Padmaja Patel on the Impact of Our Online Resources

There are no words to describe how much I have benefited from the free online resources from Kauai's Hindu Monastery. It is definitely a big part of my daily life, from reading TAKA, daily Master Course lessons, using quotes and relevant material for my Facebook status updates and the Master Course group discussions. For my regular posting on our Hindu blog for mywesttexaschatter.com, I use the Google Custom Search Engine to look into almost any subject related to religion and spirituality and use many articles for reference. I also use the Hinduism Today site for articles I write for our local newspaper.

For my own personal study I now have Saiva Dharma Shastra, Gurudeva's Spiritual Visions and Gurudeva's Spiritual Toolbox, which are available in PDF format, on my iPad. Its so nice to have them on the shelf of my iBooks app! My all-time favorite treat is inspired talks by Gurudeva and Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami--to be able to listen to them on demand is a great boon. Their words continue to guide and inspire me.

For my classes at temple, I have used the "Ten Questions and Answers" pamphlets and the Yoga's Forgotten Foundation book to teach the children about the yamas and niyamas--and the "Visiting a Hindu Temple" pamphlet, too. I am looking forward to the new children's storybook on the yamas and niyamas due out in 2011! I have also used the festival pager to teach the children about the various festivals.

The excitement in my class is so much greater now that I have these materials on my iPad. The kids are absolutely fascinated with it to the point that they have wanted to take it home. So, I made a deal with them that in the coming year I will gift an iPad to the one of them whose attendance is perfect and who also participates actively in the class!

I have to mention that a couple of years ago, my sister-in-law bought a new laptop and she wanted to have another guru's picture as a screen saver, so I looked at the guru's website to download a picture and found that there is not a single picture available to download! There is absolutely nothing free on that site.

So, with all my gratitude, I could say that if the Digital Dharma Drive was the only charity I needed to contribute to in a year, I would pledge for the entire amount without any hesitation. My life is enriched daily; it is a vital source of energy to sustain me in all my worldly endeavours.

Aum Namah Sivaya.

Dr. Padmaja Patel
Midland, Texas