Gurudeva answers questions today about children surfing the internet and going where they should not go; about being and becoming, false identification with the physical body; those on the spiritual path afflicted with illness; the environment for meditating. Gurudeva then talks about raising children and gives guidance on how to raise a child intelligently by time given and time out. Use of drugs result in time out of a more permanent nature and we are told how to avoid this prison for our children.

Unedited Transcript:

Today at Kauai Aadheenam November 22. In our Vedic calendar, it is Sun 3. It is Sunday today here on the beautiful garden island of Kauai. We had 2 Indian families, pilgrims, living in Chicago now, who were from the Sitarama Temple, a big, multi-million dollar temple, which I had the pleasure of helping get started many, many years ago.

Also, some Hawaii Buddhists brought beautiful gifts of orchids and came to worship Lord Buddhakeya, a small Japanese Buddhist image, many hundreds of years old, that came to us to find a home when the United States Army took down the temple, at the time of the war with Japan.

In Hinduism Today, we are doing an article on AIDS, and talked to an AIDS expert about mother's milk. Maybe some of you don't know but AIDS can be given to a child, who is nursing on its mother. More about that - read Hinduism Today.

We have a question from Albuquerque, New Mexico, about children surfing the Internet and getting into areas, where the parents would not rather have them go. "What advise would You offer for parents facing this situation?"

Contact cyberpatrol.com for the free 7-day trial. There is another - cybersitter, { }, surfwatch, { }. They have a list of violence, bad language, pornography and all sorts of things that you wouldn't want your children to get into. Actually these organizations screen, for parents, the internet, and only allow the young people to access what the mothers and fathers have decided they should see. Of course, I don't know if they can hack around it or not. But, give it a try. cyberpatrol.com, cybersitter, { }, surfwatch.

We have another question all the way from Luxembourg about being and becoming. Question reads like this, "Isn't it that so many problems are created through false identification with our physical body and our other bodies? Could you speak on the concept of being and becoming?"

Well, identification is a power of the mind. Our awareness will identify and stick to whatever we put it on. Many people are only aware of their physical body and think that they are their physical body. Others seek the real Self within, the Siva-ness within them and identify with that, as their real self. Infinite, flowing powers that flows through the entire Universe, they identify with that. That energy which flows through all the bodies - the astral body, the physical body, the mental body, the emotional body, right out from Siva, God within. It is the same awareness, the identification has been shifted and that's the great power of yoga.

Thank you, Luxembourg, for the very interesting and provocative question.

Here is one from San Diego. "I know and I have heard of those who indeed, were on the straight path, but suffered from chronic, debilitating illnesses. I think I know that is all a result of past, bad karma. But, I can't let go of my belief that such illness could be alleviated through spiritual disciplines."

Well, that is true. I have never seen a very successful alleviation of illness through spiritual discipline, while remaining in the same circumstances, in the same job, in the same environment. But, I have seen illnesses totally clear up by changing profession, changing environment, moving from the city to the country, moving from a complicated profession to a very simple profession, becoming one with nature. A complete change of mental, emotional and physical environment has the power to overcome illnesses that are created in concrete jungles and high-powered, high-pressured jobs.

Thank you, San Diego. Hiteshvara in San Diego asked a very good question, thank you.

Well, here's another one. "Can we meditate in the moving car, if we don't have much time to meditate?"

Well, I wouldn't advise it. (laughs) I wouldn't advise it one little bit.

Meditation is taking oneself away from the world. Meditating in a moving car might take you away from the world, permanently. We don't want that, unless you were in the back seat or the passenger, with your seat belt on, and helmet, too.

Make time for meditation. The best time for meditation is early in the morning before the sun rises. That's the time when everyone else is asleep. The vibration in the city or the country side is very, very quiet and you can go within yourself. That's the time to adjust your schedule to.

People ask, "How do you get up so early?" Well, answer is - we go to bed early. Here, at Kauai Aadheenam, our cyberspace ashram, we are always up at 3:45, doing our exercises, meditating. Then temple puja, and then, a good hour's meditation - all of us together. Then, we start our day. But, it requires discipline. Discipline is what we can take on to the next plane of consciousness, when we make our grand departure from this physical body.

There is very little appreciation that we give to each other - children to parents, parents to children. Parents who don't discipline their children with love, or don't discipline them at all, let them get away with things they shouldn't get away with, are very neglectful. They are creating habit patterns in their children's lives, that they, the parents, will feel very badly about later on. They, the parents, will experience the experiences that their children are going through when they make mistakes that is disciplined by society itself.

Take time out to be with your children. Give time-out to the children. They say - one minute sitting alone for every year of the life of a child. Therefore, if the child is 10 years old, "Go to your room or the shrine room for 10 minutes. Sit there. Think about what you did and then come back to me and we will talk it over."

Slapping them around creates a child that is very humble in your presence, but very aggressive when he gets away from you. It is not an intelligent way to raise a child. Actually, it is cruel. But, time-out and then time with you, the parent explaining why the time-out was given, brings the child's mind around to a better way of behavior, a better way of looking at life. Educate the child.

What is prison? Prison is time-out. We talked about ice, marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and we interviewed prisoners last week, who are doing time-out - 5 years. That's a long time. But, that could have been avoided had the parents in every infraction within the home said, "Go into your room, sit there for 1 minute for every year of your life." If the child is 16 years of age, "Sit there for 16 sixteen minutes. Come out and we'll talk it over." That may have saved the 5 years in prison that their child may experience later on in their life, as some people's children are. Raising children in today's world is as difficult as it was 2000 or 3000 years ago. We haven't advanced that much.

Well, I will be seeing you and will be loving you and you are loving me, looking each other through cyberspace and appreciating these moments, these very rare moments that we have together. Live a good life and help others to do so, as well.