God is Immanent God is full of mercy, love and compassion. He has been described as "Ocean of Mercy. " His mercy flows like the streams of the Ganga and the Yamuna. !

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SHSK Calendar 2015 The calendar will have all the important Hindu festivals covering all the regions, US Federal and State holidays, Moon phases, Chandra and Surya grahan, Ekadashi, P r a d o s h Vr a t a n d Sankashti Chaturthi dates.!!Page 4

Vedanshi

Lord Shiva Om Shivaaya namah

Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshvara form the Trinity of gods. Each God has a particular responsibility. Brahma creates this universe, Vishnu maintains it and Shiva is responsible for the dissolution of the universe. The picture or image of Shiva shows him as a very handsome youth, white as camphor. His limbs besmeared with ashes are strong and smooth. He has three eyes - the third eye being on the forehead between the eye-brows. His third eye is the eye of knowledge. With His three eyes He sees the past, present and future. Once Paarvati, in a playful mood, closed His two eyes and the entire world was plunged in darkness. To save the worlds from this predicament, Shiva willed a third eye in between His eye-brows, sending forth light, fire and heat. Later on He opened His third eye - normally kept closed out of infinite mercy for humanity - to burn up Kaamadeva, the god of Love. The three eyes of Shiva represent the sun, moon and fire. Shiva as the Lord of the universe rides on the bull of Dharma having the four feet of truth, purity, kindness and charity.!

Shiva is snow-white in color, which matches wonderfully with the background of the Himaalayas which is His abode. A tiger skin forms his cloth. Tiger is symbol of desire. To show that He has complete mastery over desires He wears the tiger skin.!

Shiva is the Lord of Yogis. He sits in deep meditation immersed in joy. He has Ganga on His

head. It represents wisdom and purity. There is a snake on His neck. It shows that He has no death. Even when He drank poison it didn’t kill Him. It adorned His neck with a blue color. And that is why He is called Neelakantha. He has a Trishula or trident in His hand. It is an important weapon of offense and defense, indicating that He is the Supreme ruler. Another hand holds Damaru. While doing Taandava dance, it produced the sound of Sanskrit syllables. So it represents alphabets, grammar and language itself.!

Vande shambhum umaapatim suragurum! vande jagatkaaranam!vande pannagabhooshanam mrigadharam! vande pashoonaam patim |!vande soorya shashaanka vahninayanam! vande mukundapriyam!vande bhaktajanaashrayam cha varadam! vande shivam shankaram ||!

I bow down to the Lord Shiva, who is the consort of Uma, who is the Teacher of the celestials, who is the ultimate cause of the universe, who is adorned with snakes, who holds a deer, who is the Lord of beings, whose three eyes are the sun, the moon, and the fire, who is dear to Vishnu, who is the refuge of the devotees, who grants boons and who is all auspiciousness and who bestows peace.!

! ! - A prayer book for children

He attains the Supreme Effulgent Lord, O Partha (Arjuna), whose mind, stabilized by yoga, is immovably fixed on the thought of Him.!

Chapter 8, Verse 8; Bhagavad Gita

Leave What Must Be Left H e r e , t h e r o o t s symbolize the world which man keeps holding. But some day or the other, he has to know the path which can lead him to his redemption. !

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SHSK Upcoming Events Jan 17! Sankranti/Pongal ! Celebrations !Mar 21 ! Ugadi !! Celebrations!

Apr 25 ! SHSK Annual ! General Body ! Meeting!Page 2

Temple Worship Idol worship is very important in our religion, for the ordinary people. When we bow before an idol or pray before the deity consecrated in the idol, we never think that it is only a piece of stone, but we think that the deity in the idol is the protector and the root cause of the whole world. Page 3

PO Box 80362, Lafayette, LA - 70598!!shskendra@gmail.com,

www.sanatanlft.org!

A Monthly Newsletter Issue No 12: November 2014

The part of the sacred knowledge

S A N A T A N H I N D U S A N S K A R K E N D R A

Issue No 12: November 2014, Lafayette, Louisiana " 1

November & December Important Dates!

For more details please refer DrikPanchang.com!!SHSK Upcoming Events!

Sanatan Hindu Sanskar Kendra!PO Box 80362, Lafayette, Louisiana - 70598!

Email: shskendra@gmail.com, Website: sanatanlft.org!Tax Id: 46-2580905

Durga Sita Ram Ganesh Krishna Shiva

God is Immanent by Swami Sivananda!

As I have said already, God is an absentee landlord of this world. He is hiding Himself within these objects. He is remaining within these objects. He is the Indweller and inter-penetrating Presence or Essence or Substance, the intelligent and creative principle of the universe itself. This is a fundamental conception of pantheism. You will find in the Svetasvatara Upanishad:!

"One shining Being sits hidden in every creature, pervading all, the Inner Self of all beings, the watcher of all acts, abiding in all created things, the witness, the heart, the absolute, free of all attributes. "!

Just as oil is hidden in seed, butter in milk, mind in brain, foetus in the womb, sun behind the clouds, fire in wood, sugar or salt in water, scent in buds, sound in the gramophonic records, gold in quarts, microbes in blood, so also God is hidden in all these beings and forms. Just as you see the bacilli of cholera, typhoid fever, consumption or any other disease as for that matter through the powerful lens of microscope, so also you can see God through the eye of intuition (Jnana Chakshus).!

The first Sloka of the Isavasya Upanishad begins with: "Isa-vasyam-idam sarvam-All these movable and immovable objects are indwelt by the Lord." In the Katha Upanishad (I-iii-12) you will find: "Esha sarveshu bhuteshu gudho-atma. . . -This Atman is hidden in all beings. " He who has a sharp, subtle, pure intellect can see Him.!

God is full of mercy, love and compassion. He has been described as "Ocean of Mercy. " His mercy flows like the streams of the Ganga and the Yamuna. He is depicted as having sold Himself to His devotees, so to say. He willingly suffers endless pain in the eyes of the world in order to alleviate the sufferings of His devotees. He bears the scar left on

His chest by the kick of Bhrigu as an ornament. He wears the skulls of His devotees as a garland round His neck. He ran with lightning speed to save the modesty of Draupadi from being outraged.!

He apologised and begged pardon of Prahlada in the following words:!

"O dear, you were too tender of age and too delicate of body to stand the terrible tortures inflicted on your person by your hot-headed father. A parallel of his atrocious deed I have never seen. Pray, therefore excuse me if I was late in coming to your rescue. "!

You are all aware of the dying Jatayu in the lap of Sri Rama, who caressed the bird which was mortally wounded in its heroic efforts to rescue Sita from the c lutches of the demon king, Ravana. He wiped off the dust on its body with the trusses of His hair. Mark here the unique, tender affection of Sri Rama towards His devotees!!

God becomes a slave of His devotees. Lord Krishna says: "I am not in My control. I am under the complete control of My Bhaktas. They have taken entire possession of My heart. How can I leave them when they have renounced everything for My sake only?"!

Lord Rama carried the palanquin of His devotee, Sri Tyagaraja of Tiruvayur, the late reputed songster-Bhakta. He carried water in a vessel for His ablution. He is ever waiting for a chance to serve you in the same way. May His blessings be upon us all!!!

Based on Lafayette, Louisiana, US Time!

17 Monday! Utpanna Ekadashi, !26 Wednesday! Vivah Panchami!

27 Thursday! Subrahmanya Sashti!

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02 Tuesday! Mokshada Ekadashi,!

! ! Gita Jayanti!

04 Thursday! Karthigai Deepam!

05 Friday! Margashirsha !! ! Purnima, Dattatreya ! ! Jayanti!

15 Monday! Dhanu Sankranti!

17 Wednesday! Saphala Ekadashi!

31 Wednesday! Pausha Putrada/! ! Vaikuntha Ekadashi!

Mark your Calendars!

Jan 17 Saturday! Sankranti/Pongal ! ! Celebrations !Mar 21 Saturday Ugadi !! ! Celebrations!

Apr 25 Saturday SHSK Annual ! ! General Body ! ! Meeting!

S A N A T A N H I N D U S A N S K A R K E N D R A

" Issue No 12: November 2014, Lafayette, Louisiana2

Temple Worship - Part I!by H.H. Jagadguru Śrī Chandrasekarendra Saraswati Sankaracharya Swamigal of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam#

God exists everywhere. So, a question may be asked why there s h o u l d b e a n y temples built for Him. We know that God exists everywhere, but still the idea does n o t g e t fi r m l y established in our mind. It does not get reflected in our daily a c t i o n s . I f o n e remembers God all the time, how can one utter any falsehood or commit evil acts?!

If God is merely omnipresent, how can He help us? We all long for His grace somehow. So, we have to worship Him and get His grace. But the agama-shastras tell us how this should be done. The sun's rays contain a lot of heat energy. If we keep a piece of cloth in the sun, it does not catch fire by itself. But if we place a lens and focus the sun's heat rays on that piece of cloth, after some time, we find that the cloth catches fire.!

Similarly, electrical energy is everywhere, but in order to bring it to our daily use, we need to have generators to channel that energy and transmission systems to distribute it at the places where we need it. In the same way, in order to get the grace of the Omnipresent Lord, we have to build temples, where we can focus the power of the Lord in a consecrated idol for our benefit in an easy way.!

So, in our country, we find that there are many temples; of course, in other countries also, there are many places of worship, but there is no question of installation of any idols, as in the case of our temples. They have just a big prayer hall where people assemble and offer some prayers or do some silent meditation and then disperse after getting some peace of mind. But in our temples, the idols are installed and they have divinity infused into them and, as such, they have a certain sanctity about them.!

Until a particular day, the sculptor goes on chiseling that piece of stone, but after a c e r t a i n d a y, i t becomes invested with divinity, and we s t a r t p e r f o r m i n g abhisheka, archana, deepaharati etc. for that deity; it acquires divine power and it

obtains chaitanya. We see divinity in our idols and, therefore, we do abhisheka, alankara or decoration, naivedyam, haarati and many other upacharas.!

Some people say that the places of worship, which belong to other religions, are quiet, but our Hindu temples are full of noise. Of course, this is true. Actually, there are two types of noises in our temples. One is the desirable type of noise such as ringing of bells, the sounding of musical instruments like nadaswaram and the shahnai; the recitation of namavalli archana, recitation of mantras and so on.!

Of course, there is also the undesirable type of noise in the form of people indulging in idle gossip and purposeless talk. It is our duty to see that this idle talk, which results in undesirable noise, is totally eliminated from our temples. In other places of worship, this type of fanfare that we have in our temples, is not there, because they do not recognize idol worship or worship of God in the saguna form and they believe in worship of God in his attributeless and shapeless form only.!

In our temple, a huge temple bell is rung at the time of puja. This is done so that the evil spirits may go away from temple premises, and all abuses or other bad sounds may be stifled from being heard. In our houses, we do not have such a huge bell, but we ring only a small bell at the time of puja. But we do not offer musical instruments and other upacharas to the deity, but only akshata or unbroken rice.!

The puja that we do in our houses is for our own welfare. We do it according to our convenience and, according to our mental frame of mind. But the puja done in the temples is for the whole of society and therefore, there is so much of fanfare, and sounding of musical instruments and singing of auspicious tunes; the deity is taken out in a procession during festival days and there is display of fireworks.!

The reason for quietness and silence in the temples of other religions is this. In other religions, they just have a big prayer hall. People assemble at appointed times, and they offer prayers. They sing some hymns, mentally or in chorus. After that, everything is over, and people disperse. They just close their eyes for a few minutes, pray for some time, get some peace of mind and then disperse. There is no such thing as abhisheka of the idol, alankara or decoration of the idol, karpuraharati, dhupa, deepaharati, naivedyam, distribution of prasadam, etc. in other temples. There are various upacharas, which are also offerings to the deity.

There is also scope for singing of prayers, hymns, silent meditation and so on.!

We consider God as Rajadiraja or the king of all kings and so we offer him many upacharas such as umbrella, chamara, musical instruments, vahana and so on, which are all due to a king. The divine presence in our idols, when we worship them, helps us to banish poverty as well as evil. Thus, the idol with divinity which we see in our temples is an object of beauty for us, and worthy of meditation.!

If our thoughts are of a high order, then we worship the deity in the above manner, so that we may get supreme happiness. It is with this idea that we perform abhisheka and decorate the idol with ornaments etc. Thus we worship God in these various ways by doing so many upacharas. This kind of worship is possible only in the Hindu religion.!

Idol worship is very important in our religion, for the ordinary people. When we bow before an idol or pray before the deity consecrated in the idol, we never think that it is only a piece of stone, but we think that the deity in the idol is the protector and the root cause of the whole world. Thus, temples help to increase the devotion of a person to God and this devotion helps him to overcome or reduce his sufferings.!

Ordinary people may not have the capacity, and strength of mind to bear their sufferings. But with bhakti or devotion to Ishwara, they can face them, and get also the mental strength to bear them. It is for this purpose that an ordinary person goes to the temple. He goes there, offers some prayers and then he feels all right. If one person talks about his sufferings to another, the other man will listen to him for some time, but after some time h e w i l l s t a r t narrating his own sufferings and say that he is having more sufferings than other individuals. So, sharing one's sufferings with another person, who is also suffering, will not result in the removal of the sufferings.!

- Part II in December Edition

S A N A T A N H I N D U S A N S K A R K E N D R A

Issue No 12: November 2014, Lafayette, Louisiana " 3

SHSK Calendar 2015!SHSK is printing the yearly calendar for the year 2015. The calendar will have all the important Hindu festivals covering all the regions, US Federal and State holidays, Moon phases, Chandra and Surya grahan, Ekadashi, Pradosh Vrat and Sankashti Chaturthi dates. The calendar will also have the Thithis according to US time. Each Monthly Cover page will have a Photo of Famous Temple and/or a Deity. 200 copies will be printed.!

Front Page Sponsor - $1000!

Business Logo Sponsors (4) on Front Page - 4 x $250!

Back page Sponsor - $500!

Each Month page Sponsor - $250. !

Leave What Must Be Left!Short Story!

Once a King went to a forest for hunting. There he was separated from his entourage and lost the way. While walking in darkness, he slipped and fell into an old well. Fortunately, he firmly caught hold of some roots of the branches of a nearby banyan tree as they were hanging in the well. Thereby, he saved himself from falling into the well.!

After some time, a person doing Nama Sankirtan happened to pass that way. Hearing the sound of groaning coming from a nearby place indicating that someone was in distress, he came near the well and peeped into it. Seeing someone hanging in the well, he managed to procure a rope from somewhere to pull him out. Throwing the rope in the well, he addressed the person in trouble, “Catch hold of this rope firmly; I will try to pull you out slowly.” The king had a doubt: what should I catch at - the roots of the branches of the banyan tree or the rope?!

In the same way, man becomes the victim of doubts in certain situations and loses his discrimination. First, the roots of the branches of the banyan tree were the means by which the king saved himself. But to come out of the well, he should have left those roots an caught hold of the rope. Here, the roots symbolize the world which man keeps holding. But some day or the other, he has to know the path which can lead him to his redemption. Leaving the roots and catching the rope are the means which lead him to the path of his liberation.!

- Sanathana Sarathi

Wish You All A !Very Happy and Prosperous !

Karthigai Deepam!!

Thank you for your support and blessings.!

Srinivasan Ambatipati, Editor

Sri Meenakshi Temple!Pearland, Texas

S A N A T A N H I N D U S A N S K A R K E N D R A

" Issue No 12: November 2014, Lafayette, Louisiana4