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May the Goddess of culture, associated with the
models of other cultures, may the Goddess of wisdom in company with
men, ordinary and intellectual, may the fire divine, and may the
Goddess of divine speech with masters of language come to bless us and
enshrine our hearts.
Rig Veda 7.2.8. RVP, P. 2,355

Monday
LESSON 344
Saivism Has Everything
Good evening, everyone! Vanakkam. Anbe Sivamayam
Satyame Parasivam. God Siva is Immanent Love and Transcendent Reality.
The American devotees of our great God Siva are very happy to be here
today at this beautiful temple in Sri Lanka. It is so inspiring to see
this temple being well maintained, improved, managed in a responsible
way and filled with Saivite souls. Your open and lovely faces remind me
of beings in the Devaloka. We feel blessed here.
Saivism is
the greatest religion in the world, and we are all very fortunate and
proud to be Saivites. Why is it great among all the world's great
religions? It has the most ancient culture on the planet. It has
scriptures that are utterly profound. It has sacred hymns that stir the
soul. It has unparalleled disciplines of yoga and meditation.
It has magnificent temples that are truly holy. It has devoted sages
and holy men and women to guide our life and lead us to Lord Ganesha,
who leads us to Lord Murugan and finally to the Supreme God, Siva.
Saivism has God and the Gods. It has charya, kriya, yoga and jnana. It has so many enlightened beliefs, including karma and reincarnation. That is why I call our religion the greatest in all the world.
I
believe that this oldest religion of the farthest past is also the
religion of the future, the religion best suited to the technological
age. I think we should present Hinduism as it is today, as a vibrant
religion of the present. Then it will survive into glorious futures. We
need inspired people to serve Saivism with a strong will and a positive
mind. In this effort, all differences must be set aside so we can work
together on powerful programs that will bring progress; and that
progress will inspire others, make them enthusiastic, show them that
Saivism can be brought into the technological age for the good of the
next generation, the next and the next.
What happens when a
religion is lost in yesterday and not brought forward to guide its
followers today and on into the future? All kinds of problems arise.
The youth begin to think religion is obsolete, abandon it and become
immersed in worldliness, often in activities that are adharmic. They
leave the Saivite path, the Saiva Neri. Families break up, friends
argue, and people fight within themselves and with one another. Poor
citizens are raised in the absence of ethics. Unrest and discontentment
reign, and the entire nation suffers. So many problems arise when
religion is lost, when people don't know the right things to do. They
become unhappy, restless, unstable. They have nothing to lean on, no
place to turn in difficult times. This leads to abuse, to divorce, to
suicide, to disease, to murder and dozens of sad experiences and
hellish states of mind.
People who do have a religion live a
very different life. Recently a large sum of money was spent to conduct
a vast survey on the effects of religion in people's lives in America.
Thousands of people from every walk of life were interviewed throughout
the United States as to their religion, their jobs and their family
life. It was found that those with a religion and who really followed
that religion were happier, wealthier and healthier than those who had
no spiritual life. The researchers concluded that nonreligious people
were less happy in their home life, less successful in their businesses
and personal relationships, and more prone to anxiety, stresses and
strains. We have to take that information seriously and determine to
live our spiritual life fully, in all its dimensions. We have to
realize that there are serious problems awaiting us if we are
half-hearted and live a double standard. Therefore, it is important,
both for the individual and the country, that we preserve the Saiva
Dharma and bring it forward into the technological age.
Tuesday
LESSON 345
A Religion Of the Future
Many years ago I was given a beautiful description of Saivism. I was told that Saivism is like ghee.
The cow eats grass all day and from it produces gallons of white milk.
The dairyman separates out the rich cream. The cream is then churned
into sweet butter. Finally, the butter is boiled to produce a tiny
amount of ghee, the essence of milk. Like ghee, Saivism is the essence of religion.
In the past decades I have found that instead of preserving and enjoying this ghee,
people are pouring it into a brass pot and diluting it with Western
rationalism, diluting it with liberal Hinduism, diluting it with
unorthodox practices and beliefs of all kinds. That precious, ghee
has been turned into a greasy water which is not fit for anything
except to be thrown out. Therefore, I call upon the united Saivites of
the world to protect, preserve and promote the Saiva Samayam by
bringing a stop to this dilution of our religion. This dilution is
caused by Western influences, by the efforts of alien religions to
convert our members, by liberal-Hindu thinking which seeks to destroy
the traditions of temple worship and sectarian customs and, most
importantly, by our own neglect.
Only the united Saivites of
the world can solve these problems. It is not enough to understand
these problems or to complain about them. Objecting is not enough. We
have to have a plan, a purpose, persistence and push. We have to put
that plan forward with a positive mind, a practical approach and a
dynamic will in order to make Saivism the religion of the future,
bringing it out of the agricultural era and into the technological age.
Here in Sri Lanka there is a misconception that in order to
progress, in order to move into the age of technology, we have to
abandon our religion, give up our culture. That is a false concept.
Religion does not conflict with technology, but enhances it, gives it
balance and purpose. As soon as a young man or woman gets a Western
education, he or she assumes that the old traditions don't apply
anymore and becomes ashamed to worship God and the Gods. Where are the
spiritual leaders who can explain that this need not be so? It is too
bad that our religious leaders aren't teaching the fact that Saivism is
the one religion on the planet best suited to this great age, which
agrees most closely with the most advanced postulations of modern
science, yet it is itself even more advanced.
In Bali, the
technological age did not conquer religion. Rather, Saivite religious
leaders harnessed technology to serve their distinct way of life. There
the Saivite traditions have been valued and protected. On American
national television a few months ago, a beautiful program on Bali's
Siva festival, Ekadasha Rudra, was shown -- a massive celebration held
for ten days only once every hundred years. A Balinese high priest was
interviewed. He was proud to be a Saivite and told the reporter, "We
use technology here in Bali. We are not overcome by technology." I am
afraid to say that technology is overcoming many of us here in Sri
Lanka. It is a dangerous trend. Unless we reverse it through education,
it will gather momentum, and changes will come more and more quickly,
not positive changes, but negative ones that destroy the religious
character of people and nations.
Wednesday
LESSON 346
Double Standards
Devout Hindus have a hard time dividing life into the
sacred and the profane. It is life, and it is all divine expression.
Thus, Hindu art is sacred art, Hindu music is devotional music. Even
business, for the devout Hindu, is not just livelihood but a way of
serving God, the community and helping mankind.
But we must
admit that not all Hindus live the life as fully as they might. There
has evolved a double standard in the modern world. There are those who
are consistent as Hindus in the temple as well as at home, whose home
life is consistent with their behavior in the temple, whether they live
in Europe or in an Indian village. There are also those who are Hindus
when it is convenient and something else when it is not. A good, hard
look at oneself once in a while is beneficial, especially at the time
of year when many Hindus send Christmas cards. Do they send greetings
to acknowledge the holy days of Islam or Judaism? No. But, having been
educated in Christian schools, they feel it's all right to send
Christmas cards. Christian on the inside and Hindu on the outside --
it's a double standard. Rice and curry at the temple, a Big Mac beef
burger on the way home. Of course, we would always encourage friendly
gestures of goodwill and polite exchanges of good wishes with school
mates, neighbors, colleagues, business and professional associates or
customers who are members of another community, but that can be done
without compromising our Hindu identity. There are perfectly neutral
and secularized season's greetings cards, devoid of religious
expression.
Fortunately, the duplicity is changing. Hindus are
getting more confident about living their culture, even in the West. A
recent speaking tour in Canada and California brought to my attention
an awakening in the older generation (for the sake of their children,
they explained), and that is to be one hundred percent Hindu all the
time, living the culture at home, in the workplace, the temple and even
in dreams. One temple I visited in Toronto had set up a dress code for
the devotees: elegant Hindu attire for ladies -- no shorts, slacks,
skirts, etc., and only traditional attire for men. Those who don't
comply are not admitted. Yes, there was at first some reaction,
management told me. Even now, there are some who just won't come to the
temple if they can't worship the Lord in T-shirts and tight jeans. But
so many others who don't appreciate the double standard and previously
would stay away -- because worshipers were dressing so immodestly --
have since replaced the dropouts. The strictness has brought other
boons along with it, such as a one-hour, absolutely silent meditation
by two or three hundred people prior to the evening puja. The
management prides itself on cleanliness, decorum and discipline. My
group arrived there shortly after a feeding of several thousand. The
kitchen was immaculate. So was the dining room. Similar efforts to
bring forward the whole of our tradition are underway in other
communities as well.
There is an old saying, "Clothes make the
man." And it must be equally true that clothes make the woman. Dress
codes are a growing issue in many temples throughout the world, and in ashramas and mathas, too. This is being discussed not only in Hinduism but in other religions as well.
In
international airports all over the world we see so many kinds of
clothing. Airports are beginning to look like backstage at the opera --
a flamboyant array -- not of actors pretending to be who they are not,
but an array of people whose clothing declares who they are. A
materialist wears his shirt and tie. The Muslims are elegantly dressed.
The colorful African tribals, stately Japanese Shintoists and modest
Buddhists are in their traditional garb. Catholics dress demurely;
Protestants informally. You can spot an existentialist just like that.
And of course, you can never miss the punk rockers or the hippies. A kurta shirt, shawl and loosely fitted pants are definitely Hindu, and go well with the wife's wearing a sari or punjabi.
Thursday
LESSON 347
Upholding Your Faith
The clothing we wear shapes our attitudes, cultural
behavior and the friendships we hold. Clothes do affect our moods and
emotions and make a declaration of who we are. My recommendation is to
be who you are and let the world know it, even in the workplace, unless
a dress code does not permit this, of course. This includes wearing the
sacred forehead marks and Hindu jewelry, wedding pendant, toe rings,
earrings and beads. The message is: don't be afraid to be a Hindu,
which includes dressing like a Hindu.
Boldly proclaim your
faith to the world. Others proclaim theirs. I will never forget seeing
the many spiritual and parliamentary leaders in Moscow at the Global
Forum on Human Survival in January of 1991. Many were dressed in
Western suits and ties, and it was hard to tell who among them were
from the West, or from Africa or India, and harder still to tell who
was a religious person and who a politician. But at the Millennium
Peace Summit of Religious Leaders at the United Nations General
Assembly Hall in New York in 2000, there were so many, perhaps most,
who wore their native dress. I knew instantly who they were, where they
were from and what they represented. They carried the stronger message
and showed by their clothes that they were proud of their tradition,
and that they intended to preserve it. That kind of strength is good to
see in a world that has mistaken drab uniformity for security.
This is what temple societies and elders and swamis and gurus are all thinking deeply about -- "Should my ashrama look like a hippie commune, or a serious place of yoga?
Should our temples look like advertisements for Levi-Strauss
acid-washed jeans?" Many say, "Well, God in the temple doesn't care how
I'm dressed. It's how I am on the inside that counts." This is a weak
excuse. We cannot be one way on the inside and another on the outside.
It's all us, inside and out. Even in elegant restaurants, a coat and
tie is required. They will lend these to you at the door. Just as is
done today at temples in Bali, we loan wrap-arounds and shawls to those
who walk into our temples wearing T-shirts and shorts. Perhaps the way
things are heading, one day the Gods in the temples will have the dress
of the day: a baseball cap turned backwards, a T-shirt, baggy pants.
Perhaps that would satisfy the issue and end the controversy. What do
you think?
Women say that they think and act and move differently when they are dressed in a sari
than in Western casual clothing. Another point -- men look nicer in the
traditional Indian outfit than they do in Western coats, shirts and
trousers. But many are shy to wear Hindu clothing, especially the men.
They need not be. Last summer a girl we know was scared to death to go
to college in her punjabis. But she tried it. Within four days
some of the American coeds came up and asked, "What do you call that
outfit? We want one like it, too. It's so beautiful." So much for our
fears!
Swami Vivekananda noted, "The sari of our women and the choga
and turban of our men defy comparison as regards beauty in dress. The
tight dresses cannot approach in loveliness the loose ones that fall in
natural folds." Hindus dressed like Hindus behave like Hindus. Don't
underestimate the power of our dress, how it influences our attitudes,
feelings and even the company we keep. This is food for thought, isn't
it? Think about it.
Friday
LESSON 348
Beware of Detractors
Every nation, village, organization, society and even
small group has certain goals to accomplish, ideals to live by and a
mission it seeks to fulfill. But every organization and group, large or
small, has something else as well: detractors. They are usually
friendly, kindly, sociable and fun to be with. They're often
intellectually bright and more sophisticated than most. They can be the
life of the party, the ones who get things going, serve the prasada
and talk a mile a minute. They are often popular, welcomed onto every
committee and board of trustees, because people feel their energy and
inspiration will implement the objectives of the organization, be they
building a temple, promoting a publication, saving the rain forests or
reorganizing Hindu society into traditional ways of life, culture and
arts.
Their special social skills promote them quickly through
the ranks. Once in an influential position, they speak wisely on
subjects irrelevant to the central purpose of the organization. Given
the chance, they can turn a not-so-wealthy ashrama into an
up-and-coming business, thus diluting the original holy impulse of
selfless, humble service. Of course, they do perform worship, but in
most cases it is not genuine, and just enough to keep them in with a
religious group. Given a project, they may balk or procrastinate --
delaying a mailing to the point that when it arrives it is useless, or
refraining from doing it at all. They are never without a good reason
for their actions, having been educated in the venerable "Book of
Excuses." At meetings they are quite competent to tell in compelling
terms why a project that all wish to manifest is not possible. They are
equally capable of making everyone question the mission of the
organization and their part in it. They politic to redefine the group's
chartered purpose, to make it fit into their own ideas. These rajas
of reason have many ruses to discourage others from fitting in, and
will go to great efforts to bring up irrelevant alternatives and
possibilities which cloud the group's thinking and undermine its
commitments. All this may seem overstated, perhaps over-generalized,
but from my experience I assure you that it is not.
These, my
friends, are detractors. Though they may appear to be allies, they are
not. The worst of them, I would say, are guided by asuric forces which
seek to undermine, erode and create confusion. Detractors also endeavor
to control and then stifle the religious leaders -- the swamis, pandits, priests and the guru
-- by setting schedules as to whom they should or should not meet, what
they should and should not say. If they can, they will cleverly edit a
religious institution's written works into oblivion and relegate the
founder to being a feeble figurehead, a mere picture hanging on the
wall.
Detractors are something to be deeply concerned about.
Don't hope that they will one day turn around and be defenders of
faith. They won't. By divine, dharmic law, devotees who are
dedicated to the goals of their group are wrong to associate with
detractors, who often seek to replace the religious agenda with a
social one. Rather, they must be dissociated from and seen as foes to
the forces of dharma, antagonists who do not allow others to
preserve the thrust of the founder's goals. Every group should
rigorously test each one within it to determine who is vowed to fulfill
the goals of the organization and who will hamper them every step of
the way, resist and refuse to fit in fully, and politic to cause others
to do the same. Their favorite mode of operation is the erosion method,
continually taking up time, even if it's only five minutes today and
eight minutes tomorrow. Their presence is always a burden, as they
deter, delay and inhibit the mission by their remarkable irrelevancies
and intolerable subtle obstinacy. Asuric invasion comes through
such detractors, who rely on anger, pouting, gossip, backbiting and
emotional upheavals to get their way. Once having been admitted into
the central fold, they employ these means of motivation even more
openly than before, to the utter distress of devotees who are humbly
striving to follow dharma and to fulfill the stated mission of
the organization. Now, I am not saying these are all necessarily bad
people, though some are definitely there to intentionally infiltrate,
dilute and destroy. Others may have, in their own minds, perfectly good
intentions and may be entirely unaware of their negative effect on the
group. But that does not excuse them. It is important to stress that
for religious service to be effective, there must be absolute group
harmony. For words to go deep and lives to be changed for the better,
everyone's pranas must be flowing together on an equal
wavelength. All must be kindred in their vows and unified in their
determination to fulfill the goals of the ashrama, society, temple or mission.
The
big question remains: how to get rid of detractors once they are
discovered. Quite probably they have made many friends, are tied into
key projects, have contributed a great deal of money and gained a
position of control. If detractors are discovered, don't confront them.
Don't accuse them. Don't try to persuade or convince them to be
different. Don't expect them to change. Be persistent in maintaining
the original goals of the institution. Uphold the dharma and be
unified with those who are loyal. Quietly let the detractors go their
way, or into another group that is more suited to them. Without them,
the mission will soar. Religious organizations must not tolerate
domination by wealthy or influential patrons or members who do not
support the shared goals. An indigent widow's single rupee in the hundi and a billionaire's one million should have equal weight in the minds of the trustees.
Saturday
LESSON 349
Respecting Temple Priests
In the past months, we have talked to many groups
about the abuse of women and children, of animals and our environment.
And there is yet another kind of abuse whose victims have silently
suffered without our concern, without our intervention, and mostly
without our even knowing about it. I'm speaking of our temple priests,
who are being mistreated and abused all over the world. This is a
distressing problem that I hear about nearly every week and am working
steadily to solve.
It is time that we talked about this atrocity. Hindu priests, known as pujaris,
are being mistreated, humiliated and bashed -- emotionally, mentally
and even physically -- by temple managers, trustees and sometimes even
devotees. We all know that this is not right. Still, with few
exceptions, no one is objecting, except of course the priests
themselves. Their objections and efforts to provide for their own
security go largely unheard, as they are looked down upon by management
as uneducated, simple people who merely perform rote rituals. In truth,
they are a noble army of soldiers of the within, who are the heart of
Hinduism's spiritual leadership.
Priest bashing is a popular sport outside of India. Back in India, priests have their sanga
and elders to stand up for them. Outside India, when a priest falls
into disfavor, the slightest infractions are used against him, and
serious accusations are quickly levelled to blacken his name, hurt him
and force him out. Accusation of wrongdoing in handling money is a
favorite ploy and usually the first to be used. The list goes on,
giving management the license to yell at him, push him, ignore his
needs, embarrass him in front of his peers and humiliate him in public.
In Australia, a priest spent two weeks in the hospital following an
incident of severe and traumatic public humiliation. There have been
too many cases for us to take lightly the himsa hurts inflicted
upon priests serving in foreign lands. With a sympathetic attorney's
help, one priests' group in California formed their own organization
for protection, but this is still the exception.
It is bad
enough inside India, but even worse outside. At least in India the
priest is on home ground, knows the rules of the region and has moral,
emotional and even legal support available. And, of course, he has his
extended family to turn to. Outside of India, many priests have none of
these support systems. Many priests are isolated and vulnerable in so
many ways -- often living alone, with only a temporary visa. Many don't
know the laws and customs of the country they serve in, and may not
know the language too well, so they are often at the mercy of the
temple managers for everything. They are disadvantaged in another way,
too: if a priest has to return to his village, he will face a second
humiliation as elders and peers make him answer up to the gossip,
insinuations and accusations that have accumulated against him.
Yes,
bashing Hindu temple priests is a worldwide tragedy, and those who
perpetrate these acts are also bashing the Sanatana Dharma. But abusing
priests is not to be taken lightly. Those who can invoke blessings from
the Gods can also invoke curses from asuric forces of this planet for
their own protection when angered, embarrassed and deeply hurt. Hindu
temple priests deserve respect for the richness of their holy
profession, the dignity of their office and the importance of their
function. They should not be mistreated or interfered with. They have
earned the same respect that any professional in "the real world"
enjoys. When swami bashing was in vogue years ago, swamis took it seriously. They got to know each other better, stood up for each other and put a stop to the nonsense.
Women
today are taking such a stand against their own husbands who take
sadistic joy in battering them repeatedly. When these transgressions
are brought before the public, changes are often set in motion.
Attitudes change. Soon the media changes its ways of reporting on
abuse. Laws eventually change. We have seen this happen with child
abuse, with racial abuse, with sexual abuse. The time has now come for
us all to change our attitudes about abusing temple priests. This will
require temple managers to adjust their thinking. It will also require
the international priesthood of Sanatana Dharma to take a firm stand
against their molesters and refuse to meekly submit, day in and day
out, to harassment or to being relegated to janitorial work and the
handling of shoes. Some priests work fourteen hours a day and more.
They are treated like servants of the manager rather than servants of
the temple Gods. Let's put an end to this shameful mistreatment and the
bad karma that it creates. Let's honor, love and respect our
priests. Let's make our priests happy. Happy priest, happy temple,
happy Gods, happy devotees. That's the way it works.
Sunday
LESSON 350
The Path of Commitment
Commitment is a big word and a very scary word to many people nowadays. The word commitment means responsibility. The word commitment brings up our willpower. Many people think the word commitment is too limiting. We can sum up commitment in one word, dharma. The path of dharma
is the path of one commitment after another commitment. In between the
commitments is fulfillment of the commitment, which is another word for
duty. We are here to realize God Siva within ourself. We are here to
resolve all the karmas we put in motion in past lives. We are
here to manage our affairs so properly that eventually we do not have
to come back into a physical body anymore. This takes tremendous
commitment, and our great Hindu religion gives us the knowledge of how
to be committed.
If your religion is not manifesting daily in
your life, then basically you don't have a religion. You just have some
sort of Indian culture which will eventually go away and be replaced
with another kind of a culture, because it doesn't really matter to
you. Someone asked me recently, "How do I know what to be committed
to?" The answer: "What do you believe in?" Belief is a magical thing.
It's like a vitamin; it permeates your whole system. A belief can be
taken away and another belief can replace it, or the belief can be
strengthened through commitment. Be committed to your beliefs, or find
beliefs that you can be committed to, then build on them. Then you will
leave your footprints on the San Marga of time. Otherwise, you are just
sitting in one place, making no progress. Nothing is happening in your
life. The karmas aren't working right, and you are not able to face life.
If
you feel, day after day, that you are in the right place at the right
time, doing the right thing, then I would say you are a being who is
fully committed to the spiritual path. If, day after day, you feel you
don't know whether you are in the right place or not, and things are
always "happening to you," that you are like a little boat on the great
ocean of life being tossed around, here and there, then you should look
within yourself and find out where you stand on the scale of life
itself. What are your basic beliefs? What are your basic commitments?
Ask yourself.
There are many things to be committed to. Youths
should be committed to an education that prepares them for what they
plan to do in the future. Mothers should be committed to raising their
children, making them good citizens, though some mothers don't care
whether their children are good citizens or not. They just don't care.
They are not even committed to raising their own children. They give
them over to somebody else to raise: "Here, you do it." Day-care
centers are opening up all across the nation, though statistics show
that children educated in day-care centers are terrible students when
they get into school -- discouraged, undisciplined, unruly students.
Husbands should be committed to raising up their family, taking care of
their wife and children. That is a commitment that they have to
fulfill. If they don't fulfill it, they are making an unworthy karma. But many husbands are not even committed to that.
Commitment and dharma are just about the same. Dharma
brings law and order into life, gives us rules to follow and guides us
along. Where does commitment come from? Commitment comes from the soul.
The intellectual mind is going this way and that way all the time,
controlled or antagonized by other people's opinions most of the time
and by how society is thinking. Commitment comes from the soul. It is a
quality of the soul which you can teach to the next generation. Another
quality of the soul is observation. Still another intuitive quality of
the soul is creativity, which should be encouraged in every child.
Through commitment, the soul dominates the intellect and the intellect
dominates the instinctive mind. This is religion in action. This is
living with Siva.
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