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. c COVER: (clockwise from left) The auras of a guru and his devotees radiate the brilliant

INTERNATIONAL Lead Story: £Ix Delhi Boor< Publishers

Keep the Oldest Faith in Print 20 Ethnobotany: S.K. Jain, Champion of

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Taco Bell Ballyhoo M UKESH RAJ OF VENTURA,

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He complained that Taco Bell didn't even refund the price dif­ference between die beef burri­to and its cheaper bean replace­ment. Rai has sued the company for emotional distress, medical expenses and to recov­er the cost: of traveling tq India for purification in the Ganges.

YOGA

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M y DREAM IS TO LET PEO­

ple know that"conscious breathing and yoga are basically very simplle, yet profoundly powerful healing skills that can be practiced by anyone," writes Vasanthi Bhat in her new book,

Deteriorating home of the Oriental Research Institute in Mysore

POSTERITY

Treasure House in Danger

MISMANAGEMENT, LACK OF FUNDS AND A SLOWLY crumbling building are threatening the very preserva­tion of 650,000 ancient manuscripts housed at the Ori­

ental Research Institute in Mysore. It was established in 18g1 by the Maharaja of Mysore, Chamaraja Wodeyar, to preserve the literary treasures of his erstwhile kingdom-which included such items as a rare copy of the ancient Arthashastra. A scathing article in The Week magazine from Kerala charges that the institute cannot even keep its roof repaired, and the result­ing leaks are threatening the manuscripts. Scholars complain that salaries are low and promotions nonexistent. They say the institute has difficulty even getting Sanskrit works properly proofread. In 1985 the Ford Foundation provided a $70,000 mi­crofilm camera to record the manuscripts, but it has never been used for lack of a trained cameraman. The constant change of directors hampers attempts at any improvement.

PRESERVATION

Oil for Keeps O NE SAV,lNG GRACE FOR

the Oriental Institute's palm-leaf manuscripts is a re­markable oil formulation creat­ed a thousand years ago. It was made to preserve a manuscript left by the great Vaishnava saint, Raman'Uja, in the town of Melkote. A local disciple eager to preserve the saint's work mixed a complex solution of oil, flowers and other plants to soak the palm leaves. B. V. Narasim­hachar, a descendant of the in­ventor, today supplies oil to the Institute and others in South India, charging only for the oil potpourri's ingredients. And Ramanujas original manu­script? It lies well-preserved in Narasimhachar's shrine room.

fornia audience. Four dancing mothers and their daughters partici­pated. Amrapali Am­begaokar and daughtelt Anjani of Los Angeles danced Kathak; Hema Rajagopalan and daughter Kritika of

The Power of Conscious Bre.ath­ing in Hatha Yoga. What sets this book apart from others on hatha yoga is Vasanthis broad approach. Beyou young or old, male or female, thin or fat, you'll find something here to easily put into practice and improve your life. Years ago Bhat herse1f delved into hatha yoga to over­<orne the results of a serious

Moms aT).d daughters dance together ' Chicago, as well as Mythili Kumar and

daughters Rasik and Malavika of San Francisco performed Bharata Nat yam; while Ramaa Bharadvaj and daughter Sweta of Los Angeles danced Kuchipu­di. The troupe has performed once so far to a sell-out crowd and may be persuaded to en­thrall audiences with

auto accident. She then began to teach others and 22 years later has thousands of grateful students' to her credit.

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Bhat's new book

DANCE

A Family Affair

VANDE MANTRAM" IS TItE

national anthem of India and means "Mother, I bow to you." It is also the name of a unfque mother-daughter dance program which charmed a Cali- additional concerts.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: THE WEEK, THE WEEK, ABHINAYA DANCE COMPANY, AMITA SHENOI. COREL MAY, Igg8 HINDUISM TODAY 7

Singapore Jam

Indian children from different religions hold a sign 0tharmony on a f estival boat at Dal Lake, Kashmir

SINGAPORE IS CLEAN AND

orderly to the max, ... except for one area. Every week thou­sands of foreign workers, most-1y from India and Bangladesh, . converg~ on the city-state's tiny Little India district to shop, chat, eat and catch up with news from home. It's a colorful scene, but some locals say the throng is a menace to traffic and distul'bs the peace. "They walk as if this is India," said • shopper M. Prakash, complain­ing about their carefree atti­tudes. But the workers, mostly building laborers, argUe simply that Singapore needs them "and there is nowhere else to meet.

DIVERSITY

Bi~est-Ever Survey of India '

DID YOU KNOW THAT HIN­

dus and Muslims in India share 97 percent of their cul­tural values? In fact, this is true with most religions in India, ex­plaining why h?Imony general­ly prevails. There are more star­tling findings in the 1985~1995, ethnographic survey, possibly the world's largest, conducted by the Anthropological Survey

of India. Project editor Kumar Suresh Singh says it is the "first complete sur\(ey of the human surface in the country." Diversi­ty is the catchword: India is home to more than 4,600 com­munities, which speak a whop- , ping 325 languages and have 80,000 different cultural and ethnic identities! India's leading occupation is settle<;l cultiva-

THE VEDAS

God's Word, Sages'Voices

May I attain to Vishnu's glorious mansion where the faithful rejoice, where, close beside the Strider, within his highest footstep springs the well of purest honey?

RIG VEDA 1.154.5

I breathe out strongly like the wind while clasping unto myself all worlds, all

things that are. I tower above the earth, above the heavens, so mighty am I in my power and splendor!

RIG VEDA, DEVI SUKTA 10.125.8

Girded by the wind, they have donned ocher mud for a garment. So soon as the Gods have entered within them, they follow the wings of the wind, these silent ascetics.

RIG VEDA 10.136 .•

8 HINDUISM TODAY. MA 1998

tion, followed by wage labor. Only 20% of Indians are vege­tarians, though India has overall one of the lowest meat con­sumption rates in the world. Dowry is found lin 1,850 com­munities (all Hindu, Sikh or Jain), but is almost absent among the lower castes. Di­vorce is permissible iJ;t 3,800 communities, and remarriage for both divorcees and widows in the same number. Smoking bee dies (hand-rolled cigarettes) is the most addictive habit. Singapore's sky and skyline

Having examined the worlds gained by deeds, the wise seeker should become indifferent to them, for the eternal cannot be attained by work. To know that, let him ap­proach with humility a Guru who is learned in the scrip­tures and established in the Brahman. To such a seeker, whose. mind is tranquil and senses controlled, and who has approached him in the proper manner, let the learned Guru impart the science of Brahman through which the true, imperishable being is realized.

ATHARVA VEDA, MUNDAKA UPANISHAD 1.2.1 .... '3

Within him is fire, within him is drink, within him both earth and heaven. He is the sun which views the whole world, he is indeed light itself-the long-haired ascetic.

RIG VEDA 10.136.1

The man who realizes the atman, knowing, '1 am He," what craving or what urge could cause him to cling to the body?

SHUKLA YAJUR VEDA, BRlHADARANYAKA UPANISHAD 4.4.12

Know that all this, whatever moves in this moving world, is enveloped by God. Therefore find your enjoyment in renunciation. Do not covet what belongs to others.

SHUKLA YAJUR VEDA, !SA UPANISHAD 1

The Vedas are the divinely revealed and most revered scriptures, sruff, of Hinduism, likened to the Torah (2 ,000 BeE), Bible New Tes­tament (zoo eEl, Koran (600 eE) or ZendAvesta (600 BeE). They are only four in number, Rig, Yajur, Sarna, and Atharoa and include over 100,000 verses. The oldest portions date back as far as 6 ,000 BCE.

PHOTOS FROM COREL, PAINTING BY s. ~JAM

LearII1 Kriya Yoga from a Realized Master Summer Programs at Arsha Vidya, '98 The Kriya Yoga Institute wel­comes sincere seekers to learn the authentic Kriya Yoga med­itation technique. The God­realized living master of the original Kriya lineage, Pararna­hamsa Hariharananda teaches at the Institute. Paramaharnsaji attained the supreme pulseless and breathless state of nirvi­kalpa samadhi in 1948.

Kriya Yoga is a direct gift from God, and was taught by Krishna to Arjuna (Gita 4:1-2). The modern revival of Kriya Yoga began in 1861 when Babaji initiated Lahiri Mahasaya. Swami Shriyukteshwar, a realized disciple of Lahiri Baba, initiated Paramahamsa Hariharananda into original Kriya Yoga. Hariharanandaji also received direct teachings from Paramahamsa Yogananda.

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Kunda/ini Yoga fol' the West A classic by Swami Sivananda Radha now in its 20th year, offering ques­tions for reflection, self-knowledge and the discovery of one's potential. Also: exercises to refine your senses, focus your mind, cultivate your imagination and clarify your inner power. Free catalog: Timeless Books, PO Box 3543 HT Spokane, WA 99220-3543 USA info@timeless.org. Tel: 800-251-9273. Tel/fax: 509-838-6652

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9

PUBLISHER'S DESK

To the. Psychic,. Nothing Is Reaily Ever Hidden Everyone's emotional memories are registered in their inner aura as various shades and hues of color

BY SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI

ANY YEARS AGO, IN THE LATE FIFTIES,

while listening to seekers unfold from their subconscious deep-rooted problems created from unfulfilled desires and not-so-happy experiences, I began to see

pictures form in the deep inner aura of their as­tral body. These patterns, or vasanas, were por­trayed in complex arrangements of several colors. The inner aura, I discovered, is imbedded within the chest and torso. This experience was most amazing when it first began to happen, but it wasn't long before it was easy to understand ex­actly how each coloF related to a deep-seated emotional memory pattern. Looking like "mod­ern art," the colors interrelated with the seeker's emotional experiences, stress pressures, repressions arn;l reactionary con'ditions built up over the years. As time went on, this siddhi was perfected.

A negative reactionary condition lodged in this sub-subcon-. scious, inner aura is seen as shades of deep, heavy gray, or brown­ish, greenish black. This would appear in the torso of the body from the neck down to the waist. A happy experience is seen as blue, yellow, pink an'd all the lighter hues. By observing auras time and time again, while listening to many hundreds of devotees tell their subconscious stories, all through the sixties, the accuracy was astoupding. By simply looking at their inner aura, it becam~ easier and easier to, know almost at a glance what was going to be said next-not the very words, but the nature of the condition that )'las to be unfolded. I later found that when a negative condition cleared, the spir:itual pmnas lightened the cq!ors to almost a bril­liancy, and the seeker was lifted into a beautiful, high state of con­templation. Some even experienced the clear white light for the first time, and others saw their entire body filled with light. This only happened when the dar~r shades of color were dissolved fr m the sub of the subconscious state of mind, the home of deep­seated impressions of past exper¢ nce. This means that some of the emotion was lifted from the experience. They usually remained in a high state of consciousness until they started to react to having . told me their story, then began to relive the PJroblems and recreate some of the darker colors, clouding the white light and returning to the mental-emotional state where they started.

1n the beginning years of yoga in America, in the middle of this century, this occurred more than often: a yoga student would reach the clear white light through clearing sub-subconscious con­ditions, then recreate the subconscious congestion over ruid over agaiR. Why did this happen? Because of wrong knowledge~no .

10 HI.NDUISM TODAY M Y, 1998

understanding of karma, knowing little about dhar­ma and the other basics of Hinduism.

Seeing that a seeker's inner aura was holding a darker color, a deep blue or reddish black, would prompt my question: "What do you have on your mind?" They would say, "Nothing." I would say, "Oh, you have something on your mind. What is it?" They would say, "Not a

thing." Soon the dark, congested area wouln slowly begin to move up froll} the solar plexus into the chest. I would then say, "There must be something on your mind that you are remembering that bothered you when you were about twelve years old, or fourteen or sixteen." They would say, "I can't think of a thing." But when 'the dark congestion reached the throat area, automatically they would start talking. The problem would pop right into their eonscious mind, and they would tell everything about the situation until the dark congestion slow­ly changed into a bright yellow. At this . point, you would notice tp.ey had a pre­liminary understanding of the experi­ence to which they had been reacting.

In studying color we find that the <

emotjon of jealousy bursts forth bMckish green. ~ emotion of fear gives forth many shades of gray. Deeply congested states give forth black, indicating depression and the desire for security. Brown indicates the magnetic, pmnic forces' of nature. A deep desire of greed would produce brown. Deep blue indicates religious devotion without knowledge, something like blind faith. Light brue indicates knowlegeable devotional prac­tices. The color yellow indicates the richness of a purified intellec­tual knowing. PUFple indicates bringing spiritual teachings down through the intellect and expounding them on the physical plane, whereas lavender is indicative of the higher spiritual teachings held inside on the higher mental plane. Pink is refined emotion

and creates a devotional atmospher~ and orange is the color of activity created by desire to serve selflessly. Blackish red on the other hane! indicates repressed lust and sensual desire.

The primary colors, red, blue and yellow, are the basic force colors of the great prism of life. Actinic, or spiritual, force hitting the most sensitive odic force fields blends tHese colors into myriad hues In the inner and outer aura. In the inner plane of conscious­ness, each color is separate and distinct within itself, even while intermingling, for colors stand alone just as sounds vibrate simulta­neously in the same atmosphere in this plane of consciousness. Should one be able to see sound waves, they would register as an

The aura tells all: A guru and his devotees mdiate the brilliant hues of cognition and divine love. Yellow predominates in -&he auras of a teacher and her students. An arguing couple ditplay the black­ish red shadEs of mmpant anger and hurtfulness. Persistent colors become part of the inner aum. (Giant 3' by S' full-color, educational

.posters of the Publisher's Desk original art are available for US$gg.) .-----~---

interplay of colors, each separate, with one flOwing through the other at different rates of vibration.

Color and sounds interrelated bring down form, for the atomic structure of form, when broken down to its most refmed aspect, equals sound. All aspects of color qualify themselves as emotions of people, ot only instinctive, but intellectual and superconscious. These are registered in the atmospheric condition of the inner plane as various combinations of colors, shades and hues.

In a yoga gathering, a student once asked: "When you see colors inside of people, is this the. aura?" No, this is not the outer aura, which extends three or four feet out from the physical body and is constantly changing. That inner aura portrays tense sub-subcon­scious tendencies, desires and reactionary conditions that have gone to seed and often do not change for years on end. The more changeable outer aura is affected by the static inner aura which profoundly influences a persons daily feelings and thoughts. The interplay between the two is an underlying force of human life.

When the third eye opens in this capacity, people begin to look like plastic images with colors streaming through them. Suppose, for example, a person became extremely upset over an unfair hap­pening. The congested pmnas remain vibrating in the inner aura until cleared. Such an experience could be brought again to the surface (the conscious mind), relived through conversation, and the congestion unleashed and dissipated through the outer auric field from the core of the inner aura itself

Hindu seers of ancient times used the term vasana to name deep-seated subconscious traits or tendencies that shape one's be­lief's, attitudes and motivations. Vasanas can be positive or nega­tive. One of the best methods for dissolving troublesome vasanas, is the practice of burning confessions, or even long letters to loved ones or acquaintances, describing pains, expressing confusions and registering complaints and long-held hurts. In San,skrit, I call this the Vasana Daha Tantra, meaning "subconscious purification by fire." Writing down problems and burning them in any ordinary fire brings them from the subconscious into the external mind, releasing the supressed emotion as the fire consumes the paper. This is a magical healing process, and one of the few methops I have found for actually clearing up the inner aura.

Truly, we are progressing very well along the San Marga, the straight path to perfection. What is perfection? By perfection, we mean two things: first, strength of character-self control and ex­periencing life's adventures in love and understanding; and second" having a pure heart and love, of God as the ever-giving life energy in all beings. We gain strength of character by understanding the unfailing law of karma-that nothing can happen to us, good, bSld or mixed, but that we have set the pmnas into motion that eventu­ally maI1ifest every experience. In understanding this divine law, we conquer 4..1J.rt feelings, resentment, anger and all the uncOlnfort­able emotions of life. Next, we accept the fact that all manifested life is in motion because of the pmnas that have manifested into form and that those pmnas are emanating right from the Godhead, every minute of every hour of every day. It is all that simple. But in today's comp1ex world we sometimes lose sight of Sanatana Dharma's truths.

At times like thes.e, when we stumble on the path, dark, troubled emotions add their dismal colors to our static inner aura. It is now time to stimulate heartfelt forgiveness and be diligent in daily sad­hana. Once the problem is mown, we can correct it!

MAY , 1998 HINDUISM TODAY 11

/

And Proud of It! I READ YOUR MAGAZINE FROM COVER TO coyer with such zeal and fascination. The article from the PUBLISHER'S D~SK and the EDITORIAL in Dec., '97 issue made me question why I've been celeb~ating Christ­mas for the last 15 years when I'm proud to be a Hindu. This prompted us to have some serious family discussions and nliturally led to, the family gathering for prayer and sat-sang at our home. •

AJITAPATEL MISSION VIEJO, CALIFORNIA, US

Outreach Is Needed HINDUISM TODAY SHOULD HAVE A CORRE­spondent in the land of Lord Jagannath and the venue of 'one of the four pithams (mon­asteries) established by Adi Sankara. Orissa has the highest demographic percentage of Hindus in India after tiny Himachal Pra­desh. Your readers qright want to hear regu­larly from this area variously known as KalingalUtkallKosal Pradesh.

Useful Hints.

VYOMAKHIL SAMBALPUR, OIUSSA, INDIA

I JUST WANTED TO PRAISE YOU FO'R PRO­viding a good source of information and news on Hinduism. I have just married into a Hindu family and am eager to learn about my new culture and religion. In Phoenix, Arizona, this can be difficult. We don't even have a temple. The article on proper con­duct (Cues and Clues, INSIGHT, Sept. , '97) really helped me to enjoy my visit in India, where my husband and I were married in a Hindu wedding ceremony. His family was honored and impressed that I knew how to conduct myself in a temple and in the home. It also took away my ~iety and allowed me to enjoy my temple visits.

AMBER SUKUMARAN MESA, ARIZONA, us

" contact_amber@hotmail.com

Iran Letter Heartening I READ THE BEAUTIFUL LETTER TO HIN­DUISM TODAY (LETTERS, Mar., '98) from Iran telling about interest in Hinduism and mysticism among some Iranians. If it is au­thentic, it is indeed heartening that some Iranians are looking outside of their own re­ligion for spirituality. Ram Swarup, in his seminal A Hindu View of Christianity and Islam, argues that a reawakened Hinduism can help the world rediscover its religious past. I pray that we can reach out to these seekers in Iran and encourage them.

JULIE BINDER MAiTRA WARRENTOWN, VIRGINIA, US

" juliem@homemail.com

12 HINDUISM TODAY MAY, 1998

LETTERS Analyzirig the Differences PERHAPS THOSE OUTSIDE INDIA MAY BE more inclined to choose Buddhism over Hinduism because Buddha went to a great deal of trouble and suffering while Hin­duism was in place (Dharmic Differences, INSIGHT, Feb., '98). In effect, was he saying this religion I was raised in is horrible-so I must seek out the real one? Or dO we have Buddha demonizing Hinduism, which might point to his egoism-which he was not supposed to have? HINDUISM TODAY shows distinct differences under an indis­tinct banner, both religions coming off as very noble, adding fodder to the 'question, why would Buddha seek as he did?

HOUSTON FITZGERALD HUACHUCA CITY, ARIZONA, US­

" houstonfitz@juno.com , HINDU TEXTS AND PHILOSOPHY ACKNOWL­edge that the Divine may be both imma­nent and transcendent. However, individual Hindus are known to hold more dogmatic views. In fact, some Vaishnavas even insist that Yaishnavism is not a part of Hinduism since Hinduism admits Gods other than Vishnu. The Buddha, in tea9hing l:y.s guide­lines for right living, described only the transcendent nature of the Divine. Howev­er, I do not know of any writing in which he denied the possibility of the immanent. The immanent was simply not relevant in his frame of reference. Consequently, followers of the Buddha, depending on what he had spoken and written for guidance, could only know of the transcendent. Some Bud­dliists groups have devised their own icons to represent the immanent. The natur.e of the human being is such that while some people need the comforting presence of the immanent CreatorlProtector, others only find a transcendent Divinity to be mean­ingful and logical. All religions would do well to allow for this diversity in human na­ture ~d acknowledge both forms of the Di­viJ?-e. Mankind should be taught to rejoice in our similarities instead of battling over our differences.

S.Y SINGAM PENANG, MALAYSIA

" sv@hitachi.com.my

Example Begins at Home I HAVE JUST READ YOUR "WOMEN OF VI­sion" article (PUBLISHER'S DESK, Jan., '98) and r was struck by the depth of commit­ment and the breadth of interest and ability displayed by the women you featuT'ed. I was also struck and dismayed by the level of as­similation into the majority ~ulture dis­played by the women who had left the homeland. Only the two ladies from India wore their bindis (also known as pottu).

Your Kenya correspondent wore a sari but no hindi and the ones from the United States w~e neither sari nor hindi. This perhaps y.rould not be so surprising in a context of day-to-day life. But for HINDUISM TODAY, could they not have found more traditional and appropriate portraits of themselves?, There is nothing like a sari for combining el­egance and modesty. And the bindi is re­quired of ap Hindu women except widows. Perhaps our daughters of Bharat need to be reminded of who they really are and where they have come from. They are not Euro­pean Christians. They should not seek to be more like them. My wife just came into'the room. She is wearing pants and a blouse. I am reminded that she has not worn a bindi for years except when we go to temple or an Indian social function. Perhaps I should start by narrowing the focus of my concerns closer to home.

ADITYAN GAiTHERS~URG, MARYLAND, US

Adityan@aol.com

Holy Couplets for Kids WHAT A FANTASTIC IDEA TO TEACH Tirokural td the children through pictures with verses (The Weaver, INSIGHT, Mar., '98). Is it possible to undertake' a mammoth project to take one Kural from each of the 133 or 108 Chapters (Artha & Dharma) ex­plairung it with beautiful pictures in HIN­DUISM TODAY? It can be sponsored by the readers who are interested in doing this so­cial service. I am afraid that the children who are growing in this land who are more at­tracted to the Western influences may fail to incorporate our ancient wisdom.

A. BALASUBRAMANIAN AUBURN,ALABAMA,US aum@mindspring.com

News for Indonesians THE INDONESIAN HINDUS NEED TO FIND more information concerning their fellow

"Hindu communities and activities all over the world. HINDUISM JODAY is very useful in increasing understanding and sohdarity of Hindus, especially youth in this country.

1. NYOMAN NURJAYA MALANG, INDONESIA

Le~ters with writers name, address and daytime phone number, shoul<il. be sent to:

Letters, HINDUISM TDDlY

107 Kaholalele Road KAPAA, HAWAII, 96746-9304 USA or faxed to: (808) 822-4351 or e-mailed to: letters@hindu.org ,

Letters may be edited for space and clarity and may appear in electronic versions of HINDUISM TODAY. ..... INDICATES LEITERS RECEIVED VIA E-MAIL

~~~~MYTURN

HINDU RENAISSANCE TEAM

HINDUISM TODAY was founded January 5, 1979, by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, for the following purposes: 1. To foster Hindu solidarity as a unity in diversity amo~g all sects and lin­eages; 2. 'Ib inform and inspire Hindus world­wide and people interested ~I). Hinduism; 3. To dispel myths, illusions and misinformation about Hinduism; 4. To protect, preserve and promote the sacred Vedas and the ~indu reli­gion; 5. To nurture and monitor the ongoing spiritual Hindu renaissance. We invite our read­ers to share these purposes with us by writing letters, contributing reports and articles on events, sending news clippings and encouraging ollie s to subscribe.

Publisher: 'Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami Admin. Dir.: Paramacharya,Bodhinathaswami Editor-in-Chief Acharya Palaniswami Publisher's Aide: Acharya Ceyonswami Deputy Edl1tor: Acharya Kumarswami Managing Editor: Sannyasi Arumugaswami Graphics [;lirector: Sannyasi Natarajaswami Mauritius Editor: Sannyasi Murugaswami Mauritius Staff Writer: Sannyasi Devaswami Prod.lPromotion Manager: Sannyasi Kathirswami ManJging Ed. 's Aide: Tyagi Saravananathaswami Dep. Managing Ed.: Tyagi Klrrttikeyanathaswami Editor-in-Chiefs Aide: Yogi Yuganatha Advertising Manager: Sadhaka Jothinatha SubSCription Manager: Sad,haka Adinatha Graphics Director Aide: Sivananda Katir Correspondents: Gowri Shankar & Anandhi ~a­chan<4an, Chennai; Choodamarii Shivaram, Banga­lore; Rajiv Malik, Prabha Prabhakar Bhardwaj, Man­gala Prasad Mohanty, Delhi; Y S. Gopalakrishnan, Kerala; Basudeb Dhar, Bangladesh; Archana Dongre, Los Angeles; Lavina Melwani, New York; Dr. Hari Bansh Jha, Nepal; Parasram Ramoutar, Anil Mahabir, Trinidad; Dr. Devananda Tandavan, Chicago; Y G. Julie Rajan, Philadelphia; Shikha Malaviya, Mllmeso­ta; Rajesh Jantilal, South Africa; Tara Katir, Hawaii Artists: A. Manivelu, S. Rajam Cartoonists: Barry Geller, David Lourie, Mario de Miranda, Manick Sorcar, Gary L. Stair,'Bob Thaves Photo Contributors: Thomas L. Kelly, St~phen P. Huyler, Dev Raj Agrawal, Pha! S. Girota, Tilny Stone Images, Photobank, Art Wolfe Inc., Gordon Wiltsie, Indivar Siv<Ulathan Web Maste'rs: Deva Seyon, Sadhunathan Nadesan Scanning: \Tlicram Patel, New York t

Distribution: USA: Ingram Periodicals, N;ew Leaf, , EBSCQ Subscription Services, Indo-US Beoks, One Source, Ubiquity, Total Circulation Services. Cana­da: Gordon and Gotch. Europe: SWETS Subscrip­tion Service. MalaYsia and Singapore: Sanathana Dharma Publications. South Africa: Atlas Printers Printer: Banta Publications Group, Kansas City

I

Sureness'in Faith Will Surely Lead Us to, God It is the noblest element of our existence, removing all forms of hurdles in our life

BY SIVANANDINI DURAISWAMY

TRAVELLER SETS OUT early one day 9n a long

__ J---"'-J with the hope that it will be through

pleasant and verdant pastures. The day is still young and the sky qear. The crisp landscape lies before him as if painted with the light strokes of a brush. But as he proceeds he suddenly realizes that he is losing his way, and after a while finds hinlself in a desolate and arid area bereft of pastures and trees. The scorching sand is beneath his feet and the blazing sun above, blinding and choking him. The ronely tracts of the arid sands haunt him and the hoot of the owl frightens him. He despairs.and is frightened that he may have to pursue this journey forever. But as he moves forward, the sun goes down and his senses come back to him.

Who is this traveller and what is this desert through which he moves? I am the traveller, the human being, the pilgrim of eternity in my sojourn on Earth. The • desert is the wheel ofsamsara-the life of births and deaths which seems never end­ing. There are time.s when life was too big for me, when all things conspired to frus-rate, obstruct and destroy, and I felt that I

had lost my bearings. I felt lonely and lost deep within me. In such a situation, experi­ence taught me that I can only pick up and keep moving with faith and courage even though I may not know where ~ am going. But as I moved on, the sun did set oij the scorching sands, due to some collected merits of the earlier births, and my faith and confidence gave me a feeling of relief

Each one of us is a weary traveller who is tossed in the sea of samsara, and during our sojourn on Earth we must strengthen our faith in the Lord.

Faith and doubt are the two sides of the same coin. TIie flame of faith sheds light upon our life, emiching it by bringing true

understanding, while doubt sheds uncertainty through life, creating misunderstanding and unrest. In moments of doubt and despair, it is faith that sheds light and comes to our rescue. This flame must burri every moment, especially as We move forward in life, radiating beauti­ful positive qualities and helping us to walk without fear or doubt.

When the problems of life take the better of us, we seek consolation and help from outside and forget to look within. "Have faith in God and in yourself," were the magnetic words of Swami Vivekananda, based on the c<;Jnception of the Divinity in man which should help us to tap our faith Within and enter into the inner realm of life where the Atman resides.

In life we realize that a; we have faith in ourselves, we bring the outer-material world and the inner spiritual world togeth­er. Strangely, the outer material life then becomes more beautiful, acquiring a granrleur that is influenced by the iDner .spirituality; and we in turn become calm, peaceful and steadfast-attributes that make one truly beautifuL

Thus, when sorraw and misfortune, fear , and gepression come our way, our faith in God and in ourselves should not waver. There are no chance happenings in this world. It is our karma working itself out. During the dark moment as we cross the scorching desert tracts of our life, genuine faith is the greatest reformer which accom­plishes miracles. Therefore, instead of re­belling against these adverse odds, we should try to convert them into benefits, from evil into good, which will make the process calm and peacefuL

MRS. SIVANANDINI DURAISWAMY, 60, is the coordinating secretary to the Minister of Cultural and Religious Affairs of Sri Lanka.

MAY , 1998 HINDUISM TODAY 13

,

LoVING GANESA 800 Lavishly fllustrated Pages on Ganesa

by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. Learn about Ganda's powers, pastimes, mantras, miracles, nature, science, forms, sacred symbols and much more! There

is no book about Ganda that's more complete. The Lord of Dharma comes to life through the pages of

this inspired masterpiece. Loving Ganesa makes

MONK's COOKBOOK A tasteful arrangement of South Indian and Sri Lankan dishes perfected in homes and temples as offerings to the Lord. Indian ashrams serve the finest cruelty-free meals enjoyed anywhere, and the monks at Kauai's Hindu Monastery carryon that 6,000-year-old tradition. Believing that good food is humankind's best medicine,

they are sharing their secret collection of recipes gathered over the years. Includes a comprehensive introduction to ayurveda as it applies to nutrition and health, including the values of spices and herbs and their effects on the body. Sturdy wire binding, 8W'x 11;' 104 pages, $19.95.

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THE VEDIC EXPERIENCE Back when we were gathering Vedic verses for Dancing

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• HAPPY PANCHA GANAPATI CARD: joyous Ganesh radiates divine energy in 5 different ways. Artist: A. Manivelu, Chennai, India.

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Special Hard Cover 5th Edition, Limited Quantity (Only 500 Printed)! This remarkable 1,008-page sourcebook covers the subjects and answers the questions to quench the soul's

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DIVINE SONGS OF SIVA YOGA SWAMIGAL Audio cassette of 19 Natchintanai ("Holy Thoughts")-songs of the great Yogaswami of Sri Lanka which extoll Siva, the satguru, dharma and the path to Self Realization. Ideal for the shrine room or the work place· By Usha Pathmanabhan and Radha Ramji.

BATIK: THE MASTER OF YOGA IN SAMADHI Sage Yogaswami ofJaffna (1872-1964) was satguru of

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HAWAIIAN-GROWN RUDRAKSHAS A 36-bead strand, packed with Hawaii's sublime life-energy. The beads, selected

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GURUDEVKS INSPIRED TEACHINGS ON CD. There are gurus for mathematics, music and medicine, but the most important guru is the one who guides us in our spiritu­allife. In this CD, Satguru Subramuniya­swami, publisher of HINDUISM TODAY, re­veals the deep mystical

dynamics of the teacher-student relationship and unravels the myths of that relationship, telling how the spiritual seeker may nurtur€: it so as to reap the greatest benefits. THE MAHA SIVARATRI UPADESHA, 1997,43 minutes, $18 .

Send order and payment to: Himalayan Academy Publications, 107 Kaholalele Road, Kapaa, Hawaii, 96746-9304 USA. Or fax your ord,er with credit card number wlexpiration date: 808-822-4351 • Tel: 800-890-1008, ext. 238 • books@hindu.org • All prices include shipping to USA and Canada. Overseas, add 10%.

thy Self by thyself:' The fires he kindled still burn brightly in the

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"The cultured give happ,iness'wherever they go. '1he unc.ultured, whenever th~y go." .

Swamii Chinmayananda (1917-1993), Vedantist writer, lecturer and Hindu renaissance founder of Chin maya M~ion International

IF THe1~ IS sue'" A Tt-tING AS ~E'N('A1NATION, I t:.NOIJI

wt-tAT I WANT TO --- {'OMe 'Ae~ AS!

~=::::::;;;.~

I see God walking in every human form.

When I meet different peop!e, I say to

• my elf, "God in the form of the saint, God

in the form of the sinner, God in the fonft

of the righteous, God in the form of the

unrighteous." Sri RamalCrishna (1836-

1886), gum of Swami Vivekananda

That's because Hinduism, historically

speaking, is the world's only non-prophet

religion. Wry response from a little-known swami when asked for an explanation of the apparent poverty found in India

It was a pleading look, as if they were ask­

ing me not to put thenhin the pot. British chef Simoln Beavis, who quit his job at..a seafdod restaurant because he refused, on grounds of cruelty, to boil live lobsters .

Peace on Earth is inevitable. I just hope we

I>JlArrM.A 1J1E CA1 by Do-Ad ir T od

wHAT!

human beings are ·around to enjoy it.

Swami Beyondananda

The world looks like a mathematical equa­

tion which, turn it how you will, balances

itself Every secret is told, every crime is

punished, every virtue rewarded, every

wrong redressed, in silence and certainty.

A quotJ by American poet Ralph Waldo

Emerson,.l,lOsted on a website following a jury's judgment against Anandtz Chu1'ch and its leader, J. Donald Walters, AKA Swami 'Kriyananda (see Evolutions, P.46)

Once a m~ acquired the power to walk on water. A'real saint met him and asked how

long it took him to acquire this power. The

man replied proudly that it had taken ~m

17 years. The saint, laughing, replied, "In

17 years you have acquired a power worth

25 cents. Since we just give a quarter to the

~--------------~ l REMAIN UNA1iACHED

TO ITS FATE

boatman and he ferries us across the river!"

Narrated by Baba Muktananda and retold by Swami Prakashananda

Serious sport has nothing to do with fair

play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and

sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence. In

other words, it is war minus the shooting.

British writer George Orwell (1903-1950), expressing his opinion of modem competi­tive sports

DID YOU KNOW?

"COW Pie" Power OW DUNG IS AN ANTISEPTIc! NOT

only is it free from bacteria, it does

a good job of killing it. India's cows

produce more than 800 million tons of

dung every year. Most is used as fertil­

izer and some to prepare vibhuti, holy ash. In villages it is still the principal

source of cooking fuel. Dried dung is

odorless and produces a slow, even heat. Additionally, smoke from a dung

fire keeps flies away and acts as a mos­

quito repellent. Packed on the outside

walls of a house, cow dung acts as an

insulator, keeping heat out in the sum­mer and holding it inside in winter.

MAY , Igg8 HINDUISM TODAY 17

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i

PUB LIS H I N G.

Book" Barons of Delh"i Decades-old publishing dynasties protect, promote and preserve dharma

INTERVIEWS AND REPORTING BY

PRABHA BHARDWAJ, NEW DELHI PEAKING OF THINGS TRANSCEN­

dental and divine, an Indian sage once advised, "It's not in books, you fool." True enough of Truth, but when it comes to matters of culture and history, books are the surest

repository of a nation's intellect and ide~fity. While other nations publish tons of trash, India, in keeping with her con~ervative soul, se'ems to prefer a more traditional st.r1e. Wit­ness the leading book publishe~ in Delhi, each and everyone committed to preserving the Hindu literary legacy, ancient and mod­ern. The religious resolve of the six publish­ers that HINDUISM TODAY spo~e to in Febru­ary is more than superficial spiritual fervor. It'l"s a family covenant. Within each clan ex­ists an unspoken contract that gently binds sons to continuing the patrilineal trade.

The pious publishing giAnt Motilal Banar­sidass traces its heritag&back to 1903, and Munshiram Manoharlal tracks their family

20 HINDUISM TOD A.Y M Y, 1998

printing tree back to 1870. Both companies were begun in Lahore prior to India!; parti­tion, and botp. have set the admirable Indian printing standard. "We could publish any­meaningless tra~h to turn a profit," suggests Naresh Gupta of Indian Books Centre and Sri Satguru Publications, which began in 1976. 'jUter all, it is the same paper, the same ink and the same technology. But we choose to publish serious, religious and useful books." Explaining the inception of the Sanskrit spe­cialization of Nag Publications, Surendra .Pratap recalls, "My father had a dtlep love of Sanskrit. And because original texts in San­skrit were largely unavailable, he decided to publish them himself, fully knowing that the volume of sales would be very low."

Indeed, high volume sales is not an expec­tation of any of these publishers. Sunil Gup­ta points out, "The books are mostly in Eng­lish. But the masses are not English literate." Only eight percent of all Indians speak any English. Also,. until the recent upsurge of In­dia's middle tIass, book prices generally pre-

cluded sales to any but libraries, wealthy in­dividuals and foreigners. If a survey was con­ducted in Delhi, Gita Press would likely show the greatest sales and prove to be the publisher that most people read from daily­that is, a chapter {rom the Gita or Ramayana. Suruchi Prakasfian, the publisher manqged by a trust set up by the Rashtriya Sevak Sangh, also produces cheap books for t~ masses. Both publish many works in Hindi.

The publishers described here have a dis­tinctly different outlook. As we spoke, each exuded a sense of poise, dignity and pride of achievement. In response to the idea of "missing the mass market," Abhinav's Shakti' Malik countered that "Quality and long life is the key to salability. Our buyers look for quality, and price does not bother them. That is how we are able to sustain ourselves."

tn the spirit of objective reporting and disclosure, it should be noted that Hi­malayan Academy, publisher of this maga­zine, has on-going projects with four of the publishers reported on in this article.

QUA ,L I T yeO N SCI a U s

MlJlnshiram Melnoharlal The road from devasta-,. tion to consummation,

UNSHIRAM, OLDEST OF THE SIX publishers we profile, literally rose like a Phoenix frolP the ashes. The company was begun by Manohar

Chand who named it Meherchand and Lax­mandas ... Chand: a widely-respected literary figure, nad translated the Granth Sahib, Sikhism's holy book, into English. The British decorated him for his ground-break­ing work., and the company slowly expand­

ed. Soon his books were being sold at the premier bookshops all over the country. Munshiram s current director, Mr. Ashok Jain, relates his family's remarkable tale of.)oss and recovery. "La­hore was the center of educa­tion, and our publishing house and bookshops specialized in Indology. Books were produced with meticulous. quality con­sciousness. We did not care for quantily, bJt aimed only to make beautiful books. It re­mained a flourishing family business until the partition.

"Then, on the eve of Pakistan's independence, August 14, 1947, our business premises and house were completely burned down. That day we lost every­thing. Luckily, we all had been evacuated earlier to Amritsar. Later kindly Muslim neighbors helped our father to escape sF\fe­ly across the border. Our family was again united, but with no business or assets.

"In 1948, we sold the jewelry my grandmother had brought with her from Lahore, and with that money steps were taken to re-establish the business. Be­cause we were ~ll-known pub­lishers with a good reputation, it was easy to restart. Our services to the literary world were recog­nized, and the business flour­ished once again.

"I:ti the 1950S my father reestablished the family busi­ness under the banner of Mun-

-----------------------------~---.,-------.;:

shiram ManohaIial Publishers Pvt. Ltd., the present name."

In the '70s' the older sons jOined and a new strategy was fashioned whereby 19th century texts whose copyrights had ex­pired-lN. Faraqurhar's Modem Religious Movements of India is an example-were reprinted in fresh editions. It worked, and such classic resources became their bread and butter. In recent years MunshiI:am has put together some truly extraof.dinary works, among them Bhishma's 17-volume Indian history, a 5,000-page, four-volume English Mahabharata, the complete works

WORLD RENOWNED

of Tulsidas and dozens of linguistic and Buddhistic tomes (the latter follOWing Bud­dhism's global surge of popularity). The famil.};. is on a rolL Ashok's brother's two sons, Ashok and Pankaj, have joined the bus,iness. His third son is in the US, training to be a graphics designer. Ashok told us, "We expect him to join us on his return. My own son is 18 now and seems inclined to­wards the business. Let us wait and see what he decides. Children must enjoy full freedom. In an,y event, I have no doubt that the books will continue to flourish." ..I

MUNSHIRAM MANOHARLAL PUBLISHERS, 54 RANI JA:ANSI ROAD, NEW DELHI 110055 I NDIA. T EL: 9 1-11-777-3650 '"

I

Moti.lal Banarsidass India's rel~giously ropt'ed book-making magnate

HROUGH THE PAST THIRT¥

years we monks at HINDUISM TOD~Y in Hawaii have amassed

, so many books that we recent-1y had to buy a used 40-foot shW­ping container to serve as a library annex. Browsing there in prepara­tion fOli this article, no name flashed before our vision more of­ten than Motilal13anarsidass, the largest of Delhis publishers, serv­ing up the creme de la creme ofIn­dian wisdom, especially scripture, through the worlds widest distrib­ution' network for Indian books. Printing in India is an arduous process, done mostly by hand. So each volume is a treasure, and in this case, one of love.

Motilal was founded in 1903 by Mr. Motilal and son Banarsidass in Lahore. At Motilal's transition at an eaIiy age, his younger broth­er, L¥ Sunderlal Jain, stepped in. Later, Mr. Shantilal Jain joined the effort. Mter partition, the Punjabi family started fresh in Varanasi, then moved headquarters to Del­hi in 1958. Shantilal's five sons now each handle different aspects of the business, with the youngest looking after exports. Senior son

Present heir: Moti/al Banarsidass; Rajeev Prakash Jain

. and head of the firm, Rajeev Praka§>h Jain, says, "Our mottos are 'Do not diverSify' and 'Do not spoil the long-established r~uta­tion.' Commercial viability is not our prima­ry concern. The company has a firm policy: if we think a book should be publiShed, we do not worry about the cost. The company is able to absorb the extra expense."

"Because our books are scholarly, our

main clients are res.earchers and universi­ties," Rajeev explains. "Indian scholars are dependent upon libraries because they can­not afford to buy personal copies. It is a pity that people who have the money do not wish to read, and the serious readers do not have the means to buy books. Th~ country has an interesting pattern. In Western India, Maha­rashtra and in the South, most people are vo-

MAY , 1998 HINDUISM TOD A Y 21

racious readers. Calcuttians are real book lovers. When we have exhibitions, if they cannot afford to buy a book, they 'o/ill come several times just to see and' feel them. They start saving, maybe for a year, and then buy the, book during the ne¥t exhibition."

Publishing, Rajeev affirms, is "in our blood. It's in our genes." Irs a family effort, "We all live under one roof and eat from one common kitchen. You may term it as the family culture or hierarchy, but only the males work in the business. Our daughters get married and go with their husbands, who have their own businesses. They all are married into very well-to-do families. My son, trained in ~ondon in printing technolo­gy, has started his own company, ' Excell Publishers, which produces books on man­agerrtent. I think we have a bright future."

He explains, "We follow the Jain religion, but this is not reflected in our publishing. Rather, we are known the world over for our specialization in ancient Indian and specifi­cally Hindu culture, religion, tantra, art and philosophy." But, "We pu~lish a lot on reli­gion in general, which includes Jainism and B'1Iddhism. Hindu sacred literature is in San­skrit, Buddhism is in Pali, and Jainism is in Prakriti. So we have earned a name for our­selves as publishers of those three languages. Lately we have covered Buddhism exten­sively. Our largest selec1!ion is Tibetan."

From behind his desk amidst stacks of books, Rajeev told HINDUISM TODAY, "We distribute in the US, South Asia and the UK. There is a MotHal Books Ltd. in Oxford to whom we have given full autonomy. For the last 25 years we have had Indian shops op­erating in Calcutta, Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai, in addition to our branches at Pat­na and Varanasi." ¥otilal is a significant supplier to the Delhi office of the US Li­brary of Congress, which procures Indian books for distribution to libraries and insti­tutions around the world. Praising Motilal, Honerable Chief Justice Mohan of Karnata­ka said while opening the Bangalore branch, "I will not call them mere publishers. Tliey are explorers who find the gems of Hindu thought and present them to the world."

Reflecting on trends he hopes their books will counteract, Rajeev offered, "Today, Indi­ans are religious only at face,

Founding father: Abhinav's Shakti Malik

AR T'S ARCHIVISTS

Abhinav Beginning his own tradi tion of exc~nence

ITH A LITTLE SOLE SEARCHING,

is, plodding along the back of Delhi's Hauz Khas Market,

you know where to look and whom to ask, you can find the ramshackle building that houses the humble offices of Shakti Ma­lik, proprietor and managing director of Ab­hinav Publications. With one look at an Ab­hinav book: however, you would never· believe that it caple from these hidden head­quarters. Each Abhinav opus is a stylish and vivid Indian cultural archive, and Malik makes no disclaimers for his standards. "We are not aiming at the man on the streets," he certifies. "Our readership consists of schol-

ars, libraries and specialized orga­nizations. Our books are meant to be used by num~rous readers. Most go to collectors or to reference desks."

Malik is a graduate of mathemat­ics who later specialized in arts and religion. His career began at the In­dian Institute of Public Opinion: During thiS'time, his interest in an­cient history developed, and he be­came a partner in the Young Asia Publications company in 1965. In 1972, he quit his job and became a full-time independent ~ublisher. Although he has had no formal training in publishing, his success has been explosive, and he has nev­er doubted his decision. He feels ' that his venture into publishing is "God's will" and maintains that "The customer is God."

Certainly, God was smiling on Malik when his first book, Iconog- ' raphy of Vishnu, was launched in 1973. It was priced at RS75, which

was quite high at ttat time, but 400 copies sold on· the first day. Although record sales like that have never been repeated, Malik has also not been disappointed. "Whatever we choose to publish sells well," he rejoices. Another reason Malik is a satisfied salesman is that, as he proudly declares, "There is no black money. All our income is accounted for, and we pay accurate taxes. We have peace of Illind and contentment, unlike some businesses."

Questioned on the profitability of his plethora of titles on sp~cialized Indian and Hindu topics, such as The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace, Zardo.~i: Glittering Gold Embroidery, Costumes of the Rulers of Me­war and Secret Power of Tantrik Breathing, Malik conceded, "True, there is not much monetary gain in this genre- but' I am fully committed to it." He was silent for a moment, then added, "I have strong faith in religion in all its forms, and therefore I expect our titles to be successfu~. At least, we do break e,.ven wjth our publications on Hinduism."

Malik stresses that Abhinav is "purely ~ family business," and he takes great pride

that his son, Ateev Malik, a villue, not from within. Life is going at such a pace that no­body stops to think about it. Poverty and the Western influ-

Production at a Glance ; commerce graduate, is con­

tributing his talents to the team. The father remembers

ences are definitely ruinin~ our culture. Modern women are no longer humble. They wish to carve their own niche in society, with their own style, which is far refnoved from the traditional way." ..;

MOTILAL BANARSlDASS , BUNCALOW ROAD, JAWAHAR NAGAR, DELHI 110007

INDIA. TEL: gl-1l-291-1g8S

Munshiram Motilal

Abhlnav Nag Satguru

22 HINDUISM TODA-Y M Y, 1998

YEAR TITLES FOUNDED IN PRINT

1870 1,500

1903 2,000

1972 375

1975 500

1976 600

NEW TITLES PER YEAR

50-60

150

25

80-100

40-60

PRINT RUN

1,000-5,000

500-2,000

1,000

700- 1,000

his recruiting, "I was in dint need of help due to expansion, and it was perfectly natural to have him join me."

But as soon as he was put in charge of Abhinav's exports, Ateev implemented innovative ideas that unfolded new direc­tions for the ongoing publishing activities. Ateev introduced a

,

line of handmade paper prod­ucts which were specifically de­signed and marketed for export. The products include writing paper and matching e9velopes decorated with various Indian motifs, including iconographic depictions of Hindu' Gods like Ganesha. A very popular series carries symbols of the different rasis (astrological birth" signs). Ateev's division has won prizes from the governmen't of India and awards from the Federation of Publishers.

Shakti Malik himself is im­pressively tall and stocky, but holds a demure countenance. He radiates a profound satisfac­tion· with his station in life. Along with the security of hav­ing a thriving business, of being his own boss and of having the sure suppoJ:.t of his son, Shakti Malik is also enjoying personal edification. He couldn't resist telling how he learned about the Tamil saint, Tiruvalluvar. "I had never heard of him," Malik reveal~d. "But he is immensely popular among Tamilians. In his Tirukural, he has· written extensively about the various duties and responsibilities of the different stages of life­something like Manu's works in the North. Careful inquiry on the thesis of Tirukural reveals that the primary aim of our life is to realize the divine inner self and simultaneous1y to be able to lead our mundane life without misery and difficulty. I have published two translations thus far. First is Readings from Thirukkural, by G.N. Das, and the second is Ambrosia of Thirukkural, by Swarniji Iraian­ban. All this work enhances. my status, • and J am becoming known 'as a specialist in this field. What would you call this, if not the providence of God?"

Shakti Malik's faith in Hin­duism holds his hope for the fu­ture. He told HINDUISM TODAY, "I am a born-Hindu, and I believe that Hinduism i~ not changing. For centuries, the teaehings have endured, and the religion is ad­vancing. Its traditions and teach­ings insure its surv.ival. So there shall always be opportunity to prosper under its umbrella." ..;

ABHINAV, E-37 HAUZ KHAS, NEW DELHI t UO 016 INDlA. TEL: 91-11- 666--387

Brothers bound: The founders of Sri Satguru Publications, Naresh and Sunil Gupta , DHARMA DRIVEN

Inclian Books Centre Men with a mission to make meaningful books

ELIGIOUS FERVOR FUELS THE TWO

erudite and gregarious brothers who pilot Sri Satguru Publications, the publishing arm of Indian Books Cen-

tre. "God willed us into this business~' Naresh and Sunil Gupta, the proprietors and managers, concur conclUSively. "We are reli­gious, and this is our destiny," adds Naresh. "Our wish is that our books will in some way uplift, inspire or educate the reader. But at least 'jIe know that they are not leading anyone astray." Sunil chimes in, "We fully expec,t that they will help people to follow the right path."

True to their calling, their debut book was the Shiv Samhita. Later, they released major works such as the 7-volume antltology of Mimamsakosah, by Swami Kevalananda Sataswati, and the complete Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophy. 'AS we are Hindus," explains Naresh, "we publish about Ayurve­

.da, Vastushastra and all the sacred sciences which are allied to Hinduism."

While they look to their Lord for inspira­tion, they rely on God-given manage'ment skills for success. "We are in business to pub­lish books for sale, not to fill shelvJs in our stores,'" qsserts SuniL "It is our policy not to accept subsidies, so the title has to be ab­solutely saleable," Naresh elaborates. "In the

beginning, we had to look for titles, but now that we have our reputation, authors ap­proach us. We consider the novelty, content and language and ask ~urselves, would this be suitable for the general reader or acade­micians only? Thus different criteria are used for different subjects."

Being the newest publisher in Delhi, it is fitting that they have taken the lead in the freshest market-internet sales. Their home page on the world wide web-www.ibcin­dia.com-has greatly enhanced their export sales. But, according to Naresh, the brothers have noticed that "In the last two to three years the Indian market has grown su'bstan­tially, and there is vast potential. Earlier, we never concentrated on sales in India."

When asked if their parents lived with them, Naresh, in a sudden break from his cool corporate compos)lre, quipped a terse "No." Then he sallied, "We live with them, and there is a vast cljfference. They are the head of our family, which is one unit. We do not worry about the future in heated com­petition with others. For we wish to main­tain a religious household. We believe that we each have our karmas to live through and dharma to fulfilL Thus we a}e content." ..;

INDIAN BOOKS CENTRE, SRI SATGURU PUBLICATIONS , 4015 SHAKTI NAGAR, DELHI 110007 INDIA. TEL: 91-11-712-6497

MAY, 1998 HINDUISM TODAY 23

Bookish brothers: Surendra Pratap (left) and Narendra bring Indian script to th€ fore

TAPPING TRADITION

Nag Publishing J

Where Sanskrit has become the. family specialty

HEN MY FATHER: DIED IN 1994 AT the age of '75, ,the whole responsi­

bility for the family and the busi­fell on me," recalls Surendra

Pratap of Nag Publishers. Surendra and his brother Narendra now guide the company. "Qur field of concentration," Surendra states, "is the Vedas and Vedic epics, such as the Puranas, Smritis, Brahmin Granth, as well as works in astrology, dictionaries, liter­ature, philosophy an9. ancient Sanskrit. We do not limit ourselve~ to Hinduism alone but include Buddhist and other religious works."

Nag publications include all of the Maha­purar;as, Vedas, Nine Gems of Sanskrit Lit­eratwre, Siddhanta Darpana and Complete Plays of Bhasa in their original Sanskrit as well as Geographical Survey of the Puranas, Science and Technology in the Vedas, Medi­cinal Plants of India and several Sanskrit­English dictionaries.

There was no hint of hesitation for Sur­endra to take the helm aft~ his father's passing. He relates, "I am a graduate in com­merce, and from my early days t was inter­ested in what my father was doing. I joined him when we started this new business and have had no regrets and have never looked back. I knew I had to hold everything to­gether," he told I;IINDUISM TODAY· over a cup of'Indian tea. "That is the mean1'ng of fami­ly and business. Otherwise, our father's forty years of experience would be lost. My goal was to move ahead with the family. I understood that in any relation, coordina­tion and compromise is a must. If you think

24 HINDUISM TOD A.Y MAY , 1998

for the other party and not for yourself, there is no problem. I am very happy that we 1!wo brothers, with our families, are working and living together. Our biggest wealth-.l.s our sanskars: manners, tradition and culture."

The Nag publishing family hails from MirZ'apur district of Uttar Pradesh. Suren­dra's father, Nagsharan Singh, was born on the festival day of Nag Panchami. He worked. with Leader Press at Allahabad, then moved to Patna where he printed the daily Search Light. Coming to 'Delhi, he worked as a manager with Motilal Banarsi­dass for 20 y~ars. In 1975, with his two sons, he started Nag Publishing, naming it after. the auspicious d.ay of his birth.

"My father," Surendra explains, "wanted to publish Sanskrit text, fully knowing that the volume of sales would be very low. It took two to three years before any returns came. Our enduring strategy is that Sanskrit texts never get outdated." The brothers have a Board of Editors who advis~ on new titles. ''Additionally there are four or flYe profes­sors who write," says Surendra.

There is a gracious comraderie among all the Delhi publishers. Surendra confirms, "There are many publishers in our neld, but we maintain a healthy competition and have cordial relations." It was a sure sign when a representative of Motilal Banarsidass escort­ed us from their headquarters to the Nag Publishing offices: ' ...,

NAG PUBLIS~RS, llA V.A. J AWAHAR NAGAR, (POST OFF I CE BUILDING), DELHI 110007 I NDIA. TEL: 91- 11-251-7975

HINDU ADVOCATES

The Voice or India .,

Lifting the . long siege surrounding Hinduism

> STARTED VOICE OF INDIA IN i989 BE­cause Hindu soc~ty was under siege," Sita Ram Goel, 76, told HINDUISM TE>-. DAY. "Hindus have a damaged psyche.

They find fault with themselves. They have ' no pride. Voice of India is one individual's effort to counteract that." This . small Fub­lishing house has produced a remarkable se­ries of books relatively free of biased infor­mation despite their provocative topics. They deal with the Muslim and Christian presence in India, the impaCt of commu­nism and secularism and historical issues, especially the ''Aryan Invasion." Foremost among the authors published by Voice of In­dia is Sri Ram Swarup, perhaps Hinduism's most cogent analyst. Goel, who writes five

National treasure: Sri SUa Ram Gael

hours a day, N.S. Rajaram and Arun Shourie" are other great Indian authors represented here, along with Vamadeva Shastri (David Frawley) and Koenraad Elst. Their collec­tive efforts have substantially impacted resurgent Hindu organizations such as the RSS, VHP, the political party BJ'P, and Hin­dus and Hindu friends outside India. "..;

VOICE OF rNDIA, 2118 ANSARI ROAD, NEW DELHI llO 002 INDIA. TEL: 9 1- 11-724- 5s84

The bliss of God-awareness is not an exclusive possession of saints and yogis, but belongs to you as wen. "Self-real­ization," explained Param.ahansa Yogan1mda, "is the knowing-in body, mind, and soul­

FounDED In mo 8M

pn R n m n H n n s n MOGnnnnon

that we are one with the omnipresence of God; that we do not have to pray that it come to us, that we are not merely near it at all times, but that God's omnipresence is our om­nipresence; that we are just as much a part of Him now as we ever will be. All we have to do is improve our knowing."

Through a series of printed Lessons for home study, you can receive Paramahansa Yogananda's complete and accurate instruction in the Self-Realization techniques of meditation, concentration, and pranayama. This in-depth program ex­plains practical ''how-to-live'' principles for harmonizing body, mind, and soul and is offered on a subscription basis for a nominal fee to help cover printing and handling.

For a free catalog of books and recordings, or further information, please contact our international headquarters at:

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Available at bookstores, or order from Inner Traditions, P.O. Box 388, Rochester, VT 05767 1-800-246-8648 For shipping please add $3.50 for first book, $1.00 for each additional book

25

RESERVNI'ION THROUGH DOCUMEN­

and education." This is the modus operandi of Dr. S.K Jain, the

retired yet tireless defender of India's in­finitely useful and especially sacred plants and trees. Jain, nOID73 'and still very active in the field, is the Scientist Emeritus of the National Botanical Research Institute in Lucknow. He began in the early Ig60s by studying the e'thnobotany of the Adivasi tribals in central India, in what then was an unprecedented effort. His objective was to record in scientific detail the' tribals ' medic­inal use of plants. Later, his sister, a scholar of the Vedas, reveale(i to him how the same plants are described'in the Vedas. His inter­est germinated, and soon his resear,ch blos­somed to include recording how and why India:s flora are found to be sacred. With this ilual objective, he served the Botanical Survey of India for nearly three decades and was its director for almost seven years. He initiated a1}d organized broad-based ethnobotanical studies in several parts of the country and coordinated all-India re­search projects in endangered species and ethonobotany. His work attrqcted funding fr'bm the Ford Foundation and the -Smith­sonian Institution of the US. At ;(he request of HINDUISM TODAY, Dr. Jain introduces this vast subject.

DR. S.K. JAIN, LUCKNOW

HE EXTENT TO WHICH PLANTS IN iN­dia are used in worship and medicine is unrivaled. The closest match would

. perhaps oe the forest and mountain­dwelling tribals of Central and South Amer­ica . .Retired Harvard University professor Richard Evans Schultes, who is now over go

26 HINDUISM TODA.Y MAY, 1998

years old, acknowledged this fact. In Iggl he described how India is ''A nation blessed with an extremely di­verse flora but likewise an extraordi-

I narily large l{opulation of tribals who still have an unequalled, rich knowl­edge of the properties of their ambi­ent vegetations." In India, this deep knowledge of and faith in plants, ani-mals . and forests has largely con­tributed to natural conservation of the environment and its biodiversity.

There is hardlY any sphere of hu­man activity in India where sacred plants do not play ~Tole. Even nonbe­lievers who usually scorn at "mythol­ogy" and "magic-o-religious" beliefs are likely to pray at a parv cular tree or offer certain specific flowers when it comes to helping their ailing kith and kin. In my book, Dictionary of Indian Folk Medicine and Ethnob­otany (l~gl, De,ep Publications, ])Jew Delhi), I have enumerated some 2,500 species and 15,000 folk uses oJ plants in India. But there is much more knowledge yet to be codified.

Apart from individual plants, some whole forest patches are considered hallowed. These sacred groves are known locally as vanrai, and there' are hundreds of large and small van­rai in India. A study has revealed the presence of several hundred such groves in the state of Maharashtra alone. Some areas, like the Mawflong

Bird's eye view: (from top), Indian Banyan fruits; the Peepul tree; sub­tle flowers of Sandalwood

forest in Meghalaya is the only orig­inal and virgin forest left in that re­gion, and it harbors hundreds of rare and unique plants.

Sac;:ed groves are believed to b~ the abode of certain deities or spir­its. For example, the sacred groves in the western ghat in Maharasht ra are belie;"ed to be the abode of deities and spirits such as Kalkai, Shirkai, Waghjai, Gangoba, Ramr Shiv,)3him, Nagnath and many oth­ers. Usually there are no temples for these deities. Rather, a few vermil­ion-smeared stones at the base of a tree demarcate the spot as sacred, and there the folk worship and place flowers and their varied offerings.

said never to shrink. Rice and seeds such as sesame are associ­

ated with many rites. When proper statues are la9king for puja to the navagraha, the nine planets of Hindu astrology, Brahmin priE(sts may invoke each planet by using the specific seed, spice or dal that is ritually as­sociated with it.

For the performance of havana, or homa, the Vedic fire ceremony, the twigs of five species-Banyan tree, Bilva, mango, Pakur (Ficus lacor) ~d Peepul-are recommend­ed. Certain regions in South India substitute mango, Pakur and Peepul with Palas, Deo­dar and Chandana. Of all the aboY-e, mango ' twigs are preferred. Bamboo is associated with the Brahmin threadfceremony and fot worship of ancestors. Leaves of mango, Ashok and plantain (banana) are the most -common materials for decorating places for sacred rituals and for festivals. The coconut or a fruiting branch of the Supari (Areca nut palm) are also commonly used.

Some trees are believed to have originated from-bodies or limbs of Gods. The Peepul, or Bo-tree, was born from the body of Lord Vishnu. Palas, Flame of the forest, was born from the body of Brghma. Amla (Emblic myrobalan) rose from tears of Brahma and the Rudraksha (Blue marble tree) grew from tears shed by Siva. Harada (Chebulic myrobal­an) evolved from a drop of nectar

Towering torch: ~amphor comes from this regal tree

Saving grace: The faith of the tribal and rural folk in the sanctity ana: utilitarian na­ture of these plants has directly resulted not only in their veneration, but in their preser­vation as well. Traditional taboos have effec­ti~ely protected the purity and biodiversity of the environment and have enforced strict indigenous conservation. Yet due to urban­ization and the pressures of population, many sacred plants are rapidly becoming en­dangered. The socio-religious rules that re­strict or. regulate the collection of plant parts, even for or use in homa and other rites, have been a self-regulating mechanism between the human and plant kingdoms. Our genera­tion must be committed to preserve these traditions of conservation for posterity. wi

spilled onto Earth 1;>y the Gods. It i:s believed that Lord Brahma was born on a lotus, and it is commonly known that Tulsi (holy basil) is worshiped as an incarnation of the fiance of Lord Krishna.

Some plants have become venerable only in recent times, as the species itself has been introduced into India in the last one or two centllries. Shivlingi (the Canonball tree) is a popular example. The name is due to the rese-fublance to the shape of a Sivalinga of the stamens that protrude and bend like the hood of a snake over the stigma.

Chandana, sandalwood, is aIl10ng the elite and most ... renowned of sacred trees. The wood is rubbed on stone and the paste is widely used for anointing the forehead as well as for incense and in ayurvedic prepa­rations. Temple deities are also bathed with the paste. The famous Murugan temple at Tiruttani, Tamil Nadu, has a rare stick of sandalwood. Ihs ground for paste used in the temple rituals, which is then given to devotees. This special paste is lauded to have curative powers. But the mystery of thi.s temple cure is that the stick of sandalwood is

DR. S.K. JAIN, INSTITUTE OF ETHNOBIOLOGY, NATIONAL BOTANICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE, LUCKNOW 22600 INDIA.

WOHSHIP

In tlJardens of the Gods INDU SCRIPTURES PRO

vide some general guidelines for the use of plants in worship. 1.

Flower buds should not be of­fered. 2. Flowers found on the ground should not be offerred, with the two exceptions, Pari­jata (coral jasmine) and Baku­la (Elengi tree). 3. Red flowers are preferred for Goddesses, but with lotus, rose and kaner (oleander), all colors are con­sidered equal.

The following is a list of Gods, Goddesses and planets

and the plants that are specifi­cally associated with them. Jasmine, pomegranate and Bakula are acceptable for all deities. Brahma: Vata (Banyan tree). Vishnu: Leaves of Tulsi (sacred Basil) and Vata; flowers of Parijata. Taboo for Vishnu are Datura (thorn apple) and Shivalingi (canonball tree). Shiva: Bilva (Bael fruit tree), Kachnar (Bauhinia), Ak (Crown flower), Datura, Arnal­tas (Golden shower tree), Kan­er. The circle of flames sur-

rounding Siva Nataraja is often decorated with Datum flowers. Lakshmi: Flowers of Padma (lotus) and Parijata; fruits of AmZa (Emblic myrobalan), K.ela (plantain); Bilva. Durga: Amra (mango), pome­granate, Asoka, Bilva, rice, turmeric, plantain, Mana (Alo­casia indica) and barley Saraswati: Padma flowers; leaves of Dub (Bermuda grass). Kali: Curhal (Shoe-flower). Rama and Jagannath: Tulsi. Krishna: Tulsi, Kadamb(~ (Wild Cinchona). Ganesha: Ikh (sugarcane), white Ak. Sun: Bilva. Moon: Sim (Sarcostema acidum), Kapur (camphor).

@

Vata: Aerial roots of the massive Indian Banyan

MAY, 1998 HI'NDUISM TOD AY 27

INSIGHT

The Colors of 0 Consclollsness How the mystic art of perceiving auras can help you appreciate others and enhance your life

HE HUMAN AURA EXTENDS OUT AROUND THE

from three to four feet, even from five to six feet in the case of more evolved souls. It is made up of a variety of vibratory rates or colors. Each area of the mind that awareness flows

through reflects a change in these vibratory rates of colors in the human aura. When you have developed a certain psychic sight, by seeing through the eyes of the soul, you will be able to look at a person, see the aura around him and know immediately the area of the instinctive, intellectual or superconscious mind he is aware in at that particular time.

For instance, if someone's awareness was flowing through the realms of depression, that is, the area within the vast mind substance that contains the vibratory rate of depression, his aura would look rather gray, dim and dismal. If he was aware in the feeling of a beautiful love for all humanity, his aura would look light blue, fringed and tinged With yellow. However, if his love for humanity was of a superficial, emotional nature, being more idle talk and emotion than sub-super­conscious compassion, his aura would be pink or reddish, telling you there was still a lot of instinctive fire, and should an upsetting cir­cumstance occur, he could easily forget about universal love and be­come quite angry. Then the pink would turn to flaming red streaked with black. After this, if he were to feel remorseful about the emo- II:

tional upheaval, the aura would turn to dark blue, and you could ~ hardly see his face for the deep blue mist that would form around his ..; body. If awareness was flowing through the area of the mind of infe- II:

riority and jealousy, the aura would be dark grayish-green in color. ~ Someone with healing inclinations would have a pale green aura. A 2-student increasing his intellectual knowledge would have an aura of brilliant yellow. The combinations are almost endless. A depiction by contemporary clairooyant Barbara Brennan of the

astral or emotional body's moving energy fields of myriad colors. Several colors often appear in the aura at the same time. For ex­ample, the red of suppressed desire and seething anger might ap­pear along with the yellow of intellectual involvement. This person's head would be surrounded in yellow, and the lower part of his body streaked in red. Even a touch of very dark green might appear, showing that jealousy caused his anger. A devotee sitting in medita­tion, diligently working within himself, will in the course of half an hour change the colors of his aura from three to four to five times, as he moves his awareness from the instinctive-intellectual areas into

28 HINDUISM TODAY MAY, 1998

the brilliancy of subsuperconscious realms. His aura will take on shades of light blue and light yellow interlaced with white. Then as he moves into superconsciousness, rays of light from the central source of energy will begin to emerge from the core of his spine and flood out through his aura and penetrate the atmosphere of the room. You feel his presence as darshan. The sub of the subconscious mind, the home of deep-seated, often emotionally charged impres-

ILLUSTRATION OR I GINALLY APPEARS IN HANDS OF LIGHT ( TM ) BY BAR­BARA BRENNAN ( SM ), ILLUSTRATED BY JO S A. SMI TH , BANTAM BOOKS

sions, has an aura of its own deep within the outer aura that we have been describing. It is seen "within" the physical body itself and is different from the daily emotional-intellectual aura which appears around the physical body as a result of awareness being in one area of the mind or another. All the reactionary conditions of our past which are currently reacting in our subconscious mind are reflect­ed in the colors of this inner subconscious aura.

The big question always arises, "How do we know whether or not we are seeing an aura, or if it is just our imagination?" The colors around the person are first seen within your own mind. You would not clearly see them around their physical body. Later, after becom-

ing adjusted to this new form of sight, you may see colors around an individual's physical body. Where dp these colors come from? All things in the mind are sound and color. Look around you and observe each vibratory rate of every physical object as haMng a sound as well as a color. Everything is sound. Every­thing is color. Everything is shape. Therefore, in the refined areas of the mind, all things are color and all things are sound, recognizable through the sixth sense of the all-seeing eye. This faculty is always awake. You only have to learn how to be aware of and use it, in a similar way an artist must learn to dIstinguish with his physical eyes between one

Reading: Man Visible and Invisible, C.W Leadbeater, The Theosophical Publishing House, 306 West Gen­evea Road, Wheaton, lllinois 60187 USA. Hands of Light, Barbara Ann Brennan, Bantam Books, 666 FIfth Avenue, New York, New York 10103 USA. The Raiment of Light, A Study of the Human Aura, David Tans­

ley, Routledge & Kegan Paul, Ltd., II New Fetter Lane, London, EC4P 4EE, London, United Kingdom.

yourself Your aura is now brownish with murky, dirty green, possi­bly accented with black and red sparks. To counteract this heavi­ness, just add white. Visualize white light flooding out from the cen­ter of your spine into and through your aura. Visualize violet rays flooding into your new white aura, invigorating and cutting through the darkness. When you go, as pure awareness, right into the center of your spine and flood white mind-substance out into your aura, the white mixes with the black, and gray appears in your aura. Im­mediately you experience fear, but this emotion soon passes as more white enters the aura. The gray soon disappears. As still more white enters the aura, the flamilng red of anger turns to the pink shades of tolerance and compassion. The dark browns and the murky dark green of jealousy turn to the emerald green of confidence and hu­mility. A feeling of peace and contentment comes as the new colors react back on the emotions. It takes but a little effort on your part, a little concentration, persistence and faith in your ability to change your own mood by a positive effort of will. You have no doubt ex­

perienced difficulty in getting up in the morning. What is shade of color and another and between the ___ ---_~ the remedy for this? Flood your aura with red, of

dimensions in a painting. The mystic learns how to use his already developed sixth

sense, his third eye. It is used all the time, constantly, day in and day out,

though not consciously. For example, someone may walk into your home.

You look at them and say, "You are not feelling very well today. You seem

disturbed." How do you know? In­side yourself you are seeing their aura. If they enter looking bright and shiny, you know how they feel inside because you see their aura.

Some people are born with psychic sight and maintain it throughout their lifetime. As this faculty was developed

in a prior birth, the wisdom and un­derstanding of its proper use comes naturally to them. But more commonly, psychic sight develops slowly, almost im­perceptively, through an unbroken continu­ity of sadhana. Through the unveiling grace of Lord Siva we are allowed to see what needs to be seen at the proper time in our life when we can sustain the resul­tant reactions. Generally, if you do have this awakened in­ner perception of auras, you would only notice someone's aura if it were peculiarly dull or strongly radiant. A mystic

who has control of this faculty does not generally see auras all of the time, but just when he wants to. AlUric cleansing: You as a devotee have often gone to the

temple with your problems and placed them at the feet of the Deity. In the unseen world of the Devaloka what actually hap-

pens is that the Deity and His many devas work with your prob­lems by working with your aura, most especially the inner aura, by disintegrating or clearing up any congestion they find. From the in­ner sanctum, they lighten the darker colors, which were created by traveling through troubled states of mind, infusing them with rays of white and violet light. We rarely see this happening, but we can certainly feel it, and we depart the temple feeling relieved and freed from congestion and worry.

You can also flood your aura with rays of white and violet light, just like the Deities and devas do. If you are in a negative mood be­cause of having just become angry with somebody because you were jeallous of them, there is a remedy that you can perform for

course. A nice, bright red. It doesn't take much ef­fort to visualize the color red. You will know

that you have succeeded when all of a sudden your physical vitality awakens and you feel

invigorated and ready to jump up for a wonderful day. All of us at one time or another experience mental laziness. What is the remedy? Simply flood your aura with yellow by visualizing yellow light all around you, and soon you will be drawn into the thinking area of the mind and be able to progressively pur­sue your studies. Visualizing orange

strengthens your intellectual aggressive-ness because red is added to the yellow. If your child is crying uncontrollably

and you can't get to sleep, what color would you bless him with? Would you get angry and

yell, "Why don't you go to sleep! I told you, you're disturbing your father!" Flashes of red? The

child would be terrified. No, you would harmonize the child's emotions with shades of blue and pale green. Beating,

berating and insulting of children does permanent damage to their aura. C. W. Leadbeater described one case of a child tormented by a teacher. "The child's aura changed and twisted about horribly, and when it was still again, all the beautiful little shoots of lovely color had disappeared, and in their place were innumerable little scars, harm done which could not be cancelled in the present life." The colors of deep red, representing suppressed anger, and the grays and black of fear and hatred would now permanently predominate.

You can familiarize yourself with the individual physical, mental and spiritual effect of each color by simply looking at one color af­ter another and experiencing the results. Each color and the emo­tions it reflects are like two sides of the same coin. Learn them so well that the thought of one immediately brings the idea of the oth­er. For example, how do you feel when you enter a room that is painted blue? White? Yellow? Place before you a piece of paper of the color you wish to visualize. Look at the paper and then close your eyes and try to see the exact same color in your mind. Then open your eyes and look at the paper again and, with eyes still open, turn your head away from the paper and try to see the color in your conscious mind. Literally fill your mind with the color of the paper. After you have accomplished this exercise with one color, repeat it with another, then another and then another.

MAY , 1998 HINDUISM TODAY 29

i

A Modern Psychic's Hands of Light

S A CHILD, BARBARA

Brennan would prac­tice walking blindfold in the woods of her

family's Wisconsin farm. "I would feel the trees long be­fore I could touch them," she recalls. "They were larger than they appeared to the visible eye." She learned to see this energy field, as well as that around small animals. Later in life she earned a master's degree in atmospher­ic physics and then worked for NASA for a number of years. Unsatisfied, she trained as a counselor and started helping people. Her forgotten ability to see energy fields returned. '1 became skeptical and confused. Were they really there? Did they have meaning? Was it wishful thinking, or was I experienc­ing another dimension of reality that had meaning, was orderly and was very helpful in understanding my present life circumstances and, in fact, life as a whole." She per­severed and sought out the esoteric literature, such as that of the great theosophist,

Barbara Brennan's psychic sense assists her in healings

c. W Leadbeater, which con­firmed her experiences.

Her clairvoyant ability to see auras helped her counsel­ing work immensely, for she was able to diagnose physical, emotional, mental and spiri­tual difficulties just by ob­serving the aura of her patients. Especially she could see how a person's disease was actually caused by emo­tional and mental blocks. Some of what she has seen is depicted in the paintings below. As with other clairvoy­ants, who can always be found among the general population, she teaches that anyone can develop the abili­ty; indeed, everyone already possesses it to some extent.

Protecting your aura: Each color has its own special protective qualities, which can be chosen to counteract or balance out the par­ticular vibrations you are or will be experiencing. Let's take the ex­ample of protecting yourself from the auric emanations of persons who are ill, a condition you will encounter if you visit a hospital. You can easily counteract this influence by flooding your aura with col­ors of health and physical strength. This will not only protect you, but it will also improve the condition of those around you. How do you do this? Become aware of your spine and visualize a stream of white light in its center, from the base to the top of your head. Then mentally draw from this pure white light warm red and vibrant pink. As a healing power, visualize pale green surrounding the pa­tient, a color many modern hospitals have adopted to invoke healing. To increase your vitality even more, visualize yourself effortlessly performing some strenuous physical or athletic feat, and you will soon feel the energy rising within you.

Bright oranges and yellows will bring a new energy which will en­hance your intellect and protect you from being overpowered by the intellectual force of someone else. This is also a way to help over­coming shyness. Surrounded by a vibrant aura, charged with bright orange and yellow, you are a secure and confident individual, able to enter into discussion with a new self-assurance. The vibrations of others tend to rebound from your aura. You are relaxed and friend­ly, and intelligence pours forth uninhibitedly from you.

The colors used to harmonize and protect the emotional nature are light blue and violet. By flooding your aura with beautiful sky blue and vivid violet, you quiet your own lower emotions and feel­ings and become impervious to the negative feelings and moods of those around you. With the advent of these colors, your individual awareness is transported into the more refined, uplifting realms of the superconscious mind. Always remember that by flooding your aura with bright sky-blue and lavender you are automatically build­ing an armor to protect yourself from their lower feelings and pas­sions, such as anger, jealousy, hatred and lust. So, now make a study of bright, clear blues and violets and select the ones that appeal to you the most. Intuitively you will know which shades are best for you. Beautiful shades of blue and violets will always be found in the auras of successful teachers, missionaries, social workers and those who work among those of lesser emotional and mental refinement than their own. When someone becomes angry at you, or you be-

B~~~; ·T~·h~~~ ·~~;~·~ ·~~ri~~~~d·bY ·~~~t~p~;~;;Y ·d~i~~Y~ · ant Barbara Ann Brennan in her counseling and healing work.

Normal aura Pregnant woman Musician performing Child playing

Strong feelings

30 HINDUISM T ODAY MAY , 1998

f' Anger turned inward Anger expressed Result of cocaine use

ILLUS T RATI ONS O RI G I NA L L Y APPEAR IN HAN D S O F L I GH T (T M ), BY BA R­BARA BRENNAN ( SM ). ILLUST RATED B Y JOS A. SMIT H , BA NTAM BOOKS

come angry with someone, they are actually cursing you astrally, or you them. This is because powerful vibrations of red and black, grays and. muddy, brownish greens are being sent from one person to another. Truly, this hurts, and bad karma is made.

Our holy scriptures tell us that we must purify our intellects. That means that we must lighten up the colors that are within our sub­conscious and sub of the subconscious mind. When the intellect is finally purified, the outer aura shows many pastel colors in and through it. The permanent, inner aura will be filled with beautiful patterns of golden yellow, blue and lavender. But once the intellect is purified, good mental maintenance must occur daily so that con­gested areas are not recreated out of habit. This is the great value of a regulated religious life and daily sadhana.

To keep the colors of our subconscious and sub-subconscious re­fined, our religion tells us to go on a long pilgrimage once a year. This melllS we take our inner aura that has been building up through the year and place it at the feet of the Deity at some far-off temple. While on the pilgrimage, we are able to collect all its colors, emotions and deep feelings and leave them, along with our offering of fruit and flowers, at the God's holy feet to be disintegrated by Him. To keep the colors of our subconscious and sub-subconscious refined, our religion tells us to read scriptures daily because their high-minded thoughts and concepts bring purple, lavender, pink and yellow into our aura.

To keep the colors of our subconscious and sub-subconscious re­fined, our religion tells us to perform puja daily to personally invoke the higher beings in the Devaloka at our own home shrine and ob­tain their blessings. It may interest you to know that such blessings lighten not only the aura of each one in the household but also the physical building itself To keep the colors of our subconscious and sub-subconscious refined, our religion tells us to provide the essen­tial sacraments in life for the children so that the permanent im­pressions of these special combinations of color and sound are placed into the inner aura of the sub-subconscious mind and added to the ones that are already there from previous impressions.

E XCERPTED F ROM M ERGING WITH SIVA

By SATGURU SIVAYA S UBRAMUNIYASWAMI

Fro·m · C~w: ·Leaiiiie·aierjs ·pe·rcePtiiiii·s; ·i·T~· ~~;~·~f~·~~ti~~;;i· ···· · · person, with the lower portions betraying selfishness. 2. A wave of "strong and perfectly pure affection sweeping over a person. »

J. Intense anger. 4. A person "in love.» Lust and jealousy show in the lower half, affection and devotion in the upper areas.

THE O SO P HI CAL PUB LI SH I NG HOUSE: MAN , V I SIB L E A N D I NV IS IB LE , C. W LEADBEAT ER

The Occult World of C.W. Leadbeater

. N HIS BOOK MAN VISIBLE

and Invisible, published in 1925, the great psychic and theosophist, C. W

Leadbeater, illustrated and explained at length his pro­found experience of the hu­man aura. His was not a new discovery But in the past such psychic revelations, which have been experienced by individuals of all religions, were kept secret, passed pri­vately from guru to diSciple. Leadbeater and his fellow theosophists, Annie Besant and Madam Blavatsky, had advanced clairvoyant abilities, and were among the fIrst to put in writing and attempt to illustrate the human aura, the chakras and thought forms. At about the same time, Swa­mi Panchadasi of India came to America and published in 1912 The Human Aura, an equally profound exposition.

Leadbeater sought not to establish a new religion. Ra­ther, he wrote, he wanted to awaken "the inner faculties as yet latent in the majority of mankind" so that each person could independently investi-

C. W Leadbeater

gate and verify the worlds beyond the physical plane.

"I am perfectly aware that the world at large is not yet convinced of the existence of this power of clairvoyant sight," wrote Leadbeater. "But I also know that all who have really studied the question have found the evidence for it irresistible. To those who are daily in the habit of exercis­ing this higher vision in a hundred different ways, the denial of the majority that such sight is possible natural­ly seems ridiculous. It is as if a blind man came up to us and assured us there was no such thing as ordinary physi­cal sight, and that we were deluded in supposing that we possessed this faculty"

M A Y , 1998 HINDUISM TODA Y 31

LANGUAGE

Collaborators: (above) Dr: N.' Jha of West Bengal, a school principal and Sanskrit scholar, • skillfully deciphered the Indus script. Dr: N. Rajaram (left), a . mathematician, linguist and en­gineer in the field of artifiCial in­telligence and robotics, verified and publicized J~a's work.

Cracking the Indus Valley Code Two bold researchers say th~ ancient seals have surrendered their secrets

HAVE WORKED WFrH OUTSTANDING scientists at NASA, including Nobel laureates," Dr. N.S. Rajaram told HIN­DUISM TODAY. "Never have I met a ge­nius like Dr., Natwar Jha. His com-

ings. After ' a careful examination of his work, the American Vedic scholar Vamade: va Shastri (David Frawley) and N.S. Ra­jaram, both experts in the Indus civilization, believe his reading to be substantially cor­rect. By applying Jhas method~ they found they could independently read a large num­ber of seals. The breakthrough was report-

ed in the Indian press in November, 1997, but most scholars have yet to even hear of it, much less study Jhas,book.

mand of l'1u1guage and ability to correlate details is astounding." Jha's prodi­gious abilities may well earn him a coveted pla~e in history as the man who

Is it reasonable that an unknown scholar working in a rural part o.,f West Bengal could make such a breakthrough? At least two of the great decipherments of history-Egypt­ian hieroglyphics and MinoaI} "Linear B" .

script-were cracked by outside amateurs. Thomas Young, a bril­liant English doctor and physi­cist, deciphered hieroglyphics on the famed Rosetta Stone in

firtally deciphered the confound­ing script of the Indus Valley civ­ilization. The remains of that civ­ilization wer:e discovered by British explorers in 1875 in what is now Pakistan. Yet, much about the people who inhabited these urban centers remains in the. dark because the script they used, specimens of which are available on 4,000 small soapstone seals, has long baffled scholars.

Natwar Jha, a 58-year-olp Ve­dic scholar and paleographer [.rom West Bengal, may have 1'ound the solution to the great problem. In a slim volume of 60 pages titled' Vedic Glossary on Indus Seals, Jha has provided both the key to the ancient script as well as a large number of read-

32 lj:INDUISM TOElAY MAY , 1998

Alphabetic Parallels Indus sign:" Consonant "K"

Stages of Development:

earllestl ~ + ..... seals + N X X to )I K " ~ latest ~ 'fI

Equivalent signs In other languages:

+ "k" In Brahml

)I "k" In Phoenician

~ "k" In Hlmyarltlc

41 "k" In Aramaic

One of Jha's decipherment strategies was to relate the Indus script to other ancient scripts. Here the symbol (in several forms) identified as 'X " is related to Brahmi (Sanskrit's pre­Devanagari script), plus Phoenician, Himyaritic and Aramaic (Chaldean)-all Semitic languages of the Middle East. This means our English "K" dates back to the Indus Valley!

1815. The Linear B script was deciphered only in 1952 byJ he determined amateur Michael Ventris, a British architect. Out-

, siders, in fact, have a decided advantage over those logically more qualified for the work, for they do not share the prejudices and misconceptions which may have taken deep root among scholars.

The first and biggest miscon­ception corrected by Jha con­cerned who inhabited the Indus Valley. Most scholars believe it was a Dravidian-speaking peo-ple who were driven out of the

Dramatic decli 8indh and resu Punjab and Ha Back to farminl

What's the Deal About a Cr1 MAY , 1 9 98 HIN D U I SM

NDlJS SEALS ARE MADE FROM STEATITE (SOAPSTONE) and are about an inch square. On the 4,200 so far recov­ere(a there are 400 different signs with the average text just five signs long. Many have numbers on the sides or back

leading Jha and Rajaram to believe them a kind of library in~

i

<

" z

,.' c:J o .J o '" <

'" u

" <

"' o ... z

ptic Seal? ex cru:d system. The image and words, they sugges! bbreVlated statement of subject which then require ive verbal explanation or bhasya- the same style fo ter Sanskrit literature. Below are Jhas proposed rel

;;anskrit transliteration and English translation for

'" :li ... " < .. '" "

inah suretiih "Ish~ara, who~e creative force fills the universe"

vapvagha volJ,ha "Indra as Lord of Waters who washes away sins"

J

area in 1500 BeE py an invasion of Aryans from the north and west. They therefore as­sumed the script to be an ancient form of a Dravidian language, perhaps Tamil. All at­tempts to provide a Dravidian interpretation for the script have failed. But in the last ten years, a strong minority of scholars and oth­ers have challengea the Aryan Invasion the­ory as wrong and proposed that the people of the Indus Valley are the ancestors of peo­ple irho live in India today. Accepting this point of view, Jha proceeded on the as­sumption the seals were in an ancient form of Sanskrit.

Jha decided to search for Vedic words on the seals. In this he was helped .by an an­cient work known as the Nighantu. It is a glossar~ of Sanskrit words compiled by the sage Yaska. Jha also found that the "Shanti Parva" of the Mahabharata (the ancient his­tory of India) preserves an account of Yas­ka's search for older, "buried" glossaries­perhaps the seals-in compiling his own. From this Jha concluded that some of the seals must contain words found in Yaskas Nighantu. This conclusion was critical, for it greatly narrowed what he was looking for. The Nighantu is a late Vedic work, dealing with the words of ancillary ~dic texts. The entire Rig Veda would already have been in

. existence for thousands of'years at the time ,. the seals were produced. ~

o It has long been known that there was a ...

< correspondence between the Indus 'script " and characters iriother ancient scripts of the ~ Indian sub-continent and neighboring re- ~ gions. Especially it had been demonstrated

".

that there was some rt.: the Indus script and the of Brahmi, the predeces Devanagiri script. In an ~ relation, Jha compared a from all languages and I dance of siInilar charactl found that letters of m

Isadyattal). maral). "Ishvara who controls forces of destruction"

arka sruti "prayer for the SI

scripts were related to In'-------------------....! By painstaking cross-nationship between , .

---------....,Iflost ancient forms to the Sanskrit

OIIOI!1~1a~:J-?g feat of cor­characters

ly hit upon the'meaning of ir boIs, and found words from tb the seals. After several hundrl rived at a relatively consist translation that anyone can a job is to verify and refine his

With Dr. N.S. Rajar TO CONTACT DR. N. JH A AND TO OR!

GLOSSARY ON INDUS SEALS WRITE: GM INC HOUSE, D. 35177. J ANGAMAWADIMA1

INDIA. N.S. RAJARAM, F2 "RAJAT HA MAl TEMPLE ROAD, BASAVANAGUDI. 1

Stage 1: 7000-Beginnings of farming comrr

Stage 2: 4300-Developed far pastoral coron:

Stage 3: 3200-Agricultural SI

SOcieties, urba

Stage 4: 2600-The big leap. j

town planning scripts emerge

Stage 5: 2500-Indus in full b

Sf:Iu(a 8: '2.000-

"

. ARCHAEOLOGY

Fixing •

..

History B. B. Lal's book buries the Aryan Invasion myth by. exhuming India's true antiquity

HE OUTSTANDING FEATURE OF Professor Lal's book, <' says famed

historian Shiva G. Bajpai, "is that in one volume you have the l1WSt compre­hensive and up-to-date treatment of all the major archaeolggical sites of the

Indus-Saraswati civilization." Lal's book, The Earliest Civilization of South Asia, de­lineates in 300 pages of readable text, as well as abundant photographs of excavated sights and artifacts, an extensive and engaging ac­count of the Indus Valley Givilization's chro­nology, ecof!omy, religion, socio-politioal stratification, script as well as causes of de­cline and legacy. HINDUISM TODAY corre­spondent, Archana Dongre interviewed the learned author'and seasoned archaeologist, nqw 76, both in Los Angeles and in Delhi.

On the Aryan Invasion theory The Indus civilization came to a peak from 2600 BeE to 1900 Br;E. Marauding Aryans [war-like tribes from central Asia, central to an invasion theory long believed by Western Indologists] can no longer be held responsi­ble for the destruction of the Harappan civ­ilizat-ion. Perhaps climactic changes, envi­ronmental degradation and a steep fall in trade robbed the civilization of its affluence.

On why the Aryan Invasion is stili taught No overnight change is possible for many teachers and scholars. Let them first realize that there was no evidence of Aryan inva­sion. Also let them understand that the ge­ography of the Rig Veda coincide:s with that of Harappan civilization. The equation of Harappans being Dravidians [that is, the present residents of South India who speak Tamil, Telugu and related Dravidian lan­guages] does not exist. Max MulJer's theory tHat the Harappans were driven away to the south by marauding Aryans does not hold true, also because we do not have a single Harappan site in South India, south of the rive); Godavari [as would be expected if the Harappans were pushed to the South].

34 HINDUISM TODAY M4Y , 1998

Indus Valley, the earli~st civiliza­tion of South Asia, people from varied races and regions, even outside of the continent. Skele­tons -excavated indicate that, the population comprised Mediter­raneans, Caucasoids, Armenoid:1, Alpines, Australoids and Mon­goloids [meaning people from as far away as China and Europe were living in Indus Valley r . On yajna fire worship , Fire altars [which figure promi­nently in the ancient Vedic texts] have been found in Banawali, Lothal and Kalibangan cities of the Indus Valley. They are found

Saraswati River: This false-color satellite photo shows the missing five-mile-wide river-now dry

in houses and also in public places. In Kalibangan, a [0W of seven fire al­tars has been found in the southern half of the "Citadel," major part of the city. My

On who lived in Indus Valley I The flourishing trade, affluence, social or­der and a lifestyle of luxury had attracted to

chapter'on religion in The Earliest Civiliza­tion of South Asia deals extensively with fire altars, built in such a way that the worship­per can sit facing the east [an important point for the fire altars described in the Vedas-all allow the worshipper to f:ee east].

On the date of the Vedas The river Saraswati was a major river both in the Vedas and in the Harappan civiliza­tion, flowing from the Himalayan m6.untains to th¥ Bay of Bengal. [Long thought mythi­cal, it was recently rediscover~d in the deserts of Rajasthan from satellite images]. The sites at Kalibangan were ruined around 1900 BeE due to the drying up of Saraswati [caused by massive climatic changes and shifts in the Earth's surface]' The Vedas must date before that. Sanskrit probably ex­isted 2000 years before 1900 BeE [putting the origi'n of Sanskrit before 4000 BeE]. It can easily take two millenniums for a lan­guage to originate and develop to the level of versifying and compositions in meters.

On Natwar' Jha's Indus seal translations I have not evaluated his book [see page 32, in which Jha claims to have translated the seals,]. When it came out, my book was al­ready in print. But, I have devoted an entire chapter to the "Script and Language" in my book, and I have shown how the methodolo­gy of various scholars, the ones who are try­ing to read Sanskrit in it, and others who want to read Proto-Dravidian in it, have gone wrong. The simple test is that there should be uniformity. Wliatevet value you give to a symbol it-should be uniform throughout.

.. On tHe nature of the script The Harappan script is neither logographic, that is, comprised of pictures which corre­sponded to words, nor alphabetic, that is comprised of letters which formed words. It may have been at some transitional stage be­tween the logo graphic and the alphabetic, perhap~nearer the latter [a conclusion also reached'by Jha].

On his per'sonal religious beliefs I do not believe in external rituals like ha­vana (fire worship) or puja, but in the con­stant search for the ultimate truth through one's own experience, swanubhava. I was initiated many years ago by Gurudeva R. D. Ranade, wno was a professor of philosophy and later vice chancellor of the Allahabad University. I also believe in ~editation and yoga. Meditation and yoga practices enable one tg have a tensionless,'quiet mind. The mental energy is conserved. I believe in un­conditional, complete surrender to the God's wish. Then you are free from problems._

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Pointed penance: Steven Tan, one of many Chinese who joined the festival, ~ith spears

CELEBRATION

Malaysia~s Piercing Praxis '"

Ever-yone in the country joins in Tai Pus am

FISH HOOKS EMBEDDED IN backs and spears piercing their

hundreds of thousands of lVl'U'''fSl'''' Hindus marched toward a

prehi toric cave today in an annual ritual of -penance. The festival known as Tai Pusaro was brought to Malaysia in the 19th century by Indian immigrants who came to work on rubber estates and in government offices. In Malaysia, the pilgrimage drew one million people today-devotees and camera-snap­ping onlookers alike-to a temple at the Batu Caves {Mst north of the capital, Kuala LumRur.

Near the foothills of the temple, a penitent carried a 100-p0p?d kavadi up the 272 steps to the top. The kavadi, a metal frame cocoon­ing the penitents body, is attached With hun­dreds of thin hooks and steel shafts. An esti­mated 9,000 people carried it at the festival.

A stream ..... of trance-induced devotees fol­lowed the path up the temple steps today to

-pay homage to their deity, Lord Muruga. Their foteheads, tongues and cheeks were pierced with spears,. some as wide as broomstick handles. Everywhere, bal5. men smeared in holy ash and saffron powder and women' draped in orange saris 'chanted "Murugg, Muruga" amid the sweltering heat and thundering beat of drums.

After about two hours, priests, who

helped induce the trance, removed the skewers. Devotees claim to feel no pain and little blood comes out of the wounds. When the hooks and spears are removed, the only sign of the flagellation' is rednes~ and slight bruising. "It is all faith and belief in God," said temple priest Krishna Vadyar.

Before Tai Fusam, devotees fast for three to 48 days. During that time, they meditate daily and avoid food and drink throughout the day. They avoid alcohol and foods, such as onions, believed to arouse sexual desire. Only then, they say, are they prepared on the day itself to slip into a pain-defying trance.

All around the temple,),endors sold tinsel, fresh flowers, fruit and religious itemS. The ground was littered with offerings to the Gods, such as bananas and smashed co­conuts. The air was scented by jasmine and rose, and contemporary Tamil movie sound­tracks blared on speakE7s.

Some of this year's pilgrims said they were praying for fertility, fl good harvest, a pass­ing grade on school examinations. Others travel from near and far just to watch. An­drew Kaminski of Britain described the fes­tival as "quite gruesome but compelling." 'At first I thought I saw a man walking on stilts," Kaminski said. "But when he got closer I saw.he was walking on ax blades."

By Alvin Ung, Associated Press

MAY, 1998 HfNDUISM TODAY 35

~

" o

" z ~

" ~~==~--~-=~-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Expressions of India Series: (left to right) Barbie in Manipuri dress, as a Bharata Natyam dancer, and in Punjabi and Rajaslhani outfits

TOY S

Barbie's Dressed for India Worlds most popular doll gets a Hindu makeover

COLLABORATIVE EFFORT BETWEEN US toy giant MatteI and the Indian company Leo Toys has resulted in

skillfully executed "Expressions of India" series of "Barbie" dolls. When in­troduced in 1996, ehch doll sold for Rs. 600 in India (about uS$15). ProductioJ! ended last year, and now they are hot collector's items,., claiming a premium price in Ameri­ca 0£.$85.00 each- when you can find one.

Barbie, for the non-cognoscenti, is a foot­high plastic doll first introduced by MatteI toys in 1959. They've since sold a mind-bog- . gling one billion dolls, making Barbie the ' best -selling toy of all times. It is plausibly claimed by MatteI that every American girl has owned a Barbie by age el~ven. . Even though the dolls are "just a tQy," and

intended for five- to eleven-yeq[-old girls, Barbie has become, since her introduction forty years ago, a kind of barometer of American attitudes toward women. For ex­ample, MatteI's decision in late 1997 to mod­ify. the doll's appearance resulted in a froht­pa:ge article in the Wall Street Journal, and numerous other articles and editorials on the social significance of the changes (such as her less shapely 90S figure).

Barbie is a "fashion doll," intended to ful­fill a child's fantasies of growing up. She also

36 HINDUISM TODAY MAY , 1998

retains a cult .following among adults, one sign ' of which is that nearly every major . clothes designer, such as Oscar de la Renta, has created outfits for Barbie. Among collec­tors, a very rare Barbie can fetch $1,500.

The "Expressions in India" series is part of a global effort by MatteI begun'in 1981 to produce accurate ethnic dolls that success­fully transpl(int Barbie into every race and nation. Originally, MatteI exported Barbie in her native look lpld dress, that is, blond hair, pink sunglasses, pink mini-skirt, pink bi­cycle, and tanned, tall and handsome boy-friend, Ken. She found modest success when so introduced to India in 1987, but not Ken (an ex­act clone of actor Robert Redford, incidentally), wh~ flopped among young Indian girls not used to el1e idea of having a boy friend. Manu­facturers adjusted Barbie to look more Indian, with dark .., hair, a shade darker skin, ~ bindu, and Indian dress. Ini- ~

American Style: Barbie and boyfriend Ken ready to do a Hollywood'party

tially most of the outfits were saris of vari­ous colors, selling for as low as Rs. 109. Only later did they venture into the detailed, hand-made outfits of the "Expressions of In­dia" series.

The "Mystical Manipuri" Barbie comes in the traditional folk dance dress of the Indi­an state of Manipur. The red skirt is deco­rated with gold brocade, and the doll loaded with authentic jewelry includes a gold neck­lace, head dress, gold anklets and red and yellow bangles. The B~arata Nat yam doll is named "Swapna Sundari," which happens to be the name of a famous Kuchipudi dancer. Swapna (the real-life dancer) was miffed by MatteI's appropriation of her name, and the doll was immediately withdrawn from pro­duction.

The Sohni Punjab Di, "Beauty of Punjab," doll is attired in the style of the state of Pun-1ab, with a satin yellow sarong-like skirt or

i.ungi that has pinklfuc}1sia flowers and a gold brocade border, a matching kU$ blouse and substanttal jew­elry. The last doll, Roopvati Rajasthani, is of the style of Rajasthan, and is especially elaborate, ineluding an over­size nose ring that would be' eight inches in diameter in real life. MatteI has created dolls in the regional dress of Japan, the Philippines, Nor­way, Ireland, Native Ameri­cans and many more nations of the wOFld. ..

SOURCES: KAY's COLLECTIBLES, 2 0 8 TINDERWOOD DRIVE, FRANKFORT,

KENTUCKY, 4 0601-4004 USA

Gayatri Gyanyagya Samaroh, Chicago

GayatI'i Yugnirman Chicago will cel­ebrate GAYATRI GYANYAGYA SAMAROH on Gurupurnima, Jul. 12, '98. The head of Gayatri Pariwar, Yugnirman Yojana, Mathura, India- REV. SHRI LILAPATJI SHARMA-will attend, mak­ing it the most auspicious and grand event of the year-a unique opportu­nity to receive Saint Lilapatji's bless­ings. Call: Gayatri Mandir, Chicago: 773-465-2533 or Gayatri Pariwar, Chicago: 847-692-7712.

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37

, AYURVEDA

The Yellow·-Miracle Root , '

Turmeric is a low -cost cure for what ails you

G

Spice seller: Newar vendor with bags of turmeric in a Kathrrwndu, Nepal, rrwrketplace

HINK "NATURAL HEALING," AND YOU

likely conju;e an image 'of rare herbal extracts with exotic names. But don't Un­derestimate the curative powers of com­

mon spices. Case in point: turmeric. Just consider the uhassuming yellow root's magi­cal effect on wounds. Ayurvedic doctor Virendra Sodhi told HINDUISM TODAY: "I had a bad bicycle accident some time ago. Falling

38 HINDUISM TODA.Y M4Y, IggB

from my bike on a downhill trail, I badly scraped my skin from elbow to shoulder. I applied turmeric and ghee paste to the wound, and it healed completely in ten days. I don't even have a scar to show from it."

Turmeric is gaining ground in the Ameri­can health' market. An ad from the Indiana Botanic Gardens hypes, "Joint pain? Try for relief with .... Turmeric! Discover for your-

self the amazing health benefits of this in­expensive, common spice." Against arthritis and other tissue infl~atory illnesses, the ad correctly explains, turmeric is as effec­tive as hydrocortisone, and with none of the drug's side-effects.

Western researchers are rediscovering properties already familiar to Ayurveda: age-abating antioxidant, digestive enhancer, liver protector, blood purifier, antiseptic, anti-swelling, cholesterol buster, skin toner and anti-cancerous. More uses are being discovered as researchers experiment with curcuminoids, turmeric's active chemical in-gredient. '

Two eager researcRers were so enamored with the spice that they applied for and re­ceived in 1995 an exclusive US patent for its use on wounds. Thanks to a protest by the • Indian government's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the 'patent was thrown out last August on the grounds of "prior art" or existing public knowledge.

Haridra in Sanskrit, Curcuma longa botanically, turmeric is a small plant closely related to ginger. Its bright yellow, ginger­like roots are ground into a paste or powder. It is used in cuisines as varied as Indian and Italian. The plant is sacred to Hindus, in­digenous to India and an essential part of its society. In temples, turmeric water is used daily in ritual ablution of the Deities. The powder mixed with unpolished rice is an important offering during puja.

Kumkurrw (literally "red-red"), that dis­tinctive for~head mark of pious Hindus, is turmeric turned red by mixing with lime. It is common practice among women to apply turmeric paste before ~ bath to cleanse and revitalize the skin. At home, turmeric is used in many recipes fQ[ flavor and as a preservative in making pickles.

"E. Coli or Salmonella bacteria don't stand a chance against even a pinch of, turmeric," says Dr. Sodhi. At his clinic in Bellevue, Washington, he liberally prescribes turmer­ic to treat a kaleidoscope of problems, from Iheartburn, liver and kidney disorders to surgical trauma~ not to mention arthritis, "It iS,my favorite herb. The only other herb that comes close to turmerics wide reaching C'l: pabilities is ginger. Also, there are no side effects." A medicinal dose is a teaspoon a day with e~ch meal. A

More research on turmeric's power is un-derway, including its effect on cancer. Dr. Sodhi said a study in India linked the low rate of cancer among Indians to their use of turmeric. He recommends that turmeric be used raw to treat ailments. If cooked or heated, it looses its effectiveness.

The US$3 per pound kitchen spice is just as effective as the far more costly 500 mil­ligram tablets (at $90 a pound) or the even more expensive standardized extracts of curcumin. ....J

Lioness of Hindu dharma: Shakuntala Arya's strong religiOUS will vitalizes her role as rrwyor

WOMEN OF VISION

.duJ~ling_ Spir.it " Politics Delhis mayor finds strength in daily ritual worship

ROM A DISTANCE, SHAKUNTALA ARYA,

69, looks like an ordinary PUnJabi , housewife, not at all like the rrwyor of

_ I Delhi-the world's twenty-first largest city. The Bharatiya Janata Party tapped

o her for the post bi1$ed on her years of politi­cal in.,volvement, even though she had never actually held office. Deeply religiOUS and hardworking, Mrs. Arya is hailed as an en­ergetic fOl-ce-her first mission was to clean up Delhi's streets, possi~ly the world's most intimidating piece ofhoosekeeping. To see what rrwkes this unique leader tick, we/sent our HINDUISM TODAY correspondent, Rajiv Mqlik, to interview her in Delhi.

On family religious upbringing My father belonged to the army, but de­spite this he never wavered from dharma. We all arose at 4AM:-even the two-year old. After arising, our whole family per­formed hatha yoga postures, then partici-

o pated in yagna, ritual fire worship. Without . yagn'a and a baili, no breakfast was al- .,

lowed. Father took us to Arya SamaJ:reli­gious gatherings, and to meetings ad­dressed by prominent saints. Listening was not enough-after returning home my fa­ther had us repeat it in writing. '

On hffi' daily morning schedule I still arise at 4AM, the Brahma Muhurta period. The Rig Veda says that prana vayu-the vital, life-giving energy of the air-flows at this time. Those who inhale this prana remain healthy and blissful,

while those whose doors are closed and faces covered with blankets are deprived of it. I work on writing books for awhile, perform 2Q yoga postures, yagna and only then take 19reakfast. After breakfast, my time belongs completely to the ·people.

On her role as mayor My first priority is to attend religious func­tions, then political. Even while performing mayoral duties, I never miss daily fire wor­ship, whether traveling on the train or abroad. One time while in another country, in the hotel I performed yagna, and due to the smoke, sireI!s started wailing. It was a panic! The hotel staff ran in. I explained everything to them, I pointed to the vessel in which yagna is performed, which is part of my travel kit, and from which the smoke was emanating. The staff left smiling.

On corruption Those of us who talk of removing corrup­tion from public life must first r~move it from our own life. We must see whe(e we personally stand in this matter. For in­stance, we five people who are present [for this interview 1 must today pledge to never accept or give bribes. Even not offering bribes is a brave move in todays times.

On abuse of women and children Before becoming mayor, I was president of a body for th~ struggle of women's rights. In many cases we found that the wife her­self was exploiting her husband. I feel that

if women are being exploited, the responsi­bility for this also lies in iliemselves. Re­garding children, today pare'nts encourage and feel proud when their young children sing obscene film songs and emulate film actors and actresses. But what looks like a blessing at this point becomes a ourse later in lif~. We must encclurage and inspire our girls to become like Rhani, the noble Queen of Jhansi. But uhfortunately we en­courage them to emulate films stars like Madhuri Dixit. I feel the mother is to be blamed for this. Mother is the first guru of the child and can transform her completely.

On her message to youtlf' You.th have the capacity to get things done. You can realize your golden dreams. Wher­ever you go, in whatever sphere you work, you can bring about a revolution, because your blood is hot, your youth is full 'of en­iliusiasm. Youth must pledge to not give or take dowry. The girl must also say she will not marry someone who is interested in dowry. Secondly, youth must always keep the religious viewpoint. When I visit other countries, I tell Hindu youth to never forget their Indian culture and Hindu roots. Re­member that ultimately it is our Indian cul­ture which will see us through life. Run­ning after Western culture will not take us anywhere. It is like the deer who looks for the good smell outside himself, whereas it is corning from his own stomach. Today Westerners come to India with much inter­est, as they are .fed up with materialism.

On systems of family I prefer the joint family system. Grandpar­ents living in the home witl shower the grandchildren with love and affection, fa­miliarize them with our ancient, rich cul­ture, and look after their health and char­acter, all of which will lead to better development of the children. When both .the parents are working, they cannot give due time and attention to the kids.

On Indian women . Indiqn women are sacrifice and penance personified. Their shyness is accepted as a virtue the world over. They are deeply ryli­gious. And they keep away from sinful ac­tions. They make many sacrifices for their children, husband and society.

On Hinduism Someone who believes in God is as much a Hindu as someone who doesn't. Hinduism is s6 liberal. But I treat only that individual as a Hindu who loves his own culture, who loves ffirery particle of the earth to which he belongs, where he was born. He'IIlust treat all the rivers of iliis country, Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati, as his moiliers. He does not even want to crush an ant. ~

MAY , IggB HINDUISM TODAY 39

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40

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Rudra Yagom r NGy 22-25# 1998

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. PARENTING

Fall Back, Spring Forwa~d . How children C<fall .apart" just b~fore new growth

FORTY YEARS OF PEDIATRIC

in Massachusetts, participat­in the parenting of 25,000 pa­

tients, I have developed the map of early child development," writes Dr. Berry Brazelton in his bestselling Touchpoints, The Essential Reference. It is his 24th child­care volume. Brazelton, 80, is perhaps the world's most experienced mind on child raising 'from prenatal to six-year-olds-the storm-and-sun period-bringing parents

child as an individual!" 'J'ouchpoints covers emotional change­

overs affecting basic functions and learning: sleep, eating, independence with walking, communication, discipline and toilet train­ing. On disciplining two-year-olds, Brazelton writes: '1\s I warn parents, it's easy to predict whicH times of day she'll be at her worst; at the end ef the day when you are both tired, whenever you have an important visitor, get on the phone or go to the grocery store.

When a toddler asks for attention, she needs a hug or a short bit of recognition, not anger. Physical punishment such as hitting or spanking will mean two things to her: one, that you are bigger than she and you can get away with it, and two, that you believe in ag­gression. Discipline is the second most important thing you do for a child. Love comes first, and disci­pline second. Discipline means

• teaching, not punishment."

Friend to kids: Brazelton knows their biological clock

We all know parents are a '€hild's first role model. So if Mom leaves home to worK, the child's mind is taught that one-on-one love and teaching from a mother doesn't come first, making money does. Brazelton realizes this, and in interviews with newspapers flatly promotes a viewpoint hotly criticized: "Mothers really need to stay home with their babies. Every' day home is a gift to your child. If they want to work, moth­ers better split themselves in two. We're not family and child-ori­ented in our society. We are the

doubt and late-niglit vigils. The book is a guided map to just about

every situation a parent encounters-from bed-weWng to imaginary friend~ and deal­ing ~ith loss and death. Each of these.de­velopmental markers signify "toucJ.ipoints: predictable times occurring just before a surge of rapid growth in any line of develop­ment-motor, cognitive or emotional­when, for a short time, the child'S behavior falls apart." Brazelton clarifies the positive nature of touchpoints: "They become a win­dow through which parents can view great energy that fuels a child for learning. A child's strengths and vulnerabilities, as well as tempelrament and coping style, all sur­face. What a chance for understanding the

least supportive country in terms of par­ents." "He's never been a champion of work­ing moms," says Judsen Culbreth, editor of Working Mother magazine.

Touchpoints explores speciftc issues of child-rearing in the first six years: siQ.ling ri­valry, crying, tantrums, waking at night, ly­ing, television and more. Brazelton sees these as expressions of the child's emerging struggle for autonomy and offers solutions in which the parents remove themselves from the struggle and thus can defuse it. For par­ents with youngsters, Touchpoints provides rich background and solid practical knowl­edge in successfully raising kids. ..,

TO ORDER TOUCHPOI~TS. THE ESSENTIAL REFERENCE, WRITE TO: ADDISO~SLEY PUBLISHING CO. , INC., RTE. 128,

REDDING , MASSACHUSETTS 100146, USA

EVOLUTIONS AWARDED: to sannyasini Guru Maa Jy­otlshananda Saraswatl, the Talented Ladies Award in the Spirituality cate­gory, by Bharat Nirman at the India In­ternational Cen­ter in New Delhi, December 19, 1997. Every year Bharat Nirman honors ladies in vocations ranging from dance to naturopathy. Guru Maa heads Maa Jyotishananda the Vedic Her-itage Institution in New York.

GIFTED: -05$250,000 by Silicon Valley en­trepreneur Narpat Bhandari to estab­lish the endowed Chandra Bhandari Chair in India Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. It was given in honor of his wife Chandra, to pro­mote her lifelong interest in Indias his­tory, culture and the practices of nonvi­olence. It is part of a vision to establish an international India studies center.

APPOINTED: Sri Rama Mata as the spiri­tual successor to her late husband, Sant Keshavadas. She assumes the man­tle of guru of Vishwa Shanti Ashram in Banga­lore, India, and responsibility to propagate Ke­shavadass teach­ings worldwide through the

The new leader

Temple of Cosmic Religion.

HELD LIABLE: California's Ananda Church by a county jury on February 6, 1998, for fraud and emotional dis­tress. Anne-Marie Bertolucci, 34, was awarded US$625,000 in compensatory damages. Anan­das spiritual head, J. Donald Walters (AKA Swami Kriyanan­da), 72, was or­dered February 19 to pay addi­tional punitive damages of J. Donald Walters US$1,000,000. Walters admitted in testimony under oath to having had sex with female devotees. Ananda plans to appeal.

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MAY , 1998 HINDUISM TODAY 41

I

42

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Classified ads are uS$25 for 20 words, $lIword for each additional word, payable in advance • Hinduism Today, 107 Kaholalele Rd, Kapaa, Hawaii, 96746-9304 USA. Tel: 800-850-1008 or 808-823-9620 • Fax: 808-822-4351. E-mail: ads@hindu.org

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Ganges clayfired statues for puja, meditation, immersion, other rituals. Sixty intricately hand-painted images, many hard to find. Color catalog includes 200 other deities. Send US$2 to: JBL, Box 163 H, Crozet, VA 22932-0163 USA.

Quality Incense from India. Golden Rose. Neel Kamal. Pure Sandal­wood cones, and more. Tel: 970-949-6329 USA Email: vel@vail.net

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Education

Accredited Vedic astrology degree program offered by state-recognized Florida Vedic Col­lege (FVC. ) Also: books, workshops. Contact Shyamasundara Dasa, Dean of Astrology (FVC), Jyotish Sastri, member ICAS, fully trained by masters in India, over 20 years ex­perience, author of the pioneer Matrix Jyotish

Vedic astrology program that made Vedic astrology accessible to the West. Tel 352-332-3931. E-mail: shyamasundara.acbsp@com.bbt.se

Excellent correspondence course on Vedic Astrology by Jyotish Krishnan, recipient of several awards including the recent award of Jyotish Vachaspathi by ICAS, India. Normal cost for four courses, US$558 (regis­tration through May '98: $200 off). TeVfax: 972-783-1242 or write: PO Box 852892, Richardson TX 75085-2892 USA.

Vedic Astrology classes, workshops, tapes, books. Offered by Umananda-Stephen Quong, Ph.D., Jyotisha Vachaspati.17513 Grizzly Den Road, Lake Shastina, CA 96094-9448, USA. Tel: 530-938-2997. Website: www.jyotisha.com E-mail: quongassoc@jyotisha.com

Free Products and Services

Free educational flow charts on all aspects of Hinduism. Write to Viswanath. Am I a Hindu? Box 56697, New Orleans, LA 70156-6697 USA. arvind-4@msn.com

Find God. "What right has a man to say that there is a God if he does not see Him?" Any­one with a burning desire to honestly know God, please contact Dr. Aruna, 183 Jalan Besar, Bukit Tengah, 14000 Bukit Mertajam, Penang, West Malaysia.

For inspiration, call 808-822-7482 (or 808-822-SIVA) day or night for a recorded sermonette by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. Sixty upadeshas are rotated and changed daily, each one is ten to eighteen minutes in length and covers topics such chakras, the story of the soul, handling karma, fear, worry and other states of externalized consciousness, affirmations, putting teachings into practice, establishing oneself in sadhana, color meditations, and much more.

Jewelry

Affordable gems/jewelry for ayurveda, astrology, meditation. Satisfaction guaranteed. Mail order. King Enterprises, 1305 N. H St.lA-289-T, Lompoc, CA 93436-4377 USA. Tel: 805-736-0449 (business hours.)

Astrological rings, pendants of gemstones, made to order in 14, 18, 22 karat gold or silver. Call Manju: 914-434-6630 (USA).

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Hindu Deity paintings, notecards and prints from India. Website: http://www.lakshmi.com. Catalog. Lakshmi International, 411 Madison Street, Boonton, NJ 07005-2051

East Indian instruments and gift items. Giant selection of instruments: harmoniums, tabla, daggas, kirtan instruments, audio/video tapes. Also incense, spiritual books, etc. For a beautiful catalog, send US$l to Encinitas Imports, PO Box 230419-H, Encinitas, CA

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Beautiful devotional sculptures and masks. Special new-year offer-33% off classic cast stone murthies for your home, temple or retail shop. Ganesh, Shiva, Laxmi, Sarasvati, Durga, Buddha. Ht: 2 ft. (61 cm) or 4-5 ft. (1.2-1.5 m). Free catalog, tel: 800-608-8632,515-472-8115. Vedic Sculpture Studio, 607 W Broadway #136, Fairfield, IA 52556-3200 USA.

ExquiSite Vedic paintings done to order. Art book, Windows to Spiritual World. Pushkar, PO Box 1094, Alachua, FL 32615-1094 USA. Tel: 904-462-0144. www.seva.iskcon.netlpushkaralintrop.htm

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Discover the heart and mind of India/Nepal. Journey with Dr. Martin and Carol Noval. Noval TourslTreks. Brochure: 800-486-6825 (USA)

Products/Stores

Purity Farms organic traditional ghee. 100% pure, from cows raised completely free of hormones, chemicals or pesticides. A delight to cook with! Wholesale or retail. Ask about our 89-page book, Making and Using Ghee--the Royal Oil. Call 303-647-2368, USA.

Elegant, custom-designed Hindu clothing for all occasions-kurtas, punjabs, salwar kameez, etc. Also, western. Free brochure: Palani Sewing, tel: 510-680-7278 (USA). E-mail: spalani@flash.net

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Sri Auroblndo books. Ayurveda. Reiki. Classi­cal spiritual texts. Homeopathy. Aromatherapy. Alternative health. Also over 7,000 health products including ayurveda, homeopathic remedies, herbal remedies, incense, essential oils, massage oils, etc. Wholesale-retail-mail order. Free catalog. Lotus Light, Box 1008HT, Silver Lake, WI 53170-1008 USA.

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Palani Panchang 1998. Trivedi's American Pan­chang available in English or Gujarati. US$9 +$2 s/h. 3 versions for NY, Chicago, San Fran­cisco times. 510-490-1533. Devendra Trivedi, 4831 Piper St, Fremont, CA 94538 USA.

Samvid and Bharatiya Yidya: quarterly research journals on Indian culture. Samvid (Sanskrit): US$10/year. Bharatiya Vidya (English): $60/year (surface mail). Phone: (+91-22)-363-4462/3/4. Fax: (+91-22)-363-0058. "Demand Draft" only, payable to BHARATIYA VIDYA BHAVAN cio The Editor, Samvid, or Bharatiya Vidya , Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Kulapati K.M. Munshi Marg, Mumbai 400 007, India.

Vacation/Retreat

The Cave. Are you ready for the next step? Is your spirit "climbing the wall" to be free? Do you want to go deeper? Does true stillness evade you? Perhaps you are ready for Samadhi Cave, (NM, USA). Available for sadhana on donation basis, March-November. Tel/fax: 505-473-3560. http://www.samadhihermitage.org E-mail: ananda@samadhihermitage.org.

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Acclaimed spiritual videos: Sadhana­India's holy men, see the Kumbha Mela.

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43

I

I I

HEALING

AI DS: The epidemic That May Not Be Unconventional sexual activity, harmful drugs' and toxi~ remedies can explain this disease

BY, DEVANANDA TANDAVAN, M.D .

ECEMBER 1,1997, marked World AIDS' Day. A United Nations agency gravely an­nounced that AIDS has

struck the world much harder than previously thought-30 mil­lion people are 'now infected with f,UV: For the last two months we have explored the position of a minority of doctors and medical researchers who believe AIDS is not an epi<~emic in the traditional sense. We have explained that no one has proven scientifically that HIV causes MDS, that the common HIV test can yield positive results for many conditions completely unrelated to AIDS and that the potent toxic drugs, such as AZT, used to treat HIV +, are alone quite capable of killing a patient. This month we complete our appraisal of this point of view with a discussion of the various risk factors which can cause a breakdown of the immune system, and with further aspects of AIDS statistics, transmission and treatment.

Risks: After years of study, researchers still find that AIDS is predominantly a male homosexual disease. The only females shown to have t~e disease were intravenous " drug users (including probable use of amyl or butyl nitrate-"poppers," a powerful stimulant) or recipients of anal sex. Kaposi's Sarcoma (a cancer associated p,rith AIDS) uhtil recently was solely a male condition. It now appears in females, and "Zhen accu­rate histori.'es are obtained, the females are shown to be either intravenous drug users, sleeping and sharing needles with intra­venous drug users, or having anal sex.

There is a strong correlation between use of'poppers and Kaposi's Sarcom'il. It is seen in persons who test both positive and nega­tive for HIV: Poppers heighten the sexual experience and relax the anal sphincter­this being a strong reason for its use, de-

44 HINDUISM TODA>Y M Y , 1998

spite the fact its correlation with Kaposi's Sarcoma has been known for years. Doctors must be skillful in recording a patient's history, for the patient often lies about drugs and sex habits-causing the doctor to miss obvious correlations be­tween their physical condition and their lifestyle.

Anal sex does not cause AIDS, as some claim. But it does cause immune suppression, in two ways: by the act itself and by absorption of semen and sperm trat is deposited in the rectum. One of the rectum's natural functions is to ab­sorb fluids from the bowel, and this is one way abnormal· proteins infiltrate the blood stream, leading to immune suppression. Fluids flow just the opposite in vaginal insemination-foreign protein is not ab­sorbed, .but either moved up and into the uterus or down and out of the body. Also, rough sex can damage rectum membranes so that direct entry into the blood is possi­ble by semin.al fluids. At the same time many, if not most, of these encounters are associated with jmmunosuppressing pop­pers. This helps explain why heterosexual transmission of the disease is uncommon (unless anal sex is used). The HIV status of people using anal sex seems to be equally divided between positive and negative, and no predictions can be made as to the level of increased immunosuppre~sion.

Other risk factors for developing AIDS are use of street drugs and some prescrip­tion drugs; intravenous use of street drugs and sharing of needles; recipients of blood transfusion (possibly for hemophiliacs); or other methods of getting a foreign protein into the blood stream. Starvation or malnu­trition often cause immunosuppression.

Testing positive for HIV is not one of these risk Factors. Ward, et al, (1989) stud­ied a group of paired patients, half testing

HIV+ and half testing HIV-. They report­ed, "Nowhere have we been able to find any evidence whatsoever that transfusion of HIV ever caused any disease."

Many legal and illegal drugs can suppress' the immune system, including cocaine, nitrite inhalants, amphetamines, barbitu­rates, ethyl chloride inhalers, phenylcycli­dine, heroin, marijuana and medically pre-scribed drugs of the DNA terminator type which are toxic and designed to kill cells. The hazard of these drugs is increased by frequent sharing of needles,

often with dried blood upon therp.. These drugs cause a marked depression of the. immune system-the greater and lo~ger the use, the more depression. It was shown in 1908 by Terry and Pellens that long habitu­ated users of "recreational" drugs develop AIDS-like symptoms of weight Idss, demen­tia, fevers, mouth infections, endocarditis and pneumonias. This was long befdre HIV was found or the term AIDS used.

We must conclude that the condition called AIDS may be explained directly by the individual's lifestyle. There is no need

to postulate an infectious cause. Immune systems of patients are depressed by pro­longecl.;and chronic use of street drugs. Dietary deficiency further depress~s the immune system. Sex-stimulating drugs,and anal sex add to it. Eventually a patient has typical Il).arkers of AIDS-weight loss, de-

. pression, dementia, fever and other oppor­tunistic i~fections-because the immune system is so weakened that it cannot recov­er from these assaults. He may easily test positive for HIV for any of these reasons, not because he has contracted "HIV." Once he is given immunosuppressive prescription drugs as therapy and the vicious cycle of immunosuppression is started, it continues until there is real and very serious illness, which is .then called AIDS.

Common criteria of inflanlIDatory dis­ease are not present in AIDS; researchers increasingly accept the idea that AIDS is not an infection. Transmission is unlike any infection known. Support for this comes from studies of pregnant women. Infants are born with AIDS symptoms if the moth>­er is a chronic drug user and HIV - , but with no symptoms if she is not a chronic drug user even .though she is HIV+. That means drug use is the cause of the child's AIDS symptoms, not an infectious agent.

Other questions: Aside from issues of definition, transmission, etc., is the value of the "viral load" test to "monitor" progress of a patient's disease. By manipulating a pa­tient's blood sample, doctors look for cells or fragments that are assumed fo be part of the HIV virus. When found, these are magnified, again by manipulation, to give a number supposedly corresponding to the total virus present in the body. There are many deficiencies in the test as discussed in Reappraising AIDS, edited by Paul Philpott. His conclusion is that the vfral load test has not been properly standard­ized, hence wor~hless as an aid to therapy.

Published numbers for AIDS are confus­ing. The United Nations generates consoli­dated figures, but agencies report to the UN differently-some report only HIV+ cases, others report HIV + and full AIDS. A few report only full blown AIDS cases. Then the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) uses cumulative statistics, meaning the total number of people with AIDS ea,ch year are added to the totals for all previous y~s­ignoring the fact that the same person may be counted in more than one year.

A further complication is that the CDC frequently changes definitions. In 1981 only 12 diseases qualified as AIDS, with no mention of HIV positivity or CD-T 4 cell counts. In 1985 seven more diseases were added, plus a requirement of being HIV+. In 1993 four more diseases were added, with a further stipulation on CD-T 4 count.

Three more conditions were recently added to the AIDS category: cervical carci­noma, recurrent pneumonia' and tuberculo­sis. These three occurred for many years before the AIDS controversy and seem to have nothing in common with the otner diseases, except to raise statistics. All of this causes a UN rep'ort of "30 million in­fections" to be very misleading.

The World Health Organization and others have entirely different criteria. The WHO does not require any HIV positivity to diagnose AIDS. Wasting of the body and presence of dementia (mental deteriora­tion) are far more important. It seems there is a different political agElnda for each defi­nit.lon as given by various organizations.

Estimates of HIV / AIDS patients in India and Africa are large. AIDS in Africa fol­lows different diagnostic rules and probably has nothing to do with bIIV: Because of differences in lifestyle, there are different risk factors for those nations. It is difficult to test correctly in these areas, except in larger medical centers. Statistics are also suspect because of indiscriminate use of the terms HIV and AIDS. Doctors do not hesitate to guess the number of people with disease. Most of these '/\IDS" patients are ill because of starvation.

Treatment and prevention: Alternative treatment shows good results in the small number of heroic patients who have used it. Herbals, homeopathic remedies, mas­sage, supplemented nutrition, acupuncture and reasonable exercise are combined ac­cording to the patient's needs. As the im­mune system is stimulated, improvement occurs gradually; as long as all use of toxic and street drugs is stopped. Recently news­papers reported that AIDS deaths are de­creasing, attributed to new mugs. There is no real assessment of the "cocktail" drugs at this time. These cocktails still contain the AZT-type DNA terminators and' pro­.tease inhibitors; both are highly toxic.

Louis Pasteur was a major figure in med­icine's germ theory. He said, "Terrain is more important than the germ." In other • words, if the body's immune system is de­pressed, almost any germ, regardless of potency, may cause illness. A good example of this is that the tubercle bacillus is every­where in our environment, yet few of us contract tuberculosis. If we choose a lifestyle of good nutrition, moderate exer­cise and sensible sexual life, avoiding street drugs, and are wary of toxic prescribed drugs, we shall not need to fear AIDS.

• DR. TANDAVAN, 78, retired nuclearphysi­cian and hospital staff president, lives in Chicago, where he specializes in alternative healing arts. Visit his home page at the HINDUISM TODAY w ebsite.

MAY , 1998 HINDUISM TOD AY 45

;'

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A TEMPLE BUILT TO LAST 1.000 YEARS

Where do I belongP: Her gaze on an English tea set and arms in Indian bangles, an Tracy Christensen idles while her parents share afternoon tea in McCluskiega11j, India

Between Two Worlds Bharat's Anglo-Indians struggle with identity

. CCLUSKIEGANJ, A HAMLET OF DE­

crepit brick and neglected gardens, is inhabited by people 'whose mixture of identities has left them uncertain

of a place in their homeland ever since Indi­an independence. Timothy McCluskie, of Indo-Irish parentage, carved this niche for himself and others like him in the 1930S when the Indian national movement accel­erated. Those who feared they were neither British enough to emigrate to Britain 'nor In­dian enough ,to stay welcomed the enclave.

McCluskie sought out this spot in the cool hills 625 miles east of New Delhi and named it McCluskieganj. "Ganj" means alley in Urdu, but translates roughly to "neighbor­hood." Nearly 400 families of Anglo-Indians, a catchall phrase in India for everyone of mixed European and Indian ancestry, had settled here by the time the British left In­dia's shores in 1947. In McClpskieganj's hey­day "We had dance parties, picni~ and a lot of social gatherings," recalls D. R. Cameron, a 68-year-old retired army captain. Their status and fortune have declined in the 50 years India has been independent. Only 20 Anglo-Indian families, mostly elderly, are left in McCluskieganj.

Homes are deserted. Weekly services at the Anglican and Catholic churches draw only a few worshipers. At independence, panic gripped many Anglo-Indians who feared that die favors they had enjoyed un-

der the British would end. Young Anglo-In­dians migrated to Britain, Australia and Canada. "Nqtionwide, the number of Anglo­Indians has dwindled from 300,000 in 1947 to 150,000," said Hedwig Michael Rego, who represents them in Inp.ia's national parlia­ment. Government job quotas for Anglo-In­dians have been abando~d, and legislative quotas end in three years. "Who will hear our voice then?" Rego said.

Despite their pale skin, "the Br;itish treat­ed us as third class citizens," said Cameron. Indians treated them with contempt. "We saw in them the remnants of the British Raj," said Deepak Singh, an Indian school­teacher in Mc€luskieganj. In that liIljl.bo, many families clung to their ties to the colo­nial rulers, speaking only English at home, striving to mimic the lifestyle of upper class Brits. Their English guaranteed them jobs in the Briti~h-run civil service and military.

Now, few know Indian languages well enough to compete in the job market, Rego said. Cameron said Anglo-Indians depended' on government jobs, failing to develop as entrepreneurs. A.K. Raphael, a 78-year-old retired police officer, blames it all on inde­pendence. "India has gone down hill since inCtependence. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had very good ideas, hut most of them have failed." wi

By Ashok Sharma, Associated Press

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June 12-14 June 20

VEDIC MONK - TEACHER - AUTHOR

Spirit of Ayurvedic Healing Tour

*ekend Workshop Program

Keynote Address Healing Through Cognitzve Memory

All-Day Workshq/J Ayurvedic Approach

to Women 5 Care

HalfDa,y Satsung Charitable Program for Cancer Patients

1998 Us. CONFERENCE LOCATIONS San Francisco, CA - Mind/Body Saminars Sacramento, CA - The Event Center Sante Fe, NM - The Sterling Institute Omaha, NE - Omaha Yoga and Bodywork Center New York City, NY - Source of Life Center Saylorsburg, PA - Arsha Vidya Gurukulam

Group Invocation of Personal & Cosmic

Sound

(530)887-7402 (530)887-7402 (505)984-3223 (402)553-8250 (212)932-1658 (212)932-1658

1998 AYURVEDIC PRACTITIONER PROGRAMS August 16-21 Intermediate Pancha Karma: Wise Earth School, Asheville, NC (704)258-9999

Oct. 23-25, Nov. 6-8 Ayurvedic Sadhanas: Open Center, .New York, NY (212)219-2527

/

Sivananda Ashram Yoga Camp

Established by Swami Vishnu­devananda in 1962 and located amidst 250 acres of peace­ful forest in the Laurentian moun­tains, 1 hour north of Montreal. Year­round program includes morning and evening meditations and two yoga classes.

• June 27-July 25: Childrens' Summer Yoga Camp • June 28-July 4: Vedic Architecture, with Dr. V. Ganapati Sthapati, founder and research director of the Vastu Vedic Research Foundation, Madras, India • July 5-Aug. 2: Yoga Teacher's Training course • Aug. 2-9: Bhagavata Saptaham wi Sant Venu Gopal Goswami • August 17-23: Vandana Shiva, director of Research Foundationfor Science, Technology & Ecology, Dehradun, India and Andrew Kimbrell, founder National Center for Technological Assessment, Washington, DC

Sivananda Ashram Yoga Camp • 673 8th Avenue Val Morin, PQ, JOT 2RO Canada. • Tel: 800-263-9642 (from Canada), 800-783-9642 (from USA), 819-322-3226 Fax 819-312-5876 • E-mail: HQ@sivananda.org www.sivananda.orglcamp.htm

. , Natarcq Books-5,OOO Titles The Major Distributor of books from India.

A sampling from our catalog:

• Shiva: An Introduction. Pattanaik. US$19.95

• Srimad Bhagavata Maha­purana: With Sanskrit text and English translation, 2 vols. set. $55.00

• Understanding Your Puja Better. B. Dwarka. $4.95

• Devatma Shakti: Kundalini Divine Power. Swami Vishnu Tirtha. $8.95

• Mantrapushpam (in Sanskrit). Swami Dev Rupanand. $15.00

• Shri Rudram De-Coded: Mystery of Vedas Revealed, Mantras and Medicines for Healing. Shubhakaran. $35.00

• Aadi Shankara's Bhajagovindam. Krishnamani. $18.00 • Handbook ofVastu. B. Niranjan Babu. $9.95 • Kundalini Tantra. Satyananda Saraswati. $16.95 • Rabindranath Tagore: A Biography. Kripalani. $25.00

Nataraj Books 7073 Brookfield Plaza. Springfield, VA 22150-2915 USA Tel: 1-703-455-4996. Fax: 1-703-912-9052 email: nataraj@mail.erols.com Please ask for our free catalog • Visa/MC accepted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"/"~"/I' rJ ~ ~~ (?6u&~ (D/q?(//f%d ()/~

Karunamayi CITY DATES CONTACT

Atlanta April 10·12 770·973·2614 Dallas April 14-16 972-702-9900 Houston April 17-19 713-526-5491 San Antonio April 20-22 210-434- 1738

Bhagavati Santa Fe April 24·26 505-986·3881 Phoenix April 27·29 602·502·8888 L.A. April 30-May 4 818-955-7946 Santa Barbara May 5 805-957-4901 San Francisco May 7·9 510-482-8201 Portland May 10-12 503-297-2181

Sri Sri Sri Seattle May 13·14 425·391·9582 West Coast Retreat May 15·17 425·391-9582 Boulder May 19·20 303-786-7437 Chicago May 22-24 708-481-4984 Ann Arbor May 25-26 517-522-8114 Toronto May 28-30 416-598·3331

Vijayeswari Pittsburgh June 1·2 Maryland June 3·4 301·977-5666 Philade lphia June 5-7 610-933-6019 New Jersey June 8 908-479-1037 Boston June 9-11 617-354-0865

Devi East Coast Retreat June 12-14 914-941·3659 New York June 15-18 718·898-2841 London. England June 22·24

~er birth, Sri Karunamayi has been revered as an incarnation of the Divine Mother, Sarasvati, Goddess of Knowledge, Music and the Arts. On behalf of humanity, She meditated in a remote forest for ten years. Come. Receive Her guidance in meditation and human values. Experience the fullness of Karunamayi's unconditional love. For more information, http://www.globeworks.com/karunamayi

48 ~~==========r=================================================~

g~~~~ .. t<M~~~ .. BRIEflY,,, A repprtedl proposal by the British p op group'Spice Girls to perform in front of a l,ooo-year-old Hindu temple, known for its erotic sculptures, has sparked outrage among In'dian artists and conservationists. Geeta Chanch:an, classical Indian dance ex­ponent, said the show should be stoIfped bec~yse it would undermine the sanctity of

. the temple in the central Indian t1lwn of Khajuraho. "The eroticism of Khajuraho is part of the larger Hindu view of the cycli­cality of life. The Spice Girls' profile does not match that of the temple. Eroticism without spirituality becomes pornography."

DEBATESrO"ER C~ONING escalated recently when Cnic:ago physicist Richard Seed an­noun~ed he would try to clone a human. US senators quickly introduced legislation that would ban publicly..or privately funded cloning of human cells. Meanwhile, Scottish scientist Ian Wilmut, cloner of the sheep, Dolly, admitted to a remote possibility of error. Dolly shocked the world because she had Meen cloned from a cell of an adult

. sheep-meaning a .human could he cloned from, say, fl, piece of hair. Since Dolly's mother (her twin? clone?) was pregnant when the cell was taken, Wilmut said, "there is a remofe possibility. the cell came from her fi~tus instead." Scientists have been able to clone mammals from fetal cells for two decades. Using tlfat method, US re­searchers-have cloned a small herd of ge­netically engineered calves in Texas.

-I

Decisions un new nationallab-eling rules for US organic foods-a $3.5 billion industry­were delayed in February with protests that products produced or processed using

irradiation, genetic engi-~ j...... Beering and sewage

*~ ~~ sludge fertilizer could

•~ be allowed by the , rules to be labeled .

~~. , :~~t~~~~~~~l~~pe . complained, "If the

proposed rules are adopt-ed as written, consumers will

lose all faith in the 'organic' label." That green sym601 above isn't meant to label or­ganic food. It has been approved by the US Food and DrB.g Administrati~n for red meat packaging. It means the meat has been 'n-radiated to elimina1:e harmful mi­croorganisms. Purists are aghast at the mis­leading symbol, as they considEjr irradiation with all its hazar€l.ous side-effects to be . about as far from" 'organic" as one can get.

\

BRITAIN'S 1.5-MILLION-STRONG Muslim com­munity smiled in January when Education Secretary David Blunkett agreed for the £irst time to state funding of Islamic schools. "It marks an important step in New Labor Partys promise to build an equal, in­clusive society," said Iqbal Sacranie d{ the UK Action Committee on Islamic Affairs. Britain has for years funded Christian and Jewish schools. Are Hindu schools next?

BRITISH AIRWAYS now wears a s-ari, and :K1eera Mehta helped them put it on. :En an effort to defreeze their stiffness, the popu­lar airline is painting traditional destgns from across the world-a tartan from Scot­land, an Egyptian tent panel, a sari from India-on the -: tails of their planes. Airline bosses flew to Paithan, India and found a color­ful sari ~tyled by Mehta. A designer for 22 years, Mehta, 4?-' says, "This IS even British flying colors better tlian having someone wear it."

TWO US PHYSICISTS prese nted a new study based upon photographs taken aboard NASA's Polar spacecraft as further proof of their ll-year-old theory tliat thousands of hous~-sized ice comets disintegrate in the

'Earth's atmosphere each day and are the , source of most of the Earth's water. The revolutionary theory is pooh-poohed by op­ponents who claim the photographs show nothing but camera noise.

Alarmln~ statistics published by the New York Times show 500,000 US kids use Prozaf and other anti-depressant drugs. Only one in a hundred children ages two to nineteen eats a qiet meeting minimal gov­ernment standards. Instead of receiving the recommended ten percent of calor'es from fats and sugar, youth receive 40 percent. A report from India states that urban Indians likewise foll0w a highly malnourished diet far overloaded with sugars, oils and fat. . OVER 7,000 PEOPLE FROM ACROSS India guf­fawed together Januar)' 11 to celebrate "World Laughter Day." Participants r~ged from little children to old men and women who assembled in Mumbai's Mahalakshmi Race c'o.urse. Laughter Club International, which organized the event, said the partici-

CLOCKWISE ? OM TOP: INOlA TODAY, ROCKY MOYNTAIN NEWs/STEVEN R. NICKERSON, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION

'-' pants believe laughter is an effective thera-py to ease tension and stress.

INDIA'S CENTRAL GOVERNMENT IS being urged to provide immediate relief for 32,000 Re-ang tribals forced out of their homeland, Mizoram, in January by the Mizoram Stu­dents Associatlon, a Christian-backed mili­tant group. Terrorists burned houses, de­stroyed crops and assaulted Reang women. The tribal community fled to bordering vil- ." lages; where they are now living in miser-able conditions. Over 40 people have died so fill of hunger, cold and disease.

~N AN ATTEMPT TO PROMOTE TAMIL, the Tamil Nadu government recently ordered temple puja ritual be conducted in the local Tamil languagf? Presently, most mantras are chanted in Sanskrit, the traditional lan­guage of the Gods. A commi'ttee has been formed to assure that each translated word is purely Tamil, with no Sanskrit influ­ep.ce-likely an impossible task, as there are so many Sanskrit terms in Tamil.

AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE RECEIVED major coverage and favorable opinion in a Denver, USA, newspaper. A huge page-one photo showed Shashi Mehti, the groom, and his bride, Soudhamini, having a feet washing in a traditional wedding ritual at a Hindu temple. The couple was introduced by Soudhamini's sister via the Internet, but the match was not approved until horo­scopes were shown to be compatible. The article's Hindu wedding on front page , author, Jean Torkelson, attended the wedding. She com­mented that "the couple ;pas awfully happy Sunday. When they were 'United in a Hindu ceremony of petals, fire, water and thrown rice, it was enough to give romantic chance [that is, love matches] a bad name."

LEADERS OF NINE WORLDJAITHS met with the World Bank's president in London mid­Febrttary for talks 01} poverty and develop­ment policies. The meeting brought togeth­er representatives from the Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Taoist religions to discuss how respect for different cultural values and faiths could be incorporated into devel­opment programs.

MAY , 1998 HINDUISM TODAY 49

I

\~Dm~~~ __ ~~~iMl MINISTER'S MESSAGE rious inner voice that doubts, questions and

How to Become th:e depresses him. What a wonder! Where does this come from? wBen our outer ene­mies revile us, they are nowhere near as effective as our own negative self-talk. I call these negative thoughts of self-attack "tear­ing thoughts" and "shrinking thoughts," be.cause they literhlly tear into our hearts and shrink us from Divinity to diminished ' personhood. They s~, "I am no good." "That person is better than I am." "I am stupid." "No one loves me." "I am far from God."

•

Lord of Our', Mind We must identify negative, «tearing fboughts,n . look them in the eye and stop believing them

Tearing thoughts are always accompanied by negative feeling. Conversely, the pres­ence of depression and unhappiness sounds the alert: "tearing thottghts in the vicinity!"

BY . .

SWAMI SHANKARANANDA . EFORE MY TRIP TO INDIA IN 1970, I WAS AN ACADE­

in the field: of literature. I considered myself the .epitolme of the Western contemporary man. An "in­~tPIIP('nl" I " I used my mind fairly effectively, but I

no idea how it worked, nor how to deal with negative emotional states. My intellect was often my friend, but also often my enemy. Seeking a deeper truth I looked for a teacher. After many adventures, I found him in the siddha mastel:", Swami Muktananda, and spent many years with him. One day, early in my stay with him, I was having a difficult time. He came up to me while I was working in the ashram garden and stood nose to Rose, an inch from my face. He whispered t~e five-syllaBle mantra Om Namah Sivaya to me. He said, "Repeat this twenty-four hours a day; meditate intensely for four hours a day!" I began the practice, and in less than a day I was experiencing a powerful joy bubbling in my hear .

This was my first experience of the yogic process of introjection, eJqllained by Maharishi Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras (II 33-4); re­placing unsuitable thoughts with better ones. Better· thoughts in­clude mantras, affirmations like "I am worthy," mahavakyas or great scriptural statements like "I am That," and prayer and invo­cation. The import~t thing to understand is that the heart of yoga lies in the conscious'choice you can make to uplift your mind.

The philosophy of Kashmir Saivism introduces the concept of 11'l4trika. A rough modern equivalent for matrika might be "self­talk,'',the thoughts we have in our inner consciousness. Som~ ma­trika-.is governed by contracting forces of separation and negation and leads us to states of suffering, while the higher kind of matrika soars with mantric power and connects us to the Divine. A person lost in illusion i~ tossed up and down on this,guixotic stream of matrika, his mind moving in dark habitual spaces, relieved some­times by a ray of light when things in the world work out briefly. Matrika literally means "the unknown mother." She is the dark womb of all possible meaning~ uttering from the depths of con­sCiousness. Only the yogi can become the "Lord of Matrika." He empowers himself, choosing to n;love away from contracted nega­tive thought forms that bring fear, anger and sorrow, and towards peace and joy.

The essence of sadhana, or spiritual practice, is to work with your own thought and feeling~ The first thing to do is to observe how your mind works. Watch it in action' and reaction. Reflect on yoUr own consciousness. This Will reveal facts about your inner world that may have escaped your notice. Think of a rock: it sits quietly, fully eXhibiting its "rockness" without a doubt or confu­sion. Even my dog, Bhakti, is certain about who she is and. what are her needs. Only a human being comes equipped with a myste-

50 HINDUISM TOD A,Y M Y , 1998

...As yogis, our job is to ferret out these tear­ing thoughts, look them in the eye and stop believing them. Our goal may be the state beyond the mind, but we live, work and relate in the world of words, and 'we must learn how to make our way in it.

Negative thoughts create tension within the body. By a disciplined inquiry into these points of tension, they can be released. Such self-inquiry involves an inner search for the sources of our suffering and beyond them to the Self Where are we holding a wrong understanding? Where are we lacking in faith or operating from fear? Such questions are only for the brave, but eventually we discover that at the very

center of our ignorance is the peace and illumination of the Self Lord Krishna said, "0 Arjuna, be a yogi and fight!" To .be a yogi means to use our free will again and again, moment to moment. The philosdpher Henri Bergson saiQ, "Consciousness wakens as soon as the possibility of choice becomes available." A Sufi qawaali says: "Choose this or choose that." The choice is ours-upliftment or despair. A yogi must always choose in the dVection of his Divinity.

Once a seeker was having a difficult time stru~ling with his ego and his negative matrikas. He went to his guru and asked, "0 Guruji, how can I deal with the negativity of my mind?" The guru said, "You ml.ist control your thought. Do not think, 'I am a sinner,' don't even think, 'I am a King.' Think: 'I am Siva, I am the Self, I am Consciousness.' Keep up such practice and eventually you will be absorbed into Consciousness itself." In that moment the seeker understood that the heart of the matter is to identify with the highest prot of our nature, the Divine, and not the limited ego. I Divinity is always at han<;l., closer than our own heartbeat. Beyond the highest matri'ka, and flowing directly from it, there is only th silence of the Absolute. The untrammeled heart of Siva is the source and also the destination of all matrika. ' ,

SWAMI SHANKARANANDA, 55, heads the Shim Ashram near Mel­bourne, Australia. He leads retreats and offers a course introducing the "Shiva Process," a contemplative tool f or living in the world.

,

Shiva Process Meditation Course

Self-inquiry is the yoga of the razor's edge, the path for the 21st century. The unique SHIVA PROCESS method allows us to speak the truth w ith compassion, to be kind w ithout being weak. SWAMI SHANKARANANDA of the Shiva Ashram near Melbourne, Australia shares his br illiant method in 2 correspondence courses:

• CORRESPONDENCE COURSE 1: LEARN To MEDITATE (6 months). Complete basic instruction for successful meditation. • CORRESPONDENCE COURSE 2: SHIVA PROCESS MEDITATION FOR EXPERIENCED MEDITATORS (6 months). Step by step in­struction in self-inquiry the SHIVA PROCESS way.

Both courses include a complimentary SHIVA PROCESS Guided Meditation CD or cassette tape. Pr ice: US$125 per course (money order, bank checks, VisalMasterCard accepted)

Shiva Ashram, 27 Tower Road Mt. Eliza, Victoria, Australia 3930 Phone: 03-9775-2568 • Fax: 03-9775-2591 E-mail: swamiji@ibm.net

Call or send us an email for a free catalogue.

R.V. VEDTM

Moneesh Resources - Gifts and Books

For the past 18 years, we have developed an ex­tensive collection of gifts, statues and books to support you in your spirit­ual upliftment.

• A broad collec­tion of spiritual texts of all tradi­tions, esp. Hindu-Vedas, Upanishads, Sutras, Puranas, etc. • The finest rudraksha malas, custom made-gold-filled, 14k gold, with silver etc. • A wide collection of wrist or necklace malas in various stones and styles • Statues of deities: Ganesha, Krishna, Shiva Nataraj, etc. • Posters, calendars and notecards of deities from the finest artists-all sizes • Puja and meditation items: Incense, prayer shawls, wool meditation asanas, cushions and more • Alternative health care remedies and books: ayurvedic and herbal preparations, essential oils and related books • Apparel: hatha yoga T-shirts and mats, meditation clothes, kurtas and dhotis

Call or write for our free catalog!

110neesh Resources 467 Brickman Rd. , Hurleyville, NY 12747-5314 USA Tel: 914-434-8990 • Fax: 914-435-0018

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51

MISSION STATEMENT

Hindu Heritage Endowment is a publicly supported, charitable organization'recognized as tax I

exempt by the IRS on April 22, 1994. Its employer ID ~umber is 99-0308924. FO,1J.ndeg by Satguru

Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, its philanthropic mission is to provide secure, professionally man­

aged financial support for institutions and-religious leaders of all lineages of Sanatana Dhar~a.

APRIL RONOR PROFILE

"This morning the temperature was _1 0 F. As I walked to work, the full moon was so clear and so brilliant in the darkened skies. The branches of the birch trees looked like they were made of crystals, with the hoar frost clinging to them. God's beauty ansi grace seem to be so perva­sive. It was everywhere I looked." So write,s,.Anchorage, Alaska, com­mercial realtor Shyamadeva Dandapani. Hinduism has found a warm home in the frozen north; Shyamadeva and his wife Peshanidevi report that about nin~ty Hindu families meet regularly in Anchorage for satsang and cultural events. Their ultimate goal is a Hindu temple

, for families of the area. On a recent pilgrimage to India, Shyamadeva was inspired to help create the Tirumular Saniddhi Preservation Trust, an endowment that will permanently support an anci~nt shrine in Ti.n;tvavaduthurai, Tamil Nadu. He reports that the fund is growing steadily and encourages others to start funds for temples and shrines that are close to their heart. ;'

FUND OF THE MONTH

More than 800 pages long and weighing in at 2.81bs, Lovitlg Ganesha, in the world of books, is much like its namesake, portly and full of knowledge. At once simple, deep and practical, this books teaches in ever so many ways that Lord Ganesha's grace can be 'attained by sin­cere devotion, song, prayer and meditation. Touching the hearts of Hindus around the world, it has inspired the creation of its own endowment fund, The Loving Ganesha Distribution Fund, to provide free distribution to libraries and ashrams. A permanent endow­ment, it'will make the book availab~e to Hindus of each successive geReration as they begin to mature and to seek profound insights into at\d knowledge of their spiritual heritage. (For infprmation on Loving Ganesha, call or write Himalayan Academy, 107 Kaholale/e Road, Kapaa, HI 96746-9304, USA 808-822-3152 ext. 238.)

A PROFESSIONAL'S PERSPECTIVE: Life insurance can provide important insurance protection for your family and can also provide valuable income for your heirs that is: 1. free of income taxes; 2. free of the probate process; 3. free from the claims of creditors and; 4. free of estate taxes (with proper planning). In addition, if you use life insurance to create endowments for social and reli­gious charities, the premiums can be tax deductible. Niraj P. Baxi of NPB Estate Planning, San Francisco, 1-800-686-8436.

As a public service, HHE occasionally will offer the opiniop s of various financial planners. However, it endorses neither these advisors nor their counsel, and recommends that all individuals seek professlOnal adVICe from severa! sources before making Important long-term deCislOns.

.

Hindu Businessmen's Association Trust Vel Alahan $266.71 Paramaseeven Canagasaby $22.95 Vel Mahalingum $22.25 Manogaran Mardemootoo $75.23 Vishwanaden Moorooven $4.50 Nathan Palani $28.92

Total $420.56

Hindu Orphanage Fund Clive Fetzer Madhusudan Kanhai Ramakumar & Sailaja Kosuru Bhavani Param V Srikanth Adi Srikantha Gokula Vani Matthew Wieczork

Total

$40.00 $51.00 $20.00 $10.70

$100.00 $6.75

$75.00 $33.00

$336.45

Hinduism Today Endowment 'frnst Joanne Baryla $25.00 Robert Sorrells $18.00

Total $43.00

Hinduism Today Distribution Fund Himalayan Academy $1,238.00 Soondiren Am asalon $29.24 Appamal Athimulam $49.25 Kailash Sivam Dhaksinamurthi $166.67 Ravindra Doorgiat $63.52 Diksha Katir $208.65 Amravaddee Kownden $53.97 Toshadeva Lynam Guhan $141.38 Kartikeyen Manick $6 1.56 Valavandan Manickavel $98.55 Kamala Mootoosamy $5 1.27 Kanthasamy Pillaiyar $110.00 Suguneswary Ponniah $51.18 Logadassen Raday $209.69 Kevin Pillay Samoo $26.85 Ramsamy Pillay Sa moo $229.85 Nanthakumar Satgunasingam $197.85 Sabapathipillai Srikantha $100.00 Gokula Vani $70.00 Selvarajah Vengadesan $700.00 Tara Anjali Veylan $111.50 Small Gifts to Fund $47.36

Total $4,045.00

R ECEl'\T D ONORS

Iraivan Temple Endowment Anonymous Kriya Haran Edwin Hawk Toshadeva Lynam Guhan Loganatha Shivam Saiva Siddhanta Church Gokula Vani Vayudeva &Peshala Varadan Selva rajah Vengadesan

Total

$32.60 $197.00 $943.12

$9.80 $600.00

$9,607.82 $70.00

$1,592.67 $1,534.25

$14,587.26

Kauai Aadheenam Annual Archana Fund Soondiren Arnasalon $26.42 Vijayam Arnasalon $51.16 Arnravaddee Kownden $26.42 Toshadeva Lynam Guhan $288.48 Arnbika Manickavel $24.64 Dhanya Nadesan $11 9.50 Pakion Vedee Raday $62.84 Selvarajah Vengadesan $225.00 Devasiva Veylan $26.22 Saravan Veylan $36.06 Shivani Vinayaga $47.69 Small Gifts to Fund $80.01

Total $1,0 14.44

Kauai Aadheenam Monastic Endowment Sivan Murrugappa Naicken $114.32 Kumaren Nataraja $8.79 Ramsamy Natarajan $17.53 N.A. Pethu Raja $98.55 Rajini Raja $12.33 Devarajen Selen Samoo $45.69 Sinniah Sivagnanasuntharam $52.69

Total $349.90

Kumbhalavalai Pillaiyar Temple End. lndra Dhaksi namurthi $101.00

Total $101.00

Nadesan Family Lord Murugan Shum Fund Dhanya Nadesan $1,008.00

Total $1,008.00

Loving Ganesha Distribution Fund Eric Mitchell $10.00

Total $10.00

Malaysian Hindu Youth Educational Fund Jeyasreedharan $40.00

Total $40.00

MathavasiMerucalFund Gowri Nadason Matthew Wieczork

Total

Mathavasi Travel Fund

$60.00 $1 1.00 $71.00

Erasenthiran Poonjolai $75.00 Total $75.00

Nepal Kumari Goddess Endowment Wendy Schuljan $10.00

Total $10.00

Saiva Agamas 'frnst Matthew Wieczork

Total $10.00 $10.00

Sundari Peruman Memorial Fund Markandeya Peruman $50.00

Total $50.00

Thank You Gurudeva Fund Adi Alahan Anonymous Shyamadeva Dandapani Barry Giles Andrzej & Beatriz Kraja Appasamy Kuppusamy Toshadeva Lynam Guhan Darrick Nordmeier Deva Seyon Vayudeva Varadan John William Wooten Bernard Carvalho Glenn Carvalho Monica Evslin

Total

$51.00 $784.74 $101.00 $200.00

$50.00 $101.00 $20.34 $40.00

$101.00 $36.00 $20.00 $20.00 $40.00 $50.00

$1,6 15.08

Tirumular Sannidhi Preservation Trust Shyamadeva Dandapani $25.00

Total $25.00

Tirunavakkarasu Nayanar Gurukulam End. Peshala Varadan $25.00 Small Gifts to Fund 3.70

Total $28.70

Gifts to Pay Premiums on Previously Gifted Insurance Policies Anonymous

Total

Total Recent Contrib.

$12,762.00 $12,762.00

$36,602.39

INVESTMENT MANAGERS AND CONSULTANTS: Franklin Management Inc.; First Hawaiian Bank, Trust & Investment Division; Brandes Investment Partners, Inc.; Pacific Century Trust (Bank of Hawaii); Alvin G. Buchignani, Esq., attorney; and Nathan palani, CPA. HHE is a member of the Council on Foundations, an association of 1,500 foundations which interprets relevant law, inte~­national and domestic, and gccounting, management and investment principles.

I WANT TO PAlITIOPATE. 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. Credit card gifts may be made directly by E-mail. Or, use the HHE tear-out card in this magazine. to join our family of benefactors who are Strengthening Hinduism Worldwide. Thank you.

HINDU HERITAGE ENDOWMENT , KAUAI'S HINDU MONASTERY

107 Kaholalele Road Kapaa, Hawaji, 96746-9304 USA

Tel: (800) 890-1008, Ext. 235 Outside US: (808) 822-31§2, Ext. 235

Fax: (808) 822-4351 E-mail: hhe@ijindu.org

www.hindu.org/hhe/

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