February Padapuja

Yesterday the monastery observed our monthly padapuja to Gurudeva during the chitra nakshatra. In the early morning, monks and guests gathered in Kadavul Temple for the abhishekam to Gurudeva's black granite tiruvadi. Sadhaka Dayanatha and Nirvani Tejadevanatha performed the puja. Jai Gurudeva!

"Don't let anyone take your religion away from you. We have to keep developing religion in our mind. We have to keep learning the language of our soul, which is one definition of religion. When religion leaves our mind, something comes in to replace it. What comes into our mind to replace the vacuum when religion goes? Greed, jealousy, hatred, anger, past regrets, despair, self-condemnation. We cease to feel good about ourselves. We are always discontented and restless, and we are always unhappy, jealous, angry and fretful. These are some of the lower emotions that replace religion when we allow religion to leave our mind. There are many people in the world today intent on taking your religion away from you. Saivites have the greatest and philosophically most comprehensive and deeply experiential religion in the world. Saivites have moved their religion forward for five to ten thousand years. At no time in history has the Saivite religion not been on this planet. The Tamil people especially have moved the Saivite religion forward, year after year after year, through bhakti. And it is your religion. It is in your DNA, and no one can take that religion away from you. But you must steel your mind, make your mind strong through knowledge, through religious education." Gurudeva

\"Yes, the tide has to change. It has to change, no matter how painful it might be to praise people rather than criticize them, and to support and to protect them. The tide has to change. It has to change no matter how painful it might be to admit that we worship many Gods as well as one supreme God. The time has come for Hindus to be openly proud of their religion--the oldest religion on the planet.\"

\"We each have within us the power to accept, a power no one can deprive us of under any conditions.\"

\"Our religion tells us that we come back into physical bodies again and again until we are the master of our mind, body and emotions and realize that we are a brilliant soul filled with light. Our religion tells us that because we love God Siva, we love one another, for God Siva loves all of us. Our religion tells us that God Siva is like a father and a mother, not a vengeful God, but a God of love who helps us. Always come closer to Him.\"

\"Our only hope lies in educating the children, the young minds which are open and eager to learn, but which are being enticed away from their heritage. Hold them close, protect them, love them dearly and give them the treasures of Saivism. That is the greatest gift you can offer them.\"

\"Hindu temples sustain Hinduism around the world. Scriptures keep us always reminded of the path we are on and the path we are supposed to be on, but only from the satguru can you get the spirit, the Sakti, the sustaining spirit, to make it all come to life in you, to make the temple meaningful and to complement the scriptures with your own sight, your own third-eye sight. Otherwise, it\

s just words. Nathas are not on the path of words.\"'

\"Nathas don\

t have any hype. We are not beating a drum or selling a mantra or selling a seminar or selling a promise. We just are who we are, doing what we are doing, and if anyone comes along to help, that is our karma at that point in time. We do the very best that we can with the facilities that we have. We don\'t sell healing. We make no promises. Nathas do their job on a very broad scale and pay attention to every small detail at the same time.\"'

\"When you stand strong for your religion, you are strong.\"

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