hinduism today, jul/aug/sep, 2004

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Affirming Sanatana Dharma and Recording the Modern History of a Billion-Strong Global Religion in Renaissance

July/August/September, 2004 US$5.95

INTERNATIONALFeature Story: Explore the Hindu Concepts

Found in Hollywood Blockbusters 18Art: The Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery Showcases

the Art of the Himalayas in Washington, D.C. 30Festivals: Join 40 million Hindus at the

River Festival in Andhra Pradesh 34Transition: The Life and Times of Sita Ram Goel,

Hindu Renaissance Thinker and Writer 52Environment: Ex-Rancher Howard Lyman Warns

Meat Diet Damages Our Health and Our Planet 58

L I FEST Y L EYouth: Dedicated Teachers and a Savvy Curriculum

Inspire the Kids at this Temple’s Sunday School 38Insight: Anger Management for the Spiritual Seeker

by Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami 40Education: Meet the Amazing Dr. Thiagarajan,

Sanskrit-for-the-Masses Evangelist 56Profi le: The Ecstatic Change of Balamurugan 60Peoples: India’s Sidhis Tribe —Out of Africa? 62

Multimedia: Devadasi Murai, Interactive CD of the Dancers’ Tradition, and Lalitha Sahasranama 63

Books: Surprising Biography of Sri Ramakrishna, Plus Temples and Latest Children’s Books 64

Medicine: Ayurveda’s Advice on Diabetes 65Politics: America’s Next President Needs More

Hinduism, Says US Newspaper Editor 66Commentary: The Reality Behind Movie Violence 67

OPINIONIn My Opinion: How We Got Our Temple’s

Teens Interested in Hinduism 9Publisher’s Desk: Work is Worship 10Letters 12From the Vedas: Yoga, the Path to God 16

DIGESTS

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Letters to the editor, subscription and editorial inquiries may be sent to Hinduism Today, 107 Kaholalele Road, Kapaa, Hawaii 96746-9304 USA, [email protected]. HINDUISM TODAY (issn# 0896-0801), July/August/September, 2004, Volume 26, No. 3. Editorial: 1-808-822-7032 (ext. 227); sub-scriptions, copy or bulk orders: (from USA or Canada:) 1-800-850-1008 or (from all countries) 1-808-240-3108, [email protected]; advertising: 1-888-464-1008, [email protected]. All-department fax: 1-808-822-4351. HINDUISM TODAY is published quarterly by Himalayan Academy, a nonprofit educational institution; Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Founder; Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, Publisher; Paramacharya Palaniswami, Editor-in-Chief. USA subscriptions: us$35/1 year, $65/2 years, $95/3 years, $155/5 years, $1,001/lifetime. Contact us for international rates. In India: Central News Agency Limited, 4E/4 Jhandewalan Extn., New Delhi 110055, Tel (011) 367-0534, E-mail: [email protected]. For permission to publish a HINDUISM TODAY article, call 1-808-822-7032 (ext. 227) or fax 1-808-822-4351. Printed in USA.

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july/august/september, 2004 • Hindu Year 5106Tarana, the Year of Safe Passage

COVER: Anger can be a formidable obstacle on the path, and our Insight section offers practical advice on anger manage-ment; (above) Defending Your Life is about two people reviewing their past lives at “Judgment City” in our movie feature

www.gurudeva.org

Diaspora 6Quotes & Quips 14

Digital Dharma 86

YEARS

1979–2004

HINDUISMTODAY

Management

pg 01-2 cover Jul04 §g2.indd 1 5/1/04 2:35:58 PM

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

The Buddha

Anger cannot be overcome by anger. If a person shows anger to you, and you respond with anger, the result is disas-trous. On contrast, if you con-trol anger and show opposite attitudes—compassion, toler-ance and patience—then not only do you yourself remain in peace, but the other’s anger will gradually diminish.

Dalai Lama

There is no peace in the nursing of a grudge. There is no happiness in living for the day when you can “get even.”

Gordon B. Hinkley

A good character expressed day by day within the indi-vidual who is freed from anger and from contentious mental arguments is a central founda-tion for the practice of yoga.

Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

The more a man knows, the more he forgives. Confucius

There is no peace in the There is no peace in the nursing of a grudge. There is nursing of a grudge. There is no happiness in living for the no happiness in living for the day when you can “get even.”day when you can “get even.”

Gordon B. Hinkley

A good character expressed A good character expressed day by day within the indi-day by day within the indi-vidual who is freed from anger vidual who is freed from anger and from contentious mental and from contentious mental arguments is a central founda-arguments is a central founda-tion for the practice of yoga. tion for the practice of yoga.


The more a man knows, theThe more a man knows, theConfucius

nursing of a grudge. There is nursing of a grudge. There is no happiness in living for the no happiness in living for the day when you can “get even.”day when you can “get even.”

Gordon B. Hinkley

A good character expressed A good character expressed

vidual who is freed from anger vidual who is freed from anger and from contentious mental and from contentious mental arguments is a central founda-arguments is a central founda-tion for the practice of yoga. tion for the practice of yoga.


The more a man knows, theThe more a man knows, theConfucius

pg 05 Gate.indd 1 5/1/04 2:29:09 PM

Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding.

Mahatma Gandhi

When angry, count to 10 before you speak; if very angry, count to 100.

Charles Dickens

Anger is a great force. If you control it, it can be transmuted into a power which can move the whole world.

Swami Sivananda

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anagement

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When you tend to get angry with others, you should address your mind and say, “My mind, if you must be angry with those who cause you harm, why don’t you then get angry with anger itself?” For it does you great-est harm; it prevents you from attaining the cherished values of life: righteousness, wealth, pleasure and salva-tion. While angry, you live through hell, even before death. So, you have no enemy worse than anger.

Sri Vidyaranya Swami

Hindu sages have long warned that anger is the greatest obstacle to spiritual advancement. Our Insight Section in this issue explores “Anger Management.” Page 40

pg 03-04 GATE.indd 1 5/1/04 2:33:37 PM

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6 hinduism today july/august/september, 2004

U S A

Poona GradMakes It Big In Dilbert Daily, millions view

Scott Adam’s hilarious, contemporary Dilbert cartoons, widely syndicated by United Media. Now, with the 2003 un-veiling of a new character, Asok, a Poona Institute of Technology graduate, Dilbert has pushed the “smart Indian software en-gineer” profi le beyond the walls of information technology halls into the halls of humor.

In an interview with Man-

tram magazine, Mr. Adams says that half his social circle is Indian and that Asok’s charac-ter was loosely based on one of

his Indian co-workers at Pacifi c Bell. Now he is getting a lot of mail from Indian fans from around the world. Mail also

comes from an audience that knows nothing about India’s IIT, but thinks Asok is from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

a f r i c a

African Council Mobilizes Balinese Hindus pray silently during the spring equinox, Indonesia

Asok, the new Dilbert comic strip character, is yet another example of India’s presence going global

liladhar j . bharadia ; agence france presse , bay i smoyo; united media , scott adams

Hindu leaders of West Africa at puja in Ghana’s Hindu Monastery

b a l i

New YearSilence in Bali

Hindus witness the newYear’s arrival with a cel-

ebration of the sacred. Dates vary among communities. In Bali, the New Year checks in on the spring equinox and is observed with a day of total silence and purifi cation called Nyepi. On March 21st this year, by law, all Balinese, including Muslims and Christians, set no

fi res, turned on no lights, did not go to work or leave their homes or make any noise. Tour-ists were also required to stay quiet, and even the airport was closed from 6am until 6am the following day. Only hospitals, electrical, water and telephone services operated. The Bali electoral commission honored the tradition by shutting down all campaigning for four days prior, removing party ban-ners from the streets where only the sarong clad taskforce, Pecalangs, were allowed—to enforce the Nyepi rules.

In early june, 2003, shri Muljibhai Pindolia, president

of the Kenya-based Hindu Council in Africa (HCA), toured Hindu institutions in the West African nations of Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria. He sought to mobilize Hindu insti-tutions to form national bodies that would join the HCA for continent-wide coordination. He began the tour in Accra, Ghana, praising Swami Ghanan-and Saraswati, head of Ghana’s Hindu Monastery, for his excel-lent work. Of the 12,500 Hindus in Ghana, 10,000 are, like Swa-mi himself, indigenous Africans. The leaders of Ghana’s Hindu

institutions were enthusiastic about Pindolia’s plan. It was pro-posed that the Accra national body could be the coordination center for Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Chad. Muljibhai then went to Togo and Benin, ending his tour at Lagos, the former capitol of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and home for most of Nigeria’s 25,000 Hindus. Gathering all Hindus in Africa’s 53 nations under one umbrella is a daunt-ing task, and Pindolia’s hands-on, personal visit approach to his organizational efforts were widely appreciated.

pg 06 Diaspora § Jul04.indd 6 5/1/04 10:21:17 AM

july/august/september, 2004 h i n d u i s m t o d ay 7

e a s t a f r i c a

African Hindus Serve God in Women’s PrisonHindus in kenya continue to set high marks for social

outreach programs. On March 8, 2004, International Women’s Day, the Hindu society of Kenya joined together with the Prison-ers Care Programme, a Kenyan NGO, to visit Nairobi’s Langata women’s prison. They brought much needed supplies, toiletries and personal health care items that would otherwise not be available to prisoners. The prisoners celebrated the visit by putting on a fashion show for their guests featuring handmade-in-prison clothing.

s o c i e t y

South Asians Front, Center Newsweek’s march

22nd society feature story, “America Masala,” was yet another manifestation of the synergy between Hindu

homelands and mainstream American culture. It profiled successful, powerful influen-tials—“A new generation of South Asians is transforming the cultural landscape of America. They bring together the best of the East and the best of the West.” Included were not only the success stories of doctors and software engineers, but also a new breed of South Asians in a diversity of fields: art, show business, finance, cuisine, banking, writing, US politics and more. In subsequent let-ters to the editor, South Asians expressed their appreciation for the coverage, but also pointed out that South Asians still have a large marginalized US popu-lation that has yet to taste the success portrayed in the article. Also, especially since 9/11, dis-crimination and racial violence against South Asians are still re-alities that aren’t so rosy. Anoth-er Asian wrote that credit also should be given to the US itself: “These achievements would not have been possible but for the fact that this country—like no other—has valued, encouraged and rewarded hard work, talent, ideas and innovation. God Bless the United States of America.”

u s a

Modern Day Gurukula

More and more hindus in the West are making

the winter holiday school and work break a time for quality family time and spiritual deep-ening. A most impressive exam-ple was Adhyatama Chaitanya’s Vedanta Retreat held from De-cember 23, 2003, to January 2, 2004, at Sadhu Vaswani Center in Dracut, a suburb of Boston. With snow and ice outside, on

the inside the fires of teaching, worship and sadhana were kept burning by 100 devotees, in-cluding babies and elders. It was a joyful, all-family, gurukula-style intensive under Adhyatma Chaitanya’s dynamic spiritual leadership—an extension of his Kerala-based Ma Arsha Maitri Niketan. Daily worship, yoga, pranayama, Adhyatmaji’s lectures, meditation, cooking and eating together, questions and answers brought about life-changing transformations and new vision for all the par-ticipants. See their website for more: www.arshavani.org.

clockwise from top: newsweek, nigel parry; agence france press, simon maina; udayabhanu panickar; hinduism today

t r a n s i t i o n

A Great Soul Moves On

On february 10, 2004, one of mankind’s great lights,

Dr. Rashmi Mayur, traveled on to the inner worlds, in Mumbai, India. A passionate, compas-sionate voice for Mother Earth

and her people, he will be sore-ly missed. He was the Director of the International Institute for Sustainable Future—a futurist, environmentalist, educator, sci-entist, conservationist and more. A walking database of statistics on society and the environment, and a powerful orator, he was advisor to leaders of nations, a globe-trotting star at hundreds of conferences, teacher of tens of thousands of children and champion of Earth and her underprivileged millions. His dream was: “We can hope that what we do makes a differ-ence.…Our purpose is to dedi-cate our lives to regenerating the Earth and building a new human order. A new earthly order where every child—no matter where—will experience joyful existence, happiness in unity with the universe, and the ecstasy of being a pilgrim in the eternal march of evolution.”

Raised in Pittsburgh, Narayan and Nagarajan won leads in Broadway’s ‘Bombay Dreams’

Prison inmate with supplies gifted by the Hindu Society of Kenya

Adhyatma Chaitanya immerses 100 participants in a Vedic retreat

Rashmi Mayur passes in India

pg 07 Diaspora § jul04.indd 7 5/1/04 10:23:39 AM

the monthly; epa photos, paul hilton8 hinduism today july/august/september, 2004

FLORIDA APPEALS COURT HAS made an important decision for US Hindu leaders to note: that the town of Surfside violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act when the town tried to take away the legal rights of two Jewish synagogues to stay in the business district. The Act, which applies also to Hindu temples, states, “No government shall impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that treats a religious assembly or institution on less than equal terms with a nonreligious as-sembly or institution.”

KABUL CREMATION-GROUND challenges have been resolved for Afghanistan’s minority Sikh and Hindu community. With prompting from an Institute for War and Peace report, Kabul

municipal leaders decided to provide a large plot in Pul-i-Charkhi, about 12 kilometers east of the capital, so the small community can perform its cre-mation rituals.

IN A VICTORY FOR WOMEN’S rights, in March, Delhi High Court judge Justice Vikramajit Sen made history by ruling that,

“(upon divorce) as much as one half of the husband’s earn-ing should be divided equally among the other members of the family. The archaic rule (of allowing only 1/5 of the husband’s disposable income as alimony) was a vestige of a bygone era.”

DR. BALA V. MANYAM WAS appointed in April to represent ayurveda on the National Advi-sory Council for Complemen-

tary and Alternative Medicine, a consultative body to the US National Institutes of Health. This is the fi rst time ayurveda has been included.

NORTH AMERICAN SIKHS FLEW150 birs (holy books) of Sri Guru Granth Sahib on a char-tered plane from Amritsar to Canada to replace old and tattered copies in Gurudwaras across the continent. Treated as the holy guru, each book had its own seat. No other cargo was allowed.

THE US JUSTICE DEPARTMENT fi led a complaint against the Muskogee, Oklahoma, Public School district for suspend-ing an 11-year-old Muslim girl for refusing to remove her head scarf, alleging that their suspension violated the equal protection clause of the Four-teenth Amendment of the US Constitution. Schools have been successful in banning gang

clothing symbols because they are able to show “compelling interest” in reducing lawless-ness in school. But no compel-ling interest was shown for the head scarf. The outcome of this case will also apply to future attempts to limit expressions of Hindu religion by students, such as wearing a bindi.

DR. ANURADHA BOSE, OF THE Christian Medical College in Vellore, India, said in a study in The Lancet Medical Journal, that family confl icts, domestic violence, failed romances and mental illness have pushed the suicide rate of young people in southern India to the highest in the world. Suicide accounts for one-half to three-quarters of all deaths in young women and a quarter of deaths in young men in the region. Suicide is a lead-ing cause of death in 15-19 year olds worldwide. In 2000, an es-timated 815,000 young people worldwide took their own lives.

f e s t i va l s

Festival of Colors Grows H oli, also known in some

communities as “Phagwa,” was always big in India, espe-cially among North Indians. But this year the Hindu spring festi-val, spearheaded by Caribbean Hindus, drew tens of thousands in Queens, New York. And, in

South Africa, where the tradi-tion had nearly died, Gujaratis celebrated Holi throughout the country. In this confl ict-rid-den period, the Holi spirit of burying the past, setting aside all differences in a riot of color, overcoming hatred with joy-ful play, letting go the old to embrace the fullness of faith in nature’s youthful emergence, is seen by many as yet another much needed Hindu contribu-tion to a world in confl ict.

e n v i r o n m e n t

Greening The EateriesG reening ethnic restau-

rants (GER) is a California project targeting 180 San Fran-cisco Bay Area ethnic restau-rants to reduce energy and water

use, pollution and solid waste. It was started by Ritu Primlani, 30, director of the non-profi t Thimmakka’s Resources for En-vironmental Education (TREE). Primlani was born in India and infused with environmentalism by her father, a botany profes-sor at Benares Hindu University. She received her Masters at UCLA. “Restaurants are the greatest consumers of energy per square foot, more than any other US industry. They are also the largest producers of recyclable and compostable solid waste (generally 83 percent of their solid waste is divertable).” Restaurant owners are respond-ing positively because they save money by complying with energy and recycling regulations. What one lady and a team of vol-unteers can do—in the fi rst year, 44 cooperating restaurants saved 163,000 kilowatt hours of energy and over two million gallons of water; 342 tons of solid waste were diverted from landfi lls and owners saved about $2,172 a year. Primlani estimates that nearly 107,000 pounds of CO2 were saved from being released into the atmosphere.

Holi: The Hindu spring Festival of Colors is escalating globally

Primlani with restaurant owner

pg 08 Diaspora § Jul04.indd 8 5/1/04 10:24:02 AM

IN MY OPINION

Winning the Hearts of YouthWhen teachers become students, learning is fun

B Y D A H Y A B H A I K . P A T E L

y wife sushila and iconduct a youth pro-gram for teenage Hin-dus at our local mandir

(a Hindu worship center) in Berlin, New Jersey. When we initially volunteered to per-form this service in 1994, the program consisted primarily of kids attending academic disser-tations presented by respected scholars on topics related to Hindu religion and culture.

Our classes took place from 10 am until twelve noon on the second and fourth Sundays of each month during the school year. Although we were very enthusiastic about our new project, it got off to a very slow start. All too often, my wife and I were the only ones present at the beginning of each morning session. The youth trickled in as late as 11:30 am, and the average class attendance had dropped to about ten kids per ses-sion. Those who came did so only because their parents told them to. It was not hard to foresee that this program in its present form would most certainly self destruct within two or three years. We had to do something fast.

First, we tried to understand the problem by understanding the youth. After all, the classes were for them. Here were some of our insights: 1) Young people like to be giv-en incentive; 2) They don’t like to be told what to do; 3) They enjoy a free learning environment in which they are encouraged to raise questions and offer feedback, even about the teaching program itself; 4) All youth are not the same—the concerns of older teens, for instance, are far different from those of younger teens.

Keeping all of this in mind, we embarked upon making some fundamental changes to the existing program. They were as follows: We cut the length of the speeches in half, allowing thirty minutes for open discussion. We replaced some lecture sessions with workshops on cooking, arts, crafts, public speaking and more. We gave the youth op-portunities to communicate with newcomers and encouraged them to make new friends.

We rearranged our classes so that we were all sitting in a circle, instead of in rows. This last change alone solved many communication problems.

With all these modifi cations, the youth started feeling much better about the program. Ac-tually, they became inspired beyond even our highest expectation. Of their own ac-cord, they began pulling in new class participants with an assortment of innovative recruitment plans including

visiting and talking with parents, volunteer-ing to help with youth activities, creating in-formational booths at local Indian functions, talking to friends at school and communicat-ing with their own parents about what they were doing for the youth program.

My wife and I were so impressed. These kids were really taking the classes to heart and working passionately to help them grow. After a year, the class attendance rose to 85 and included kids as young as twelve years of age. Now, Jain and Sikh children are joining in, and parents are reporting that their children are looking forward to the classes so much that they don’t want to miss even a single session.

Today, one of our typical Sunday morn-ings includes prayer, worship, yoga asanas, religious storytelling, chanting, games and scriptural study.

The most important aspect of conducting a successful youth program is recognizing that teachers are also students. Throughout this process, my wife and I have learned to understand teenagers more deeply by sin-cerely respecting their views, ideas, thoughts, opinions and feelings. We have also discov-ered that successful communication with youth is best accomplished by creating a warm environment with few restrictions.

y wife sushila and iconduct a youth pro-gram for teenage Hin-dus at our local


HINDU RENAISSANCE TEAMHINDUISM TODAY was founded January 5, 1979, by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. It is a nonprofit educational activity of Himalayan Academy with the following purposes:1. To foster Hindu solidarity as a unity in diversity among all sects and lineages; 2. To inform and inspire Hindus worldwide and people interest-ed in Hinduism; 3. To dispel myths, illusions and misinformation about Hinduism; 4. To pro-tect, preserve and promote the sacred Vedas and the Hindu religion; 5. To nurture and mon-itor the ongoing spiritual Hindu renaissance; 6. To publish a resource for Hindu leaders and educators who promote Sanatana Dharma. Join this seva by sending letters, clippings, reports on events and encouraging others. to subscribe.

Founder: Satguru Sivaya SubramuniyaswamiPublisher: Satguru Bodhinatha VeylanswamiEditor-in-Chief: Paramacharya PalaniswamiPublisher’s Aide: Paramacharya Ceyonswami Deputy Editor: Acharya KumarswamiManaging Editor: Sannyasin ArumugaswamiGraphics Director: Sannyasin NatarajnathaswamiProduction Manager: Sannyasin SivakatirswamiContributing Editor: Yogi JapendranathaAdvertising Manager: Sadhaka JothinathaCorrespondents: Choodamani Sivaram, Bangalore; Rajiv Malik, Prabha Prabhakar Bhardwaj, Madhu Kishwar, Delhi; Mangala Prasad Mohanty, Orissa; V. S. Gopalakrishnan, Kerala; Basudeb Dhar, Bangladesh; Archana Dongre, Los Angeles; Lavina Melwani, New York; Dr. Hari Bansh Jha, Nepal; Anil Mahabir, Paras Ramoutar, Trinidad; V. G. Julie Rajan, Philadelphia; Rajesh Jantilal, South Africa; Iraja Sivadas, California; Tara Katir, Hawaii. HPI Staff: Janaka Param, Toshade-va Guhan, Clive Roberts, Easan Katir, Adi Alahan, Chandra Sankara, Shama Vinayaga, Arjana Daswani. Sanskritist: Dr. P. Jayaraman, New York. Artists: A. Manivelu, S. Rajam. Cartoonists: M. Arumugam, Bob Thaves, Ripin Karla. Photo Contributors: Thomas L. Kelly, Stephen P. Huyler, Dinodia, Amit Kumar, Dev Raj Agarwal, Gilles Flament, Vel Kadressen, Mu Deva-rayan, Indivar Sivanathan. Web Masters: Nitya Nade-san, Sadhunathan Nadesan. Distribution: USA: Ingram Periodicals, New Leaf, EBSCO Subscription Services, OneSource, Ubiquity. Europe: SWETS Subscription Service. Malaysia and Singapore: Sanathana Dharma Publications. India: Central News Agency Limited, Delhi. Mauritius: CODIP. Trinidad: Pandit Narendra & Ashwinee Ragoonanan. Printer: Banta Publications Group, Kansas City, MO

Dahyabhai K. Patel is a mechanical engi-neer who immigrated to the US in 1974 from Gujarat. He and his wife now live in Voorhees, New Jersey. He is GeneralSecretary to the Board of Trustees ofthe India Temple Association.

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ver the last year, i have met with a surprising number of Hindus visiting our Hawaii tem-ple and monastery who have shared the concern that “We

are so busy with our professional and family life that we have little or no time to devote to religion.” Their perspective is based on the concept that work and worship are totally separate. Worship is what is done in the temple and shrine room. Work is what is done in the fi elds, the factory or the offi ce. The attitude is,

“We are working to earn money to sup-port ourselves; we are worshiping to receive the blessings of the Gods.” The two realms are unrelated when viewed in this way.

This, of course, is not the highest Hindu perspective. Great souls tell us that work—when performed in the right spirit—is wor-ship. What is it that transforms work from a secular pursuit into a religious one? It is the overview that through the process of living life we unfold spiritually. It is the knowing that through fulfi lling our natural duties in life, honestly and to the best of our ability, we make spiritual progress. Why? Because work puts us in situ-ations where we interact with other people, especially when we hold our dharmic responsibility over an extended period. Through interacting with others, we learn important lessons and, as a result, gradually deepen our understanding, improve our behavior and become a more spiritual person. In doing so, we work through the karma we created in the past and create new karma to be faced in the future. With this in mind, we can see that our daily work con-tributes to our spiritual progress just as much as attending pujas in the temple, worshiping in our home shrine, going on pilgrimage, singing bhajans, meditating or studying scripture. Paramaguru Yogaswami captured the essence of this perspective when he said,

“All work must be done with the aim of reaching God.” From the Hindu perspective, all of life is sacred, and perform-

ing our duty is dharma. Dharma is a rich term that means “way of righteousness, religion and fulfi llment of duty.” From this lofty view, every deed is a part of our religious practice. Everything we do is an act of worship and faith. There are no purely secular activities. Our worship in the temple is part of our dharma, and our work or occupation is part of our dharma.

We all have certain duties in life. It is the duty of children to go to school and become educated. It is the duty of adults to earn an income to properly raise, educate and care for their children. Our natural profession in this life is based on the professions we have fulfi lled in our past lives, plus the karma we bring into this life. This is our svadharma, our ideal pattern in life, and fulfi lling it to the best of our ability causes us to make spiritual progress. The mystic law is that no challenge can come to us that exceeds

our inner ability to rise up to overcome it. Paramaguru Yogaswami stressed this point to his devotees in Sri Lanka a half century ago: “Do your work. Work is sva-dharma—following your pattern.”

One day, after I had explained all of this, a devotee from Los Angeles asked,

“How can I bridge the gap in my life? I have a job that I don’t enjoy, and my boss is not kind to me. It’s only my few minutes in meditation that give me any solace. My work doesn’t seem like wor-ship at all!” In response, I offered four remedies: 1) integrate religious practice into the workplace; 2) seek opportunities to help and serve others; 3) strive to see all your actions as serving God; 4) utilize your efforts at work to strengthen your powers of meditation and worship, and build good character.

1. Integrate spirituality into your workA basic way we can make our work a form of worship is to intro-duce religious practices into our work routine. Doing this, even in small ways, brings blessings to our place of work and gives it a more spiritual atmosphere. Many devotees take a fi ve-minute med-itation/yoga break twice a day. Others keep a small photo of their guru or chosen Deity nearby to keep them uplifted and reminded of their highest aspirations. A woman in Maryland said that twice daily she sits for a moment, breathes deeply and basks in apprecia-tion for God’s ever-fl owing grace. A New York grocery store owner keeps a shrine in the corner where he does puja every morning, asking Ganesha to bless his business for the day and remove any negative forces and obstacles. The stone craftsmen here on Kauai perform a ceremony each morning at the worksite before com-mencing their work of erecting Iraivan Temple, and once a year hold an elaborate ceremony to worship their tools, so that God may work through those tools in the year to come. My Gurudeva, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, tells us: “Ganesha infl uences events slowly and subtly, in unseen ways. Situations will change for you, unexpected doors will open, and accustomed ones will close as you are pro-pelled through His grace toward your inevitable glorious future.”

2. Seek ways to serveGurudeva told a group of devotees, “Give and give until it hurts.” He was prescribing the means to overcome selfi shness—a quality that is as prevalent today as ever. He was also pointing to an effec-tive way to make our work part of our worship. The secret lies in helping others in selfl ess ways—with no expectation of payment, presents, praise or prestige. This is a spiritual practice known as

PUBLISHER’S DESK

Work Is WorshipCareer and family should not be viewed as separate from religious life. They are integral to fulfi lling your dharma.B Y S AT G U R U B O D H I N AT H A V E Y L A N S WA M I

ver the last year, i have with a surprising number of Hindus visiting our Hawaii tem-ple and monastery who have shared the concern that “We

are so busy with our professional and

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Working in the home: A mother prepares dinner for her family. Fulfilling her homemaker dharma offers daily opportunities for spiri-tual growth, as she holds the belief that her home is God’s home and all her actions are service to Him.

karma yoga, or union through service. Karma yoga produces spiri-tual progress in that certain past negative karmas can be mitigated, meaning lessened, as well as new positive karmas created for the future. Normally it is thought of as service done at a temple or ashram, but it is wise and prudent to extend it as widely in your life as you can, such as helping others in your workplace beyond what is expected, willingly and without complaint. This counter-acts the instinctive tendency to only serve oneself, to promote one’s own goals and career and to help others only begrudgingly—which ultimately makes you a lonely, unhappy, limited person. The fact is, the more selfish we are, the less happy we are. And the less selfish we are, the happier we are. Gurudeva gives an excellent summary of the benefits of karma yoga: “Through service and kindness, you can unwind the subconscious mind and gain a clear understanding of all laws of life. Your soul will shine forth. You will be that peace. You will radiate that inner happiness and be truly secure, simply by practicing being kind in thought, word and deed.”

3. Dedicate your actions to GodThe Hindu concept that work is worship defines a lofty, refined way of living—taking each situation, each duty, each challenge and encounter as an opportunity to grow, to learn, to serve and thus mature into your highest spiritual potential. No matter what type of work it is, be it at home or in an office building, whether pleasant or distasteful, interesting or monotonous—with the right attitudes, willpower and persistence, you can transform it from secular labor to a spiritual exercise that will advance you on the path and uplift you and all those around you. This can be achieved

by perceiving all your spiritual, mental and physical actions as fulfilling the will and design of God, rather than merely fulfill-ing personal ambitions. Try this, even at work. Yogaswami’s words to a young man just starting his career were, “You are going out to work. You must dress well and look dignified. Everything should be an offering to God. The world is an altar.”

4. Work on yourselfAll the good habits and self-con-trol we develop in our outer life are useful in our inner life as well. For example, if we develop good concentration in our school stud-ies as a youth and carry this on in our adult life by being focused on the tasks we do at work, we will have developed a strong ability to concentrate. So, when we sit down to meditate, our thoughts are naturally concentrated and it is easy to control the mind. However, if we let our mind wander during our studies and as an adult day-

dream while working, when we sit down to meditate, we will find it impossible to control our thoughts.

Another important ability we develop in our work is willpower. Willpower is the strength to carry out one’s decisions, wishes or plans. People who regularly make plans and fail to carry them out lack willpower. For example, a student plans to get up early all week to study for his tests, but when his alarm rings, he shuts it off and decides to continue sleeping instead. We cultivate willpower by finishing and doing well every task we undertake—in fact, doing it a little better than our expectations. Nothing is done with half our mind thinking about something else. Nothing is dropped in the middle. Developing these two important habits produces an indomitable willpower. First, finish each task. Second, do it well. My guru taught, again and again, “The more you use your personal, individual willpower, the more willpower you have.”

The workplace is a veritable classroom for spiritual progress. Life brings us many opportunities to fail and every opportunity to succeed at the tests it offers us as we strive to be the best we can be. If your boss is mean to you, be grateful for the karmic chal-lenge and go out of your way to be kind to him. If, as a homemaker, your daughter continually makes you furious, study out how to control your anger. If you find a fellow employee intolerably annoy-ing, look to yourself to see what it is that keeps you from accepting him just the way he is. The list of opportunities is endless.

One of the profound beliefs of Hindus is that God is in all things. Therefore, for us, there is no meaningful division between secular and religious life, for God is always there, in our job, in our boss, in our projects, if only we are subtle enough to see that truth.

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LETTERS


An Impressive Teami had the golden opportunity to reada copy of Hinduism Today which was given to me by Shri Rajesh Khanna whom I met at the Arupadai Veedu Temple in Chennai along with some members of your renaissance team. It was a wonderful ex-perience to meet foreign nationals totally devoted to the Hindu religion, in the most conventional Hindu dress. I have taken the privilege of telling as many people as pos-sible about your team.

M.R. KrishnanChennai, India

∫ [email protected]

Blast Those Queue Jumpersi was reading your article on theKumbha Mela festival (Apr/May/Jun 2004) with great interest and awe. It makes me proud to see how millions still carry on this age-old tradition and how Hinduism is thriving. I had the opportunity to visit India again after 19 years. The most unforgettable experience was the visit to Thirumalai. Un-fortunately, as we proceeded through the queue for darshan of the Deity, mayhem started. There was a huge concentration of people at the end of the queue. We were literally sandwiched together to the extent that my amma’s bangles were bent. If that wasn’t enough, when we actually saw Lord Venkateswara, we were allowed less than ten seconds to pray before being shoved away by the temple staff.

Frankly, I haven’t come across a temple with this many people visiting on a normal day. It is undoubtedly one of the great pilgrim places in the world and continues to astonish people. Many have second thoughts of going there, mainly due to the poor crowd control. There is a saying among the devotees that hardship must be suffered to appreciate Lord Venkateswara. But I’m sure God wouldn’t like people to suffer to see Him, and, moreover, the hardship is usually suffered by walking up the hill or by fasting.

The management there has improved tre-mendously over the years, but more needs to be done. I would really like to see a bet-ter management there and, in the future, a smoother fl ow of people and a more pleasant trip for all Hindus and others alike.

Sanjeev KumarIpoh, Perak, Malaysia


Why No Mention?in your article, “oh, for a fair view of Hinduism” (Apr/May/Jun 2004), I am surprised that you made no mention of Ed Viswanathan or his book, Daddy, Am I a Hindu? The book has received very good reviews from many magazines and news-

papers. He also goes around the US and educates people about our culture. You also missed David Frawley and Arvind Sharma, to mention a few.

Govinda PrabhuNew York, New York


✔ Yes, you are correct, many Hindus do-ing good work are not mentioned in the article for lack of space. We received over a hundred responses to our request for names, and from those chose a cross-sec-tion of people from around the country. We specifi cally did not include scholars, such as Drs. Frawley and Sharma, who have in any case appeared several times in Hinduism Today. We don’t share the same evaluation of Daddy, Am I a Hindu, because of its fre-quent references to Christianity.

Denim Is Not from Indiai love your magazine and everythingin it, but to my surprise you wrote that den-im fabric came from India. Denim comes from de Nimes, which in French means “of Nimes,” Nimes being a town in the south of France. That is where the denim fabric comes from and was invented in the 16th century.

Frederick DouilletSan Francisco, California


✔ You are right, denim does come from de Nimes. It is not known where this particular weave of cotton was fi rst created, only that it was present in France, Italy and India in the 16th century. The fabric coming from India was actually called “dungaree,” owing to its origins near the Dungri Fort outside Mum-bai. So, it was not correct to say in our Did You Know that “Denim Comes from India.”

Democracy in Hindu Templeshindus cannot live without democ-racy, but at the same time they do not know how to work within the democratic way. Recently, articles have been printed saying that members have taken the Ganesh Tem-ple in New York to court. The newspaper says, “The Queens Supreme Court late last year dissolved the temple’s board of trustees and appointed a referee to oversee an elec-toral process for the temple. The decision is a landmark, since only a few Hindu temples in this country have elections.” Dr. Uma My-sorekar, society president, says, “For all these years, we just followed what had been done in the temple, and no one ever said anything.” That means they do not have a democratic election. She also said, “I tell them we will do whatever the court says, but I also advise them not to have elections in their temples, it will only politicize the temple and make

it messy, though that is strictly my personal opinion.” Democracy does not make things

“messy.” It makes things run smoothly, and more people will participate. This is just a beginning. As more Indians learn American democratic ways, they are going to want to participate in running their temple activities in that manner.

One time I attended a temple meeting and they appointed a man as the president. Then he said, “Do it this way, because I said. I am the president.” Then I taught them how to run democratically, that when there was a disagreement, to ask one of the members to put a resolution on the fl oor, discuss the reso-lution, let someone close the resolution, vote, and then let the majority idea prevail.

In America, people know the democratic way, and they learn it in their churches and schools. In India, all temples are run by a small group of people, and most of them are not run in a democratic way. One time there was a disagreement in a US temple and I told one of the trustees that what he was pro-posing was not in the constitution. He said,

“Don’t worry, I’ll change it.” That shows that they don’t want to follow their constitution.

For the US, every temple should make an effort to write a good constitution and fol-low it properly. The democratic way is the best way to resolve disagreements peacefully and have more participation from all of the members. Democracy says an organization or social unit is governed ultimately by all its members or their elected representatives. This is the means of making sure all are given empowerment for ultimate efficiency and brotherhood.

If you are a member of a temple, ask for a copy of the constitution and read it. See if it is being followed. If it is not properly written, participate in making changes to the mem-bers’ satisfaction.

Bharat J. GajjarHockessin, Delaware


Emory University Is Secularwe would like to clarify a few fact-ual misconceptions about your recent por-trayal of Emory University in the Hinduism Today April/May/June 2004 issue, whose cover story is “Tackling 10 Misconceptions About Hinduism.” The portrayal of Em-ory is found in the cartoon pull-out titled

“Hinduism as Taught in American Schools.”First, although Emory University was

founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1936, its programs today are entirely secu-lar, with the exception of those of the Candler School of Theology (other leading American universities, such as Harvard and Yale, show this same historical development). In no way does affi liation with the Methodist Church

pg 12-13 Letters § Jul04 g5.indd 12 5/1/04 10:39:09 AM

Letters with writer’s name, address and day-time phone number, should be sent to:

Letters, Hinduism Today107 Kaholalele RoadKapaa, Hawaii, 96746-9304 USAor faxed to: (808) 822-4351or e-mailed to: [email protected]

Letters may be edited for space and clarity and may appear in electronic versions of Hinduism Today.∫ indicates letters received via e-mail

july/august/september, 2 0 0 4 h i n d u i s m t o d ay 13

affect curriculum in the rest of the Univer-sity; Emory College and Graduate School are committed to a secular, liberal arts education. To imply otherwise is misleading and factu-ally incorrect.

Secondly, the characterization of Emory’s curriculum and teaching of Hinduism is also incorrect. The scene that is caricatured in the cartoon is simply untrue, since Dr. Cour-tright’s book Ganesa: Lord of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings has never been taught in an undergraduate classroom. We stand by our record of achievement in developing a bal-anced and leading program in South Asian Studies at Emory.

Deepika Bahri, Joyce Flueckiger, Laurie Patton and Rakesh Ranjan

Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia∫ [email protected]

Sanskrit Starvationthank you very much for the excel-lent article “The Abuse Hinduism Receives in US Schools Is Intolerable” (Apr/May/Jun 2004).

On April 16, 2004, Hindu Press Interna-tional reported on a news item “Neglect Af-fects Sanskrit Academy.” The Sanskrit Acade-my and Research Institute in India continues to be neglected and starved of resources even though it is doing an excellent job. The HPI report quoted an offi cial from the institute:

“This is the only Sanskrit research institute in South India. We are just about managing to do skeletal work. The lack of funds has bro-ken the back of the institute.”

Is there any historical evidence that the

Government of India and various provincial governments have systematically starved departments of Sanskrit in universities and other centers of higher learning? It is very important to know if this is true because: 1) Sanskrit is the mother of all Indo-Europe-an languages; 2) Our scriptures are written in Sanskrit, and all our rituals are performed in Sanskrit; 3) If it is adopted as the offi cial lan-guage of India (as Hebrew is in Israel), San-skrit can become a great unifying force for all Indians; 4) It is the most well organized language suitable for use with computers; 5) Our ancient culture has survived in spite of a multitude of barbaric invasions and op-pressive rulers who did their best to wipe out our heritage.

The principles of satya [truthfulness] and ahimsa [nonviolence] from our scriptures are needed more today for the survival of the hu-man race than at any time in history. They should be propagated very widely through the support and teaching of the Sanskrit lan-guage and literature. Communities of Hindus in all countries need to think about ways to support the study of Sanskrit at all levels from elementary school to university. I hope we can convince the central and provincial governments in India and other philanthrop-ic organizations to support the survival of Sanskrit.

Arun J. MehtaVancouver, Canada


The Tamil New Yeari am a hindu from india settled in

Switzerland and prepare a list of Indian holy days for the local Hindu community. As well, I am active in teaching and scientifi c writ-ing on religion and culture here in Europe. I enjoy and benefi t from your journal. Can you please throw some more light on the Hindu year 5105? When will 5106 start? Does it start on a fi xed Gregorian calendar date? Is there a more specifi c name to this calendar system? What was the occasion at the start of this system of years?

Dr. Satish JoshiZurich, Switzerland


✔ Starting with your last question, the years are counted from the beginning of the Kali Yuga, calculated as 3101 bce. This is the system of the Tamil calendar which we fol-low. The New Year commences on the fi rst day of the month of Chaitra (April/May), considered auspicious because the Sun en-ters Aries, the fi rst sign of the Zodiac at this time. There are several other calendars in use in India, and they have different New Years.

Sharing a vision: Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami conferring with Ram Swarup in New Delhi, 1995Sharing a vision: Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

Bonds of SolidarityJoin Us to Strengthen Hinduism

t was satguru sivaya subramuniyaswami’s vision that gave rise to Hinduism Today in 1979. He saw Hinduism as a vast trea-sure, as humanity’s greatest asset and best hope. The time has come, he would say, to fi rst learn the subject well, then fi guratively “shout

Hinduism’s virtues from the rooftops!” He made it Hinduism Today’s fi rst mission to help put the world’s Hindus in touch with each other, giving ample coverage to builders of the contemporary Hindu renais-sance—countless dedicated souls, including Swami Chinmayananda, Ram Swarup and Sita Ram Goel (article in this issue, pp. 52-55). Per-haps Hinduism Today’s best accomplishment has been to forge bonds of solidarity and clarity of vision across all fi ve continents, all denomi-nations, all walks of life and cultural origins.

We are optimistic at Hinduism’s progress in 25 years, and privileged to be a small but strategic part of it. We are also overwhelmed with the sense of oh-so-much-yet-to-do in the next 25 years and beyond—in order to reveal Hinduism in all its awesome relevance, to ensure that its soothing, tolerant voice is heard ever more clearly, and its golden teachings made more widely available. To this end, a Hinduism Today Production Fund and a Hinduism Today Distribution Fund, both part

of Hindu Heritage Endowment, have been established to provide grants to enhance production capacity and widen magazine distribution to worthy institutions. You can help greatly—by becoming a Benefactor, for example, by making the Hinduism Today Production Fund the benefi ciary of a gift of $5,000 or more in your estate plan. For details, please contact us:

www.hheonline.org/ht/plannedgiving/ 808-822-3012, ext 244 • [email protected]

t was satguru sivaya subramuniyaswami’s rise to sure, as humanity’s greatest asset and best hope. The time has come, he would say, to fi rst learn the subject well, then fi guratively “shout

Hinduism’s virtues from the rooftops!” He made it

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“Where can we go to fi nd God if we cannot see Him in our own hearts and in every living being?”

Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), modern Hindu renaissance inspiration and disciple of Sri Ramakrishna

14 h i n d u i s m t o d ay j u ly / au g u s t / s e p t e m b e r , 2 0 0 4

You shine, all living things emerge. You disappear, they go to rest. Recogniz-ing our innocence, O golden-haired Sun, arise; let each day be better than the last. Rig Veda (X, 37, 9)

What is the best vitamin for a Hindu? B1 (“Be One”).

Hindu Dharma is like a boundless ocean teeming with priceless gems. The deeper you dive, the more treasures you fi nd. Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

Once upon a time a sadhu acquired great occult powers. He was vain about them, but he was a good man and had some austerities to his credit. One day God, disguised as a holy man, came to him and said, “Revered sir, I have heard that you have great occult powers.” The sadhu received God cordially and offered Him a seat. Just then an elephant passed by. God asked the sadhu, “Revered sir, could you kill this elephant if you wished?” The sadhu said, “Yes, I can.” So saying, he took a pinch of dust, muttered some mantras and threw it at the elephant. The beast struggled a while in pain and then dropped dead. God said, “What power you have! You have killed the elephant!” The sadhu laughed. Again God spoke, “Now, can you revive the elephant?” “Yes, I can do that, too,” replied the sadhu. He threw another pinch of charmed dust at the beast. The elephant writhed about a little and came back to life. Then God said, “Wonderful is your power. But may I ask you one thing? You have killed the elephant and you have revived it, but what has that done for you? Do you feel uplifted by it? Has it enabled you to realize God?” Saying this, God vanished.

D I D Y O U K N O W ?

Tamil Saivite Temple Singersnyone who has been to the ancient South Indian abodes of God Siva and His two sons, Ganesha and

Murugan, has surely been spellbound by the poignant songs sung before the De-ity in the middle of the puja. Who is that man who sings with such sweet devotion? He is an odhuvar. The word odhuvar comes from the verb odhu, meaning “to chant.” These often humble, quiet men memorize astonishing numbers of verses from the Tirumurai, a twelve-book col-lection of the hymns and writings of 24

South Indian Saivite saints. This collec-tion was compiled a millennium ago by Saint Nambi andar Nambi at the behest of Rajaraja Chola, one of the foremost rul-ers of South India’s Chola dynasty, after which the king arranged to have the songs hymned in Saiva shrines. Rajaraja Chola was said to have supported more than 3,000 odhuvars. Now, after a long decline, the tradition is being revived and several schools for training young men in the an-cient art of temple singing are springing up in South India.

nyone who has been to the ancient South Indian abodes of God Siva and His two sons, Ganesha and

nyone who has been to the ancient South Indian abodes of God Siva and His two sons, Ganesha and

Songbird: Dharmapuram P. Swamina-than, South India’s preeminent odhuvar

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Austerity

Tirukural 261: It is the nature of asceticism to patiently endure hardship and to not harm living creatures.

Tirukural 267: As the intense fi re of the furnace refi nes gold to bril-liance, so does the burning suffer-ing of austerity purify the soul to resplendence.

Tirukural 268: One who has real-ized by himself his soul’s Self will be worshiped by all other souls.

Tirukural 269: So potent is the power acquired through disci-plined self-denial that those who attain it may even delay the mo-ment of death.

Learn to be happy alone. If we do not en-joy our own company, why infl ict it on oth-ers? Swami Chinmayananda (1916-1993), founder of Chinmaya Mission

If it seems strange to you that the old In-dian philosophers should have known more about the soul than Greek or medieval or modern philosophers, let us remember that however much the telescopes for observing the stars of heaven have been improved, the observatories of the soul have remained much the same. Friedrich Maximilian Müeller (1823-1900), German philologist and Orientalist

Time is nature’s way of keeping everything from happening at once.

The average man of the world goes about his daily life not knowing that subcon-sciously he is seeking the Absolute Truth, the Beloved in the jiva. The mind-body equipment of man contains this Beloved, yet he seeks for it everywhere else but within. The musk deer attracted by its own scent searches for it in the woods. Little does it know that in its body is the source of this fragrance. Saint Kabir (1440-1518)

Like treasure hidden in the ground, like fl avor in the fruit, like gold in the rock, and oil in the seed, the Absolute is hidden in the heart. Akka Mahadevi, twelfth-century Vira Saiva saint

Hindu society has been the meeting point as well as the melting pot of as many spiri-tual visions as the human psyche is capable

of springing up spontaneously. It has been a willing and welcoming platform for as many seers, sages, saints and mystics as have responded to the deeper stirrings in the human soul. It has been a repository of as many metaphysical points of view as human reason can render in human lan-guage. Sita Ram Goel (1921-2003), Hindu renaissance thinker and writer, founder of Voice of India

Parents must teach children to appreciate those who are different, those who believe

differently; teach them the openness that they need to live in a pluralistic world where others have their unique ways, their life and culture; teach them the value of human diversity and the narrow-minded-ness of a provincial outlook; give them the tools to live in a world of differences without feeling threatened, without forcing their ways or their will on others; teach them that it never helps to hurt another of our brothers or sisters. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of Hinduism Today

Frank and Ernest © 2 0 0 1 T H A V E S . R E P R I N T E D W I T H P E R M I S S I O N .

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he svetasvatara upanishad is man-kind’s oldest exposition of yoga, which in these verses means meditation. The Rishi speaks in theistic terms, revealing the religious nature of the Vedas. It is important to note in this context that the

root of the word religion is religare meaning “to tie back” to God. Similarly, yoga means “to yoke” the lower mind with the Higher Mind. Here these two are one: the Rishi’s exhortation to know God and his unveiling of the practice of meditation are inextricably integrated. We are sure he would be aghast at the modern obfuscation, unfortunately repeated even by many Hindus, that says, “Hinduism is not a religion.” These few verses and subsequent chapters make it simple and clear: Hinduism is indeed religion, and yoga is its highest form of worship.

May Savitri (the Sun), at the commencement of yoga, join our minds and other organs to the Supreme Self so that we may attain the Knowledge of Reality. May He also support the body, the highest material entity, through the powers of the Deities who control the senses.

Having received the blessings of the divine Sun, and with minds joined to the Supreme Self, we exert ourselves, to the best of our power, toward meditation, by which we shall attain Heaven (Brahman).

May the Sun bestow favor upon the senses and the mind by joining them with the Self, so that the senses may be directed toward the Blissful Brahman and may reveal, by means of Knowledge, the mighty and radiant Brahman.

It is the duty of those brahmins who fi x their minds and senses on the Supreme Self to utter such lofty invocations to the divine Sun, omnipresent, mighty and omniscient. For He, all witnessing and nondual, is the dispenser of sacrifi ces.

O senses, and O Deities who favor them! Through salutations I unite myself with the eternal Brahman, your source. Let this prayer sung by me, who follows the right path of the Sun, go forth in all directions. May the sons of the Immortal, who occupy celestial positions, hear it!

Where Fire is kindled by rubbing, where the air is controlled, and where Soma is greatly revealed, there the perfect mind is produced. Serve the eternal Brahman with the blessings of the Sun, the cause of the universe. Be absorbed, through samadhi, in the eternal Brahman. Thus your work will not bind you.

The wise man should hold his body steady, with the three [upper] parts erect, turn his senses, with the help of the mind, toward the heart, and by means of the raft of Brahman cross the fearful torrents of the world.

The yogi of well-regulated endeavors should control the pranas; when they are quieted, he should breathe out through the nostrils. Then let him undistractedly restrain his mind, as a charioteer restrains his vicious horses.

Let yoga be practiced within a cave protected from the high wind, or a place which is level, pure and free from pebbles, gravel and fi re, undisturbed by the noise of water [public wells] or of market-booths, and which is delightful to the mind and not offensive to the eye.

When yoga is practiced, the forms which appear fi rst and which gradually manifest Brahman are those of snow-fl akes, smoke, sun, wind, fi re, fi re-fl ies, lightning, crystal and the moon.

When earth, water, fi re, air and akasha arise, that is to say, when the fi ve attributes of the elements mentioned in the books on yoga become manifest, then the yogi’s body become purifi ed by the fi re of yoga and he is free from illness, old age and death.

The precursors of perfection in yoga, they say, are light-ness and healthiness of the body, absence of desire, clear complexion, pleasantness of voice, sweet odor and slight excretions.

As gold covered by earth shines bright after it has been purifi ed, so also the yogi, realizing the truth of Atman, becomes one [with the nondual Atman], attains the goal and is free from grief.

And when the yogi beholds the real nature of Brahman, through the Knowledge of the Self, radiant as a lamp, then, having known the unborn and immutable Lord, who is untouched by ignorance and its effects, he is freed from all fetters.

He indeed, the Lord, who pervades all regions, was the fi rst to be born, and it is He who dwells in the womb [of the universe]. It is He, again, who is born [as a child], and He will be born in the future. He stands behind all per-sons, and His face is everywhere.

The self-luminous Lord, who is in fi re, who is in water, who has entered into the whole world, who is in plants, who is in trees—to that Lord let there be adoration! Yea, let there be adoration!

SVETASVATARA UPANISHAD II. 1-17

TRANSLATION BY SWAMI NIKHILANANDA

FROM THE VEDAS

Yoga: The Path To GodDevotion, meditation and knowledge are all one in the Vedas

The Vedas are the divinely revealed and most revered scriptures, sruti, of Hinduism, likened to the Torah (1,200 bce), Bible New Testament (100 ce), Koran (630 ce) or Zend Avesta (600 bce). Four in number, Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva, the Vedas include over 100,000 verses. Oldest portions may date back as far as 6,000 BCE.

Swami Nikhilananda (1895-1973) was founder and spiritual leader of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York from 1933 to his Mahasamadhi in 1973. His four-volume Upanishad translation was completed in 1959.

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Movie palace: The Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, California, is a classic of the Art Deco style

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Namaste, movie lovers! Grab your popcorn bucket and super-sized soft drink and join our fi lm festival host, Mark Hawthorne, as he takes us through movie history. First Mark showcases movies that draw directly on a Hindu belief, most commonly reincar-nation, for their central plot. In Part Two he unveils spiritualist movies, those that present the interaction of this world and the next, but do not go into reincarnation. Finally he highlights the “spiritual cinema,” fi lms with decidedly Hindu themes—like the “Force” of Star Wars and the maya-like world of The Matrix—along with heavy doses of other theologies. Now, on with the show…

BY MARK HAWTHORNE, CALIFORNIAmagine a major motion picture in which a man travels to India, lives in an ashram and studies with a guru, a fi lm lacking any insightful dialogue on Hindu concepts. As strange as it sounds, such was the case in 1946, when the

fi rst screen adaptation of The Razor’s Edge appeared in American movie theaters. Al-though W. Somerset Maugham’s best-sell-ing novel is virtually a primer on Advaita Vedanta, the fi lm’s producers no doubt felt Western fi lmgoers in the Forties—however eager they were to forget the war and em-brace messages of peace and spirituality—were not quite ready for mainstream fi lms emphasizing Hindu principles like karma and reincarnation. Indeed, these would have been alien concepts to many people. Fast forward to last year’s The League of Ex-traordinary Gentlemen, an action-adventure fi lm starring Sean Connery. Here we have a main character, played by Indian actor Nas-eeruddin Shah, wearing Hindu clothing and worshiping the Goddess Kali. Again, hardly a word is spoken about the character’s spiri-tuality, but now there is no need; fi lmgoers in the West have learned a lot about Hinduism in the ensuing six decades. Today we have not only entire fi lms featuring reincarnation but movie stars like Shirley MacLaine and Billy Bob Thornton boldly discussing their previous lives. Actor Steven Seagal has even been recognized by Tibetan Buddhists as a tulku: a reincarnated Buddhist master.

Plays and storytellers have entertained humans from our beginning, revealing in their tales much about ourselves, our cul-ture, our beliefs, our personal interests. Today’s best storytellers are making mov-ies, and the movies they are making are no longer just about cowboys and cops, teen-age angst and tragic happenings. More and more movies are telling us about life’s meaning, about the interconnectedness of the gross and subtle worlds, about the subjectivity of the universe, about the soul and its nonfatal encounters with death and what lies beyond. Movies have moved from

BY MARK HAWTHORNE, CALIFORNIAmagine a major motion picturewhich a man travels to India, lives in an ashram and studies with a guru, a fi lm lacking any insightful dialogue on

fi rst screen adaptation of


JOIN OUR FILM FESTIVAL AS WE EXPLORE HOLLYWOOD

MOVIES BASED AROUND SOME DECIDEDLY HINDU CONCEPTS



High Noon in 1952 to A Beautiful Mind in 2001. And now they are on the verge of ex-ploring a nearly Upanishadic vision of the cosmos, inner and outer. Indeed, movies are the philosophical texts of today’s youth. For-tunately, many of them are rich in meaning. And just as the Western world is suddenly enamored of Indian food and fashion, it is slowly drawing toward deeper Hindu philo-sophical understandings in, of all places, the movies.

While the movies of the 1940s might not have explicitly presented Hindu philosophy, there was much going on behind the scenes in Los Angeles. British authors like Maugham, Christopher Isherwood and Aldous Huxley

spent the war years in the US, penning novels and screenplays that turned to Hinduism for their inspiration. Maugham wrote The Razor’s Edge after visiting Bhaga-van Sri Ramana Maharshi in In-dia, for example, while Isherwood lived at the Vedanta Society in Hollywood, writing film scripts and helping Swami Prabhavanan-da with translations of the Upa-nishads and Bhagavad Gita. Now mainstream films incorporating the spiritual concepts found in Hinduism are commonplace—par-ticularly the ideals of karma, maya and reincarnation—and virtually no explanation is necessary. Film-maker Stephen Simon develops movies that explore human be-liefs and values, including What Dreams May Come. He observes,

“Today you can start a movie with the assumption that people accept and understand reincarnation.” (See article, page 26.)

Audrey Rose: One of the ear-liest mainstream Hollywood treatments of reincarnation was Audrey Rose. This 1977 film stars Anthony Hopkins as Elliot Hoover, a man who believes his daughter has reincarnated as an-

other girl, Ivy, born only minutes after the violent death of his child, Audrey Rose. His belief comes in part from a visit to India, during which he discovers the Hindu prin-ciple of samsara. “They believe this life is not the end,” he explains to Ivy’s incredulous parents. “This is one act in a vast cosmic drama.” The screenplay for Audrey Rose and the novel upon which the film is based were written by Frank De Felitta, who in-vestigated reincarnation after witnessing his six-year-old son play ragtime tunes on the piano—an instrument his son had never learned. Indeed, the movie and the novel present a compelling case for reincarnation, with scenes depicting the very concept ad-

judicated in a New York courtroom! Those defending reincarnation bring in a Hindu holy man to explain the concept and why hundreds of millions of Indians believe in it. During this testimony, we see scenes of a Hindu funeral procession in India, which ends at a cremation ghat. Because of their belief in reincarnation, the maharishi, as he is identified, tells the court, Hindus are able to live each life in a spiritually produc-tive manner. One could nitpick some of the movie’s philosophical details, but Hindus will be amazed at the forthright presentation.

“I don’t think we’re going to prove reincar-nation in this picture, but I’m very open to the whole possibility of the supernatural,

Mystery: Murdered in one life, tormented in the next, the heroine strives to resolve her fate

Audrey Rose: (left to right) A formal trial is held as to the truth of reincarnation. Called to testify are a Hindu swami (im-probably swearing on a Bible) who effec-tively explains the Hindu view of death. During his testimony scenes of funeral rituals in India are shown, including this at a Banaras ghat.

“Now people accept the possibility or even the likelihood that there is life after life and that we go from lifetime to lifetime. They certainly accept it in a film setting, and that is a huge change in 30 years.”—stephen simon, producer,

What Dreams May Come

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the paranormal, the possibility of dimen-sions out there,” said director Robert Wise during filming in 1976. Though a bit dated, the movie is entertaining, informative and respectful of Hindu ideals.

Not surprisingly, Audrey Rose (rated PG for some intense moments) was marketed as a horror film. The 1970s saw a tremendous amount of spiritual material in the media, but this was also the decade that gave audi-ences The Exorcist, The Omen and Carrie (all very scary movies involving young peo-ple and the supernatural), and Hollywood was eager to ride these paranormal coattails to the bank. Audrey Rose does not seem to know if it wants to be a spooky melodrama or a commentary on reincarnation. While the scenes of Ivy “re-experiencing” the death of Audrey Rose are played up for effect, the message of the story is really the principle of reincarnation and how one life leads to and impacts another; hence, the tragic con-clusion of Audrey Rose belies a message of hope. The movie ends with a quote from the Bhagavad Gita: “There is no end. For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, It is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval.”

Brother Bear: Last season’s account of reincarnation is found in Disney’s Brother Bear, a spiritually ambitious animated fea-ture aimed at young audiences in which the transmigration of souls takes center stage in a story aimed to teach tolerance of those who are different. Set along the northwest coast of prehistoric North America, the story involves three brothers: brave older brother Sitka, spirited middle brother De-nahi and the troublesome younger brother Kenai. Each wears a small, carved represen-tation of the animal spirit that has chosen him. Sitka wears an eagle, Denahi a wolf, and Kenai a bear, for, as the tribe’s wise woman tells him, the bear represents love. But Kenai doesn’t like bears, and he doesn’t think love is a manly quality, so we’re not surprised when he impulsively picks a fight with a bear who tries to steal the brothers’ fishing catch. When Sitka steps in to protect

Kenai, the older brother is killed and—through the power of the aurora borealis, inhabited by the spirits of the tribe’s ancestors—is transformed into an eagle. The wise woman counsels Kenai to accept this outcome as the will of the universe, but he determines to kill the bear, arguing that’s what a man should do—and even though it was his own careless-ness that allowed the bear to steal the fish at all.

He succeeds, but older brother Sitka, now a spirit, transforms Kenai himself into a bear. This

“instant karma” ensures Kenai will see the world with a decid-edly ursine perspective. Kenai’s rebirth as an animal, a concept common to both the Hindu and Native American traditions, is artistically emphasized: the film literally opens up when Kenai enters the animal world, shifting from the standard 1:85:1 aspect ratio to the widescreen 2:35:1 while the color palette becomes highly saturated. Not only is Ke-nai a bear, but he is shortly be-friended by a frightened cub, that of the bear he killed. Denahi, finding only Kenai’s clothes and this new bear nearby, misinterprets the tableau and begins hunting the bear, think-ing it killed Kenai. It is a lesson in karma, Kenai killing the bear in one life and then being hunted by humans in the next. As well, with the cub he orphaned now in tow, Kenai faces the consequences of his action.

The spirituality in Brother Bear will be familiar to Hindus. A fundamental message of the film is that we are all connected, just as the Vedas teach that through atman we are all part of the universal soul of Brah-man. Also, through mitigating past karma, forgoing retaliation and accepting responsi-bility, Kenai-as-bear is managing his karma. A character even further along the spiritual

path may be Rutt, a moose who practices yoga. Although the asanas are named, they are not identified as yoga—another indica-tion of how much audiences have come to accept Hindu concepts. (Be sure to watch the closing credits, featuring a humorous scene with Rutt giving yoga instruction.) Brother Bear (rated G, though there is some violence) received mixed reviews when it was released in 2003. Movie critics gener-

Lesson in karma: In Disney’s Brother Bear, a boy is reincarnated as a bear to learn another view of life

Defending Your Life: (left to right) The newly deceased are wheeled into Judgment City; Meryl Streep and Albert Brooks view their very different pasts in the Past Lives Pavil-ion; Shirley Maclaine as the Pavilion’s host

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ally praised its spiritual elements and hand-drawn animation, while ranking it as one of Disney’s lesser efforts, and moviegoers made it a marginal success with just over us$85 million in U.S. ticket sales. In the surprise ending, Kenai elects to remain a bear, care for the cub and live in peace with humans—all useful points of discussion for

parents who watch this with their children. Dead Again: Bringing us back to modern

times is the psychological thriller Dead Again, in which reincarnation plays a key role in telling parallel stories in different time frames that meet at a dramatic cross-roads in the third act. The film opens in black and white, recounting the tragic ro-mance of German composer Roman Strauss and his pianist wife Margaret, played by Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. Roman and Margaret live a lavish life in post-World-War-II Hollywood filled with grand parties, music and intrigue. When

Margaret is found murdered, sus-picion falls on the jealous husband, who is found guilty and executed. The story then shifts to color and moves ahead forty years. Branagh, who also directed, now plays Mike Church, a Los Angeles pri-vate investigator looking into the case of a woman who has lost her memory, played by Thompson. For convenience, Mike refers to the amnesiac woman as “Grace,” and, in trying to learn her iden-tity they meet a hypnotist, who brings to light the story of Roman and Margaret, all displayed in the pages of Life magazine. Yes, Mike and Grace look a lot like Roman and Margaret, they all agree. But the detective is cynical.

As the story unfolds, we see there is clearly more of a con-nection than physical resem-blance. Like the character of Ivy in Audrey Rose, Grace is plagued by nightmares of an untimely death. Oblique clues of an af-terlife are layered on as the film bounces back and forth between the noir 1940s and the blossom-ing romance of Mike and Grace: Dining with Roman one evening, Margaret spills a glass of wine; Roman tells her she has “more beauty than grace.” Mike also seeks advice from Dr. Carlisle (Robin Williams), a former psy-chiatrist whose main role in the

movie is to speculate how karma and re-incarnation work, though he reduces them to mere sound bites. “It’s the karmic credit plan,” he glibly tells Mike and Grace. “Buy now, pay forever.” To further emphasize re-incarnation, Branagh uses secondary play-ers in dual roles, appearing as one character in the Forties and then another in the Nine-ties. The film is a well-made thriller in the tradition of Hitchcock and surprisingly as-tute, even profound, philosophically. It por-trays the interlocked karmas of Roman and Margaret, now reincarnated, and the people from the 40s, now much older, originally responsible for Margaret’s murder. Despite generally enthusiastic reviews from critics like Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, who gave it four stars, Dead Again (rated R for profanity and violence) received only a tepid reception at the box office in 1991.

On a Clear Day: Giving reincarnation the genuine show biz treatment is On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, starring Barbra Streisand. Making its debut on the Broad-way stage in 1965, this musical from play-wright and lyricist Alan Jay Lerner was adapted for the screen five years later. Strei-sand plays Daisy Gamble, a modern New Yorker who believes hypnosis can cure her smoking habit, so she seeks the help of Dr. Chabot (Yves Montand), a professor of psy-chiatry who lectures on hypnosis at a local medical school. During their hypnotherapy sessions, Daisy speaks of a previous life as a nineteenth-century English woman named Melinda Tentrees. This provokes Chabot, a man of Western science, to seek the advice of his colleagues, who are quick to laugh at the suggestion of reincarnation. But re-search into Melinda Tentrees proves Daisy is telling the truth, thus supporting the case for rebirth.

The plot was likely inspired by the case of Virginia Tighe, a Colorado housewife who underwent hypnosis in 1952 to cure her al-lergies and revealed detailed accounts of life as a nineteenth-century Irish woman named Bridey Murphy. Her hypnotherapist, Morey Bernstein, wrote a best-selling book on the case, The Search for Bridey Murphy, which was the basis for a film of the same title, launched a reincarnation debate in America

Born in Seattle: In Little Buddha, Tibetan lamas say one of their own has reincarnated in America

Lives past and present: Barbra Streisand gets reincarnated in On a Clear Day, You Can See Forever; hypnotism in Dead Again; chil-dren in Little Buddha observe the real Bud-dha as they listen to their lama’s story

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and led to the formation of the Association for Past-Life Research and Therapies (now the International Association for Regression Research & Therapies Inc.). On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (rated G) failed at the box office, perhaps a casualty of the change in American moviegoers, who by 1970 were favoring gritty, realistic dramas. It also suffers from a dearth of memo-rable music, which is surprising considering the creative forces behind it. Critics have noted that director Vincente Minnelli’s big-screen version features badly truncated songs that have been shifted to different characters or simply deleted. Not having seen the stage version, I cannot compare the two, but I wasn’t particularly fond of the film. Still, it is about reincarnation and the complexities knowledge of past lives introduces into the present one—a recurring theme in many of these movies..

Little Buddha: A rare Western film dwelling almost entirely on samsara is director Bernardo Bertolucci’s Little Buddha. In a monastery in Bhutan, Lama Norbu (Ying Ruocheng), a Ti-betan monk, is delighted to learn that his teacher, Lama Dorje, who died nine years earlier, may now be in a boy living in Seat-tle, where the monks have long had a dharma center. The boy’s parents, Dean and Lisa Conrad (Chris Isaak and Bridget Fonda), are not religious people and nei-ther believes in reincarnation, so when monks appear at their door saying their son Jesse (Alex Wi-esendanger) may be the reincar-nation of a venerated Buddhist master, they are understandably

skeptical. They are taken aback when Lama Norbu suggests that Jesse should perhaps be raised as a Buddhist monk in Bhutan.

The movie actually weaves two narratives: while the story of Jesse and his eventual journey to present-day Bhutan is told, we also learn the tale of Prince Siddhartha, the Hindu prince who grew up to become the Buddha 2,500 years ago. These sequences are cleverly told to Jesse using a book Lama Norbu gives him about the enlightenment of Siddhartha (Keanu Reeves). In an impor-tant scene in the film, Lama Norbu explains reincarnation to Dean. “In Tibet we think

of the mind and the body as the content and the container,” he says, holding a cup of tea, which he then breaks. “Like the mind after death, the tea moves from one container to the next, but it is still tea.” The emphasis on reincarnation stresses continuity and in-terdependence. Once in Bhutan, Jesse and his father discover there are now two other children being considered as possible rein-carnations of Lama Dorje: a poor boy from the streets of Kathmandu and a rich Indian girl. By the end of the film, Jesse and his two new friends have learned the true mean-ing of the cycle of life, death and rebirth.

Faring only slightly better among critics than it did with audiences, Little Buddha (rated PG for mature themes) was panned for not going deep enough with the material and was a bona fide bomb at the box of-fice in 1993. Still, the Washington Post called it “botched but beauti-ful,” while Spirituality & Health magazine commended the film’s

“straight-ahead focus on death.” I was one of the few who saw this in its theatrical release, and while I found some of the acting wooden, including Keanu Reeves as the Bud-dha, I enjoyed it enough to have seen it three times now. Children will likely find it interesting, too.

Orlando: A less direct treatment of reincarnation can be found in Orlando, an impressive screen adaptation of Virginia Woolf ’s 1928 novel. The story spans four centuries, beginning in England in 1600 with Orlando (played by actress Tilda Swinton) as a young nobleman who has found favor with Queen Elizabeth I. In the twilight of her reign, the monarch gives Orlando the deed to her ancestral home with some strings attached:

“Do not fade, do not wither, do not grow old”—words the ambitious aristocrat takes to heart. Since we see Orlando pass through each cen-tury without aging, like a Victorian Babaji (the never-aging saint of the Himalayas) we are not surprised

Forgetting to forget: This romantic comedy involves a rein-carnated soul who remembers too much

Many manifestations: (left to right) The little Buddha prostrates in return to the lama; Captain Nemo and his Kali shrine in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen; his submarine’s Siva Lingam coning tower

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of Tom Cruise, made Vanilla Sky one of the most successful films of 2001 with more than $100 million in domestic ticket sales.

Defending Your Life: After the intensity of Vanilla Sky, you may enjoy the comic take on the after-life found in Defending Your Life. Life is good for Daniel Miller (Al-bert Brooks), a divorced advertis-ing executive, until he smashes his new BMW into a bus and is killed. He finds himself in Judgment City, a place between planes of exis-tence that looks a lot like south-ern California; here the weather is always 74 degrees and you can eat all you want without gaining weight. Daniel is told that he must appear before a tribunal that will determine whether he goes on to a higher existence or is reincarnated back on Earth.

Daniel’s defender in this court is genial Bob Diamond (Rip Torn), who tells him that it can take many lifetimes to reach the state where one is ready to move on. This is faithful to the Hindu concept of moksha, the liberation from rebirth a person enjoys only after going through all the experiences in the physical world. In court, scenes from Daniel’s life reveal moments of fear and anxiety—scenes that illustrate how im-portant the motive behind an action can be. The theme here, we understand, is resolving karma. Between court proceedings, Dan-iel meets and falls in love with Julia (Meryl Streep), a joyful woman who seems destined for liberation from samsara. When he sees that Julia’s most recent life was filled with love and benevolent actions, such as going back into a burning house to save the fam-ily cat, while his life was filled with fear and anxiety, Daniel worries he will be reincar-nated and separated from Julia.

When the final ruling comes, it’s no sur-prise that Daniel must be returned to Earth

while Julia will not. Julia and the other ma-ture souls who have been liberated depart Judgment City in one tram, while Daniel and those destined for reincarnation leave in another. Seeing Julia moving on, Daniel suddenly overcomes his fears and escapes from his tram to hers, thus apparently by-passing rebirth. It’s the standard ending for a romantic comedy, but rather implausible in the Hindu view of reincarnation and what is required for liberation from rebirth.

Brooks, who also wrote and directed the film, creates an afterlife filled not with pearly gates and angels, but in which spiri-tual reckoning means you must account for your actions on Earth. Although the film

does not use the word karma, the product of a person’s actions, thoughts and deeds is depicted as being one of two fates: rein-carnation or moksha. And Brooks is obviously having fun with the principle of reincarnation. When Daniel and Julia check into sepa-rate booths at the Past Lives Pavil-ion, Shirley MacLaine leads them through the steps to view their previous incarnations. While Julia sees she was once heroic Prince Valiant, Daniel discovers he was an African warrior chased by a lion. “Who are you?” Julia shouts.

“Lunch,” says Daniel. After watch-ing Hindu concepts represented so faithfully, we’re surprised when the film cheats a little with the final scene.

With Defending Your Life (rated PG), Albert Brooks lived up to his reputation for creating good films that few people see in theaters. A Brooks fan myself, I found this to be one of his best. Although it re-ceived very high praise from most critics, the film never found an au-dience and earned only $16 million

in the U.S. in 1991. That’s a shame, since this is suitable for family view-ing and is a fun look at samsara. But

then, that’s show business, and Defending Your Life remains just one example of how filmmakers in the West are not only inspired by Hindu philosophy but can now assume we’re familiar enough with these concepts to enjoy the story and not be weighed down with definitions. ∏π

Mark Hawthorne writes about Asian phil-osophical and religious traditions.

Musical reincarnation: The Clear Day story was drawn from the real life reincarnation case of Bridey Murphy

Altered realities: (left to right) Cruise’s character is cryogenically frozen; In Broth-er Bear, Aurora Borealis lights cause Kenai to incarnate into the bear he has just killed; Kenai and his young friend talk about a bear’s worst enemy—man

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he spiritualist movement—based on the belief that the living and the dead can have meaningful communica-tion—is more than 150 years old, but its

popularity seems to be growing. A poll re-veals that 52 percent of Americans believe in spiritualism, up from 12 percent in 1976. Skeptics claim that such results show the power of the media; indeed, movies with people talking to ghosts—or ghosts com-municating with people—are more popular than ever. Two ghost movies have proved to be especially popular with audiences.

It’s no surprise that director M. Night Shyamalan would incorporate messages into The Sixth Sense that resonate with Hindus. Bruce Willis plays Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist who begins treating a new patient, eight-year-old Cole (Haley Joel Osment). Cole has become a reluctant and helpless channel for ghosts with unresolved issues in their lives on Earth. Only when Malcolm believes Cole is truly interacting with the next world, with two-way commu-nication with astral plane “ghosts,” is he able to help him, and Cole is then able to help the ghosts resolve their issues.

The movie Ghost also involves spirits who have unfi nished business on planet Earth, but in this case, the ghost is here to assist the living. Patrick Swayze is Sam, an investment counselor who is killed by a mugger one night, but turns away from the welcoming light of the afterlife to remain on Earth in his spirit form and observe as his girlfriend, Molly (Demi Moore), mourns and attempts to piece her life together. Sam needs to tell her she’s in mortal danger from the same people who killed him. Here again the astral world and the physical interconnect dramatically.

Both The Sixth Sense and Ghost assert the Hindu theme of balance, especially with regard to karma and retribution. Cole encounters spirits who appear to have died violently and now ex-ist as ghosts because they are tied to unresolved personal circum-stances on the earthly plane; their release from this karma is neces-sary for reincarnation to proceed. Sensing his paranormal abilities, they solicit Cole’s help to resolve their earthly issues. Sam, too, must resolve issues on Earth be-fore he can move on; in the mean-time, he is directly involved in the karmic payoff for the two charac-ters responsible for his death.

Shyamalan was surprised to dis-cover Western audiences weren’t familiar with the Hindu concept of the afterlife. He says, “It’s just an accepted thing in India that there are ghosts or spirits in the house, and so it was something I as-sumed was common here, but I guess not.”

Bruce Joel Rubin, who wrote the screen-play for Ghost, says he was inspired by a trip to India and studying Buddhism in Ne-pal. “My supposition in the movie,” he says,

“is that there is a larger universe that we in-habit—that we exist before we are born, that we exist after we’re born and that life is a particular passageway, and how you engage that life is very meaningful.”

The Sixth Sense (rated PG-13 for intense thematic material and violent images) is one of those rare fi lms where critical praise matched ticket sales. It was the second-high-est grossing movie of 1999, at $293 million.

Ghost (rated PG-13 for violence and strong language) was not as well received by critics, but that didn’t stop filmgoers from buying more than $200 million worth of tickets in the US, making it the second-highest grossing fi lm of 1990 (though prob-ably not suitable for children). It is a bit sappy, making it a favorite among those who love romantic fi lms, but its message makes it worth watching, and Whoopi Goldberg’s Oscar-winning performance as the medium who can hear Sam is great fun. ∏π

Where worlds meet: (left to right) Eight-year-old Cole consults with Dr. Crowe; a little girl poisoned by her mother appeals for Cole’s help; Sam confronts the medium, played by Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost

G H O S T S

And the Non-Living...Movies of the spiritualist mold

he spiritualist movement—basedon the belief that the living and the dead can have meaningful communica-tion—is more than

popularity seems to be growing. A poll re-

Scary movie: Haley Osment as Cole and Bruce Willis as Dr. Crowe teamed up in Shyamalan’s classic

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pg 26-29 MoviesSide § g6 JAS04.indd 26 5/1/04 2:38:55 PM


More than entertainment: Stephen Simon, producer of What Dreams May Come, believes movies can help convey spiritual lessons

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piritual cinema” is what producer/director/author Stephen Simon calls a new genre of fi lms examining who we are and why we’re here. He explains

that individuals and cultures that lose their connection to the unseen divine essence become devoid of love, respect and com-passion. Simon, a producer on fi lms such as What Dreams May Come and Somewhere

in Time, discusses how movies like The Truman Show, Stars Wars and The Matrix explore the nature of life, love and time in his book The Force Is With You: Mystical Movie Messages That Inspire Our Lives.

He says, “There is a huge void when it comes to movies that make us feel better about being human beings—fi lms that do not have to be made for a lot of money or

require movie stars, but that just focus on the story and the empowerment and the beauty of being human. And that’s what Spiritual Cinema is.” Simon observes that

First reality show: (left to right) Truman with his make-believe family; worldwide viewing of the Truman Show; Truman takes a fi nal bow before exiting his world

T R E N D S

Movies As the Modern Theological MediumEven Hollywood isn’t prepared to accept a Godless, meaningless world

piritual cinema” is what producer/director/author Stephen Simon calls a new genre of fi lms examining who we are and why we’re here. He explains

that individuals and cultures that lose their

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Different worlds: (left to right) Testing reality in The Matrix; underground ship in The Matrix; Robin William’s character and wife in What Dreams May Come

movie studios used to produce films for ev-ery audience, a practice that changed when corporations took control of movie studios, cutting traditional movie moguls out of the business. These moguls might have had their faults, but they were visionaries who were willing to take chances, and they loved making movies. “Corporate thinking has replaced entrepreneurial thinking,” says Si-mon, “and, as we all know, corporate think-ing is much more cautious. It’s much more conservative. It is much more focused on the bottom line. Because of the corporate takeover of Hollywood, the primary focus of the studio business is to create big, broad-based movies: huge action movies, dumb comedies, sequels, movies that star people from television. They really are focused on

hitting homeruns. For that reason, the average cost of making and marketing a major studio film today is $90 million. When you spend that kind of money, they have to go for huge, broad-based movies.”

In such an environment, many producers regard movies with spiritual themes as problematic.

“Studios don’t believe in the sub-ject matter of spiritual movies enough to make them without star power, for instance, Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense. And I never would have gotten What Dreams May Come made if we hadn’t gotten Robin Williams. We were basically told, ‘Robin Wil-liams or Tom Hanks, or we’re not making the movie.’”

But that wasn’t the only ob-stacle Simon overcame with this film, which is based on the book by Richard Matheson and deals with two soul mates and their afterlives: one mate braves hell in search of the other. The plot is similar to the end of the Maha-bharata, in which Yudhishthira’s virtue is tested, though this ap-

pears to be a coincidence. While the film’s strongest message is the power of love, What Dreams May Come features an after-life in which one’s belief creates experience, and being reincarnated is a matter of choice.

“When I first read the novel What Dreams May Come, in 1979, the idea of spending almost an entire movie in an afterlife set-ting was completely crazy to people. I think one of the reasons it took me 20 years to get the movie made is that the world wasn’t ready for it.” One thing that made the pub-lic ready, says Simon, was the 1975 film The Reincarnation of Peter Proud, about a col-lege professor who gradually realizes he is the reincarnation of a murder victim. “To have reincarnation in the title and be about somebody being reincarnated was a big

deal,” he says. “The whole movie was about legitimizing the entire reincarnation pro-cess. Now people accept the possibility or even the likelihood that there is life after life and that we go from lifetime to lifetime. They certainly accept it in a film setting, and that is a huge change in 30 years.”

If the Seventies were a time for reincarna-tion to be more accepted by mainstream au-diences, we seem to be at the beginning of a new era for maya. “The concept of what’s real and what’s not real is something that is fascinating to people because we’re living in an age where we’re questioning that,” says Simon. “In 2001 we had a whole group of movies that question reality: Vanilla Sky, Mulholland Drive, Waking Life and Me-mento. The granddad of these, The Matrix, came out just two years earlier. When that happens, you know we are questioning the world. What is real and what is illusion?” While a lot of Hindus would interpret many of these movies in terms of maya, they may also be derived from the bleak concepts of existentialism. The difference is that in Hinduism all of creation is divine, while in existentialism, it is meaningless, or evil.

Central to the plot of The Truman Show is that life is an illusion; that is, the world Tru-man Burbank (Jim Carrey) sees is not the real world. In fact, everyone knows it’s an illusion except Truman, who goes about his life un-aware that he is the star of a television show watched 24/7 by millions around the world. Truman catches on relatively late in life when the enormous film set he lives in—an entire town, the sky and miles of ocean—and the actors he calls friends begin to let clues slip. In the end, Truman Burbank breaks free of the veil of maya and enters the real world—or, at least, Southern California. But, as Simon points out, The Matrix is where this nascent interest in illusion apparently began. Keanu Reeves is Neo, a computer hacker who learns

It’s all maya: Poster for The Matrix, about a world where humans live in a machine-induced dream

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the true nature of reality and his role in com-bating those who control it. The protagonists of The Matrix populate an illusory world and discover that only an unplugged/awake world is the real world. It sounds Hindu, but the movie is also loaded with Christian symbol-ism. Still, the closing credits of the final in-stallment run to the chanting (in Sanskrit) of

“Lead me from unreality to reality, lead me from darkness to light, lead me from death to immortality,” from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.

Simon believes Star Wars has a powerful spiritual message. The first of six episodes from filmmaker George Lucas, Star Wars is a powerful experience in the genre of Spiri-tual Cinema, according to Simon, because of “the Force.” The Force is described as an energy field created by all living things, binding the universe together, and it’s what gives the story’s heroes—Jedi knights—their power. Lucas told Time magazine in 1999:

“I put the Force into the movie in order to try to awaken a certain kind of spirituality in young people—more a belief in God than a belief in any particular religious system. I wanted to make it so that young people would begin to ask questions about the mystery.”

The spirituality in Star Wars is so uni-versal that many world religions, from Ad-ventism to Zoroastrianism, have found their beliefs reflected in the movie. Hindus, for example, will recognize the disciple’s search for a guru in Luke Skywalker’s search for Jedi master Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back, the second Star Wars installment. Yoda instructs Luke in the use of the Force, which seems to have much in common with Shakti, and teaches him that life is an illu-sion, filled with “crude matter.”

Simon sees good prospects for spirituality in movies and predicts there will continue to be a growth in films focusing on illusion.

“I think the questioning of reality is a huge issue, and it’s going to become more of an is-sue as we get into this new century, because we’re evolving as a species and we’re asking questions that we did not ask before.”

What Dreams May Come (rated PG-13

for thematic elements involving death, some disturbing images and language) was not a box-of-fice success, though it was well received by many film critics in 1998, notably Roger Ebert, who called it “a film that even in its imperfect form shows how mov-ies can imagine the unknown, can lead our imaginations into wonderful places.” Other crit-ics, though noting the compel-ling visuals, were unable to see beyond the story’s many deaths and could not recommend it.

Bringing in more than $125 million qualifies The Truman Show (rated PG for thematic elements and mild language) as one of 1998’s financial hits, and critics almost universally praised it. Among the few dis-senting voices was Janet Maslin of The New York Times, who ob-served that the film’s conclusion is too conventional for the plot’s inventive set-up. This is a good film for family viewing, leading to a discussion of maya.

The Matrix (rated R for sci-fi violence), on the other hand, is not suitable for children, though it also met with kudos from reviewers and audiences alike, who raved about its state-of-art visuals, meaningful plot and kinetic action. It took in more than $171 million in domestic ticket sales.

Finally, Star Wars (rated PG for sci-fi vio-lence) redefined the word “blockbuster.” It’s hard to believe there’s anyone who hasn’t seen this space western. The New York Times critic Vincent Canby warned in his original 1977 review, “The way definitely not to approach Star Wars is to expect a film of cosmic implications or to footnote it with so many references that one antici-pates it as if it were a literary duty. It’s fun and funny.” Indeed it is. But Star Wars has become such a phenomenon, influencing so

much of our cultural landscape, how can we not examine its many sources and consider its impact? With $270 million in domestic ticket sales, Star Wars was the number-one film in 1977, and has gone on to earn $798 million around the world, ranking as the twelfth biggest box office draw of all time. The first three Star Wars films—Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi—will be available on DVD in Septem-ber, and you’ll find in these stories many Hindu principles to appreciate and discuss with younger members of the family. ∏π

Movie religion: (left to right) William’s character with an astral guide; Yoda with the young Luke Skywalker in Star Wars; battleship in the midst of an attack

The Force: A western set in outer space, nothing sparked theological discussion like Star Wars

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pg 30-33 Sackler § J04 g3.indd 30 5/1/04 12:33:39 PM

Aesthetic HimalayasA R T


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By Helen Asquine Fazio, New Jerseyany years ago, when i was in the middle of my master’s degree in Art History, I was doing research in the archives of the Carnegie Institute

Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I was interested then in Japanese prints, but in the underground climate-controlled storage of Pittsburgh’s most major museum I came upon my fi rst Tibetan thangka, a traditional hanging scroll painting. It was a depiction of the ferocious Mahakala, the Buddhist (and Hindu) God who guards the wheel of time. I asked the then curator of Asian arts what it was, and he replied, “Oh, that’s a primi-tive fantasy of debased northern Buddhism from the wild parts of the Himalayas. Don’t take it seriously.” A couple of years later when I joined my husband in his Himala-yan Kingdom Art Gallery venture, I was to learn to take the art of Himalayan Asia very seriously, indeed.

When, in the 1960’s, art historian Dr. Prata paditya Pal decided to specialize in the art of the Himalayan regions, he faced the problems of an uneducated general public, and more shockingly, an uneducated intel-lectual community, which did not consider the arts of Kashmir, Nepal and Tibet to be

“high art.” That evaluation has all changed with “Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure,” organized by the Art Institute of Chicago. I went to see it on display at the Smithson-ian Institute’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington D.C. It features 163 Buddhist, Hindu and Bon paintings and sculpture cre-ated between the 7th and 19th century.

Works on view were created in an aston-ishingly large variety of media, scale and color, ranging from a tiny, rare and exqui-

site ivory of the fasting Buddha to a life-size portrait of a Nepalese king as a multi-armed, cosmic Deity. Other objects on view include intricately detailed manuscript illuminations on palm leaf, paper and wood, and brightly colored thangkas (cloth paintings) depicting mandalas, Deities and teachers. Stunning stone, wood and bronze images of Deities, many embellished with gemstones, gild-ing and paint, are included. The melding of Hindu Gods and Buddhist theology and artistic methods produces some astounding

images, such as that of Lord Ganesha (page 31), from Tibet.

Sackler’s assistant curator, Dr. Debra Di-amond, noted, “This is Dr. Pal’s answer to those who did not consider the focus of his work to be signifi cant in the past. This is Dr. Pal’s triumphant response that unequivocally validates his faith in the monumental contri-bution of the art traditions of the Himalayas.”

Born in Bangladesh, Dr. Pal grew up in Calcutta. He did his doctorate in fi ne arts and history at the University of Calcutta and

wrote his PhD, with special focus on Nepal, under the guidance of historian Nihar Ran-jan Roy. In 1962 he received the Common-wealth Scholarship of Cambridge and got his second PhD. And in 1967, he moved to the United States. Currently, Dr. Pal is visit-ing curator of Indian, Himalayan and South-east Asian Art at the Art Institute of Chi-cago, curator emeritus of the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California, and the author of over 50 books on South Asian art.

One reason for the misunderstanding of Himalayan art is exemplifi ed in the case of Nepalese Hinduism and Buddhism, wherein the Deities of each faith are often shared. A Nepalese Hindu of the Newari caste will customarily worship both Hindu and Buddhist Deities, yet the juxtaposition of Hindu and Buddhist elements has often been misinterpreted by outsiders to mean that the Newar does not know what he or she is doing. It has been suggested that the Himalayan regions are far from the centers of culture and thus provincial. Furthermore, the ferocity of some of the Deities of Hi-malayan Buddhism—such as Llamo, the guardian Mother Goddess of Tibet and the Inner Yamadharmaraja, the dispeller of ig-norance—has been off-putting to foreign eyes because viewers do not know the seri-ous philosophy behind the ferocious images.

The Sackler Gallery worked to educate its public on Himalayan art through a series of wonderful programs and lectures during the exhibition. Dr. Pal himself spoke at the October opening (the exhibit closed January, 2004). A fi lm series, concerts of Himalayan music and chanting, demonstrations of the techniques of Himalayan art, dance presen-tations, a lecture by Dr. Robert Thurman, professor of Religion at Columbia University, and a gala concert by Phillip Glass informed the public in broad ways about the applica-tion of the arts of the Himalayas. Dr. Dia-mond, also a specialist in Rajput painting, is an art historian whose insight and enthusi-asm are infectious. She was daily on site in the gallery to watch over the exhibition and to inform and guide the docent staff as they make the close educational connections be-tween the exhibition and the visiting public.

Stunning Washington D. C. exhibition showcases exquisite Buddhist and Hindu art from Nepal, Tibet and Kashmir

Origin of Kathmandu: Bhim Dahal, per-forms the dance story of Manjusri, patron God of the Kathmandu Valley

Of Gods and men: (Large image) 15th century Nepalese painting of Mahasiddha Virupa ordering the Sun to stop. (Bottom, left to right) Ivory panel showing life of Buddha, from Jammu and Kashmir, 8th century; Hindu God Kumara on His pea-cock, 10th century Nepal, stone; Copper statue of Goddess Chamunda from Nepal, 14th century; Terracotta of Mahasiddha Kirava, Nepal, 13th century.

By Helen Asquine Fazio, New Jerseyany years ago, when i was in

History, I was doing research in the

Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I was


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was in the museum daily to teach children how to play the madal, a double-sided drum struck with a curved baton; the damaru, a smaller double-sided drum that is usually associated with Siva; and the Nepalese sa-rangi, which is played like an upright violin.

Five days a week Mr. Dahal performs the dance of Manjusri in costume and headdress on a great lotus mandala on the floor out-side the entrance to the gallery. His dance describes and evokes Manjusri, one of the great God patrons of the Kathmandu Valley. It is Manjusri who cut a cleft in the rim of the valley allowing the waters of a high alti-tude lake to run out, thus making the valley habitable—a story accurately reflecting the geologic history of the valley which dates the draining at 10,000 years ago. “When I dance as Manjusri, I am both outside Man-jusri worshiping him, but also I am being Manjusri myself, both at the same time,” Mr. Dahal explains to his audience assembled at the outer circle of the lotus.

Three great Bodhisattvas of gilt bronze, each at least three feet tall, greet visitors at the entrance to the galleries. They are am-bassadors from each of the regions the exhi-bition addresses: Nepal, Tibet and Kashmir. The exhibition features several pilgrim-age paintings which depict an abbreviated road map of the route and details along the way to a sacred destination. These types of paintings are made for those who, perhaps for reasons of health or age, cannot make the pilgrimage. By following the painting visually, some of the merit of actually mak-ing the route is transmitted. “Pilgrimage to Gosainkund,” for example, is a late 18th-century painting that shows villages and temples on the way to this tirtha, a sacred lake to Lord Siva, located at 16,000 feet. In affectionate detail, the artist has made the route holy by depicting myths and miracles specific to each area along the trail.

The collections that museums offer to the public richly contribute to everyone’s sense of being both a national as well as a world citizen. The more we all learn, the less we will ever be willing to dismiss a major art or history tradition simply because we know nothing about it. We are greatly indebted to people like Dr. Pal, Dr. Diamond, Mr. Singh, Mr. Eckerd and Mr. Dahal for their progressive and enriching work and to the unnamed artists themselves. ∏π

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Hands on: Visitors, including children, can handle bells, cymbals, a prayer book and the damaru drum in the ImaginAsia room

Ganesha in Tibet: The Tibetan Deity Tsog dag (“Lord of Accumulated Merit”) de-picted in a manuscript ordered by the fifth Dalai Lama in 1670 on ritual prayer. The attributes of Lord Ganesha are preserved, including His rodent mount.


Mass prayer: Tens of millions of pilgrims begin to assemble at the Godavari River in Rajmundhry, Andhra Pradesh, on the fi rst of twelve days celebrating Godavari Pushkaram. (Inset) A shaven-headed ascetic takes a moment for serious refl ection during his sacred bath.

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BY THE GRACE OF

pg 34-37 MELA § July04g2.indd 34 5/1/04 11:08:15 AM

Waters of life: Lord Siva as Godavari rains grace on Earth as water from two vessels

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BY THE GRACE OF


By Mangala Prasad Mohanty, Orissat is one moment past midnight onMonday, July 28, 2003—the fi rst day of South India’s famous Godavari Push-karam festival. Already thousands of

devotees from all over India have fl ooded nine temple towns in Andhra Pradesh dedi-cated to the celebration of this twelve-day religious extravaganza honoring Lord Siva.

I am here in the town of Rajmundhry, the nerve center of this grand, state-wide event. Although I have attended many large religious festivals like this, I continue to be amazed at how each one seems to maintain its own sense of awe. There is a raw potency in this slowly fl owing mass of people—like the quiet dynamism of an elephant that usu-ally remains subdued, yet could erupt with uncontrollable force at any moment. Such is India, its peace and its power, side by side.

Every single pilgrim here is determined to do one thing: Take a holy dip in the Goda-vari River. Some bathe right away, as soon as

they are able to penetrate the thick crowds and reach the water. Many wait for the most astrologically auspicious moment, which is 12:59 pm on Wednesday, July 30. Still oth-ers linger longer, patiently taking their turn in the natural timing of the colossal event. By the end of the fi rst day, over a half mil-lion pilgrims have taken their coveted holy dip. By the festival’s end on August 10, that fi gure will rise to an estimated forty mil-lion—more than twice the number of those who participated in the same festival when it last occurred, in 1991.

The state government of Andhra Pradesh spent us$38 million in preparation for the event, and the Central Government con-tributed more than eleven million. These preparations included elaborate arrange-ments to establish lodging, dressing facilities, public toilets, drinking water, cloak rooms and shoe stands. Two hundred TV control centers were erected to monitor crowds, and thirty thousand police were dispatched to

F E S T I V A L S

Forty million devotees seek grace and redemption during a twelve-day Siva festival in Andhra Pradesh

t is one moment past midnight onMonday, July South India’s famous Godavari Push-karam festival. Already thousands of

devotees from all over India have fl ooded

As in days of old: A nameless sadhu with matted locks smiles benignly as thousands of devotees (below) crowd near the Goda-vari River. Police boats are strategically positioned to provide safety for bathers.

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maintain order. While thorough efforts have obviously been made to anticipate every conceivable emergency, the atmosphere is still permeated with an uncertain feeling of impending chaos as the drama actually be-gins to unfold. In the end, however, all will turn out well—primarily because of careful planning and precautions.

Godavari, a Burmese word for “river,” is also a name for Siva in the form of flowing water, like “Ganga” or the “Ganges.” A push-karam is a distinguished event. Hence, the Godavari Pushkaram is an auspicious occa-sion dedicated to the worship of Siva with prayers for the descent of divine grace for the improvement of life.

It is believed that benefits derived from religious disciplines practiced during Go-davari Pushkaram are compounded expo-nentially. Such disciplines include the per-formance of charity, japa (the recitation of mantras), worship, meditation and ritual bathing. Ritual bathing is especially popular, since it is believed that during this festival

time the river itself takes on great mystical powers capable of revitalizing life, curing physical ailments and bestowing spiritual unfoldment. Often referred to as South In-dia’s Maha Kumbha Mela, Godavari Push-karam occurs only once in twelve years.

According to ancient legend, a great sage and devotee of Lord Siva named Gouthama performed such rigorous penance in South India that he actually succeeded in bringing divine grace down to Earth in the physical form of flowing water, right from the tress-es of Siva’s henna-red hair. The place this sacred water is said to have fallen is called Triambaka, located in the Nasik district of Maharasthra. Triambaka is the origin of the river Godavari, which flows from there across India into Andhra Pradesh.

The nine temple towns hosting the festi-val in the state of Andhra Pradesh this year are Basara in Adilabad; Dharmapuri and Kaleswaram in Karimnagar; Bhadrachalam in Khammam; Kovvuru in West Godavari, Rajmundhry and Pattiseema; and Drak-

sharamam and Antharvedi in the East Go-davari Districts.

To enrich the festival, the State Tourism Department organized cultural exhibitions and ethnic food festivals in these towns. Also featured were literary and cultural programs, including religious discourses, devotional music, poetry readings and stage plays. All through the twelve days, priests were furiously busy everywhere, perform-ing family religious rites along the river. In particular, the rituals honoring death anni-versaries are a primary custom performed during Godavari Pushkaram.

In Rajmundhry, just before the festival be-gan, a giant Siva Lingam was installed near the main river ghat to creatively assist the pilgrims in taking their holy bath (see pho-tos). This massive Lingam is bathed with water from the Godavari, which overflows its base to shower nearby pilgrims gathered to receive the blessings of the sacred water. I was one of those devotees. I was blessed. I am blessed. ∏π

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One of nine: Of the nine towns chosen for the celebra-tion of Godavari Pushkaram, Rajmundhry is considered the most auspicious. A huge Siva Lingam was built and bathed with water from the Godavari (right), overflowing onto devotees seeking blessings near the golden domed Rajmundhry Siva temple (below). m

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ust as at many other tem ples in the US, Hindu parents in Middletown, Connecticut, looked around one day in the Sri Satya narayana Temple and

asked, “Where are the kids?” They saw that their American-born children had little knowledge of Hinduism, and even less in-terest in. They realized that if they didn’t engage them in their rich religious and cul-tural heritage, it might soon be lost. So, a team came together and formed the “Hindu Sunday School”. It has been a grand success, with more than fi fty children ranging from ages six to sixteen attending consistently for two and a half years.

Sunday school is an American institution. Long ago, immigrants of Western religions faced the challenge of passing on their heri-tage to generation after generation, and they fi gured out a system which is now the prima-ry mode of religious instruction for millions of American children. The whole country is scheduled around attending church on Sun-

day. While the parents worship the chapel, the kids attend “Sunday school.” The Hindu parent-teachers who launched this program decided to take advantage of this established church model, and it worked. Hindu kids in the Hartford, Connecticut, area actually like it, and they keep coming back. They no longer have to wonder what they should do while their school friends are in Sunday school on Sunday mornings.

The program is working out so well that it drew the attention of The Hartford Cou-rant, a newspaper based in the state capital, which ran a prominent story about the Hin-du Sunday School in its June 16, 2003, edi-tion. As Courant staff writer Frances Taylor put it, “The curriculum is a systematic way of transferring a complex blend of beliefs and practices to the next generation.”

After looking at the programs offered by Hindu gurukulams and balavihars in the area, Divya Jyothi Difazio, one of the found-ing teachers at the school, was so inspired

one night that she wrote down the entire twelve-month curriculum. She explained that they base their 90-minute class format on the Sai Baba teaching model: “The chil-dren all get together for a half-hour of Aum chanting, bhajana singing and japa, and then break into groups based on the cur-riculum that has been adjusted for each age group.”

Kindergartners and first-graders learn simple songs and Sanskrit chants, with em-phasis on pronunciation and learning the meanings in English. They also play games and share art and craft projects. Older kids go more in depth, learning about puja and homa, prayer, meditation and chanting, yoga, history, Vedic philosophy and Hindu traditions.

Teenagers are called “leaders in train-ing.” Divya Jyothi explained, “The leaders in training program is for young people who are more fi rmly established in their faith and heritage and ready to develop leader-

ust as at many other temthe US, Hindu parents in Middletown, Connecticut, looked around one day in the Sri Satya narayana Temple and

asked, “Where are the kids?” They saw that their American-born children had little

E D U C A T I O N

Kids Love Hindu Sunday SchoolConnecticut parents adopt American church pattern at their temple

Graduates: Children standing on stage during the Sunday School graduation on June 15, 2003, wave saffron-colored Aum fl ags to celebrate

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Announcers: Pallavi Khanna and Kyla Sangam tell attendees at the Hindu Sunday School graduation about the school’s programs and the children’s achievements over the last year

ship skills, primarily to become teachers for the younger chil-dren. There are nine kids in this program now. They work on developing leadership skills and on meeting goals through such projects as putting to-gether bhajana books and re-sources for the younger kids’ classes, conducting seva proj-ects, gathering inspirational quotes for study circles, writ-ing plays and individual study projects like the eight limbs of yoga and others. Then they work on how they can take that information and gear it down for the younger kids.”

Occasionally the school brings in swamis, guest story-tellers and performers, such as a recent Bharata Natyam dancer, to expose the children to traditional Hindu culture. However, the main thrust is to educate them about their religion. Beena Pandit, the school’s current coordinator, declared, “We must enlighten kids about Hinduism and give them answers instead of leaving them feel-ing disarmed and not knowing what to say, feeling they don’t fit in. We have to take every chance we get to contribute to their awareness of Hinduism.”

Teacher Asha Shipman, 32, a second-gen-eration American Hindu, is an anthropol-ogy student at the University of Connecti-cut and a former high school teacher. She shared, “The kids love being here. They are so happy. The enthusiasm of these children is so delightful. As they learn their slokas and learn about the Gods and God-desses, the modes of philosophy, do their coloring, they are so engrossed in what they’re do-ing. I didn’t have this as a Hindu growing up in the US.”

Keeping the interest of the younger chil-dren isn’t a problem. The key is keeping everything loose and flexible. Beena Pandit advised potential start-up Hindu Sunday schools, “Don’t make it too rigid. These chil-dren are bombarded with tons of homework and challenges in their secular schooling. Don’t make Sunday school a place they don’t want to come because they have to do this and that and they’re being corrected a lot. Put interesting things in front of them, more hands-on activities that appeal to them.”

According to Asha Shipman, the real chal-lenge lies in keeping the interest of the high school kids. She confided, “It’s hard to find materials that are appropriate for them. Most things are usually too simple or too complex.

One of the hardest things about teaching people is getting to them at the right level.”

There has been widespread support for the Hindu Sunday School amongst the Sri Satyanarayana Temple’s administration and devotees. Enthusiastic parents signed up about 100 kids for the school’s first semester. Subsequent semesters have seen sign-ups of about 50-60 children consistently, possibly due to the new $25 enrollment fee. There

are now waiting lists for the younger kids’ groups, thanks to the coordinators’ wise choice to limit each class group to fifteen children. The number of children the school can enroll hinges on a limited number of qualified teachers, so there is new empha-sis being placed on the leaders in training program.

Maintaining the interest of the parents is also a weight on the balance of enrollment and attendance. It takes as much commit-ment from the parents as from the teachers. Madhu Reddy, the school’s main visionary, lamented, “Sometimes kids want to come, but their parents don’t bring them. It has to be done with wholehearted commitment on everyone’s part. It has to be consistent.”

This Hindu Sunday School has been so successful that it could serve as a model for other temples. When asked what his advice would be to temple groups wanting to start a Sunday school, Reddy offered, “Put together a team. That team is very important. Ev-ery member must want to promote Hindu heritage and pass it on to the next genera-tion.” As for how to keep it all going once it’s started: “Think through the long-term plan.

Otherwise, it will die out after a while. You need backup so peo-ple don’t burn out. It requires a lot of responsibility on the part of the teachers, parents and the temple.”

Perhaps the most important step the Hindu Sunday School teachers keep taking toward

making their school a success is to listen to the children and pay attention to their needs. Beena Pandit summed it up, “It has to be for the children, teaching with them in mind. You can’t adhere strictly to your own agenda of what you think they should be doing and learning. Kids are turned off by teachers who have an inflexible agenda. They learn in different ways. Those who came from other countries to the US and established temples here can’t expect their US-born kids to walk in their footsteps. These are American kids, not Indian kids, and they’re going to do things in their own way. Find out what that way is.” ∏π

visit www.hinduschools.org for more information about the hindu sunday school

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“Your children are going to lose every-thing if you don’t make it appealing to them. Living here is different than living in India.” BEENA PANDIT

pg 38-39 Sunday School § Jul04 g9.indd 39 5/1/04 12:37:01 PM

ManagementWAYS TO TAME OUR WAYS TO TAME OUR WAYS TO TAME OUR WAYS TO TAME OUR DEADLIEST EMOTION DEADLIEST EMOTION DEADLIEST EMOTION

MManagementanagement

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By Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami

pg 40-49 Anger Jy04 § g14.indd 40 5/1/04 2:00:18 PM


ManagementWAYS TO TAME OUR WAYS TO TAME OUR WAYS TO TAME OUR DEADLIEST EMOTION DEADLIEST EMOTION DEADLIEST EMOTION

WO CARS BANG FENDERS AT AN INTER-section; tempers fl are and a fi stfi ght breaks out. In a store nearby, a man stomps off in a fury, cursing the clerk for declining his credit card.

In an apartment up the street, a mother screams at her daughter to clean up her room. Down the block, a schoolgirl pouts because her father won’t let her date an older boy. Around the corner a man slaps his eight-year-old son because he won’t sit still in the car. Anger is every-where. It is the most powerful and hurtful emotion we possess. Yet, the average person succumbs to it help-lessly, willingly, lapsing into insane episodes now and again without thinking much about it. Many would defend it as if it were an ally, a tool they would not live without.

Anger is expressed by humanity in drastically diff erent manners. Low-minded individuals take great delight in being angry toward oth-ers and expressing that anger in aggressive and violent ways—gang wars, robbery, vandal-ism and more. They deliberately use anger and violence to get what they want from life. Then there are the mass of generally law-abiding people who live a normal, working life but are seriously angry on the inside about one thing or another and express that anger regularly in their words and actions. They are simply angry at life and have neither the means nor the mo-tivation to eliminate anger from their lives.

WO CARS BANG FENDERS AT AN section; tempers fl are and a fi stfi ght breaks out. In a store nearby, a man stomps off in a fury, cursing the clerk for declining his credit card.

In an apartment up the street, a mother In an apartment up the street, a mother

anagement

By Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami



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Anger and the spiritual path: Finally, there are those who are striving to live a life following spiritual principles but are at times unable to control their anger and as a result end up hurting others and breeching Hinduism’s core principal of nonviolence, ahimsa, as well as creating new negative karmas to live through in the future. It is to these individuals, who are striving to control anger, even eliminate it from their pattern of behavior, that this Insight is addressed.

To improve our understanding and control of anger, it is helpful to look at the concept of the three-fold nature of man: 1) superconscious or spiritual, 2) intellectual or mental and 3) in-stinctive or physical-emotional. It is the instinctive nature, the animal-like nature, that contains the tendencies to become angry and harm others. The goal of living a religious life is to learn to control these animal instincts—as well as the ramifi cations of the intellect and the pride of the ego—and thereby manifest one’s spiritual nature. Spiritual striving produces gradual improvement in harnessing and transmuting our instincts, intellect and ego, with the entire process of soul evolution spanning many lifetimes.

Anger is the instinctive behavior of responding to challenging situations by becoming frustrated, upset, enraged to the point of

attacking others with words or fi sts. Webster compares the terms for anger as follows: “Anger is broadly applicable to feelings of resentful or revengeful displeasure; indignation implies righteous anger aroused by what seems unjust, mean or insulting; rage sug-gests a violent outburst of anger in which self-control is lost; fury implies a frenzied rage that borders on madness; ire, chiefl y a literary word, suggests a show of great anger in acts, words, looks, etc.; wrath implies deep indignation expressing itself in a desire to punish or get revenge.”

Learning to control anger is such an important part of harness-ing the instinctive nature that the 2,200-year-old, South Indian scripture on ethics, the Tirukural, devotes an entire chapter to the subject. It is, in fact, the chapter that precedes “Avoidance of Injuring Others”—the order of these chapters itself suggesting that to successfully practice nonviolence we need to fi rst control anger. The Tirukural warns that anger gives rise to teeming trou-bles. It kills the face’s smile and the heart’s joy. Left uncontrolled, it will annihilate you. It burns even friends and family who try to intervene, and easily leads to injuring others.

A few years ago we had a perfect opportunity to observe seri-ous anger. Two carpenters were building a house next door to

You act and speak normally but purposely neglec t to do

certain tasks others have asked you to do, pre-

tending that you forgot all about the duties. Example: A teenage boy, upset with his father for firmly disci-

plining him, retaliates with sneaky anger by

chronically “forgetting” to do his household chores.

1: Sneaky AngerYou shun another person and

make it clear you are mad about something. How-

ever, yo u abs olute l y refuse to let him or her know what it is. E xamp le : A wi fe is upset with her hus-band for working late

and, rather than talk the issue through, gives

him the silent, cold shoul-der for the entire evening.

2: The Cold Shoulder

Eight Rungs on the Ladder of Violence

1 It is restraint that restrains rage when

it can injure. If it cannot harm, what

does restraint really matter?

2 Wrath is wrong even when it cannot

cause injury, but when it can, there is

nothing more evil.

3Forget anger toward all who have

offended you, for it gives rise to

teeming troubles.

4 Anger kills the face’s smile and

the heart’s joy. Does there exist a

greater enemy than one’s own anger?

The Perils Of Anger

The Tirukural Chapter 31By Saint Tiruvalluvar, 200 bce


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You act and speak normally but purposely neglec t to do

certain tasks others have asked you to do, pre-

with sneaky anger by chronically “forgetting”

to do his household chores.

You shun another person and make it clear you are mad

about something. How-eve r, yo u abs o lute l y

the issue through, gives him the silent, cold shoul-

der for the entire evening.


v

You fault others for something that happened and then tell

them they are “no good” in order to make them

feel shame. Example: an employee makes a simple mistake at work, and her boss is upset. Rather than help resolve

the problem, he points blame at her, demean-

ing and intimidating her with personal cr it icisms.

3: Blaming and ShamingYou lose control over your speech

and scream and yell at others. Those who have a habit of

swearing are most prone to this form of anger. Example: A teenage girl has admitted to a m i n o r w r o n g d o -i n g a t s c h o o l . H e r

teacher, known for his foul mouth, yells at her

harshly, using cruel, out-of-control words to punish her.

4: Swearing, Screaming, Yelling

5 If a man be his own guard, let him guard

himself against rage. Left unguard-

ed, his own wrath will annihilate him.

6 Anger’s fi re engulfs all who draw near

it, burning even friends and family who

risk rescue.

7 As a man trying to strike the ground with

his hand can hardly fail, just as surely will

one who treasures his temper be destroyed.

8 Though others inflict wrongs as painful

as fl aming torches, it is good if a man can

refrain from infl ammatory tantrums.

9 If hostile thoughts do not invade

his mind, all his other thoughts

may swiftly manifest.

10 As men who have died resem-

ble the dead, so men who have

renounced rage resemble renunciates.


the monastery. One carpenter, James, was more prone to anger than the other. Every few minutes, when something didn’t work out right, he would react by swearing loudly and at length. About once a week the two men would have a huge argument and James would drop his tools, stomp off the job and drive away with tires squealing in defi ance. It was defi nitely an interesting study in anger and human nature, showing how anger is simply an accepted part of life for many people.

Swami Budhananda (1917-1983) of the Ramakrishna Mission, noted in a series of talks on anger (published in Vedanta Kesari, www.sriramakrishnamath.org): “The evil effects of anger are innumerable. The fi rst thing that happens to an angry person is that he forgets the lessons of wisdom he has learnt in life. After that, he loses control over his thoughts and emotions. He be-comes overactive, with his highly charged ego as his only guide. He loses his power of discrimination, sense of proportion, and becomes aggressive in manner, hostile to his own welfare. When anger becomes the second nature of a person, physical health and equanimity of mind suffer, and inner peace vanishes in a trice. Anger can destroy friendships, families, business partner-ships, professional prospects. Communal and ethnic riots, arsons,

wars, suicides, murder and many other forms of crime are basi-cally products of anger. In fact, anger makes even a handsome person look ugly. I suggested to a friend, who is remorseful about his fl ashes of anger, that he keep a large mirror facing his offi ce desk. In case the anger-prone person has a lively sense of humor, this mirror-therapy is likely to work.”

People’s natures are quite different in their tendency to anger. Some are usually calm, but occasionally fl are up. Others anger quite easily. Many people are quite selective about whom they get angry with—perhaps just their spouse.

My Gurudeva, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, observed that anger is the most diffi cult fault to overcome, because it man-ifests in so many different forms: pouting, long silences, shout-ing, yelling, swearing and more. In Living with Siva, Gurudeva lists the eight forms of anger from the book Angry All the Time (see sidebar): 1) sneaky anger; 2) the cold shoulder; 3) blaming and shaming; 4) swearing and yelling; 5) demands and threats; 6) chasing and holding; 7) partly controlled violence; 8) blind rage. These are called the eight rungs on the ladder of violence, an analogy that Gurudeva found quite helpful in showing how anger can easily snowball. For example, an evening might start



blame at her, demean-ing and intimidating her

with personal cr it icisms.



feel shame. Example: an employee makes a simple mistake at work, and her boss is upset. Rather than help resolve

the problem, he points blame at her, demean-

ing and intimidating her with personal cr it icisms.

You lose control over your speech and scream and yell at others.

Those who have a habit of swearing are most prone

foul mouth, yells at her harshly, using cruel, out-of-

control words to punish her.

‘The

“The chitta-vrittis, the thought-waves, which being gross, we can appreciate and feel. They can be more easily controlled, but what about the

fi ner instincts? How can they be controlled? When I am angry, my whole mind becomes a huge wave of anger. I feel it, see it, handle it, can easily

manipulate it, can fi ght with it; but I cannot succeed perfectly in the fi ght until I can get down to its causes.” SWAMI VIVEKANANDA, RAJA YOGA


You demand that others behave as you want them to or

threaten you will do some-thing dr as t ic i f they

don’t, such as hurt them or yourself. Example: An argument between two business partners gets out of hand and

reaches the point where the younger threatens

to beat up his associ -ate unless he gets his way.

5: Demands and ThreatsYou approach or pursue others

and physically restrain them against their will and pre-

vent them from leaving your presence. Exam-ple: A woman’s f ian-cee has been accused o f s e e i n g a n o t h e r woman. Incensed, she

follows him to work, grabs him desperately

and insists they talk about the prob lem r ight now.

6: Chasing and HoldingYou demand that others behave

as you want them to or threaten you will do some-

thing dr as t ic i f they

the younger threatens to beat up his associ -

ate unless he gets his way.

You approach or pursue others and physically restrain them

against their will and pre-vent them from leaving

grabs him desperately and insists they talk about

the problem r ight now.

6: Chasing and Holding


with a mild expression of anger that seems harmless enough but soon escalates into shouting and swearing and culminates in physical violence.

Anger and the chakras: We gain useful insights into the na-ture of anger and how to control it by relating it to the Hindu system of chakras, the subtle centers of consciousness within each individual (see sidebar). There are seven primary chakras along the spinal column and in the head. When our awareness is fl owing through these chakras, consciousness is in the higher nature. The seven chakras, or talas, below the spine, down to the feet, are all seats of instinctive consciousness, the origin of fear, anger, jealousy, confusion, selfi shness, absence of conscience and malice. The eighth rung on the ladder of violence—blind rage—corresponds to the second lower chakra, called vitala. Gurudeva explains, “Anger comes from despair or the threatening of one’s self-will. When people are in the consciousness of this chakra, they are even angry at God. With their wrath, they often strike out at those around them, leaving a trail of hurt feelings behind them. From sustained anger arises a persistent, even burning, sense of resentment.”

When someone goes into a blind rage, he has dropped far below the chakras of memory and reason—the muladhara and svadhishthana. Therefore it is no wonder that afterwards he may not even remember what happened. His consciousness was totally in the vitala chakra, having given up its normal faculties of memory and reason.

Many people think that sneaky anger and the cold shoulder are natural and harmless. Gurudeva warns that, while they are not as vicious as yelling and screaming or throwing objects against the wall, these practices stimulate the lower chakras and over time can easily lead to the more violent expressions of anger, as well as the experience of other lower-chakra emotions, such as fear and jealousy. For these reasons, it is best not to indulge in either sneaky anger or the cold shoulder. Sarcasm and cyni-cism can also be forms of anger. Gurudeva said, “People who are cynical are expressing their anger and contempt with snide remarks. They may seem to be joking, but their sharp feelings

come across anyway, which stimulates that lower chakra until one day their cynicism will turn into really good anger. Then they build up new karmas they never had before, which they will live with until they are faced with those karmas.”

Swearing is even more problematic, as it stimulates the lower chakras to a greater degree than sneaky anger, the cold shoulder or cynicism. Therefore, it is quite important in managing anger to break the habit of swearing.

Step one for conquering anger: For those on the spiritual path who are striving to control anger, there is an important fi rst step. That is to acknowledge that anger is a serious problem that easily leads to violence and is a quality that should be totally absent from those dedicated to making progress in their spiritual life.

I gave the following advice via e-mail to a devotee who was working to refrain from expressing occasional anger toward a parent: “Thank you for sharing the details regarding your angry encounters with your parent. I would suggest you refl ect on the seriousness of disharmony in the home. It is taking a few steps backward in spiritual progress. When you do sadhana, you move forward. But if you become angry regularly, you step backward, and as a result you could end up standing still. It is like trying to save money for a special purpose. You save for a while, but then become angry, which is like spending what you saved for the last month. It is diffi cult to make your fi nancial goal. By taking anger more seriously, you are more motivated to avoid it at all costs.”

The devotee recently e-mailed again saying the advice had helped her cope with the force of anger. She had taken the fi rst step—acknowledging that it is a serious problem, an unaccept-able mode of behavior for those on the spiritual path.

Seven remedies: With this resolve fi rmly in mind, she was ready to take the second step, which is to apply remedies to improve her behavior. On pages 46-48, in the illustrated side-bar, we offer seven remedies. The fi rst is to affi rm the Hindu philosophy that everything in the universe is perfect; the entire physical, mental, emotional and spiritual fl ow of events is moving in perfect harmony and exquisite coordination according to the divine laws of karma and dharma. Each happening is as perfect


You physically strike someone for the purpose of forcing him or

her to do what you want, but without losing con-

trol. Example: A young boy is caught stealing at a neighbor’s home. The owner, outraged, c o n f r o n t s t h e b o y

and s wat s him sev-eral times with a stick,

wrongly thinking that this will reform the errant youth.

7: Partly Controlled ViolenceYou physically attack a person

with total loss of control, to the extent that when you

return to normal con-sciousness, you may not even remember the incident. Example: A sassy teenager delib-erately insults an over-

weight stranger. Instead of just scowling, the fi ery

man fl ies into a blind rage and beats him mercilessly.

8: Blind RageYou physically strike someone for

the purpose of forcing him or her to do what you want,

but without losing con-

eral times with a stick, wrongly thinking that this

will reform the errant youth.

You physically attack a person with total loss of control, to

the extent that when you return to normal con-

of just scowling, the fi ery man fl ies into a blind rage

and beats him mercilessly.


The fourteen chakras are centers of force and conscious-ness within the inner bodies of man—with corresponding nerve plexuses, ganglia and glands in the physical body. Where we reside in the range of chakras deeply infl uences our state of mind, our actions and reactions. Anger is the predominant consciousness of the vitala chakra, second among the seven lower chakras, all of which are instinc-tive realms of distress, darkness and confusion.

as an ocean wave or a butterfl y’s wing. Anger is an instinc-tive-emotional protest to what is happening at a particular moment. “Things are just not right!” anger declares. The source of peace and contentment is the opposite senti-ment—a wholesome, intelligent acceptance of life’s condi-tions, based on the understanding that God has given us a perfect universe in which to grow and learn, and each challenge or seeming imperfection we encounter is an opportunity for spiritual advancement. Gurudeva wrote:

“We are all growing toward God, and experience is the path. Through experience we mature out of fear into fearlessness, out of anger into love, out of confl ict into peace, out of darkness into light and union in God.”

The second remedy is a fi rst-aid technique to apply during angry outbursts. It is to visualize light blue fl ood-ing out from the center of your spine into your aura, displacing the blackish reds that anger automatically displays in the colorful fi eld of subtle energy ra-diating within and around your body. Mystically, this has the effect of moving your awareness out of the angry state of mind into a more peaceful mood. The third remedy is to worship Lord Ga-nesha, the elephant-faced Lord of Dharma, a compassionate God, ever available to assist embodied souls with immediate needs to further their evolution. Remedy four is a penance, setting aside a specifi ed sum of money every time you experience anger. The fi fth remedy is to skip the next meal if you become angry. These two sacrifi ces are designed to remold deep-seated subconscious patterns, called vasanas, convincing your sub-conscious that you are serious about controlling your anger, and gradually subduing any occur-rence of wrath. Remedy six, the fl ower penance, is a way of letting go of angry feelings that you hold toward another person. Offering fl owers with

1 SAHASRARA… Illumination—CROWN OF HEAD

2 AJNA… Divine sight—THIRD EYE

3 VISHUDDHA… Divine love—THROAT

4 ANAHATA… Direct cognition—HEART

5 MANIPURA… Willpower—SOLAR PLEXUS

6 SVADISHTHANA… Reason—BELOW NAVEL

7 MULADHARA… Memory—BASE OF SPINE

8 ATALA… Fear & lust—HIPS

9 VITALA… Raging anger—THIGHS

10 SUTALA… Retaliatory jealousy—KNEES

11 TALATALA… Prolonged confusion—CALVES

12 RASATALA… Selfi shness—ANKLES

13 MAHATALA… Consciencelessness—FEET

14 PATALA Malice & murder—SOLES OF FEET

8 ATALA… Fear & lust—HIPS

9 VITALA… Raging anger—THIGHS

10 10 SUTALA… SUTALA… Retaliatory jealousyRetaliatory jealousy—KNEESKNEES



The second remedy is a fi rst-aid technique to apply during angry outbursts. It is to visualize light blue fl ood-ing out from the center of your spine into your aura, displacing the blackish reds that anger automatically displays in the colorful fi eld of subtle energy ra-diating within and around your body. Mystically, this has the effect of moving your awareness out of the angry state of mind into a more peaceful mood. The third remedy is to worship Lord Ga-nesha, the elephant-faced Lord of Dharma, a compassionate God, ever available to assist embodied souls with immediate needs to

if you become angry. These two sacrifi ces are designed to remold deep-seated subconscious

convincing your sub-conscious that you are serious about controlling your anger, and gradually subduing any occur-rence of wrath. Remedy six, the fl ower penance, is a way of letting go of angry feelings that you hold toward another person. Offering fl owers with

The fourteen chakras are centers of force and conscious-ness within the inner bodies of man—with corresponding nerve plexuses, ganglia and glands in the physical body. Where we reside in the range of chakras deeply infl uences our state of mind, our actions and reactions. Anger is the predominant consciousness of the among the seven lower chakras, all of which are instinc-tive realms of distress, darkness and confusion.

SAHASRARA…

AJNA…

VISHUDDHA…

ANAHATA

MANIPURA…

SVADISHTHANA…

7

10

TALATALA…

RASATALA…

MAHATALA…

PATALA

10 10

The fourteen chakras are centers of force and conscious-ness within the inner bodies of man—with corresponding nerve plexuses, ganglia and glands in the physical body. Where we reside in the range of chakras deeply infl uences our state of mind, our actions and reactions. Anger is the predominant consciousness of the among the seven lower chakras, all of which are instinc-tive realms of distress, darkness and confusion.



The second remedy is a fi rst-aid technique to apply during angry outbursts. It is to visualize light blue fl ood-ing out from the center of your spine into your aura, displacing the blackish reds that anger automatically displays in the colorful fi eld of subtle energy ra-diating within and around your body. Mystically, this has the effect of moving your awareness out of the angry state of mind into a more peaceful mood. The third remedy is to worship Lord Ga-nesha, the elephant-faced Lord of Dharma, a compassionate God, ever available to assist

if you become angry. These two sacrifi ces are designed to remold deep-seated subconscious

convincing your sub-conscious that you are serious about controlling your anger, and gradually subduing any occur-rence of wrath. Remedy six, the fl ower penance, is a way of letting go of angry feelings that you hold toward another person. Offering fl owers with

1 SAHASRARA…

2 AJNA…

3 VISHUDDHA…

4 ANAHATA

5 MANIPURA…

6 SVADISHTHANA…

11

12

13 MAHATALA…

14 PATALA

Wheels of Consciousness

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Have you ever suggested to someone who was furious at you that he shouldn’t get so angry? Perhaps you offered, “It certainly doesn’t make me feel very good when you

unleash that force on me! And it’s not good for you either!” What was the result? He just got madder, right? “How dare you tell me not to get angry, you #%*$¿ !” The point is, no one can change a person except that person himself. We only change when we want to change. Are you ready? Controlling anger could well be viewed as the very fi rst exercise in spiritual life, because it stands so squarely between the soul and peace of mind while living in a physical body. Nothing is more fundamental to conquer, and doing so unleashes great energy and provides emotional sta-bility for all other endeavors. The work is well worth the effort. So, here are some sharp tools—powerful enough to make even a nice person nicer. They are philosophical, penitential, meta-physical, devotional and psychological. Use them in good health!

Seven Remedies for the Habit of Anger1: Affi rm: Everything Is Perfect!

From a mountaintop perspective, God is everywhere, in all things, and everything is in a state of bal-ance and perfection at every point in time. Affirm this Hindu wisdom regularly to cultivate patience and wise acceptance, even of situa-tions that tend to arouse anger. To do so, be seated, close your eyes, breathe deeply and affirm quietly to yourself, “I’m all right right now, and everything is as it should be from a mountaintop point of view.”

a loving heart has the effect of dissolving the resentment and awakening forgiveness—be it toward a parent, spouse, employer, sibling or friend. The seventh remedy is to perform three kindly acts toward someone who has disturbed you. For a loved one or close acquaintance, the acts can be performed openly. For others, such as business associates, employers or fellow employees, your good deeds may be done subtly, even without their knowledge. It may be diffi cult to fulfi ll this, as it requires you to go against the instinctive compulsion to hold on to hard feelings. But acting kindly toward offenders releases you from the grip of seething anger, as surely as the sun dis-pels a morning fog, dissolving it in the light of higher consciousness. The seven remedies are designed to help seekers objectify their anger, to see it in a clear, detached manner, as a force that they have the power to harness and transmute into higher forms of expres-sion and ultimately be free of it altogether.

Diet and ayurveda: What we eat infl uences our state of consciousness and where we are in the chakras more than most people realize. The Hindu ideal of following a strict vegetarian diet has many benefi ts, includ-ing lessening the tendency to become angry. Eating meat, fi sh, fowl and eggs, on the other hand, opens the door to lower con-sciousness and makes it harder to stay out of the states of fear, anger, jealousy and the subsequent remorseful emotions that follow. Food is largely a matter of temperament. The Chando-gya Upanishad (7.26.2) teaches: “When the food is pure, mind becomes pure. When the mind becomes pure, memory becomes

fi rm. And when a man is in possession of a fi rm memory, all the bonds which tie him down

to the world are loosened.” A vegetarian diet helps put us in touch with our higher consciousness and is therefore quite help-ful in increasing our control over anger, as well as the other lower states of mind.

In the healthcare industry, anger is viewed as an insidious mal-ady that, if not harnessed, leads to serious illness, causing high blood pressure, various diseases and even fatal heart attacks. It is addressed with prescription drugs, aromatherapy, massage


awakening forgiveness—be it toward a parent, spouse, employer, Anger’s Rousing Threat … acts toward someone who has disturbed you. For a loved one or close acquaintance, the acts can be performed openly. For others, such as business associates, employers or fellow employees, your good deeds may be done subtly, even without their knowledge. It may be diffi cult to fulfi ll this, as it requires you to go against the instinctive compulsion to hold on to hard feelings. But acting kindly

of seething anger, as surely as the sun dis-pels a morning fog, dissolving it in the light of higher consciousness. The seven remedies are designed to help seekers objectify their anger, to see it in a clear, detached manner, as a force that they have the power to harness and transmute into higher forms of expres-

What we eat infl uences our state of consciousness and where we are in the chakras more than most people realize. The Hindu ideal fi rm memory, all the bonds which tie him down

sibling or friend. The seventh remedy is to perform three kindly


Anger’s Rousing Anger’s Rousing acts toward someone who has disturbed you. For a loved one or close acquaintance, the acts can be performed openly. For others, such

our state of consciousness and where we are in the chakras more than most people realize. The Hindu ideal


ANGER: “I will make the people blind and deaf. I will overpower

them with wrath and suff ocate them with rage. I will catch hold of even wise men. They shall neither harken to what concerns their own happi-ness, nor refl ect what they had read in the scriptures. In

a moment I can destroy even the learned, the famous, those

who are attentive to duties, the charitable and the mighty


2: Fill Your Aura with Light Blue 3: Worship Lord Ganesha

Seven Remedies for the Habit of Anger

If you are overtaken by anger and resentment— emotions which f ill your aura with blackish red, streaked with yellow—sit in medita-tion, breathe and visualize light blue entering your aura and surrounding your body. The light blue will neu-tralize the fiery reds, and before you know it the anger and resent-ment will be gone. Simply relax and visualize soothing blue radiating out from the center of your spine into your inner and outer aura.

2: Fill Your Aura with Light BlueThe worship of Lord Ganesha is helpful in overcoming all emotional problems, including anger. As He is seated on the muladhara chakra, tuning in to His shakti helps raise us up into the mula dhara chakra and therefore out of anger and fear into a calm, stable state of mind. In fact, you can slowly seal off these lower states of mind and keep awareness permanently lifted above fear and anger through the regular worship of Lord Ganesha.

f ill your aura with blackish red, streaked with yellow—sit in medita-

your body. The light blue will neu-

you know it the anger and resent-

into your inner and outer aura.

“When your subconscious has been cleared of past reactionary patterns and reprogrammed thoroughly, you do not take exception to things that

happen in the world. In understanding, you love everyone and embrace every event. You intuitively sense just what they are all going through, because

you have in your memory banks knowledge of each happening acquired during all the lives you have ever lived.” SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI

and homeopathy. The Hindu medical science, ayurveda, views anger as a primary sign of imbalance of the three bodily humors, known as doshas. Dr. Virender Sodhi of Bellevue, Washington (www.ayurvedicscience.com), explained, “Anger is under the con-trol of the pitta dosha. Pitta is intelligence, anger, digestion, fi re, sight and so on. At the mental level, we have four drives: anger, attachment, ego and desire for sex. Although all these are normal animal behaviors, imbalance in these leads to imbalance of their respective doshas. Just as attachment increases kapha, anger in-creases pitta. Imbalance in pitta dosha can cause excessive anger,


potentates. I can infuse fury, resentment, wrath, indignation into the minds of all in the twinkling of an eye. I am very powerful. I will disturb the tapas of the aspirant and even yogis and destroy serenity. ATMAN, the soul, despaired, “Alas, who will help me now?” KSHAMA, the virtue of Patience, spoke up: “I will!

I will pull out the venom-ous tooth of this demon, Anger.” VISHVA PREMA, Universal Love, cried out, “I will! I am the water to quench the fi re of anger.” Finally, VIVEKA, Discrimina-tion, roared: “I will! When I rise, anger dies.”

Swami Sivananda (1887-1963)founder, Divine Life Society

liver maladies, hypertension, etc. Balance is achieved by calming yoga, shitali pranayama, walks, mantra, self analysis and divert-ing the anger into a different form. Ayurvedic medicine also advises cooling foods and environment.”

Dr. Vasant Lad, director of the Ayurvedic Institute (www.ayurveda.com) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, offers basic remedies for anger in The Complete Book of Ayurvedic Home Remedies: “Pitta is necessary for right understanding and judgment, but

when it gets disturbed or out of balance, it creates misunder-standing and wrong judgment, leading to anger and hostility. Here are several simple home remedies to cool down that hot pitta and keep tempers under control.“Diet: Perhaps most important, a person who becomes angry

easily or often should follow the pitta-pacifying diet, especially avoiding hot, spicy and fermented foods, citrus fruit and sour fruit. Favor simple, bland foods and cool drinks, and avoid alco-hol and drinks with caffeine.“Keep cool: It’s also not recommended for people with a pitta

body type to take saunas or steam baths, to get overheated from exercise or sports, or to be in too much direct sun. “Oil massage: Rub some bhringaraj oil or coconut oil on your

scalp and on the soles of the feet. That will help to bring down the excess pitta. You can do this every night before getting in bed to regularly moderate pitta. “Sandalwood oil: Another simple and effective way to help bal-

ance your emotions is to place a drop of sandalwood essential oil on the third eye area between your eyebrows, as well as on the throat, breastbone, navel, temples and wrists.“Herbal teas: Take ½ teaspoon of chamomile and 1 teaspoon

of fresh, fi nely chopped cilantro leaves and steep them in 1 cup hot water for about 10 minutes. Allow this tea to cool before you drink it. You can drink it three times a day, after each meal.

Anger’s Rousing Threat … and Retorts from Patience, Universal Love and Discrimination


t 4: Pay for Each Burst of Ire 5: Don’t Eat the Next Meal

An eff ective and practical fi nancial remedy is to put a sum of money, such as five dollars, in a jar each time you become angry, and later donate that money to a favorite orphanage or temple. Consistently per formed, this penance soon makes it too expensive to get angry! This remedy impresses the subconscious mind that expressions of anger have karmic costs, and that anger can be completely eliminated by sincere efforts to overcome it.

For those who can easily afford to put five dollars in a jar frequently, an alternate penance is fasting. Each time anger arises, simply skip the next meal. Denying yourself a meal has a potent impact, deeply impressing your subconscious mind. If you follow this without fail, the instinctive nature soon catches on that whenever it expresses anger it will soon experience hunger, and in this way is motivated to better control this destructive emotion.

remedy is to put a sum of money,

by sincere efforts to overcome it.

“Ghee nasya: Dip your little fi nger into a jar of brahmi ghee (or plain ghee) and lubricate the inside of your nostrils with a small amount. (Make sure your nails are trimmed so you don’t scratch yourself.) Then gently inhale the ghee upward. This sends a calming message to the brain.“Shitali pranayama: Make a tube of your tongue; breathe deeply

through your mouth down into your belly, hold the breath for a few seconds; exhale through your nose. Do about 12 repetitions.“Yoga postures: Good yoga asanas for pitta include the camel,

cobra, cow, boat, goat and bridge poses. Avoid the headstand or other inverted poses, such as the plow and shoulder stand.“Meditate: There is an ancient method of meditation that in-

volves watching your every emotion come and go, without either naming it or trying to tame it. As the feelings arise, breathe deeply and exhale the emotions out.”

Anger and spiritual striving: Anger is a natural emotion, a protective function of the instinctive mind, not to be vilifi ed or feared. It is a part of our nature, and it is normal to express

it—that is, if we are content to live on the instinctive level of our being, which many people are. But each soul inevitably reaches a point where it seeks to harness the natural instincts. Gurudeva explained, “Anger is also, like fear, an instinctive control, and at one time served its purpose. The onrush of anger served to protect man’s private interests in critical situations by injecting adrenaline into his blood and thus preparing him for defense. But as man evolves closer to his real, actinic being, he discovers that actinic love, understanding, compassion and wisdom are higher qualities than anger.”

Managing anger is important for anyone who seeks success at sophisticated endeavors and stable, wholesome relationships. For aspirants seeking self-transformation on the spiritual path, it is absolutely essential, for only when the lower nature is subdued can the divine nature be fully expressed.

Daily spiritual efforts designed to bring forth the divine nature are known as sadhana, such as japa, meditation and yoga. As Gurudeva wrote, sadhana, spiritual discipline, is “the mystical,


vvv

SagelyRefl ections

I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.

Booker T. Washington

If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.

Chinese proverb

Nor he who owns the least of things, nor he whom anger chains, can ever pass through maya’s gates.So, give these up, sannyasin bold! Say “Om Tat Sat, Om!”

Swami Vivekananda

There is nobody who lives happily with anger.

Shantideva

When we speak with hatred and anger, it leads to unhappiness pain and misery. So one should always be soft spoken.

Yajur Veda 3, 54

If we could read the secret histories of our enemies, we should fi nd sorrow and suff ering enough to disarm all hostility.

Longfellow


t 6: Off er Flowers 7: Perform Three Kindly Acts

Put up a picture of the person you are angry with and for 31 days place a flower in front of the pic-ture. While doing so, sincerely for-give the person in heart and mind. When it becomes difficult to offer the fl ower of forgiveness, because hurtful memories come up from the subconscious mind, write down the memories and burn the paper in a trash can. Say, “I forgive you, for I know that you gave back to me the karma that I set in motion.”

If you have gotten upset with another person, do three kindly acts to make up for it. This releases you from your anger and guilt even if he or she is unaware of your good deeds. Example: A husband shouts abusively at his wife after returning from work. After apologizing, he takes her dining to a place of her choosing, buys her an item that she needs for the kitchen and gives her some free time by taking care of the younger children for a half-day.

place a flower in front of the pic-ture. While doing so, sincerely for-give the person in heart and mind.

in a trash can. Say, “I forgive you,

me the karma that I set in motion.”

mental, physical and devotional exercise that enables us to dance with Siva by bringing inner advancement, changes in perception and improvements in character. Sadha na allows us to live in the refi ned and cultured soul nature, rather than in the outer, instinc-tive or intellectual spheres.” But, Gurudeva warned, every time you become angry, you destroy one month’s worth of spiritual striving and practice, or sadhana. So, if you don’t control anger, performing sadhana is a waste of time. Hence, the number-one sadhana is anger management. Gurudeva is adamant that seek-ers refrain from any serious meditative practices until anger and other lower emotions have been harnessed. “Those who remain prone to anger should not do raja yoga or any form of intensive mantra, japa, or pranayama amplifi cation of the energies into higher chakras—lest that collective energy plummet into the corresponding lower chakras and be vented through fear, anger and jealousy. Rather, they should perform the always healing vasana daha tantra [writing down and burning recollections of the past] and confi ne themselves to karma yoga, such as clean-


ing in and around the temple and picking fl owers for the pujas. These simple acts of charya [humble service] are recommended, but should not be extended to intense worship. Then, and only then, their life will be in perspective with the philosophy of Sanatana Dharma and begin to become one with Siva’s perfect universe. Brahma dvara, the door to the seven chakras below the muladhara, will then be sealed off as their experiential patterns settle into the traditional perspective of how life should be and each individual should behave within it.”

When working to harness the instinctive nature, what is it that tells us how well we are doing? It is the subtle irritation, the seed of wrath, that preceeds every form of anger, from the cold shoulder to blind rage. Viewed in this way, the impulse to anger is—at the beginning of the path, the intermediate stages and even subtly at the upper reaches—our astute teacher, signaling to us each split-second opportunity to be more patient, more understanding, more compassionate and to fi nd a better way to cope with tense situ-ations and keep closed the door to the lower chakras. ∏π

v Suppose you have a weakness of getting angry easily. Now, what you should do is this: Once you become normal again, go and sit in the family shrine room if you have one, or sit in solitude; then regret and repent your own anger and sincerely pray to your beloved deity or to Mother Nature, seeking help to get rid of it. Shri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

To remove anger is not so diffi cult as to decide to remove it and to maintain that decision.

Sri Aurobindo

There should be no yelling in the home unless there is a fi re.

David O. McKay

A nagging sense of discontent, a feeling of being dissatisfi ed, or of something being not right, is the fuel that gives rise to anger and hatred. Generally, this discontent arises in us when we feel that either we ourselves, or someone we love, or our close friends are being treated unfairly or threatened: people are being unjust toward us or our close friends.... The idea is to stop it at

an early stage, rather than wait for that anger or hatred to arise fully.

The Dalai Lama

Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

Malachy McCourt

Worshipers of Siva who are victim to anger or hatred refrain from medita-tion, japa and kundalini yoga. They confess sins, do penance and engage in bhakti and karma yoga to raise consciousness. Aum Namah Sivaya.




Books on Managing Rage

f you have the kind of anger problemthat lands you handcuffed in the back of a police car, the judge might just sentence you to a course in “anger management.” What you’ll be taught in such a course can be previewed from looking

through, as we did, a few of the hundreds of books written on anger management by psychologists, counselors and other experienced professionals.

Most begin by explaining the costs of anger. The Anger Control Workbook (189 pages, New Harbinger Publications, $17.95) cites a startling research study. A group of law students were given a test measur-ing hostility at the beginning of law school. The researchers tracked their history 25 years later and found that “Twenty percent of those who had scored in the top quarter of the hostility scale in law school were dead.” Only fi ve percent who scored in the low-est quarter had died. Many studies show that angry people are unhealthy and suffer devastating conse-quences to job, family, marriage, children, friends, strangers, fi nances and spiritual well being.

Most authors then describe the types of anger, the whys and hows and possible coping strategies. The Anger Control Workbook has you rate your anger

level from zero (no reaction) to 100, “the highest level of rage you can imagine experiencing.” One woman in therapy for anger rated receiving the wrong catalog order by mail as 60, getting cut off in traffi c as 70, her son’s refusing to clean his room a 75 and her mother’s request to drive her home from a bar because she’s too drunk to drive a full 90. Angry, dysfunctional people direct their hostility at their nearest and dearest.

Most coping methods involve learning to put intelligent thought between the incipient feeling of anger and its actual expression. Rather than fl ying into a rage at the driver who cuts you off in traffi c, consider the situation a moment. Was it deliberate, or did he not see you? And even if it was deliberate, what good does it do to get angry about it?

Another method is to visualize an upsetting scene, such as walking into your son’s messy room and imagining a non-angry interaction with him about it. Repeat this mentally until you can do it without becoming upset. While most rec-ommendations are based on Western psychology, some are reminiscent of Hindu practices—repeating a few words, such as “calm down” over and over, like a man-tra, or breathing and relaxation techniques similar to those of hatha yoga.

All the books we read give substantial value to religion and spirituality as a means to gain balance in life, but The Anger Management Source Book by

Crash courses for emergency cases

t will be admitted on all hands that everyone, without any exception whatsoever, is a victim of this horrible malady. Indeed control of anger will bring in its

train supreme peace and immeasur-able joy. Anger is the greatest enemy. Contentment is the Nandana Garden (the heavenly fl ower of Indra) and peace is the Kamadhenu [the wish-ful-fi lling cow]. Therefore, take to forgive-ness. Atman is different from the body, the indriyas, prana and the intellect. It is self-effulgent, unchangeable, pure and formless.

If a man becomes irritable for trifl ing things very often, it is a defi nite sign of mental weakness. When a man abuses you, and when a man takes away your cloth or coat, if you keep quiet, that

is a positive sign of inner strength. Self-restraint, or self-control is a sign of great mental strength. An easily irritable man is always unjust. He is swayed by impulses and emo-tions.

Anger gains strength by repeti-tion. If it is checked then and there, man gains immense strength of will. When anger is controlled, it becomes transmuted into spiritual energy that can move the three worlds. Just as heat or

light is changed into electricity, so also anger becomes changed into ojas [vitality]. Energy takes another form. Energy is wasted enormously when one gets angry. The whole nervous system is shattered by an outburst of anger. The eyes become red, the body quivers, the legs and hands tremble. No one can check an angry man. He gets enormous strength for the time being and gets a col-lapse after sometime, on account of reaction.

Various poisons are thrown into the blood when one is angry. Fiery dark arrows shoot out from the astral body. These can be seen clearly by clairvoyant eye. In the light of modern psy-

MINISTER’S MESSAGE

The Wilely Ways of WrathControlling anger is really control of the mindB Y S WA M I S I VA N A N D A O F R I S H I K E S H

Arrested: Anger leads to endless illsArrested: Anger leads to endless ills

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pg 50-51 AngerBks Jy04 § g13.indd 50 5/1/04 2:05:58 PM


Dr. Glenn R. Schiraldi (304 pages, McGraw-Hill/Contempo-rary Books, $16.95) stands out. Glen was hired by the Pentagon to teach anger management to US Army offi cers. Why? Because anger-related health issues and resulting heart attacks in their 40s were cutting careers short. Dr. Schiraldi, who advocates improving one’s spiritual life, offers this evaluation:“Sometimes anger signals a lack of spiritual peace or balance. Although

Freud and Ellis attributed neurotic guilt to religion, the research paints a different picture. In adults, the religiously committed are less stressed, less depressed, less likely to commit suicide, less likely to abuse drugs and are more satisfi ed with life and marriage. They live longer, with lower rates of high blood pressure and other diseases. In short, the preponderance of evidence suggests that religious commitment is associated with better mental, physical and social health. Such benefi ts are not predicted by reli-gious affi liation or denomination (e.g. Methodist, Muslim, Jew), but by the depth of one’s faith—the degree to which individuals live their faith. In the research, religious commitment is typically operationalized as attendance at a church/synagogue/mosque/temple, prayer and reading sacred works. It also includes a relationship with God, making beliefs an important part of one’s life and connecting with others in the religious community.”

chology, all diseases take their origin in anger. Rheumatism, heart-disease, nervous disease are all due to anger. It takes some months for the restoration of normal equilibrium in the nervous system.

Passion is the root, and anger the stem. You will have to destroy the root (passion) fi rst. Then the stem (anger) will die by itself. A passionate man is more angry. A brahmachari who has preserved his virya [vital energy] always keeps a balanced mind. He has a cool brain at all times.

The root cause of anger is ignorance and egoism. Through vich-ara (right enquiry), egoism should be removed. Then alone can one control his anger completely. Through development of the opposite virtues such as kshama [patience], love, shanti, karuna [mercy], friendship, etc., anger can be controlled to an enormous degree. The force can be reduced. Atma-jnana [Self-knowledge] alone can fry all samskaras of anger and eradicate it in toto.

If an aspirant has controlled anger, half of his sadhana is over. Control of anger means control of lust also. Control of anger is really control of mind. He who has controlled anger cannot do any wrong or evil action. He is always just.

It is very diffi cult to say when a man will be thrown into a fi t of fury. All of a sudden he gets an irresistible fi t of anger for trifl ing matters. When anger assumes a grave form, it becomes diffi cult to control. It should therefore, be controlled even when it is in the form of a small ripple in the subconscious mind (chitta). One should watch his mind very, very cautiously. Whenever there is the least symptom or indication of light irritability, then and there it must be nipped. Then it becomes very easy to

control anger. Be careful and vigilant and watch the ripple, then only you are a sage.

Whenever there is a little irritability, stop all conversation and observe mauna (the vow of silence). Practice of mauna daily for one or two hours is of great help in controlling anger. Always try to speak sweet soft words. The words must be soft and the argu-ments hard; but if the reverse is the case it will lead to discord and disharmony. There is a sharp sword in every tongue.

If you fi nd it diffi cult to control anger, leave the place at once and take a brisk walk. Drink some cold water immediately. This cools down the body and mind. Chant ‘OM’ loudly like a lion for ten minutes and then chant ‘OM SHANTI’ mentally or verbally for fi ve minutes. Think of the picture of your Ishtam [chosen Deity]. Pray. Repeat your Ishta Mantra for ten minutes. Gradually the anger will vanish.

Meditate in the morning on the virtue of patience for ten min-utes. Refl ect and repeat the formula ‘OM PATIENCE’ mentally several times daily. Remember the saints and their lives. Say unto yourself: “I am patient now. I will never get irritated from today. I will manifest the virtue of patience in my daily life. I am getting better and better.” Feel that you possess a magazine of patience.

The Dalai Lama’s book, Healing Anger,

the Power of Patience From a Buddhist Perspective (150 pages, Motilal Banarsidass, $12.95), is a commen-

tary on a Buddhist scrip-ture dealing with anger, regarded as the greatest stumbling block for the aspirant. He give an eso-

teric analysis of the causes of anger and the means to cultivate its opposite, com-

passion, a prime virtue of Buddhism.

Most really angry people would likely need more than a book to deal with their problem, such as the motivation of a judge’s orders or a doctor’s dire prognosis coupled with the help of a professional counselor. Still, there is a lot of useful information in them, and you can gain a bet-ter understanding and some skill in handling your own anger as well as that in others around you. The three reviewed here are a good start, and many more books are available on the topic.

anger control workbook, by matthew mackay & peter rogers, new harbinger publications, 5674 shattuck ave., oakland, ca 94609 usa.

anger management sourcebook, by glenn r. schiraldi & mellissa hall-mark kerr, contemporary books, 2 peen plaza, new york, ny 10121, usa .

healing anger, the power of patience from a buddhist perspective, by the dalai lama, motilal banarsidass, 41-u.a. bungalow road, jawahar

nagar, delhi-110 007 india. e-mail: [email protected]

form of a small ripple in the subconscious mind . One should watch his mind very,

very cautiously. Whenever there is the least symptom or indication of light irritability, then and there it must be nipped. Then it becomes

pages, McGraw-Hill/Contempo-

$16.95) stands out. Glen was hired by the Pentagon to teach anger management to US Army offi cers. Why? Because anger-related health issues and resulting heart attacks in their 40s were cutting careers short. Dr. Schiraldi, who advocates improving one’s spiritual life, offers this evaluation:

book, the

From a Buddhist Perspective Motilal Banarsidass, $12.

tary on a Buddhist scrip-ture dealing with anger, regarded as the greatest stumbling block for the aspirant. He give an eso-

teric analysis of the causes of anger and the means to cultivate its opposite, com-

passion, a prime virtue of Buddhism.

Best picks: There are also manyresources on anger management on the Web

swami sivananda saraswati (1887-1962), was founder and spiritual head of Divine Life Society. This article

is excerpted from Swami’s comprehensive dissertation, “Conquest of Anger,”

published for free distibu-tion at: www.dlshq.

org/download/an-ger.htm

pg 50-51 AngerBks Jy04 § g13.indd 51 5/1/04 2:06:25 PM

The Sagely ActivistThe lion in winter: Sita Ram Goel shortly before his passing


hin

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ism

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pg 52-55 SITA Ram Goel § July04.indd 52 5/1/04 12:52:10 PM


ita ram goel will be rememberedby Hindus in India and around the world for a long time. For most of the last half of the twentieth century, he and mentor-

friend Ram Swarup produced hundreds of books, articles and pamphlets extolling the glories of Hinduism while warning of its most malicious foes. They were a bold and outspoken twosome who published their works through the Voice of India (VOI), a publication house they created just for this purpose. Although both Sita Ram Goel and Ram Swarup have now passed away, the VOI is still active—dedicated exclusively to the promotion of issues im-portant to the modern-day Renaissance of Hinduism, a cause for which Sita Ram Goel gladly and courageously dedicated his life.

Born on October 16, 1921, Sita Ram Goel fi nished his formal education with an MA in History in 1944 from the Uni-versity of Delhi. Yet he spent his en-tire life pursuing and sharing a broad spectrum of knowledge on a variety of subjects. He was well versed in several languages and came to be respected as a scholar of literature, philosophy, religion, and sociology. By his own account, he drew his primary inspiration on all these subjects from Plato and Sri Aurobindo.

Although he developed a keen interest in communism during his college years, he turned against the ideology in 1949 when he came to understand the plight of people living in communist Russia. After 1950, he committed himself to inform-ing the Indian people of the real theory and practice of communism in Stalin’s Russia and Mao’s China. His careful and tediously researched work during this time rightly earned him a reputation as a formidable activist.

Rivals both respected and feared his mighty insights, which were too often too true and well-articulated to easily refute. Sita Ram Goel chose to fi ght his battles so far above the common, war-torn terrain of human emotions that contenders not match-ing his wit were left to look like fools. Hence, direct challenges to his writings were few, if any. The most damaging effect upon his work came from rivals following a strategy of “strangling by silence,” a crafty tactic of blocking the publication of his name and his works. Such a passive confi nement, however, was not nearly enough to stop his intellectu-al assault on anti-Hindu forces. The writings of Sita Ram Goel are alive and well today.

On December 3, 2003, at the age of 83, Sita Ram Goel passed away peacefully in his sleep following a long illness. It was a quiet end to a humble yet dynamic life dedi-cated to the revitalization of Hinduism and the evolution of India. We at Hinduism Today were honored to have maintained a fruitful association with him for more than 20 years and will long remember our visits

with him in New Delhi at his home and during his one visit with us here in Hawaii. He is survived by his two sons, Saroj Kumar Goel and Pradip Kumar Goel.

Today, Pradip manages the Voice of India, which is supported both by donations and by VOI profi ts which are invested back into publications. Hinduism Today correspon-dent Rajiv Malik recently chatted with Pra-dip in New Delhi about his father, the state of Hinduism today and the prospects for In-dia tomorrow. Here are some excerpts.

When did you fi rst realize your father was a Hindu activist? In 1952 my father brought us to New Delhi from Calcutta. I was just

seven years old then and too young to un-derstand the kind of work he was doing. In 1964 there was some talk of his being ar-rested, but even at that time I was not re-ally aware of what was going on. All I knew was that he had written a book criticizing Nehru, following the war with China, and a lot of people were getting upset. As time went on, my father brought together some

Hindu scholars interested in defending Hindu society. This group stimulated the creation of the Voice of India in 1980. It was only then that I began to read my father’s articles with interest and fi nally understood his work as a Hindu activist. At that time I was 35 years of age. Now I am 54.

What inspired your father to become an activist? He felt that the Hindu society was going through a crisis and that a Hin-du renaissance was necessary. He wanted to do his part in bringing about change, but gained the confi dence and guidance to do so from Ram Swarup, his close friend and advisor. Together, these two men wrote pamphlets that were forceful and strong, with titles like “Hindu Soci-ety Under Siege,” “Defense of Hinduism” and “Perversion of India’s Political Par-lance.” Eventually they decided that, to do this kind of controversial work, they needed their own publication house.

What was your father’s most important contribution to the Hindu renaissance? We are proud that he brought forward new ideas in defense of Hindu society, and that they were well written. We can now see that people from all over the country and around the world were af-fected by this literature. Even the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and the

BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), both Hindu nationalist organizations, used his literature. Not having such material themselves, they used Voice of India publications to give their positions substance.

What was the core of your father’s mes-sage? In the good old days, my father used to run an organization called the Society for Defense of Freedom in Asia. Ram Swarup, who was also associated with this organiza-tion, helped to bring about its focus. He pro-claimed that humanity had suffered three terrible tragedies: Christianity, Islam and communism.

Christianity is not now as bad as it used

The Sagely Activist

ita ram goel will be rememberedby Hindus in India and around the world for a long time.the twentieth century, he and mentor-

T R A N S I T I O N

Ardent atheist turned born-again Hindu, Sita Ram Goel committed the better part of his 82 years on Earth to restoring Hindu dignity

Friend and mentor: For 50 years, Ram Swarup co-authored articulate, powerful Hindu Renais-sance literature with Sita Ram Goel

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to be. The cruelties once practiced in the name of that religion have been eliminated by reforms. Now the only threat from the Christians comes from their missionary work. Because of the collapse of Soviet Rus-sia, communism has also suffered a setback and has been weakened. The biggest danger humanity faces today comes from militant Islam. Sooner or later, we must take care of this threat that comes from these people. My father was saying this years ago. As I review his works today, I realize that his as-sessment of so many things was absolutely correct. He was ahead of his time.

Did you ever feel that your father and your family were in danger because of his work? Were there ever any threats? I could not say that we were really ever in danger. We may have thought so at the time. But, yes, there were some threats. My father would get post-cards saying he was indulging in anti-Muslim activities and that one day his sons and grandsons would be converted to Islam. Also, the fact that father’s friends were frequently coming to him and advising him to act cautiously had us all a little wor-ried. But he used to say that he had fulfilled his duties and was ready to face whatever consequences might come. He definitely had some spiri-tual power backing him up. All these threats that we received af-fected our family only monetarily, and only for a short time.

Was there one single incident that alarmed you more than the rest? Yes, one incident stands out. We were work-ing on the Hindi edition of Ram Swarup’s book, Understanding Islam Through Hades. We had finished printing the book and had taken it to the bindery. This bindery was located in the Muslim area of Old Delhi. Al-though a Hindu owned it, some of the work-ers there were Muslim.

One Muslim boy saw the word Hades in the title of the book and took it to a Mus-lim priest, who declared the book anti-Is-lam. About a hundred people then gath-ered around the bindery in protest, and the binder called my father on the phone saying,

“These people want to burn down my shop!” The police picked up the son of the shop owner and took him to the police station for questioning. Because my father was the publisher of the book, he was also picked up. As a result of all this, our Hindu friends and well-wishers also gathered at the police sta-tion. That was a night of turmoil. Our whole family was quite disturbed and worried that father might be tortured.

The next day was Sunday. A special court was convened to listen to our case. Although

my father was released, the case took a long time to settle. It was introduced in 1987 and was finally settled sometime in 2000. In the end, all that happened was we were asked to delete certain portions of the book. We complied. But the antagonism of the whole incident really wore us down.

Did your father have a support group dur-ing troubled times? Most of my father’s Muslim and Christian friends deserted him when they came to know that his writings spoke against their religious beliefs. Al-though father put across his views in a very polite and analytical manner, there was often strong reaction. He used to say that just because he criticized Christianity, that did not mean he did not like Christians.

He even invited critics to speak up against Hinduism in his same spirit. However, he did emphatically declare that it was clearly not fair to condemn Hinduism, then convert people from it.

Back in the eighties, my father aggres-sively defended Hinduism when there was a mass conversion of Hindus to Christian-ity at Meenakshipuram in South India. That one event was an important signal to my fa-ther that Hinduism was facing a major crisis and that something should be done to meet the challenge.

Tell us about your father? What kind of person was he? He was a very simple man with very few requirements. His food was simple. His life was simple. When we pro-vided him with a car on behalf of our busi-ness, we asked him many times to engage a driver, but he never did. He said that a driver would just waste a lot of time waiting around for him.

My father’s general approach to life was always very humanitarian. He never wanted anyone else to get held up because of him.

When he was active, he never required people to come to his house for a meeting. Rather, he would go and meet them at a place of their choosing.

Although he could have easily remained fully occupied writing his own books, he was always willing to help edit and organize the works of others. In fact, he used to insist that it was a part of his duty to promote the work of other deserving scholars. His first concern was to help the Hindu cause. He was a selfless man.

Can you tell us a little about your mother?My mother was always at home looking af-ter us and performing her puja (worship). She was a pious lady. Her primary duty was to take care of the family. She was not re-

ally concerned with what my father was doing. She had a high regard for Ram Swarup and took him to be an enlightened person. She always as-sumed that, because my father was always working with him, nothing could go wrong. She died in 1981.

How did your father’s work impact you and the rest of his family? By 1980 my father had fulfilled his fa-milial obligations and had lived a full life. All of his children were married and further business dealings were of no interest to him. He told us that he wanted to go full-time into writ-ing and explained why.“There are four types of debts,” he

said. “bhuta rin, deva rin, pitra rin and rishi rin. (Rin means “debt.”) Bhuta rin is one’s debt toward the ancestors. Deva rin is one’s debt

toward the Gods. Pitra rin is one’s debt to the father, which includes taking care of the family. Rishi rin is one’s debt to the saints and rishis.”

My father felt that he was at the stage in life when he should be working to settle his debt with the rishis and saints by spreading their message. He felt that the vidya (knowl-edge) of the rishis should be passed on to mankind. He used to emphasize that he was doing this work without hope of getting a reward or becoming famous.

Did your father cultivate any “disciples” to carry on his work? Only Dr. Koenraad Elst, who lives in Belgium, could be considered a true disciple. Another person who was strongly influenced by my father and is now doing good work is N.S. Rajaram. Mr. Raja-ram is based in South India and even today is a fearless fighter for the Hindu cause.

Other well-known scholars have extracted extravagantly from my father’s writings but have neglected to give him credit. This is plagiarism, no doubt. But my father used to insist that he was not bothered by it, so long

“One day I meditated on ahimsa, which had remained an abstract concept for me so far. Soon I found myself begging forgiveness from all those I had hurt by word or deed. This was not an exercise in generali-ties. Person after person rose into my memory, going back into the dis-tant past, and I bowed in repentance before each one of them.”

—SITA RAM GOEL



as the right idea got promoted. Initially, I had our publication rights drawn up with a copyright clause, but my father directed me to remove it and let the people use the material any way they wanted.

Why did your father write only in English? Many people asked my father why he did not write in Hindi. His response was that because the Christians and Muslims were using English to put forward their message, and the media supporting them was Eng-lish-based, he felt it was appropriate that his work should be published in English. He also made the point that the people who spoke Hindi as a first language were already with him ideologically and did not need to be educated or persuaded.

What do people most frequently request from VOI? We are contacted often for our publications on Hindu philosophy. Our best authors in this field are David Frawley and Koenraad Elst. Of course, the works of my father and Ram Swarup are also in demand, but they focused on Islam and Christianity.

How would you assess the current response to VOI publications? Today, the response is quite satisfactory, but our publications are fairly low priced and therefore yield low profit margins for book sellers, which means the books are not usually kept in stock in the stores but rather are kept on display so that orders can be made directly to us by interested parties. Today, we have 95 titles in print. Twenty-nine are authored by Sita Ram Goel himself.

To be honest, the literary value of a book has little significance in the book selling business. The physical value of the book is what counts. If you want books by Au-robindo, you have to buy them from the Aurobindo Ashram. They are not available anywhere else. Books on Gandhi are only published by the government. It is the same with most good Hindu literature. If Gita Press does not publish it, no one will. There is just not much money in it.

What guidelines did your father set up for you to do this work, yet make a good liv-ing and support your family? My father’s guidelines stipulated first that I fulfill my responsibilities to my family. Then as time and resources allowed, I was to perpetuate the services of the VOI. To earn my liveli-hood, I manage Biblia Impex, a book export business that my father formed in 1964 to provide financial security for our family.

My father started Biblia Impex from a small table in a friend’s office. He would sit on one side of the table, and his typist would sit on the other side. He was one of the first Indian publishers to send books abroad without asking for advance payment. Other

export businesses would never do this. They would always require money in advance. My father understood European integrity. He knew they were trustworthy.

Father used to tell me that I should not work for more than I required. Years ago, I had an opportunity to purchase some prop-erties that could have made us very wealthy, but I did not do so.

What are your plans to keep your father’s books in print, as well as produce edited versions, collections, and more? My father used to make it clear that he had said what we wanted to say and that the work was complete. I feel that it is my duty now to see to it that the publications of the established writers for VOI—Sita Ram Goel, Ram Swa-rup, David Frawley, Rajaram and Koenraad Elst—are made available to the people. I will

keep doing this as long as I am able.So far as editing these publications is con-

cerned, we would need some very highly qualified people to do this, writers who are at least as qualified as my father and Ram Swarup. At the moment, I am not aware of such people. It is far better that we just ask our established writers to present their own points of view rather than have them at-tempt to modify the works of people who were established experts in the subjects they handled.

What about bringing his writings to the In-ternet? Right now, we have 28 titles on the Internet. Our website is www.bharatvani.org/books. I must admit, however, that this effort is minimal at most. We just do not have the capacity to go into a more elabo-rate web presentation. Others might offer to undertake this work on our behalf, but we ourselves cannot. Our primary obligation is to perpetuate the printed material. Also, putting these works on the Internet is ex-pensive. The Voice of India is not a commer-cial venture. Whatever money comes from selling the VOI publications is invested back into printing and distribution.

Can you summarize your father’s legacy? My father created an awareness of certain surreptitious forces threatening Hinduism and the fundamental culture of India. He made it his life’s mission to expose the real intentions of people who were disguised as benefactors but were secretly intent upon serving selfish ends. In his book entitled Hin-du Society Under Siege, he clearly laid out how we Hindus are under attack from many fronts. He emphasized that the biggest prob-lem was a lack of awareness of the problem.

He and Ram Swarup were always chal-lenging Christian and Islamic tactics, and in their analyses of these strategies did much to clarify Hinduism. Initially people did not know how to compare Hinduism with Christianity and Islam. People assumed that because the Christians set up hospitals and schools, they were good people with well-meaning intentions. They did not under-stand that they might have ulterior motives.

My father realized that, to expose these Christian missionaries, it was necessary to analyze their literature and critique them in a logical manner. This in itself was a big revela-tion that brought about many positive results.

The people also did not understand Islam. None of us knew about Mohammad Sa-hib, Akbar, Babar and Aurengzeb. We just thought that they were rulers of India. We had no idea about the many injustices they had ruthlessly inflicted upon Hindus. Ram Swarup and my father presented the ac-tivities of these people clearly and within a historical perspective. They won our hearts with their minds. ∏π

The son and the father: Pradip Kumar Goel displays books published by Voice of India. (Below) Sita Ram Goal at approxi-mately 40 years of age.

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By Kesava Mallia, Chennaihanting mantras brings peace and prosperity, power and great for-tune. May the whole world become prosperous,” says Dr. Rajagopalan

Thiagarajan, a Vedic scholar who has taken the Hindu world by storm with his record-ings of Sanskrit chanting of Vedic scripture.

His audio presentations—available on tape, CD and now on the Internet—feature chants in praise of many Hindu Deities, in-cluding Siva, Vishnu, Ganesha, Hanuman, Durga and Lakshmi. These recordings are

distinguished because of their perfect dic-tion, traditional presentation and state-of-the-art technical quality.“The mantras should be tasted,” says Dr.

Thiagarajan, who has worked tirelessly for over 30 years to spread the knowledge of the Hindu scripture in India and around the world. “Every human being on Earth must know the beauty and the effi cacy of these mantras. That is my mission. Sound is the link between man and God. Chanting man-tras creates waves. The more times a mantra is chanted, the more power it generates. Our

ancestors knew this scientifi c fact. Whenev-er they wanted to harness the power of God, they would chant. Of course, an intense love of God is also necessary,” he says.

In less than two years, Dr. Thiagarajan has recorded approximately 120 CDs. Many of these recordings are rare, featuring ex-tremely powerful mantras not often made available. He is also one of a handful of scholars who researched scripture on lesser known Deities, like Prathyankara, Shyaa-mala and Vaaraahi, to make them accessible to ordinary people. He attributes his current

Show and tell: Dr. Thiagarajan gives Sanskrit presentations on TV, radio, the Web. Here he proudly displays his 120 devotional CDs.

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E D U C A T I O N

Teaching with Zest and ZealDr. Thiagarajam is gifted and ingenious, but the special magic he brings to the revival of Sanskrit and Vedic chanting comes from his love of them


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success in popularizing Sanskrit to his love of God and, not surprising-ly, blessings derived from chanting Vedic mantras.

The scholar’s sacred Sanskrit re-citals never fail to give prominence to a rich and varied selection of powerful prayers from the Vedas or Upanishads. These presentations always start in a very traditional way with the famous Gayatri Man-tra, followed by a chant called the Sahasranamam. The only musical instrument he uses is the tambura (a simple stringed instrument), and this only to provide sruti (a drone sound furnishing a basic tonality).

Dr. Thiagarajan is the head of the Department of Sanskrit at Presi-dency College in Chennai, India. He is the youngest to be appointed to that position in the school’s 160-year-old history. The Sanskrit de-partment is 125 years old.

Dr. Thiagarajan was born in a poor family in Injikkollai village in Tanjavur district of Tamilnadu. His father, D. Rajagopal, was a temple auditor, and his grandfa-ther, Dasaratharama Sastry, was a respected Sanskrit scholar.

At an early age, Thyagu—as Dr. Thiagarajan was called then—worked for food at the local temple. He did sundry jobs like washing puja vessels and grinding sandal-wood paste. While performing these simple chores around the temple, he was developing a deep and abiding love of God. The chanting of the priests particularly at-tracted him. Even at that young age, he was able to hear the subtleties of accent, tone and pause in the pronunciation of the mantras.

Gradually, Thyagu was overcome with a desire to learn the proper chanting of these holy mantras, but was forced to face numer-ous challenges in his efforts to do so. His will was strong, however, and his faith in God was firm. At every turn along the way, men-tors were there, provided—it seemed—by divine intervention.

A priest named Vedamoorthy Sastry was Dr. Thiagarajan’s first Sanskrit teacher. When little Thyagu was only ten, Vedamoor-thy taught him to chant complex Vedic scriptures. Another priest, Kunjithapadam, taught him to perform puja (Hindu ritual).

Thiagarajan never had an opportunity to formally learn Sanskrit in a traditional pa-dasala (a training center for young priests), but with what he learned on his own and from a handful of compassionate private teachers, he was able to get a masters and doctoral degree in Sanskrit from Madras University. One of his professors, Viswana-than, who also served as a priest at the local

Kapaleeswaran temple in Chennai, got him scholarships, food and accommodations. Thyagu lived at the Ramakrishna Mission Students’ Home, an orphanage in Chennai, for five years until he completed his college education. Swami Thathagathananda, then head of the Ramakrishna Mutt, encouraged Thyagu to join debates, elocution and reci-tation competitions and groomed him for leadership roles. Rajagopal, one of Thyagu’s university teachers, further kindled his in-terest by inspiring him to participate in re-search work being done at that time on the history of Sanskrit.

Today, Thiagarajan is closely associ-ated with all of the eight universities in South India. The Tamil Nadu Govern-ment has nominated him as a trustee for two Chennai-based foundations actively involved in promoting Sanskrit: The Rao Bahadur Ranganatham Chetty Charitiable Trust and the Maduranthakam Sanskrit College Trust.

Dr. Thiagarajan uses films to propagate Sanskrit chanting. He composed the title song for the film Baba starring Rajni Kant, the highest-paid film actor in Tamil Nadu, and chose a sloka from the Devi Mahat-mayam for the movie Hey Ram, starring

Kamala Hasan, another popular film star. For another film, he chose a sweet rendition of Manmatha Gayatri (a prayer to the God of Love).

If all of this is not enough. Thiagarajan also teaches Sanskrit online. His articles on Sanskrit can be read at www.southindian-music.net. He has delivered more than 800 lectures in India, 108 Sanskrit programs on Doordarshan (the national T.V. channel in India) and over 100 Sanskrit programs for All India Radio. He has written numerous dramas, articles and textbooks in Sanskrit and Tamil, and is the Sanskrit book review-er for The Hindu, a national newspaper in India. He also founded the Fellowship of Sanskrit Culture, to promote Sanskrit. Its headquarters is in Chennai, India.

Dr. Thiagarajan is doing more than his part in helping to revive the ancient art of Vedic chanting. While many of his schol-arly peers bring integrity and expertise to the effort, his contribution is plenty of that plus zest and zeal. As one student said:

“Dr. Thiagarajan makes you want to learn Sanskrit.” For more information about this fascinating man and his work contact [email protected]. ∏π

With Laksmi Kantam in Chennai

Inspirers: Dr. Thiagarajan with his guru, Vedamoorthy Sastry, and his guru’s wife, Saradambaal

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High-level Hinduism: Dr. Karan Singh during an interview at the 2000 meet-ing of world spiritual and religious leaders at the United Nations

Howard Lyman, once a “factory” cattle farmer, now vegan, is the founder and presi-dent of Voice for a Viable Future and past president of both Earthsave International and the International Vegetarian Union. Today, he spends “300 days a year traveling over 100,000 miles talking to people about making better choices.”

ad cowboy hits you so hard inthe stomach, you’re still catching your breath at the end. Its power lies in its fi rst-person style, brevity and breadth.

In just 190 pages, with the skilled help of TV writer and playwright, Glen Merzer, Mr. Lyman shares his fascinating evolution from Montana chemical feedlot cattle rancher to government lobbyist, to world-traveling speaker and vegan. The prime cut of his evangelistic message is a no-holds-barred

revelation of the horrifi c facts behind the cattle industry. It’s a tough read, especially for Hindus who have a spiritual romance with cows. But it’s long past time to face the tragedy mankind has wrought, says Lyman.

There are many books on the subject, and Lyman uses the best as resources: Ra-chel Carson’s classic Silent Spring, Jeremy Rifkin’s famous Beyond Beef, The Rise and Fall of Cattle Culture, Rodney Barker’s And the Rivers Turned to Blood, Lynn Jacob’s Waste of the West: Public Lands Ranching, John Robbin’s Food Revolution and a million pages on the web. All are recommended reading, but if you have just time for one book, this is it.

Lyman sets aside the moral issue of whether humans have a right to feed on animals. Instead, he focuses on the conse-quences of cattle culture for man and planet,

with a stream of sometimes lurid facts and four key revelations: the truth behind the sources of diseases in meat, the challenges of bureaucratic cover-up and change, corpo-rate collusion and the devastating impact of bovine culture on planet Earth.

Mad Cowboy is a compelling tool for vegan, vegetarian and conservation advo-cacy. Here are a few excerpts and Lyman’s summary of the Russian roulette mankind is playing with mad cow disease and Al-zheimers’ in humans (see sidebar).

The truth about meat: “I am a fourth-generation dairy farmer and cattle rancher. I grew up on a dairy farm in Montana, and I ran a feedlot operation there for twenty years. I know fi rsthand how cattle are raised and how meat is produced. When a cow is slaughtered, about half of it is not eaten by humans: the intestines and their contents,

ad cowboythe stomach, you’re still catching your breath at the end. Its power lies in its fi rst-person style, brevity and breadth.

B O O K R E V I E W : H E A L T H , E N V I R O N M E N T

Can Cattle Threaten Our Life?Howard Lyman’s book Mad Cowboy details a startling litany of abuses in the cattle industry that endanger humankind and our planet

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Giant feedlot in Alberta, Canada: Confi ned cows are unnaturally fattened on grain and rendered animal protein, then pumped with anti-biotics. Insets: (left) Howard F. Lyman; (right) Czechoslovakian cow from a 200-head herd that was destroyed because of one BSE case.

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the head, hooves and bones are rendered, along with other farm animals, euthanized cats and dogs and sold for animal feed. Reg-ulations now ban feeding ruminant protein to other ruminants, but they still munch on the ground-up dead horses, dogs, cats, pigs, chickens and turkeys, as well as blood and fecal material of their own species and that of chickens. Eighty percent of food poison-ings can be traced to tainted meat. About 80 percent of pesticides used in America is tar-geted on four specific crops—corn, soybeans, cotton and wheat—the major constituents of livestock feed. Animals store pesticides in their fat. They get their most concentrated doses of these carcinogens when they eat other animals. And we, in turn, get even more concentrated doses of carcinogens when we eat them. The evidence that an animal-based diet is implicated in our soar-ing cancer rates—our number-two killer—ri-vals the evidence of its contribution to our number-one killer, coronary heart disease.”

From farmer to lobbyist to vegan: “My wife, Willow Jeane, would comment about my farm: ‘Are you sure we’re going in the right direction?’ She would note that the trees were starting to die and that in spite of the herbicides, the weed problem seemed to be getting worse. The challenge for the fifteen feedlot operators in our area had been to defeat nature. And we found that we could do it, but only by destroying the land, and with it, ourselves. “Before my back operation, faced with

the possibility I would never walk again, I thought about the soil on my farm. Nothing else mattered, and I vowed, whatever the outcome, I would dedicate the rest of my life to restoring the land.“As a lobbyist for the National Farmer’s

Union in Washington, D. C., I went to work on the National Organic Production Act of 1990, to create a system of standards

for organic food labels. Petrochemical in-terests were against it. But President Bush reluctantly signed it into law on November 28th, 1990.… One hot day, I started think-ing about all the issues, personal and politi-cal, feeling cynical about my work. Most of the bureaucratic subsidies I was fighting for went to the raising of feed crops, not human food. Suddenly the circle came together for me. We were, as a civilization, making one big mistake. It was killing us as individuals, just as it was destroying our land and our forests and our rivers. We were eating dead animals, and it wasn’t working.”

All milk is milk? “The insanity of the agrochemical system of food production has come crashing down on the heads of both dairy farmers and consumers in the bizarre case of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH produced by Monsanto),

intended to increase milk production in cows. Besides leading to increased use of antibiotics in cows, milk from cows injected with rBGH has been definitively demon-strated to possess an elevated level of Insulin Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1). IGF-1 has been implicated in colorectal, thyroid, bone and breast cancers.”

Our dying planet: “There is a moral basis for the vegetarian diet for which the inde-terminate value of an animal’s life takes on irrelevance. And that is the environment, a value as absolute as the value we all place on human life, since humanity will not long survive on a planet poisoned by the meat in-dustry. We tend to respond to predictions of looming environmental disaster by putting the matter out of our minds. We may label

“alarmist” someone who contends that our global pattern of environmental abuse will threaten civilization as we know it within, say, thirty years. But does the time frame make a difference? Would we be satisfied if only our children or grandchildren live normal lives before the planet becomes un-bearable?“When we dare to think of the threats fac-

ing our planet, we must consider a complex web of interrelated problems: air pollution, water pollution, land contamination, soil erosion, wildlife loss, turning verdant lands into deserts, rainforest destruction and glob-al warming. Mankind’s profligate consump-tion of animal products has made a signifi-cant contribution to all of these ills, and it stands as a leading cause of many of them, e.g., methane emitted by cows is the second leading cause of global warming. Certainly these problems wouldn’t disappear over-night if the world became vegetarian, but no other lifestyle change could produce as pos-itive an impact on these profound threats to our collective survival as the adoption of a plant-based diet.” ∏π

Howard Lyman’s Summary: “Consider these facts. It has been proven that spongyform disease crosses species. In England, vari-ant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in humans has been traced to beef consumption. The final-stage symptoms of Bovine Spon-giform Encephalopathy (BSE) in cows are often seen in the final stages of human death from Alzheimers, typically registered on coronors’ reports as death by “dementia.” But there are virtually no autopsies of these deaths. Doctors’ offices, pathology labs and hospitals are afraid to touch those brains. If CJD is found, they themselves may get infected, and their facilities are contaminated. Sterilization is extremely difficult. The prion proteins thought to cause CJD are impervious to chlorine and remain viable even after exposure to 1,000 degrees of heat. But in autopsies by Yale Univer-sity and Pittsburgh Veterans Hospital researchers, five to thirteen percent of Alzheimers’ deaths were found to be caused by CJD.

But CJD is said to occur spontaneously in only one in a million hu-mans. It should be very rare. So, if just five percent of Alzheimers’ deaths in the US, now up to an alarming 500,000 annually, are caused by some form of spongyform, that would be 25,000 cases each year. Where did all that disease come from?“A cow with BSE finally just falls down and dies, like the Canadian

dairy cow found in Washington state in December, 2003. But of the 400 million slaughtered cows recorded over the past 13 years, only 57,000 have been examined. How many of the remaining had BSE? We don’t know. But BSE is transmissable from mother to daughter. So, even though we no longer render the meat of downer cows and feed it to humans or other cows, the calves of downer cows still end up on our children’s plates.”

visit www.madcowboy.com and www.organicconsumers.org

Madcow Disease in Humans—Are We at Risk?


All in one place: Hundreds of points and facts about the cattle industry assembled in a book that can be read in a day or two.

pg 58-59-MadCowboy §.indd 59 5/1/04 12:55:52 PM

By Kesava Mallia, Chennaiarch 20, 1968: it was a dark dayindeed for the priest at the Ratnagiri Hill Temple, located between Vellore and Ar-cot about a hundred miles from Chennai. Three months had gone by since he was

last paid, and his patience was running out. “How much longer must this go on?” he thought to himself. He was in a particularly sour mood this morning and decided to not perform his obligatory daily wor-ship service in the main shrine of the temple.

About this time, Satchidanandam—a 27-year-old clerk—strolled into the temple for his usual morning worship. When he saw the condition of the main shrine, he was shocked. Not only were the lamps and incense not lit, but also fresh fl owers and sac-raments had not been gathered and prepared. Nor had the puja implements been cleaned and set out.

“Where is the priest?” he thought to himself. “Why is he not performing the morning puja?” Satchi-danandam could not help feeling a special concern for the welfare of this particular temple. His father, Kandaswami Mudaliar, had initiated the construc-tion of the 156 steps leading up to its entrance in 1936 and orchestrated its kumbhabhishekam (major consecration) in 1938.

Although young Satchidanandam was discouraged by what he saw, he still circumambulated the shrine and stood before the Deity to pray. As he began to commune with the shakti that he felt emerging from within the shrine, he fell into a swoon. The ex-perience took him by surprise. Nothing like this had ever happened to him before. As he leaned against a pillar for support, his body quivered with bliss as his head fi lled with a golden light. Just as he was about to merge into a sea of oneness, Lord Muruga appeared before him in His etherial body. Although the presence of this legendary God was powerful, He vanished almost as soon as he appeared—like a bolt of lightening. Slowly, young Satchidanandam settled back into a calm and peaceful physical con-sciousness. He knew it would take some time to fully digest what had just happened. For now, how-ever, he was aware only of a mighty determination to restore this neglected temple to the state of its original elegance and beauty. At that very moment, the transformed young man took a vow to never leave the Ratnagiri Hill Temple until it had been fully renovated. Thus began the work that was to be his life’s mission.

The residents of the nearby village of Kilminnal stopped calling the young man “Satchidanandam.” Instead, they referred to him as Balamurugan Adi-mai—or just “Swamiji” for short. In the 36 years that have passed since the clerk-turned-holy-man took his vow to do this work, he has not left the temple

arch 20, 1968: it was a dark dayindeed for the priest at the Ratnagiri Hill Temple, located between Vellore and Ar-cot about a hundred miles from Chennai. Three months had gone by since he was

last paid, and his patience was running out. “How

P R O F I L E

God’sGod’sSSlavelave

A changed man: Villagers call him “Balamurugan”

How Lord Muruga remade A man and saved a temple

60 hinduism today j u ly / au g u s t / s e p t e m b e r , 2 0 0 4

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precincts even once, and his life has been one of exemplary simplicity and auster-ity. Aside from worshiping and meditating three times daily—at 4:30 in the morning, 12 noon and six in the evening—he remains fully available as a servant of the God that appeared before him during his one un-forgettable life-changing experience. Most of his time is spent fully immersed in the supervision of temple construction and the hosting of guests. At 9:00 pm he retires to his room for meditation and sleep. His few personal needs are easily met.

Swamiji is an expert in working with people. He takes special care to become knowledgeable in every aspect of temple construction so that, whether he is talking with sthapatis about stone work or silver-smiths about metal crafting, he can nego-tiate knowledgeably on even the smallest details of their work. He even becomes actively involved with the supervision of photographers and journalists who come regularly to publicize the progress of the on-going renovation.

The neglected Ratnagiri Hill Temple, for which songs were composed and sung by Saint Arunagirinathar in the 14th century, was originally only 200 square feet in size.

Today, due to the inspiration and hard work of Balamurugan and the people who help him, it covers more than 30,000 square feet.

Over time Swamiji has also become a spiritual guide and social leader for the resi-dents of Kilminnal. Besides catalyzing their mystical and religious inclinations, he also provides assistance of a more practical sort. So far, he has built a school, a hospital and a number of roads; and provided much-need-ed water to the area by digging wells and constructing massive tanks for water storage. It’s no wonder the local people love him and gladly volunteer their time and energy to lift large, heavy granite stones to the hilltop for the temple construction.

In 1987, Swamiji began building his school for the youth of the surrounding ru-ral areas by fi rst constructing the Ratnagiri Nursery, which opened with two teachers and 18 students.

Through the years that followed, he con-structed additional buildings to provide classroom and library space for education in a variety of fi elds including math, science, language, literature and computer science. Today, Swamiji’s school campus includes ample kitchen and bathroom facilities, a large conference hall, several libraries and

24 classrooms. It employs 43 teachers and 12 staff members and provides education for 900 students.

The hospital, which Swamiji began con-structing in 1988, now has 26 staff members and makes medicine available at subsidized rates to local residents. Monthly eye camps sponsored by the hospital provide poor villagers with cataract operations, free of charge. Medical specialists from Chennai visit every Sunday. The Accident Relief Center, aided by State Government and run by the hospital, provides a fully equipped mobile van—the fi rst of its kind in the Vel-lore district—for emergency outcalls.

The future of Kilminnal and the Ratnagiri Hill Temple look bright as long as 64-year-old Balamurugan Adimai is around. Although one might assume that the continued im-provement, maintenance and management of the temple, school and hospital facilities that have already been created might con-stitute a full-time job, such might not be the case for the ever-vibrant Balamurugan.

If the past provides any indication of what the future might bring—which usually it does—there should be good reason to as-sume that more dynamic creativity can be expected from Balamurugan Adimai. ∏π

The Ratnagiri Hill Muruga Temple: Saint Arunagirinathar composed and sang songs in this temple during the 14th cen-tury. Balamurugan brought it back to life at the dawn of the third millennium.

j u ly / au g u s t / s e p t e m b e r , 2 0 0 4 h i n d u i s m t o d ay 61 j u ly / au g u s t / s e p t e m b e r , 2 0 0 4 h i n d u i s m t o d ay 61

1968: Satchidanandam enjoys a vision of Lord Muruga. Local villagers name him “Balamurugan.” 1970: Balamurugan begins his service. A well is dug for the temple and nearby village of Kilminnal. The main Ratnagiri mandapam (worship hall) and an entrance Ganesha shrine and mandapam at the base of Ratnagiri Hill are constructed. 1973: Two more temple mandapams and a large marriage hall are built. Six staff buildings and eight guest cottages are also constructed. 1974: An ornate temple entry arch is erected, and electricity is installed to provide night lighting for the temple. 1975: A fi ve-story rajagopuram (main temple tower) is completed. Two 8,000-liter water tanks are installed for use by local residents. A large dining hall and kitchen are built. 1978: A post offi ce and police station for Kilminnal are constructed. Ten staff buildings and four guest cottages are added to the temple. 1988: The long-term construction of a school for local youth begins. A 25-bed hospital is completed. 2003: A separate building for computer training is constructed for the school. Science and library annexes are also added.

What One Man’s Dedication Wrought

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pg 60-61 Balamurugan § Jul04.indd 61 5/1/04 12:58:27 PM

By Anil Mehrotras the red sun sets and a silkendarkness creeps in, twelve dark-skinned men with Negroid fea-tures and painted faces perform the “Jungle Dance” by the light

of fl ickering torch fi res in Zanzibar, Africa. Passing tourists might not consider this scene unusual, but it is. These performers don’t just live down the street. They are Sid-hi tribesmen from India who are of African descent, performing in their ancient home-land while on a world tour to honor and preserve their cultural heritage. Although their music and dance is authentic and their love of their legacy is true, they will admit that —although they respect this land of their ancestors—they are quite happy to be living in India.

As the evening stretches into night and the pounding drums cast a mesmerizing spell over the crowd, the aged among the audience become more and more attentive, straining their ears and narrowing their eyes as they attempt to recall strains of mu-sic they have almost forgotten. They have not seen or heard anything like the perfor-mance they are now witnessing since be-fore their grandparents died. Yet, they feel it through their nerve system as if their an-cestors were pounding the dust and drums themselves.

As the performance continues, the trance-like rhythms gradually charge the atmo-sphere with electrifying power. The crowd sways. The music intensifi es. Finally, one dancer throws a freshly plucked, husked co-conut high into the black cavernous sky. The crowd looks up. The coconut comes down, smashing on the head of one of the danc-ers with a thud, splitting and spraying the stage and the audience with its milk. The crowd is thrilled with this ecstatic climax. The show is over.

The Sidhis are a diffused community of

people who came from Africa but now live throughout Southeast Asia. In India, about 30,000 Sidhis make their home in and around Junagadh, Gujarat.

These Africans fi rst arrived in India dur-ing the twelfth century, mainly as soldiers, sailors and merchants. Some were warrior-slaves to Indian kings who valued them for their loyalty and fi ghting spirit.

Through the generations that followed, the Sidhis that remained in India adapted to the lifestyle , yet retained some ancient cul-tural practices and a few syncretic forms of worship. Today, their only link with Africa is through their music, dance and the few customs they have maintained. They speak no African languages and do not know the specifi c origin of their ancestors.

Sidhis of India are dedicated to a Muslim Sufi saint named “Sidi Mubarak Nobi,” who saint studied Sufi sm in Iraq but lived in In-dia. Also a businessman who dealt in the sale of agates, he fi rst visited Gujarat seek-ing these semiprecious stones for clients in Africa and the Middle East. Eventually he became famous for his power to heal the sick and settle disputes, and the Sidhis of India fl ocked to him. When he died, his body was entombed at Junagadh in Gujarat, which thereafter became an important pil-grimage destination for Indian Sidhis.

The Sidhis’ stage performance consists of dancing and drumming. Eight performers dance while four play drums called mugar-man and musical drone boxes called malun-ga. Their featured dance, called the zikr, is a riveting amalgamation of agility, strength and speed, characterized by a feverish, cli-matic ending.“The general population in India thinks

we are Africans,” says Yunus, a Sidhi from Jambur who speaks fl uent Gujarati, but no Swahili. “We are Indians. Swahili is the lan-guage of our forefathers, and we should not forget it. Though we do use it in some of our songs, we do not know its true meaning. We enjoy going to Africa to perform the jungle dances, but we would never want to settle down there permanently.” ∏π

s the red sun sets and a silkendarkness creeps in, twelve dark-skinned men with Negroid fea-tures and painted faces perform the “Jungle Dance” by the light

of fl ickering torch fi res in Zanzibar, Africa.

Preserving a passionate past: Sidhis from India perform their hereditary dances for Africans in Zanzibar

H E R I T A G E

SIDHISBehold these Asian Indians of African descent

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pg 62-63 Sidis-CD § Jul04.indd 62 5/1/04 12:59:08 PM


By Kalyani Giri, Houston, Texashen friends chandrakantha Courtney, Kalpalatha Guntupalli and Swaroop Rani get together,

their conversation skims the usual subjects: children, work and life in gen-eral. Yet, sometime last year while play-fully humming a tune together, something special happened. Two of the three—then the third—got inspired. Guntupalli, an emi-nent doctor with a passion for music, and Rani—also a physician—proposed the idea of a musical collaborative effort to Courtney, Houston’s prima donna of song. The result? A CD of the sacrosanct Sri Lalitha Sahas-ranamam Sthotram, enchantingly recited in the Raga Saraswati by Courtney and Guntu-palli. Accompanying them on the Saraswati veena is Vimla Ahobila-Vajjula.

The CD begins traditionally with the Ganesh Sthuti, paying obeisance to the remover of obstacles, Lord Ganesha. The meditative Dhyana Slokas follow, calling on the listener to summon a mental image of Sri Lalitha. The Lalitha Sahasranamam is renowned for its exquisite use of descriptive words and imagery. Presented as a conver-sation between Lord Hayagreeva and Sri Agasthya Maharishi, it celebrates the beauty of the Goddess Devi, describing Her abodes and the many ways She is worshiped.

It is the belief of Hindus that the Lalitha Sahasranamam, if chanted with devotion, purifi es and elevates the soul. While there have been many artistes over the years who have recorded this shloka, the Courtney/Guntupalli rendition is engaging because it is an amalgam of training, sophistica-

By Kalyani Giri, Houston, Texas

their conversation skims the usual subjects: children, work and life in gen-

tion and devotion. The recording especially showcases Courtney’s vocal versatility and talent by allowing her to explore beyond her formal training in Hindustani classical mu-sic. She and husband, musicologist/percus-sionist David Courtney, perform and teach throughout the US. They have also orga-nized music workshops internationally.

For Houston Hindus, the 41-minute CD, which was recorded and edited by David Courtney, does the community proud. Pro-ducers of the CD are Rani and Guntupalli. Four hundred of the CDs have been donat-ed to distinguished non-profi t organizations, such as The AAPI Charitable Foundation, Pratham, Tobacco literacy programs and Ekal Vidyalaya. Proceeds from those sales will benefi t the education of children in In-dia. The CD sells for $10 and is available exclusively at http://www.chandrakantha.com/products_and_services/lalitha.html.

evadasis are the hereditarytemple dancers of South India. Now, a new educational CD-ROM, entitled Remembering Devadasis, pays them

long overdue respect. Highly trained in their craft and exemplary in their devotion, these performers never dance to entertain. Their art is, as they describe it themselves,

“ritual attendance to the Gods.” Hence, each devadasi continually strives to merge her humanness in Divinity that she might be-come a “Goddess walking on Earth.” She never marries, for her husband is the God of the temple in which she performs. It is for Him that she dances.

The South Indian temple, its presiding Deity and the devadasis that dance within its precincts are all tied together. This CD-ROM tries to give some sense of this inter-relationship. It centers around a 50-minute video sequence of temple dancing, per-formed by a highly accomplished devadasi, which runs on screen along with a slide pre-sentation that shows and explains how the dance relates to the festivals and ceremonies of the temple. There is also a shorter interac-tive part of the CD which allows the viewer to acquire—according to his choice—defi ni-tions of terms, descriptions of temple ceremo-nies and map routes of festival processions.

evadasis are the hereditarytemple dancers of South India. Now, a new educational CD-ROM, entitled Remembering Devadasis

long overdue respect. Highly trained in C D R E L E A S E S

Singing Prayers of PraiseTexas talent makes Houston Hindus proud

indira gandhi national centre for the arts,3-dr. rajendra prasad road, new delhi-110001

phone: 91-11-3383271. e-mail: [email protected]: 91-11-3381197, 91-11-3383495.

Dancing for The GodsHonoring the Devadasi

pg 62-63 Sidis-CD § Jul04.indd 63 5/1/04 12:59:30 PM


here are a lot of books on sri Ramakrishna and his disciples, but

nothing as comprehensive as Sri Ra-makrishna, His Divine Play, (Vedanta

Society of St. Louis, us$39.95) by Swami Saradananda. This is a hefty book, weigh-ing in at nearly four pounds and running, as precisely intended, an auspicious 1,008 pages. When we fi rst heard of it, we pre-sumed it was a new version of the famed Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna as recorded by “M,” a daily account of Sri Ramakrishna’s conversa-tions with devotees. Swami Saradananda’s book does draw upon the Gospel, but is a complete biography, start-ing with an account of Sri Ramakrishna’s ancestral vil-lage. It was written in Bengali, titled Sri Sri Ramakrishna Lilaprasanga, completed in

1920. Though an English version was produced in 1950, it has long been out of print. The present very readable translation is by Swami Chetananda, a monk of the Ra-makrishna order since 1960 and minister of the Vedanta Society of St. Louis. The book is highly rec-ommended for anyone with an in-terest in this great modern Hindu saint. It is lengthy, and some parts are extremely detailed, but it is fi lled with fascinating accounts of Sri Ramakrishna’s extraordinary experiences.

sri ramakrishna, his divine play by swami saradananda, vedanta society of st. louis, 205 s. skinker blvd., st. louis, mo 63105 usa.

[email protected].

indu temples of north America is a sizeable coffee-table book loaded with ex-cellent photos and compre-

hensive narrative detailing a cross section of American and Canadian temples. The work (320 pages, Titan Graphics and Publications, $75.00) was produced by South Africa-born Mahalingum Kolapen and his son Sanjay (who took most of the pho-tographs) in collaboration with the Hindu University of America and the Council of Hindu Temples of North America. Twenty-seven tem-ples are featured in the Hindu sec-tion, plus one temple each dedicated to Buddhism, Jainism and Sikh-ism. There are hundreds of Hindu

temples in North America, but these 27 in-clude the largest, all built from the ground up rather than adapted from a previous use. They include the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago, the Sri Meenakshi Temple Society of Texas, the Flushing (New York) Ganesha temple and the Richmond Hill temple in On-tario, one of Canada’s largest. The account of each temple includes abundant photos and a

few pages of text detailing the temple’s origins, organization, Deities and festival programs. It is a useful commentary on the impact of Hinduism To-day’s founder, the late Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, that he is mentioned with regard to several temples, es-pecially in his customary gift of a statue of Lord Ganesha to “start the worship,” as he would advise the trustees. Lord Ganesha was gifted by

him to the temples in Texas, Chicago, Liver-more and Nashville, to name a few. The book is well produced, a worthy addition to any Hindu home.

hindu temples of north america, by mahalingum kolapen, titan graphics and publications, 3733

north goldenrod road, winter park, fl 32792 usa. [email protected].

inders keepers? is a picture story-book for children up to sixth grade by Robert Arnett, the acclaimed author

and photographer of India Unveiled. The hardcover book (36 pages, Atman Press, $16.95) is beautifully illustrated by Smita Turakhia. It is the story of a foreign traveler who goes to India and, in the course of his travels, loses his wallet. The wallet is returned to him by a small Hindu boy who can’t understand why the foreigner wants to reward him for doing the right thing. Arnett, who portrayed the best of India with such class in India Unveiled has called this book volume one of “India Unveiled Children’s

Series,” so we may look forward to more de-lightful tales artfully told and illustrated by him and his collaborators.

M. G. Prasad of New Jersey has produced several useful books for children, includ-ing Daily Prayers (32 pages, Taranga Inc. no price), Multi-Faceted Vedic Hinduism (46 pages, ARSI, $2.00) and Garland, an Anthology on Vedic Hinduism (220 pages, ARSI, $10.00). Daily Prayers is a compila-tion of common Sanskrit chants for memo-rization. Vedic Hinduism, aimed at 10- to 14-year-olds, fairly covers all aspects of the religion. Garland, for teens and adults, explores a wide range of subjects, ranging from the Hindu view of birthdays to the meaning of Siva’s dance to the theology of sound—made all the more interesting as Prasad is an engineering professor special-izing in sound and vibration.

fi nders keepers? by robert arnett, atman press, pmb 345, 2525 auburn ave., columbus, ga

31906 usa.web: www.atmanpress.com. e-mail: [email protected].

daily prayers, multi-faceted vedic hinduism and garland, an anthology on vedic hinduism by m. g. prasad, no. 1 osborne terrace,maplewood, nj usa.

[email protected]

America’s Temples

Children’s Books

here are a lotRamakrishna and his disciples, but

nothing as comprehensive as makrishna, His Divine Play,

indu temples of northAmericatable book loaded with ex-cellent photos and compre-

and photographer of

B O O K S

A Saint’s LifeThe ultimate Ramakrishna

Pg 64 books Oct03 §.indd 64 5/1/04 1:00:01 PM


yurveda is an ancient science that has been practiced for over fi fty centuries. Modern science is done through a hit-and-trial basis: making a hypoth-esis and then proving it through various experiments. Ayurvedic science is, instead, perceived through a

universal intelligence, present in every aspect of life, and re-alizing that very intelligence through our surroundings. Ayur-vedic sages realized that, as humans, we are bound to make mistakes and create a mess in our internal and external environ-ment, thus creating a disease process. This dis-ease is simply seen as a mistake of the intellect (pragyaapradha). The pur-pose of human life has been perceived to fulfi ll four innate de-sires: religious (dharma), wealth (artha), pleasure (kama), and fi nally to achieve liberation from rebirth (moksha). Religion is not seen as just going to temple, church or a mosque, but also as our responsibility towards our environment and planet. A sick person cannot achieve all these goals, which is why ayurvedic medicine created a science for forming a perfect balance through nutrition (ahar), environment (vihar), yoga, meditation and the use of herbal medicines and minerals. These same herbs are used as spices in Indian cooking, because their disease-protective action is so pow-erful. Common spices such as turmeric, ginger, garlic, cumin, fen-nel, cardamom, black pepper and many more have shown powerful actions against bacteria, virus and fungus, as well as protection against cancers, arthritis, heart disease, hypertension and diabetes.

The more I study science, the more it makes perfect sense to me to use the ayurvedic model of disease prevention. In this column I will be discussing spices, herbs, minerals and other natural sub-stances used in ayurvedic and other folk medicine. I will discuss their folklore uses, scientifi c studies, safety and toxic effect and their interaction with drugs in the treatment of common diseases, starting with diabetes.

Diabetes is the sixth-leading cause of death and the number-one cause of kidney failure, blindness and amputations in the US. It increases the chance of heart attacks by two to four times, and 60-70 percent of patients with diabetes get nerve damage. There are many factors that contribute to it, such as stress, an inactive lifestyle, poor nutrition and genetic predisposition. This condition is on the rise, especially in the East Indian population. Recently, I presented a lecture to a group of physicians, who were all of In-dian origin. It was interesting to see that 40 percent of these physi-cians who were over 50 years old were overweight and suffering from Type II Diabetes.

For a diabetic patient, tight blood sugar control is highly impor-tant over time. Usually, as the patient ages, the oral hypoglycemic drugs and insulin become less effective in keeping blood sugars in normal ranges, thus creating many complications. There are two reasons for these complications. One is the fact that the nutrition regime prescribed by the American Diabetes Association is not the best for diabetic control. The other is lack of exercise. There is a popular ayurvedic saying that says if you walk ten miles per day, the

diabetes will run away. There is much truth in this saying. Studies have shown that indi-viduals who walked fast for 45 minutes per day have much more blood-sugar controls than those who did not walk.

There are specifi c herbs known to help the diabetic. The fi rst of these is gurmar (Gymnema sylvestre) which regenerates the pancreas. The name itself implies its actions. Gur means “sugar” and mar means “to kill.” Ayurvedic tradition has known for centuries that Gymnema sylvestre can help diabetic patients, but recent scientifi c research is proving its benefi ts. Gymnema extract has shown positive clinical results in both Type I and Type II diabetes. In patients with Type I diabetes, it reduced the insulin require-ments. Some of the Type II diabetes pa-tients were completely able to go off oral hypoglycemic drugs, while others were able to reduce their drug usage consider-ably. No side effects have been noticed in these therapeutic doses. For my patients, I recommend 400 mg standardized extract of gymnema three times per day before meals.

The herb karela (bitter melon) acts like insulin. Both karela and neem have been shown to improve blood sugar in diabetic patients. In some studies, karela extract has shown more hypoglycemic effects than the drug tolbutamide. Karela also contains an insulin-like polypeptide and has fewer side effects than insulin. Oral administration of karela juice has shown to improve blood sugar levels and lower glycosylated hemoglobin. Glycosylated hemoglobin, commonly known as A1c, can tell us how the sugar controls have been in the past three months and is a better indicator of long-term sugar controls. I recommend 57 grams of karela juice with every meal, or 1,000 mg of standard-ized extract of karela three times per day with meals.

Common cinnamon, dalchini, can cut the complications of diabetes. It has been shown to decrease serum glucose, LDL cho-lesterol (the “bad cholesterol”) and triglycerides in various human studies. In animal studies, the cinnamon extract improved insulin action via increasing glucose uptake in muscles. In Type II dia-betes there is no lack of insulin, however the insulin is ineffective in pushing the sugar into the muscles in our body. Another spice, fenugreek, also known as methi, has shown to decrease blood glucose, LDL cholesterol, VLDL cholesterol and triglycerides. I recommend taking one to six grams of cinnamon powder and 15 grams of fenugreek every day with food.

Diabetes is a serious disease, and should not be self medicated. It is always recommended to seek the advice of a qualifi ed profes-sional. In my clinic, patients have successfully dropped oral hypo-glycemic agents or reduced their doses considerably. Similarly, in patients with Type I diabetes, insulin requirements have dropped between 25 and 50 percent.

Disclaimer: This article is purely informative and should not re-place the guidance of your physician. If you suffer from an illness, you should consult a physician before taking any herbs, vitamins, minerals or enzymes. Even at the peak of health, it is best to con-sult a qualifi ed practitioner before taking any dietary supplement.

yurveda is an ancient science that has been practiceddone through a hit-and-trial basis: making a hypoth-

universal intelligence, present in every aspect of life, and re-

AYURVEDA

Dreaded DiabetesThe time-tested remedies of Ayurveda can dramatically improve the diabetic’s life B Y D R . V I R E N D E R S O D H I

dr. virender sodhi holds an M.D. (Ayurved) from India and a N.D. from Bastyr College of Nauropathic Medicine, USA. E-mail: [email protected]. Web: www.ayurvedicscience.com.

pg 65 Diabetes Jul04 § g2.indd 65 5/1/04 1:00:26 PM


he philadelphia inquirer news-paper is an unlikely place to encounter a dissertation on Siva Nataraja—espe-cially when it is written by the newspa-per’s editorial page editor and explains

why America would be better off if the country imbibed a bit more Hinduism and the next president learned to “Dance with Siva.” Chris Satullo is the surprising author of the piece, entitled “Center Square, Econ 101: Duality of Hinduism Could Help,” which appeared in the March 14, 2004 edi-tion of the popular newspaper.“Here’s my problem with America’s now-

raging debate on the economy: not enough Hinduism,” he begins. “I’m a churchgoer myself. But I have to concede this: Christianity, in its simplistic (i.e., political) form, is prone to binary thinking: good/evil, white hat/black hat. Applied to the econo-my, this habit leads many folks to cling to specious couplets: corporations bad/unions good; tax cuts good/social spend-ing bad. Think, by con-trast, of Hindu philoso-phy. One of the chief Hindu Gods is a fellow named Siva. The De-stroyer—that’s the moni-ker He mostly goes by. But another of His epithets is the Creator. Destroyer and Creator? How can that be?”

With a decent grasp of Saivite theology, he goes on, “Well, Siva embodies a central paradox of life. To create the new, you must destroy the old. To create fi re, you must destroy wood. To make oil, animals must die. For the au-tomobile to prevail, blacksmiths must suffer. For Bill Gates to rise, the typewriter repair-man must fall. Siva destroys; Siva creates.”

He applies this concept to the develop-ment of capitalism in America. “Look back over America’s long love affair with free-market capitalism. The net result clearly has been more wealth and more health for more people. This is so, even though the ledger includes much suffering, injustice, inequality and corruption, much strain on families and on nature. The point is: free-market capitalism is Siva. It is neither all

good nor all bad; it is what it is, at once cre-ative and destructive. The point is: The job of government is not to ‘run’ the economy. Siva does not submit to a harness. Much waste and mischief occur under that delu-sion. Yet, neither is it government’s role just to worship free-market capitalism, to hand over the keys. Capitalism can do too much damage to public goods. In a democratic re-public, those goods should be valued more than mere wealth. They include little things

such as, oh, justice, equal opportunity, stable communities, education, health care, parks, clean air. Government’s job is to defend and expand those public goods. Free markets make that job harder, because their mania for effi ciency and innovation creates victims and inequalities. Yet free markets also make that job possible, by generating wealth and innovation which government can tap to heal victims and foster public goods. Any leader worthy of the name must master this dualism. A good leader needs some Hindu

in him.”Satullo goes on to criticize President Bush

as “rigid” and a worshiper of capitalism. “Not only isn’t he much of a Hindu; he needs work on the Christian thing, too,” concludes Satullo—because, in his opinion, the Presi-dent isn’t showing enough mercy towards those hurt by economic problems. Satullo takes a few equalizing swipes at the Demo-crats, then concludes his piece. “God, I miss Bill Clinton, even more than I want to slap him. He was the Democrat who got it, who mastered the Hindu dualism. He knew that, in the long run, you hurt working people by

attacking free trade and innovation. But he also saw that it is an unpardonable

breach of faith to ignore the harm those forces do to some workers

in the short run. Even Clinton wasn’t smart enough to pre-

dict today’s dilemma. He didn’t anticipate off-shoring,

didn’t see that Bangalore might soon start eating San Jose’s lunch. Maybe off-shoring is just a rip-plet that hysteria has hyped into a tsunami. That is a Democratic habit, after all. I’m not smart enough to know.

What worries me is none of the guys running for president seems to be ei-

ther. I’m looking for a sign, for someone who knows how

to dance with Siva.”The editorial is a welcome

change from a general trend in the Western press to use or refer to

Hindu metaphors, concepts and imag-ery in demeaning and derogatory ways.

There is the common phrase in economics itself, “the Hindu rate of growth.” The term refers to India’s post-independence Gross National Product growth rate of two to three percent a year under Nehru’s socialism. It was the slowest in the region, and a pattern which only accelerated in the 1980s. One never hears of a “Muslim rate of growth” to describe Pakistan’s economy, or a “Christian rate of growth” to describe Haiti’s, both with lower GNP’s than India. Our kudos go to editor Satullo for an insightful and use-ful application of Hindu philosophy to the problems of modern America. ∏π

Philadelphia editor says America’s leaders need more Hinduism

P O L I T I C S

A President Who Can “Dance with Siva”?

which appeared in the March 14, 2004 edi-tion of the popular newspaper.“Here’s my problem with America’s now-

raging debate on the economy: not enough Hinduism,” he begins. “I’m a churchgoer myself. But I have to concede this: Christianity, in its simplistic (i.e., political) form, is prone to binary thinking: good/evil, white hat/black hat. Applied to the econo-my, this habit leads many folks to cling to specious couplets: corporations bad/unions good; tax cuts good/social spend-ing bad. Think, by con-trast, of Hindu philoso-phy. One of the chief Hindu Gods is a fellow named Siva. The De-stroyer—that’s the moni-ker He mostly goes by. But another of His epithets is the Creator. Destroyer and Creator? How can that be?”

With a decent grasp of Saivite theology, he goes on, “Well, Siva embodies a central paradox of life. To create the new, you must destroy the old. To create fi re, you must destroy wood. To make oil, animals must die. For the au-tomobile to prevail, blacksmiths must suffer.

him. He was the Democrat who got it, who mastered the Hindu dualism. He knew that, in the long run, you hurt working people by

attacking free trade and innovation. But he also saw that it is an unpardonable

breach of faith to ignore the harm those forces do to some workers

in the short run. Even Clinton wasn’t smart enough to pre-

dict today’s dilemma. He didn’t anticipate off-shoring,

ther. I’m looking for a sign, for someone who knows how

to dance with Siva.”The editorial is a welcome

change from a general trend in the Western press to use or refer to

Hindu metaphors, concepts and imag-ery in demeaning and derogatory ways.

There is the common phrase in economics itself, “the Hindu rate of growth.” The term

he philadelphia inquirer news-papera dissertation on Siva Nataraja—espe-cially when it is written by the newspa-per’s editorial page editor and explains

why America would be better off if the

pg 66 Dance Jul04 § g2.indd 66 5/1/04 1:01:44 PM


he “texas chainsaw massacre” was a box-offi ce hit the weekend the movie was released in the United States in October, 2003. On the subsequent Monday morning, I listened to a discussion on the “Live in Amer-ica” radio show, prompted by this super hit, about the

impact of violent movies on the minds of viewers. As much as I love a good murder mystery, I am fi rm about not watching gory, violent thrillers such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I go to movies sometimes to shut out the world—something I cannot do when there are blood and bullet holes and muti-lated body parts on screen. I already visualize these grotesque things when I talk to women who live in fear of getting shot or stabbed and lying in a pool of blood as part of my work coun-seling women and children from abused and battered homes.

The radio show analyzed the gruesome nature of the movie and our rising tolerance for violence as evidenced by the millions this fi lm had grossed, on the heels of another successful, incredibly violent thriller, Kill Bill. The same Monday evening, life projected its own horror scene for three young children in Texas. A Houston man shot his wife. As she fell to the ground, he stood over her body and shot her several more times before turning the gun on himself—all this outside their home and in front of their children.

“My daddy’s killing my mama!”—one of the youngsters is reported to have screamed.

Reportedly, the couple was estranged after a turbulent seven-year relationship, and the husband had made a previous death threat by shoving a gun to his wife’s head. Only their children know the brutalities they have witnessed in their own home. Sadly, the years of brewing violence culminated in the bloody scene of their father murdering their mother—perhaps not so unlike scenes from today’s most popular movies.

Violence is a profi table theme for the American movie industry. Unlike drama or comedy, its simplistic content attracts a wider range of audience and, as a result, exports cheaply to other coun-tries. There cannot be any dearth of ideas either, as the storylines are often based on actual incidents of violence. Interestingly, these movies conveniently choose not to deal with real-life consequenc-es of violence—physical injury, fi nancial toll, emotional trauma and grief and loss. Similarly, the peripheral victims—such as the three children—who must endure the atrocity, damage and loss are usu-ally not part of the storylines either.

The goal of violent thrillers is to keep the audience at the edge of their seats through fast-paced action scenes. Action is what moves the plot, not the storyline. Therefore, those who get killed disappear quickly from the movie screen and, as a result, from the viewers’ minds. How the loss of a life might affect someone or how one’s life might change due to a severe physical injury cannot fi gure into the plot.

It was apparent from listening to the radio call-in show that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre fi t the bill of a notoriously gruesome thriller. It was based on an actual killer, although the killer did

not use a chainsaw to kill—just a shotgun. Imagination, special effects and prosthet-ics helped to further dramatize a true story already laden with violence.

Some callers, claiming to be regular folks who hate violence, discussed the adrenaline rush such movies provide. They described the movie’s ability to lift us to an alternate state of reality where it is OK to witness killing and the sawing of body parts with the awareness that such things are wrong. It seems the gory scenes we’d abhor in real life are meant to in-crease our thrill, to transport us to a new realm and, ultimately, to make the movie a conduit to enrich corporate coffers.

Studies on violence indicate that watch-ing violence at home can condition a young mind to use violence as a solution to life’s problems. But equally disturb-ing is the fact that even children from nonviolent homes can turn towards using violence if they are exposed to repeated, unpunished and realistic violence on the screen. Increased exposure to violence leads to increased tolerance of it, by de-creasing their emotional response. Over a period of time, children can be con-

ditioned, subtly yet powerfully, to view violence as a normal and even pleasurable aspect of life.

The movie violence may have looked fi ctional earlier in the cen-tury when real-life crime reports were low, but not anymore. Today, the murder rate in the United States—2.5 people murdered every hour—is the highest in any industrialized nation. Based on stud-ies conducted in the 90s, professional organizations, including the American Medical Association and the National Institute of Mental Health, unanimously concluded that media violence contributes to societal violence.

Still, there are very few restrictions placed on the movie indus-try. Hollywood continues to market their violent movies to teens. In spite of the rating system, children of all ages receive little protection from videos, videogames, 24-hour movie channels and news programs devoted to crimes projecting generously onto their living room sets. As a result, children imbibe fl ashes of real as well as realistic-looking crime scenes which often blur the boundaries between art and life.

I am certain most of us feel horrifi ed about the murder scene the three Houston children watched in front of their home that Monday evening in October. Surely, we recognize that what they saw was real; no special effects; no fake body parts. Unlike scenes in movies, this single horror scene is destined to haunt them for a long time to come. Yet, the same scene transformed into a violent thriller and projected onto a big screen years later is justifi ed as

“entertainment.”As we rush to the box offi ce and pay to experience “fi ction,” we

seldom think of the innocent victims of the brutal events that “fi c-tion” is based upon. My wish is that, while watching a thriller like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre inside a darkened movie theater, we do not let go of the reality that looms larger than life on the wide screen in front of us—those who died in vain and those left behind, forever marred by the violent act of killing.

he “texas chainsaw massacre” was a box-offi cehit the weekend the movie was released in the United States in October, morning, I listened to a discussion on the “Live in Amer-ica” radio show, prompted by this super hit, about the

OPINION

Films’ Real VictimsBrutal and gory fi lms are rapidlydesensitizing our children to violenceB Y L A K S H M Y P A R A M E S W A R A N

lakshmy parameswaran is a counselor and training specialist on family and date violence, sexual assault and women’s issues. She is a founder and president of Daya Inc., serving South Asian victims of domestic violence in Houston. E-mail: [email protected].

pg 67 Media Violence Jul04 § g3.indd 67 5/1/04 1:48:26 PM

K A R N A T A K A T E M P L E D E V E L O P M E N T F U N D

Dr. and Mrs. Hiranya and Saraswathi Gowda recently created an endowment (#55) to help build one small Hindu temple for every five villages in their home state of Karnataka. Dr. Gowda, president of the Sri Ganesha Temple of Nashville, Tennessee, was moti-vated to provide a place of worship for villagers who have nowhere else to go. He traveled to India early in 2004 and hired a sthapati (architect) to design a model temple. His fund allows someone living in the USA to donate funds through HHE to build a small temple in a village in Karnataka, taking advantage of an existing architectural plan. The Gowdas utilized income-tax savings to create the endowment for their

temple-building project, as donations given in the USA to charities in India through HHE are tax deductible. They further leveraged their giving by donating appreciated stock, and thus were able to give significantly more through HHE than they could by sending money directly to India. Specifical-ly, Dr. Gowda donated stocks to HHE to establish the endowment, thus saving the capital gains tax he would have incurred had he sold the stock and donated cash. He and other interested parties can give donations to the fund, of which up to 70% may be sent to India to build temples. The remaining 30%, the average tax savings, is added to the principal of the endowment. Each year a percentage of the endowment (currently about 4%) is given as a grant to help maintain and operate temples that have been built. A principal of $50,000 in the endowment, for example, would generate a grant of $2,000 or Rs 90,539 annually. There is no charge to open a fund with HHE, and the minimum fund size is just $5,000. The annual fee, both for professional investment management teams and admin-istration overhead, is approximately two percent of the principal, and all wire transfer and bank fees for sending money to India are paid by HHE.

S R I G A N E S H A H I N D U T E M P L E O F U T A H F U N D

Aditya Vinadhara was instrumental in the creation and development of a temple for Lord Ganesha at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Utah. After the installation of the Deity in the newly built temple on May 4, 2003, Aditya explained that plans for the temple included building a community center, elderly housing and day-care facilities and creating an endowment for the future. In less than a year, the plans for the endowment manifested with the creation of a multi-donor fund (#56), the Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple of Utah Endowment Fund. Aditya was impressed with the success of the Iraivan Temple Endowment (#2), which currently supports the temple’s maintenance

budgets on $144,000 per year in grants. He felt that the security of such an endowment within HHE for the Utah temple was important to avoid the pitfalls of a “quasi-endowment,” the practice of plac-ing general donations into an investment account, which, though it may be thought of as an endow-ment, is not truly protected and could later be spent by a different board of trustees. The principal of

each of the fifty-six HHE endowments, however, is protected and cannot be spent. For the Utah tem-ple, the grant income is restricted to maintaining the gardens and grounds of the current 5.3 acres, plus any future connected temple lands, mainte-nance and repair of the temple, care of plants and ponds, paths, fencing, gardeners, puja supplies, gifts of prasadam and festivals. Visit the Utah Gane-sha Temple online at www.sriganesh.faithweb.com

pg 68-69 jul-aug-sep04.indd 68 4/29/04 11:15:48 AM

HINDU HERITAGE ENDOWMENTKAUAI’S HINDU MONASTERY

107 Kaholalele RoadKapaa, Hawaii, 96746-9304 USA

Tel: 808-822-3012 Ext 244 • Fax: [email protected] • www.hheonline.org

MISSION STATEMENT: Hindu Heritage Endowment is a publicly supported, charitable organization recognized as tax exempt by the IRS on April 22, 1994. Employer ID 99-0308924. Founded by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, its philanthropic mission is to provide secure, professionally managed fi nancial support for institutions and religious leaders of all lineages of Sanatana Dharma.

PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS: Halbert, Hargrove/Russell, Investment Counsel; Alvin G. Buchignani, Esq., Legal Counsel; and Hirose, Kato and Co., CPA. HHE is a member of the Council on Founda-tions, an association of 1,931 foundations which interprets relevant law and management and invest-ment principles.

I WANT TO PARTICIPATE. WHERE SHOULD I SEND MY DONATION? You can send your gift to an existing fund, create a new endowment or request information through the address below. Dona-tions may be made online at www.hheonline.org or use the HHE tear-out card in this magazine to join our family of benefactors who are Strengthening Hinduism Worldwide. Thank you.

J A N U A R Y T O M A R C H E N D O W M E N T C O N T R I B U T I O N S

Kauai Aadheenam Monastic EndowmentAnonymous 259.00Subhash Kumar Choudhary 50.00Rajendra Giri 30.00Arul Karttikeya 292.00Nathan Mudrick 11.00Other Donations 6,879.90Himalayan Academy 3,000.00Total 10,521.90

Iraivan Temple EndowmentAnonymous 26.00Manish & Soniya Bhaskar 100.00Ishani Chowdhury 50.00Sri Ganesan 52.29Nathan Mudrick 11.00Alka R. Patel 588.01Sadayappan Rahavendran 51.00Sivadas Sivarajah 20.00Rakesh Sood 150.00Unmesh Wankhede 120.00Other Donations 28,941.70Total 30,110.00

Kauai Aadheenam Annual Archana FundHemakheshaa Naatha Batumallah 6.00Gunavadee Caremben 1.90Somasundaram Caremben 1.90Sukanta Caremben 1.90R. Ganesh 60.00Rajendra Giri 101.00Tarakini Gunasegaran 2.00Tirunyanam Gunasegaran 4.50Isanah Kameni 52.63Amouda Koothan 0.78Egilen Koothan 62.35Saravan Koothan 2.73Souda Koothan 4.68Usharani Kuppusamy 26.15Saroja Devi Manickam 9.05Bhaveshan Moorghen 5.85Shanda Kumaran Moorghen 5.85Udeyadeva Moorghen 5.85Shivakumaran Muniandy 13.00Suhashini Muniandy 1.20Adi Sankara Perumal 35.05Anjeeni Devi Perumal 88.41Kirtideva Peruman 5.85Niroshnee Peruman 17.55Akileiswaran Samuthiran 16.94Jayasutha Samuthiran 23.71Hitesvara Saravan 250.00 Sathialingeswari 78.43Patudeva Sivaceyon 5.22Hemavalli Sivalingam 1.94Kantha Ruben Sivalingam 1.94Rohini Sivalingam 1.94Javanya Skanda 3.00Siven Veerasamy 51.00Total 950.30

Hinduism Today Distribution FundAnonymous 243.50Sri Aurobindo Centre 800.00Priya Alahan 112.50Vinaya Alahan 355.00Cecelia Autar 252.00Anil Ananda Badhwar 95.10Surinder M. Bhardwaj 150.00Rohit & Bisram Deocharan 99.00Banu Devi Deva 517.00Chellappa Deva 214.20Ravindra Doorgiat 155.85Rajul & Heidi Gandhi 111.99Rajendra Giri 10.00T. Iswarah Kumar 35.50Rushikesh H. Mehta 99.00Easvan Param 224.99Gassa Patten 107.64Adi Sankara Perumal 99.98Gunalan Ponniah 391.42Hari Raniga 800.00Brinda Rao 800.00

Charles & Jan Roberts 121.00Vatsala Sastry 252.00Linda Seeley 75.00Jiva Shanmuga 102.00Palaka Shivam 200.00Devaladevi Sivaceyon 5.22Nutanaya Sivaceyon 5.22Dasa Sivam 214.00Potriyan Sivanathan 5.22Ananda Sivanesan 91.52Girish Skanda 10.96Subasene Skanda 10.00Robert Sorrells 216.00Ravi Srivastava 800.00Ayyaswamy Thambuswamy 800.00Shivani Vinayaga 365.47Total 8,948.28

Hindu Businessmen’s Association TrustParamaseeven Canagasaby 39.58Vel Mahalingum 21.45Manogaran Mardemootoo 77.04Vishwanaden Moorooven 23.40Janaka Param 11.00Bharath Ramaswamy 3.19Total 175.66

Kailasa Peedam Gift FundAnonymous 5.00Total 5.00

Hindu of the Year FundAnonymous 5.00Nathan Mudrick 11.00Total 16.00

Boys School for Iraivan PriesthoodAnonymous 5.00Jiten Bardwaj 100.10Subhash Kumar Choudhary 50.00Rajendra Giri 10.00Nathan Mudrick 11.00Bharath Ramaswamy 3.18Bala Sivaceyon 19.34Total 198.62

Kauai Aadheenam Matavasi Medical FundAnonymous 5.00Rajendra Giri 10.00Gunasekaran Kandasamy 104.57Gowri Nadason 90.09Vayudeva Varadan 72.00Total 281.66

Iyarappan Temple TrustAnonymous 5.00Bharath Ramaswamy 3.19Total 8.19

Tirunavukkarasu Nayanar GurukulamAnonymous 5.00Jiten Bardwaj 100.10Nathan Mudrick 11.00Aran Sendan 51.00Total 167.10

Kauai Aadheenam Renovation En-dowmentAnonymous 5.00Nathan Mudrick 11.00Total 16.00

Sri Subramuniya Ashram Scholar-ship FundAnonymous 5.00Total 5.00

Sri Subramuniya Kottam FundAnonymous 5.00Craig Bagdasar 50.00Shanta Devi Periasamy 310.20Andrew Schoenbaum 10.00Total 375.20

Malaysian Hindu Youth Education TrustAnonymous 5.00

Nathan Mudrick 11.00Total 16.00

Kumbhalavalai Ganesha Temple EndowmentAnonymous 5.00Hotranatha Ajaya 450.00Craig Bagdasar 50.00Nathan Mudrick 11.00Manoharan Navaratnarajah 75.00Total 591.00

Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Devast-hanam TrustAnonymous 5.00Jiten Bardwaj 100.10Bharath Ramaswamy 3.19Total 108.29

Dancing with Siva EndowmentAnonymous 5.00Bharath Ramaswamy 3.18Total 8.18

Hinduism Today Production FundAnonymous 5.00Sandeep Kakaria 50.00Nathan Mudrick 11.00Other Donations 5,435.56Total 5,501.56

Vishwamata Gayatri Trust FundAnonymous 5.00Nathan Mudrick 11.00Bharath Ramaswamy 3.18Total 19.18

Hindu Orphanage Endowment FundAnonymous 5.00Ajit S. Adhopia 169.22Subhash Kumar Choudhary 50.00Lila Shakti Devi 75.00Rajendra Giri 30.00Gunasekaran Kandasamy 104.58Murali Krishnaswamy 200.00Christian Langers 150.00Nathan Mudrick 11.00Natraj Narayanswami 75.00Bharath Ramaswamy 3.18Alex Ruberto 45.00Aran Sendan 51.00Rodney & Ilene Standen 30.00Usha Varma 50.00Matthew Wieczork 190.00Total 1,238.98

Suntheram Family Trust FundRamachandran Suntheram 1,500.00Total 1,500.00

Hindu Press International Endow-ment FundAnonymous 5.00Hotranatha Ajaya 450.00Rajendra Giri 10.00Bharath Ramaswamy 3.19Total 468.19

Loving Ganesha Distribution FundAnonymous 5.00Rajendra Giri 10.00Christian Langers 150.00Manoharan Navaratnarajah 75.00Gassa Patten 811.00Total 1,051.00

Swami Agnivesh Endowment FundHotranatha Ajaya 450.00Rajendra Giri 10.00Jutikadevi Sivaraja 108.00Total 568.00

Saiva Agamas TrustAnonymous 5.00Matthew Wieczork 50.00Total 55.00

Spiritual Park of Mauritius EndowmentAnonymous 5.00Nathan Mudrick 11.00Bharath Ramaswamy 3.19Total 19.19

Tirumular Sannidhi Preservation FundAnonymous 5.00Nathan Mudrick 11.00Bharath Ramaswamy 3.19Total 19.19

Mauritius Saiva Dharmasala EndowmentAnonymous 5.00Jiten Bardwaj 100.10Total 105.10

Alaveddy Pasupatheeswarar Temple FundAnonymous 5.00Hotranatha Ajaya 450.00Craig Bagdasar 50.00Jiten Bardwaj 100.10Total 605.10

HHE Administrative FundAnonymous 5.00Total 5.00

Kauai Aadheenam Religious Art and Artifacts FundAnonymous 5.00Rajadeva Alahan 153.00G. S. Tiwari 1,000.00Total 1,158.00

Thank You Gurudeva FundAnonymous 44.60Somnath Bannerjee 51.00Jiten Bardwaj 100.10Maria Cristina Berisso 108.00Stephanie Devi Corgatelli 64.87Amarnath Devarmanai 324.00Bob Freedman 25.00Rajendra Giri 10.00Nathan Mudrick 11.00Manoharan Navaratnarajah 150.00Shanta Devi Periasamy 230.00Alex Ruberto 45.00Sivadas Sivarajah 150.00Jeremiah Umakanthan 25.00Vayudeva Varadan 72.00Venkatarao Vemula 51.00Total 1,461.57

Mathavasi Travel FundAnonymous 5.00Jiten Bardwaj 100.10Rajendra Giri 10.00Total 115.10

Udayan Care Endowment FundRajendra Giri 10.00Christian Langers 150.00Bharath Ramaswamy 3.19Total 163.19

Saivite Hindu Scriptural Fund for the Visually ImpairedAnonymous 5.00Rajendra Giri 10.00Aaron Mathias 25.00Nathan Mudrick 11.00Bharath Ramaswamy 3.19Total 54.19

Sri Chandra Madhab Debnath En-dowmentAnonymous 5.00Nathan Mudrick 11.00Total 16.00

Puri Monasteries FundAnonymous 5.00Nathan Mudrick 11.00Bharath Ramaswamy 3.19Total 19.19

Manitha Neyam Trust FundAnonymous 5.00Nathan Mudrick 11.00Bala Sivaceyon 20.92Total 36.92

Mahajana College FundAnonymous 5.00Total 5.00

Kerala Temple TrustAnonymous 5.00Hotranatha Ajaya 450.00Jiten Bardwaj 100.10Nathan Mudrick 11.00Kishore G. & Subha Pathial 501.00Ganesan & Rajalakshmi Ramalingam 25.00Jutikadevi Sivaraja 108.00Total 1,200.10

Taos Hanuman FundAnonymous 16.00Total 16.00

Kapaleeshwara Temple Orphanage Anonymous 5.00Jiten Bardwaj 100.10Vasudevan Jayanthi 100.00Nathan Mudrick 11.00Jayanthi Vasudevan Naiker 200.00Ganesan & Rajalakshmi Ramalingam 75.00Bharath Ramaswamy 3.19Sivadas Sivarajah 10.00Total 504.29

Manjung Hindu Sabha Orphanage FundAnonymous 5.00Rajendra Giri 10.00Nathan Mudrick 11.00Total 26.00

Pazhassi Balamandiram Orphanage FundAnonymous 16.00Jiten Bardwaj 100.10Rajendra Giri 10.00Nathan Mudrick 11.00Nicholaus C. Persaud 123.48Ganesan & Rajalakshmi Ramalingam 50.00Bharath Ramaswamy 3.19Total 313.77

Karnataka Temple Development FundHiranya & Saraswathi Gowda 8,225.00Total 8,225.00

Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple of Utah En-dowment FundThomas F. Fellowes 100.00Jutikadevi Sivaraja 108.00Aditya Vinadhara 108.00Total 316.00

Ayurvedic Formation FundBharath Ramaswamy 3.19Total 3.19

Pooled Income Fund Trust (PIF)Gowri Nadason 30.00Satya Palani 75.00Total 105.00

Total Contributions $76,959.33

Funds at Market Value, Mar 31, 2004Total Endowment Funds $5,368,740.65Total Pooled Income Funds $203,543.16

Grand Total $5,572,283.81

pg 68-69 jul-aug-sep04.indd 69 4/29/04 11:16:09 AM

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In Salutation to the San Marga Iraivan Temple, by Dr Arjunan Subramaniam,Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 26th September to 3rd October 2003, Navaratri Days

pg 72-73 jul-aug-sep-04.indd 72 5/12/04 9:21:21 AM

In Salutation to the San Marga Iraivan Temple, by Dr Arjunan Subramaniam,Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 26th September to 3rd October 2003, Navaratri Days

I dream away into a poet’s tranceTo see if there is any chanceOf escaping sorrow deepIn one wakeful sleep.

Poesy, Poesy, lift my thoughtsTo that Isle of divine lightsWhere in the valley of volcanic cliffs and heightsThe waters of the Wailua meander, murmur and mergeWith the Ocean as its waves onto the beach surge.

On Thy Banks The Rishi in ochre robes walkedTill the sun behind the mountains fell,With His thoughts in the depths of silence lockedIn dream, trance or wakefulness—no one can tell.

In The Rishi’s inner visionOn the morning meadows of Wailua RiverVibrated in forms of lights, The Creator, our life’s giver;Setting in motion the Iraivan Temple mission.

Golden locks of tresses of hair Cascading on Thy shoulders fair.EyesLike two full moons rising in the dark skiesBright, but not to hurt mortal eyes.Seated on Thy boulderWith Gurudeva beside,Blessed is the beholder,His devotees will confide.

Father, Form of the FormlessIs not for words to describeBut for the heart, within itself, to inscribe,Imbibe the aura and the image priceless.

The Emperor King,Of Chola lineage,DecreedThat a Chola temple be built,And the Rishi KingOf the new ageAgreed.

Slabs of granite Sila,Cut, carved, curvedAnd hand craftedAs in centuries past;The Temple a thousand years to last.

Flawless flow the lines Of the artist in his Art:Strength and courage in pillars masculine.Beauty and grace in beams feminine.

The crown dome of rapturous designIs a poem sublime.What angels are these silpis who will stone Into spiritual ecstasy?Like the Sun at mystic dawnBy slow degrees risesTo reveal its majesty,Iraivan rises— To meet its Day of a thousand years.

Deep within the temple Is the Crystal Lingam, the pulsating Heart.No human mind conceived Thee,No mortal hands shaped Thy Body Infinite,No earthly eyes saw Thy Birth.

Thou Master of Speech of Silence,Placid as the Manasarovar LakeIn the still moonlit night,Crimson rays radiate:What secrets do Thou both share?And what mysteries? What balm do Thou holdFor tired pilgrim souls?

Though the Rishi King is goneTo the world Beyond,From there He declaresThe Eternal Truth:

ONE GOD—ONE WORLD”ONE TEMPLE—IRAIVAN…

“

Infinite Iraivan

pg 72-73 jul-aug-sep-04.indd 73 5/6/04 12:00:00 PM

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Your Family’sPerfect Pilgrimage Destination

Bottom left photo shows Shanmugam Stapathi, chief architect, standing in front of the com-pleted towering sanctum. Atop the sanctum, work is progressing nicely on the temple tower, called the vimanam, which means a creation so accurate in dimension, so perfect in rhythm, so beautiful in form and so charged in spirit that it bridges man with God and the whole cos-mos. The crowning jewel of Iraivan Temple is a giant cupola carved out of a single stone that weighs seven tons. Its fi nal resting place will be on top of the vimanam. The fully hand-carved granite Iraivan Temple will be the fi rst temple in hundreds of years to have such a crown. As Iraivan Temple heads towards completion, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness an ancient tradition at work continues to fade away. Now is the time to pilgrimage to Siva’s island paradise and witness the making of a temple built to last the next millennium and beyond.

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Receive Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami’s Darshan

You and your family are invited to meet the head of Kauai’s Hindu Monastery, publisher of Hinduism Today,

successor to Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami and 63rd preceptor of a 2,250-year-old spiritual lineage

September 2004 TourM a l a y s i a • S i n g a p o r e • M a u r i t i u s

PUBLIC EVENTS MORE INFO

10 Nadhukottai Chettiar 04-421-9326 Murugan Temple, Penang12 Pudu Pillaiyar Temple, KL 03-8061-5729

14 Senpaga Vinayagar Temple 6-5811-006

16 Draupadee Ammen Temple 466-206619 Ganesha Chaturthi at 418-3734 Saiva Dharmasala, La Pointe www.gurudeva.org/bodhinatha/

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Daily Lessons for Self-Transformation!Become a student of Gurudeva’s definitive trilogy on contemporary Hinduism. Why wait?Sign up now at www.gurudeva.org/mc/ ...or contact:

pg 84 ju-aug-sep 04.indd 84 4/29/04 11:23:41 AM

When the day rests in the womb of the Night,

I sit Besides the Cosmic dancer

Decked with jasmine flowers And roses of deep red hue.

I watch the breath Of Thy Breath

Rise and fall like the Ocean waves.

Waiting, Waiting for the stillness to ignite

The light within, I remember The mystic message of Lord Ganesa to Gurudeva:

“…and by lighting the fire of Siva, My Father, In My Father, through My head,

Burning at the top of My head, your head, Burning there, A flickering flame,

Burning there, On nothing except the dross forces of your Dharma,

The accumulation of your Karma of this life, Burns away the top of your head,

My head, our head.”

Sacred of sacred scriptures Is Thy prayer.

Imbibed in Thy message In stillness is my axis. My dross is burned;

My worship complete…

Infinite Shiva Part III, The Worship of Shiva—

Lord Ganesa Speaks to Gurudeva

In remembrance of the Supreme Consciousness, by Dr. Arjunan Subramaniam, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 5th September 2002Part IV, Shiva as Lord Muruga—The One Saviour will appear in the October-November–December 2004 issue.

pg 85 jul-aug-sep 04g3.indd 85 4/29/04 11:23:15 AM

Visit www.hindu.org

V I S I O N O F I N D I A

Online Gallery

B est known for his exhi-bitions, Meeting God, Ele-

ments of Hindu Devotion and Puja: Expressions of Hindu Devotion, Stephen Huyler, an-thropologist, photographer and author, is to be commended for

drawing public awareness to life in India and the devotional ways of the Hindu people. Dr. Huyler’s website, located at www.stephenhuyler.com, focus-es exclusively on his discoveries in India. There are sections on his exhibitions, books and gal-leries of exquisite images that pay tribute to Indians and their God-permeated lifestyle.

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C U L T U R E

Indira’s Well

The indira gandhi Center for the Arts, http://

ignca.nic.in, began twenty years ago, in memory of Smt. Gandhi, as a pioneer-ing effort to showcase and preserve fragments of Indian art and culture. It is now an incredibly deep cultural re-pository for electronic books, digital images and audio/vi-sual recordings. Utilizing the latest computer technology, the IGNCA works to support the holistic role of the arts as essential to the integral qual-ity of a person, at home with himself and society.w

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P A R E N T I N G T O O L S

Grandpa Says

Here is help for parentswho seek to stem the

mostly worldly media sensory overload overwhelming their children’s minds. Give them the gift of the clear, soothing

and eloquent voice of Kanai L. Mukherjee (“Grandpa”) narrat-ing hundreds of audio and ani-mated videos on CDs, DVDs and tapes. Young minds will be enthralled while learning high values from Panchatantra, Jataka Tales, Mahabharata and more. Great quality and prices at http://www.agiivideo.com.

S A C R E D S I T E S

Power Center in Sri LankaDue south of mt. kai-

las, in the steamy jungles of southeastern Sri Lanka, lies Kataragama, the abode of Skanda-Murugan. This pil-grimage center for devotees of Lord Skanda is unique in being

claimed as a sacred space by every ethnic group in the coun-try. Obviously a power point between worlds, Kataragama is shrouded in mysterious legends and graced by evolved souls. A deep collection of substan-tive articles on the lore of this intriguing site can be found at http://kataragama.org. Be prepared for days of fascinating reading and links transporting you into Lord Murugan’s realm.

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A powerful window into India’s aesthetic, devotional life

Turn off your TV! Take the kids to a wonder world of Indian tales.

Gateway to the other-worldly universe of Sanat Kumar

Books, programs, speeches, images—an oceanic resource

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pg 86 digi_dharma Jul04 §.indd 86 5/1/04 1:01:10 PM

hinduism today, jul/aug/sep, 2004

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