack, they really enjoyed the walk.

After resting enough, we had Sakuntalai and Suselah to guide us with Yoga. It was really good to do Yoga surrounded by nature. Padmini was very energetic and enjoyed herself doing yoga with her mum and Singapore aunties.

Here are the hikers at the summit clearing the height of 163.63m. It was a great experience to understand our own endurance level. Isn't striving to know and experience God is like hiking?

In a fast moving society like Singapore, to spend some time together is not really easy. If we need a break from the stress or humdrum of everyday life we have to plan and organize an activity or we can go for a movie, exhibition, going to beach and etc. The "Singapore Blooms" is the first Flower & Garden Show 2003 opened in Singapore. The show was from 14 - 23 November 03 and we took this time to have family time together.

There were varieties of beautiful flowers. It was fantastic treat for any flora lover. We really had a wonderful experience and during our tour it was like immersing ourselves in nature filled with colors.

Cybertalk: Bodhinatha gives his introduction to the Yamas and niyamas, the Hindu Code of Conduct. He explains that a simple look at what it means to be a Hindu is to become a better person, to improve our behavior and become more spiritual. The goal is to control the animal instincts that are part of our human make up. Controlling anger is central to this, an important step on the spiritual path. The yamas and niyamas are the do's and don't's of becoming a better human being. They make up steps one and two of Patanjali's eight-limbed Ashtanga Yoga, an important foundation required for stable higher consciousness. Bodhinatha then spoke of our responses to life. When we are mistreated, our first reaction is to retaliate. But a spiritual person works toward the goal of nonretaliation, toward forgiveness and even learning to forget wrongs done to us. We do this by regarding all experiences as created from within ourselves, or another way to say that is that we are the creator of our own karma, not someone else.

Cybertalk Ends
And click here for an Index to All Past CyberTalks.