Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Navarathri Significant
Navaratri
In the festival of "Nine Nights," Hindus across the globe worship the feminine form of the Supreme
No other major religion of the world acknowledges God as part female, or is willing to fully depict Her as the Goddess. But for Hindus, the Goddess, called Shakti, is the emanating power, the essence and the creative manifestation of the Supreme Being, who is beyond opposites. This unique broadness of Hinduism makes Navaratri the world's greatest festival dedicated to the Goddess. This yearly festival is celebrated for nine or ten days in the lunar month of Ashvina (September-October). Hindus observe this festival in a wide variety of ways, depending on their region, local history and family influences.
Millions of Hindu women consider Navaratri each year's primary festival, the one they can most deeply connect to. Many see it as a way to commune with their own feminine divinity. A widespread practice honors the Goddess in every woman by inviting young girls to the family's home, feeding them and offering new clothes. Soumya Sitaraman, a specialist in Hindu festivals and author of Follow the Hindu Moon, teaches how this should be done. "To make Navaratri an affirmation of femininity, invite and honor girls between the ages of two and twelve. A respected married woman can be chosen, too. Begin by honoring the youngest one on the first day as if she was the Goddess. She is addressed only by the Goddess' name, eats prasadam first and is given an aromatic bath and a new dress. On the second day, the second youngest should be honored, and so on. Some families might alternatively choose to venerate all girls at the same time, on the last night."
During the festival, women are ready to exercise their share of restraint to get closer to the Divine by performing tapas and selfless acts. Author Madhur Jaffrey explains, "Navaratri is a time to present to the Goddess our silent requests. This is not done crudely, but properly. We pray morning and evening, the women fast, and the poor in our neighborhood are given food and cooking pots. We offer magnificent food to Goddess Parvati and only after She eats we discreetly whisper our requests."
Navaratri's common practices
Sprouting seeds: In a ritual performed throughout India, Hindus begin the observances with the sprouting of seeds. This is called pratipada in the South and ghatasthapana in the North. In this ceremony, an earthen or silver pitcher, or kumbha, is filled with water and barley seeds. The vessel is placed in the shrine room or some other honored place in the home, where the seeds will sprout over the next nine days. It is a green exuberance that displays the fertility power of the Goddess and brings blessings for a bountiful crop. A traditional Deity kumbha is also prepared. This is an ornate brass pot filled with water, herbs and metals, with mango leaves and a coconut on top. The kumbha is set up to invoke the Goddess and all the devas during the festival period. Pandit Ramesh Chandra Kaushik, chief priest of the Durga Temple in Moti Nagar, Delhi, explains, "The kumbha is established while invoking the blessings of all the 330 million devas (angels). This kumbha is supposed to symbolically have all of these devas in it." With these preparations in place, the celebration of Navarati then officially begins, with puja to Lord Ganesha and offerings to the kumbha.
Tool blessing: Another ceremony associated with the festival across most of India is the ayudha puja, the blessing of the tools of one's trade. At dawn on the ninth day (usually) of Navaratri, selected tools, instruments, utensils and devices used by a worker or artist are ceremoniously placed at the feet of the Goddess and quietly worshiped with prayers and flowers. The items remain at the Goddess' feet until a puja is performed. Until that happens and the items are returned with blessings, no studies, work or performances should happen.
The ayudha puja can be simple, an offering of cooked rice, fruits, flowers and an arati that is silent except for the ringing of a bell. A more elaborate form is to draw a kolam and place a Sarasvati murti in the center, with all the tools touching the kolam's lines.
No kind of instrument or tool is excluded from the blessings of the Goddess. A tailor will bless his sewing machine and a driver his vehicle. Shopkeepers usually decorate and bless their whole store, including the cash register.
Vaishnavites have also adopted the ayudha puja. On the same date, they ritually place tools and weapons at the feet of Lord Rama for His blessings. Author Madhur Jaffrey recounts in her book on the traditional stories of India, Seasons of Splendor, "At this festival, every family worships the 'weapons of its trade.' My mother would first set up a statue of the good King Ram in our prayer room, properly garlanded with a fresh marigold necklace. Under the statue, where some people arranged guns and swords, my mother arranged pens, pencils, ink and paper. Those were the weapons of our family. As far back as 1,500 years, my ancestors made their living writing, not fighting."
The Indian army takes the day, which they call shastra puja, to bless real weapons. Retired Lieutenant Colonial N. C. Guha of Delhi reported in an article in the Ramakrishna Mission magazine, Vedanta Kesari: "Within the Garhwal Rifles, Vijay Dashami or Dussehra is the religious event of the year. The 25,000 soldiers of Garhwal Rifles fully observe the festival for ten days, beginning with the ghatastahpana ceremony at the unit temple. On the ninth day is shastra puja, during which all the weapons of the unit armory are decorated with flowers and displayed in a square fashion in the center of the parade ground."
Beginning of learning: A key samskara, or rite of passage, for children ages three to five is performed on this day across India. It is the vidyarambha, literally "beginning of knowledge," which marks the start of a child's formal education. The worship begins with an elder or priest taking the child's index finger and writing "Om Sri Ganapataye Namah" in sand or uncooked rice. If the child is old enough, he or she writes the letter "A" on the rice as well. Then, using a gold ring dipped in honey, he gently touches the child's tongue with a motion in the shape of the letter "A". Beautiful marks of auspiciousness made with sacred substances are placed on the books, and usually a priest will perform the ceremony in the presence of the whole family. Preceptors, wise men and gurus are also revered on this day as embodiments of Sarasvati's knowledge. They receive many visitors and dakshina, monetary offerings.
It is a widely held belief, especially in South India, that a proper blessing on this day will ensure lifelong success in a child's study and career. Parents, therefore, make sure that the Goddess' goodwill is properly invoked. Some pilgrimage to distant temples with their sons and daughters to beseech Her grace.
Vijayadashami: On the tenth day, Vijayadashami ("tenth day victory") the festival culminates in the triumph of the Goddesses over the demon Mahishasura. For this day, the place to be is Karnataka, specifically Mysore, for that is where the victory is said to have occurred. The city takes its very name after Mahishasura and has a temple dedicated to him. Recently a gigantic statue of the demon was built near the temple of Durga on the city's Chamundi Hill. Mysore is noted for its magnificent elephant processions during Navaratri.
There is a specific explanation of Vijayadashami associated with Karnataka. It is attributed to the story in the Mahabharata of the Pandavas' 14-year exile in disguise--which is also likely related to the military tradition of shastra puja. Discretion in exile was indispensable, so the Pandavas stored their many divine and distinctive weapons under a shami tree in Karnataka during the tenth day of Navaratri. They prayed to Durga, asking Her to protect their weapons, and returned at the end of one year to find them intact. On that same day, they went forth to defeat their enemies, adding their success to the celebrations of the Goddess' victory. Today people exchange shami (Mimosa suma) leaves and on this auspicious date to wish each other a victorious life.
Navaratri's regional flavors
The seed-sprouting ceremony, tool blessing, beginning of learning and Vijayadashami are observed over most of India. Regional variations abound, from South India to Nepal.
South India: Here the Goddess is worshipped in three forms. During the first three nights, Durga is revered, then Lakshmi on the fourth, fifth and sixth nights, and finally Sarasvati until the ninth night.
Durga (meaning "invincible" in Sanskrit) is the epitome of strength, courage and ferocity. Her devotees approach Her--sometimes with difficult penances--for those qualities and for the protection She bestows.
A more gentle worship is observed for Lakshmi. Also called also Annapurna, "Giver of food," Lakshmi is the Goddess of abundance, wealth and comfort. She is the ever-giving mother, worshiped for well being and prosperity. A traditional way of invoking Her is chanting the Samputita Sri Suktam. In Her honor, food is prepared and offered to neighbors and all who visit, thus strengthening community ties. On the full-moon night following Navaratri, it is believed Lakshmi Herself visits each home and replenishes family wealth. In Saivite areas, Parvati is worshiped on these days instead of Lakshmi, with an emphasis on the motherly aspect of the Goddess. Otherwise, the devotional practices are similar.
The last three days of Navaratri exalt Sarasvati, the form of Shakti personifying wisdom, arts and beauty. Her name literally means "flowing one," a reference to thoughts, words, music and the Sarasvati River. The evenings of Her worship are marked with melodic bhajans. The musicians select challenging pieces and play their best in order to earn the Goddess' blessings for the coming year.
Mystically, Sarasvati is believed to be the keeper of the powerful Gayatri Mantra, which is chanted during the festival to invoke Her supreme blessings. Devotees meditate for days on this mantra alone, as it is considered the door to divine wisdom.
Kerala's Ma Amritanandamayi explains, "At one level, Navaratri signifies the progress of the spiritual aspirant. During this spiritual journey, the aspirant has to pass three stages personified by instinctive Durga, motherly Lakshmi and finally wise Sarasvati. Then, he or she enters into the realm of the infinite, wherein one realizes one's Self."
Families in Tamil Nadu traditionally prepare in their homes a kolu, an exhibition of small dolls and figurines on a stepped, decorated shelf (see photo on page 28). At least one murti of Shakti must be present, as well as wooden figurines of a boy and a girl together, called marapachi, to invoke auspicious marriages. Almost any small item may be included on the kolu, so almost all the small artifacts from around the house find their way there.
Author Soumya Sitaraman writes, "A kolu is a well-planned occasion. People will often print and send cards inviting family and friends to come see their kolu. This results in new friendships and stronger relationships. Navaratri evenings are a bustle of rustling silk, twinkling jewelry and laughter. Women are very particular about their attire and go visiting, hopping in a logical sequence, every house they are invited to." Daughters of marrying age accompany their mothers on the visits, as this is an auspicious opportunity for match making. The kolu is also celebrated in Andhra Pradesh and the parts of Kerala bordering Tamil Nadu.
North India: In the North, Navaratri is commonly called Durga Puja. While the South celebrates three Goddesses as different aspects of the Supreme Mother, in the North, Durga is regarded as the Mother Herself, and all other Goddesses are Her manifestations.
The practices and the ways of worshiping are almost identical. However, the names and stories underlying the festival's rites differ, often incorporating strong Shakta influences or elements of the Ramayana. The worship of Durga is the year's largest Hindu festival in many northern states, as it is in Nepal and Bhutan.
Durga is worshiped as Navadurga, the one with nine manifestations, one for each day of the festival. They vary in attributes and appearance, but usually include: Shailputri, daughter of the mountain; Brahmacharini, the chaste one; Chandraghanteti, the fighter; Kushmanda, of many lights; Skanda Mata, mother to Lord Skanda; Katyayani, the divine daughter; Kalratri, the black one; young-looking Maha Gauri, who seems no older than eight years; and Siddhidatri Ardhanarishvara, the all-powerful Siva-Shakti. Each is invoked with a special mantra and, frequently, with complicated tantras.
During the nightime rites, the Goddess is invoked with precise repetitions of the Durga Sapta Shasti, followed by recitations of the Devi Bhagawat Purana and the Devi Mahatmya. The most dedicated chant a mantra or shloka thousands of times during the nine nights.
Asking for fertility and blessings, priests and women devotees intone Her words into the night, chanting, "When for hundreds of years there will be no rain and the Earth will be without water, the great contemplative rishis shall sing praises of Me, seeking Me. I will come down without human parentage; and with hundreds of eyes, I shall look kindly upon those profound sages. Then I shall cover the entire Earth with greens born of my own being. I shall nourish them all with these greens, sustaining the prana of all beings, and thereby I shall be known as Shakambhari, 'the Bearer of Greens'" (Durga Sapta Shasti xi 42-45).
In West Bengal, Durga Puja is everywhere. In playgrounds, traffic circles, ponds and wherever space is available, elaborate structures called pandals are set up, many with a year's planning behind them. Usually made of bamboo and cloth, they serve as temporary temples. Each houses a highly decorated murti of the Goddess worshiped throughout the festival. While some pandals are simple, others are extravagant works of art with themes that range from the traditional to the wildly modern, often based on current affairs, famous movies or pure imagination. Representing the Universal Mother's transcendence of cultural boundaries, in West Bengal one can find Her in an Inca or an Egyptian setting, or even aboard the famous Titanic.
Most people celebrate buying new clothes and jewelry, which are worn on the evenings when the family goes out to see the pandals. Ritual drummers, called dhakis, carrying large leather-strung instruments, enliven the surroundings with their performances during the many ritual dances that happen in every pandal. The festivities are so pervasive that it is common to see people from all backgrounds and religions participating.
At the end of the celebration, in all Her glory, the exquisitely crafted Durga murti, with countless adornments, is taken to a river, where it is immersed. The procession leading to the waters is accompanied by loud chants of "Bolo Durga mai-ki jai" ("Glory be to Mother Durga") and "Aashchhe bochhor abar hobe" ("It will happen again next year"). Intense drumbeats mark Her release into the waters. It is said that this final ritual returns the Goddess to Her eternal home in the Himalayas--until next year's Durga Puja.
In Bangladesh, which shares a common Hindu heritage with West Bengal, numerous pandals also crowd the cities. The Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad, a Hindu organization, counted more than 20,000 pandals nationwide in 2007. Here, Durga Puja is an national holiday. The president of Bangladesh, Iajuddin Ahmed, recently stated, "Though it is a festival of the Hindu religion, Durga Puja is an indivisible part of our Bengali culture." Bangladeshi Rabindranath Trivedi, former press secretary to the government, puts it more poetically: "Devi Durga represents the eternal victory over ugliness and terror, and out of it the lotus of beauty arises." Unfortunately, attacks on these celebrations by Muslim radicals are not uncommon.
In Orissa, the celebrations have grown more similar to those in neighboring West Bengal, due to an influx of migrants from the neighboring state. Historically, the Goddess is profoundly revered by native Oriyas. The capital, Cuttack, has a very old temple in the heart of the city, the Ma Katak Chandi temple. Most devotees make a point of visiting this temple during the festival. Recently, Bengal-style pandals have become popular in Orissa, too, and in grand style. One, a silver-ornamented pandal known as chandi merha (silver home), has dazzled countless devotees. It has been improved and gold plated, changing its name to suna merha (golden home).
In Punjab, Navaratri's disciplines are strictly followed by most of the population. Although few Punjabis are vegetarian, alcohol, meat and some forms of entertainment are completely avoided at this time. Following the fast, on the last day, devotees feed beggars and follow the tradition of worshiping a young girl representing Shakti.
Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir used to celebrate in more pomp, but the region's insurgency has forced the festival indoors, where it has become quiet and focused on the family. Adult members of the household are expected to fast on water and take fruits in the evenings. As elsewhere, Kashmiris grow barley in an earthen pot and watch expectantly, as an augur for the coming year's crops. The most important ritual for those near Srinagar is to visit the temple of guardian Goddess Kheer Bhawani on all nine days.
In Gujarat, dance in adoration of the Goddess takes a whole different form. Temples have a constant stream of visitors into the night. But after leaving the temple, devotees will gather in public squares, open grounds and streets to dance garba, Gujarat's popular folk-dance, late into the nights. Garba dance takes a circular motion, the dancers' circles closing, opening and touching according to the rhythm. Dancers move around the center while clapping rhythmically. At every step they bend sideways and wave their arms, each movement ending in clap. A variation is the dandiya-ras, where sticks are used as part of the choreography.
Garba began as a dance around a suspended earthen pot with many holes, called the garbo. A lamp inside the garbo shines through the holes, creating an array of twinkling, swirling dots of light around the room. Garba may be one of the most ancient forms of dance: its special pots have been found in the 5,000-year-old Harrapan excavation site.
Nepal: In the Himalayan nation of Nepal, Durga Puja is the grandest national festival. Over 21 million Hindus celebrate it here--not just for nine nights, but fifteen, reports Hinduism Today correspondent, Dr. Hari Bansh Jha. In addition to the various forms of the Goddess, Siva, Ganesha and Kartikkeya are worshiped. Even with the former Maoist rebels in charge of the government, now secular Nepal still declares national holidays from the seventh day of the Navaratri until the next full moon night.
As is the case with most of India, Dr. Jha reports, Navaratri in Nepal begins with the ghatasthapana--creating holy temporary vessels for the Deities and planting seeds. In Nepal, barley is planted on sand. Each day water is sprinkled on the sprouts, which begin to germinate from the fourth or fifth day and by the ninth day can be six inches tall.
The last days of celebration are the most intense. On these bustling national holidays, the whole country is engaged in Durga worship. On the sixth day, devotees rejoice in parading from Durga temples to a bilva tree, playing conches, bells and drums. The tree roots are washed with cow dung and the best fruits are adorned with red cloth. On the seventh day, the same fruits are wrapped in red and offered at the feet of the Goddess.
But in Nepal, a country where Shakta beliefs have a large following and vegetarians are rare, another form of red adorns the Goddess' feet. From the seventh until the last day of Navaratri, goats, cows, chickens and other animals are sacrificed in large numbers. In Kathmandu, at the Courtyard of the Hanumandhoka Palace, the military sacrifices 54 water buffaloes and 54 goats in honor of Shakti. Modernity and Maoists aside, the demand for sacrifices has noticeably increased in the last years. Reformers, such as Sita Karn from Janakpur, one of Nepal's most progressive cities, demand, "This tradition of violence and cruelty must come to an end. Killing animals is killing oneself." Some Durga temples have adopted the breaking of grain-filled clay pots or coconuts instead.
By the tenth and most auspicious day, the nation is completely taken up by the festival. On Vijayadashami, the sacred yellow grass called jayanti (meaning "victory") is harvested. Sanskrit pandits recite mantras while placing jayanti on the head of the devotees for blessings. Elders also offer jayanti to the young. In reverence, devotees carry it on their heads and walk to the local temples or to a river, where they offer it to the Goddess. In temples the jayanti with rice and grass can be knotted up and tied to a devotee's arm. This amulet is called bali, and some keep it for one year as a protective amulet.
In Nepal's pahad region (the plains), the young go to the elders to receive tika, rice mixed with red vermilion, applied to their forehead. Until recently, it was a tradition for ministers, high-ranking officials and all citizens who could attend to line up in front of the royal palace and receive tika from the King of Nepal himself--a custom likely to be ended with the monarchy's abolishment.
Jai Ma!
Hinduism Today's Delhi correspondent, Rajiv Malik, paints a word picture of Navaratri: "With the coming of Navarartri, Delhi assumes a festive air. It signifies the coming of fall and departure of the sultry months of summer. Here in Delhi, we see the confluence of cultures within the Hindu community, as Bengalis, north Indians, Gujaratis and South Indians all celebrate according to their own customs. The overall enthusiasm for the Goddess is summed up by M. K. Sethi, an official of Delhi's Jhandewalan Temple, who told me during an interview, 'Ma Durga is the incarnation of power. All evil is destroyed by Her. Whatever I have asked of Her, I have received.'" PIpi
with Rajiv Malik, New Delhi; Harish Bansh Jha, Nepal; Lakshmi Sridharan, Chennai
Ram Vanquishes a Demon
Joining the festive season, Vaishnavites hold Ram Lila during the same days Navaratri is observed. Ram Lila is a dramatic re-enactment of the battle between Lord Rama and the demon Ravana, as told in the Ramayana. The play, which is often staged over ten or more successive nights, culminates in Dusshera, Rama's defeat of Ravana in faraway Sri Lanka.
In most of India and especially in the North, Ram Lila and Navaratri celebrations are not entirely separate. Many homes will find it difficult to explain the differences, and some will describe Navaratri as an event honoring Rama alone. In the Ramayana, Rama invokes the help of Durga in his battle against Ravana, so many understand that the Goddess is being honored in gratitude during this celebration of the incarnation of Vishnu. It is not uncommon for home shrines to honor the Goddess along with Rama or even Krishna during Navaratri. Where the lines of theology get blurred, regional tradition or the family ways prevail.
During Dusshera, giant effigies of nine-headed Ravana and his fellow demons are stuffed with firecrackers and set alight. The fireworks are often spectacular. The festival, described as a celebration of the victory of good over evil, is considered auspicious for spiritual practices. In Gujarat, a common saying goes, "If your horse (representing dharma) cannot stand on the other days of the year, at least today it should."
From the Puranas
The story behind Navaratri is one extolling the power of the Goddess. According to the most common version, from the Markandeya Purana, a vastly powerful demon called Mahishasura had the cunning to be dedicated and patient in his tapas. He performed austerities for countless years, excelling in self-control and cold astuteness. Eventually, he gained a boon from God Siva, that no man or God would ever defeat him.
Satisfied at last, the presumptuous demon saw no more reason for moderation. Greedy, devilish, insatiable, he began to wreak havoc in all three worlds. Mahishasura had always been a formidable opponent, but that boon made him unstoppable.
Alarmed by the disturbance in the cosmos, the Mahadevas convened. Siva's word was that no God could stop Mahishasura. But the edict said nothing about Goddesses; and the three greatest, Lakshimi, Sarasvati and Parvati, held hands and meditated together, balanced on a space no bigger than the head of a needle. They combined their strength in one fierce aspect of Shakti, and terrible Durga came into existence. Durga received the best weapons from the celestial lords, and flaming with rightful might, She set out to protect Her children in all planes of the universe.
For nine nights, Durga and Mahishasura battled. Their struggle ripped the skies apart, and there was no place that did not tremble with the power of Shakti. Feeling he had met his match, the demon tried to trick Durga by changing into a lion, then a man, then a buffalo. But the Goddess senses were keen, and on the tenth day, She pierced the holy trishul though Mahishasura, vanquishing his dangerous ignorance into nonexistence.
In the Skanda Purana, another story is told. Mahishasura, roaming about Earth, one day arrived at Arunachala. Parvati, piously sitting in lotus and doing japa, caught the demon's lustful eyes. Insidious, sly, he spoke to the Goddess with a melodious voice until he caught Her attention. "Why are you performing tapas, O beauty?" He asked. With her eyes half-open, absorbed in the bliss of Her meditations, She answered, "To please the Supreme God and to achieve Him." The demon lost all manners and returned to his arrogant, frightful self. "Nonsense! I am more powerful than Him. Come and marry me," he boasted in a harsh, demonic voice. The Goddess replied calmly. "I myself am more than you, wretched creature. And I will show you your place." In this less common version of the festival's origins, She became a fierce warrior, and for nine nights battled ignorance and evil until fully vanquishing it on the tenth day.
In the festival of "Nine Nights," Hindus across the globe worship the feminine form of the Supreme
No other major religion of the world acknowledges God as part female, or is willing to fully depict Her as the Goddess. But for Hindus, the Goddess, called Shakti, is the emanating power, the essence and the creative manifestation of the Supreme Being, who is beyond opposites. This unique broadness of Hinduism makes Navaratri the world's greatest festival dedicated to the Goddess. This yearly festival is celebrated for nine or ten days in the lunar month of Ashvina (September-October). Hindus observe this festival in a wide variety of ways, depending on their region, local history and family influences.
Millions of Hindu women consider Navaratri each year's primary festival, the one they can most deeply connect to. Many see it as a way to commune with their own feminine divinity. A widespread practice honors the Goddess in every woman by inviting young girls to the family's home, feeding them and offering new clothes. Soumya Sitaraman, a specialist in Hindu festivals and author of Follow the Hindu Moon, teaches how this should be done. "To make Navaratri an affirmation of femininity, invite and honor girls between the ages of two and twelve. A respected married woman can be chosen, too. Begin by honoring the youngest one on the first day as if she was the Goddess. She is addressed only by the Goddess' name, eats prasadam first and is given an aromatic bath and a new dress. On the second day, the second youngest should be honored, and so on. Some families might alternatively choose to venerate all girls at the same time, on the last night."
During the festival, women are ready to exercise their share of restraint to get closer to the Divine by performing tapas and selfless acts. Author Madhur Jaffrey explains, "Navaratri is a time to present to the Goddess our silent requests. This is not done crudely, but properly. We pray morning and evening, the women fast, and the poor in our neighborhood are given food and cooking pots. We offer magnificent food to Goddess Parvati and only after She eats we discreetly whisper our requests."
Navaratri's common practices
Sprouting seeds: In a ritual performed throughout India, Hindus begin the observances with the sprouting of seeds. This is called pratipada in the South and ghatasthapana in the North. In this ceremony, an earthen or silver pitcher, or kumbha, is filled with water and barley seeds. The vessel is placed in the shrine room or some other honored place in the home, where the seeds will sprout over the next nine days. It is a green exuberance that displays the fertility power of the Goddess and brings blessings for a bountiful crop. A traditional Deity kumbha is also prepared. This is an ornate brass pot filled with water, herbs and metals, with mango leaves and a coconut on top. The kumbha is set up to invoke the Goddess and all the devas during the festival period. Pandit Ramesh Chandra Kaushik, chief priest of the Durga Temple in Moti Nagar, Delhi, explains, "The kumbha is established while invoking the blessings of all the 330 million devas (angels). This kumbha is supposed to symbolically have all of these devas in it." With these preparations in place, the celebration of Navarati then officially begins, with puja to Lord Ganesha and offerings to the kumbha.
Tool blessing: Another ceremony associated with the festival across most of India is the ayudha puja, the blessing of the tools of one's trade. At dawn on the ninth day (usually) of Navaratri, selected tools, instruments, utensils and devices used by a worker or artist are ceremoniously placed at the feet of the Goddess and quietly worshiped with prayers and flowers. The items remain at the Goddess' feet until a puja is performed. Until that happens and the items are returned with blessings, no studies, work or performances should happen.
The ayudha puja can be simple, an offering of cooked rice, fruits, flowers and an arati that is silent except for the ringing of a bell. A more elaborate form is to draw a kolam and place a Sarasvati murti in the center, with all the tools touching the kolam's lines.
No kind of instrument or tool is excluded from the blessings of the Goddess. A tailor will bless his sewing machine and a driver his vehicle. Shopkeepers usually decorate and bless their whole store, including the cash register.
Vaishnavites have also adopted the ayudha puja. On the same date, they ritually place tools and weapons at the feet of Lord Rama for His blessings. Author Madhur Jaffrey recounts in her book on the traditional stories of India, Seasons of Splendor, "At this festival, every family worships the 'weapons of its trade.' My mother would first set up a statue of the good King Ram in our prayer room, properly garlanded with a fresh marigold necklace. Under the statue, where some people arranged guns and swords, my mother arranged pens, pencils, ink and paper. Those were the weapons of our family. As far back as 1,500 years, my ancestors made their living writing, not fighting."
The Indian army takes the day, which they call shastra puja, to bless real weapons. Retired Lieutenant Colonial N. C. Guha of Delhi reported in an article in the Ramakrishna Mission magazine, Vedanta Kesari: "Within the Garhwal Rifles, Vijay Dashami or Dussehra is the religious event of the year. The 25,000 soldiers of Garhwal Rifles fully observe the festival for ten days, beginning with the ghatastahpana ceremony at the unit temple. On the ninth day is shastra puja, during which all the weapons of the unit armory are decorated with flowers and displayed in a square fashion in the center of the parade ground."
Beginning of learning: A key samskara, or rite of passage, for children ages three to five is performed on this day across India. It is the vidyarambha, literally "beginning of knowledge," which marks the start of a child's formal education. The worship begins with an elder or priest taking the child's index finger and writing "Om Sri Ganapataye Namah" in sand or uncooked rice. If the child is old enough, he or she writes the letter "A" on the rice as well. Then, using a gold ring dipped in honey, he gently touches the child's tongue with a motion in the shape of the letter "A". Beautiful marks of auspiciousness made with sacred substances are placed on the books, and usually a priest will perform the ceremony in the presence of the whole family. Preceptors, wise men and gurus are also revered on this day as embodiments of Sarasvati's knowledge. They receive many visitors and dakshina, monetary offerings.
It is a widely held belief, especially in South India, that a proper blessing on this day will ensure lifelong success in a child's study and career. Parents, therefore, make sure that the Goddess' goodwill is properly invoked. Some pilgrimage to distant temples with their sons and daughters to beseech Her grace.
Vijayadashami: On the tenth day, Vijayadashami ("tenth day victory") the festival culminates in the triumph of the Goddesses over the demon Mahishasura. For this day, the place to be is Karnataka, specifically Mysore, for that is where the victory is said to have occurred. The city takes its very name after Mahishasura and has a temple dedicated to him. Recently a gigantic statue of the demon was built near the temple of Durga on the city's Chamundi Hill. Mysore is noted for its magnificent elephant processions during Navaratri.
There is a specific explanation of Vijayadashami associated with Karnataka. It is attributed to the story in the Mahabharata of the Pandavas' 14-year exile in disguise--which is also likely related to the military tradition of shastra puja. Discretion in exile was indispensable, so the Pandavas stored their many divine and distinctive weapons under a shami tree in Karnataka during the tenth day of Navaratri. They prayed to Durga, asking Her to protect their weapons, and returned at the end of one year to find them intact. On that same day, they went forth to defeat their enemies, adding their success to the celebrations of the Goddess' victory. Today people exchange shami (Mimosa suma) leaves and on this auspicious date to wish each other a victorious life.
Navaratri's regional flavors
The seed-sprouting ceremony, tool blessing, beginning of learning and Vijayadashami are observed over most of India. Regional variations abound, from South India to Nepal.
South India: Here the Goddess is worshipped in three forms. During the first three nights, Durga is revered, then Lakshmi on the fourth, fifth and sixth nights, and finally Sarasvati until the ninth night.
Durga (meaning "invincible" in Sanskrit) is the epitome of strength, courage and ferocity. Her devotees approach Her--sometimes with difficult penances--for those qualities and for the protection She bestows.
A more gentle worship is observed for Lakshmi. Also called also Annapurna, "Giver of food," Lakshmi is the Goddess of abundance, wealth and comfort. She is the ever-giving mother, worshiped for well being and prosperity. A traditional way of invoking Her is chanting the Samputita Sri Suktam. In Her honor, food is prepared and offered to neighbors and all who visit, thus strengthening community ties. On the full-moon night following Navaratri, it is believed Lakshmi Herself visits each home and replenishes family wealth. In Saivite areas, Parvati is worshiped on these days instead of Lakshmi, with an emphasis on the motherly aspect of the Goddess. Otherwise, the devotional practices are similar.
The last three days of Navaratri exalt Sarasvati, the form of Shakti personifying wisdom, arts and beauty. Her name literally means "flowing one," a reference to thoughts, words, music and the Sarasvati River. The evenings of Her worship are marked with melodic bhajans. The musicians select challenging pieces and play their best in order to earn the Goddess' blessings for the coming year.
Mystically, Sarasvati is believed to be the keeper of the powerful Gayatri Mantra, which is chanted during the festival to invoke Her supreme blessings. Devotees meditate for days on this mantra alone, as it is considered the door to divine wisdom.
Kerala's Ma Amritanandamayi explains, "At one level, Navaratri signifies the progress of the spiritual aspirant. During this spiritual journey, the aspirant has to pass three stages personified by instinctive Durga, motherly Lakshmi and finally wise Sarasvati. Then, he or she enters into the realm of the infinite, wherein one realizes one's Self."
Families in Tamil Nadu traditionally prepare in their homes a kolu, an exhibition of small dolls and figurines on a stepped, decorated shelf (see photo on page 28). At least one murti of Shakti must be present, as well as wooden figurines of a boy and a girl together, called marapachi, to invoke auspicious marriages. Almost any small item may be included on the kolu, so almost all the small artifacts from around the house find their way there.
Author Soumya Sitaraman writes, "A kolu is a well-planned occasion. People will often print and send cards inviting family and friends to come see their kolu. This results in new friendships and stronger relationships. Navaratri evenings are a bustle of rustling silk, twinkling jewelry and laughter. Women are very particular about their attire and go visiting, hopping in a logical sequence, every house they are invited to." Daughters of marrying age accompany their mothers on the visits, as this is an auspicious opportunity for match making. The kolu is also celebrated in Andhra Pradesh and the parts of Kerala bordering Tamil Nadu.
North India: In the North, Navaratri is commonly called Durga Puja. While the South celebrates three Goddesses as different aspects of the Supreme Mother, in the North, Durga is regarded as the Mother Herself, and all other Goddesses are Her manifestations.
The practices and the ways of worshiping are almost identical. However, the names and stories underlying the festival's rites differ, often incorporating strong Shakta influences or elements of the Ramayana. The worship of Durga is the year's largest Hindu festival in many northern states, as it is in Nepal and Bhutan.
Durga is worshiped as Navadurga, the one with nine manifestations, one for each day of the festival. They vary in attributes and appearance, but usually include: Shailputri, daughter of the mountain; Brahmacharini, the chaste one; Chandraghanteti, the fighter; Kushmanda, of many lights; Skanda Mata, mother to Lord Skanda; Katyayani, the divine daughter; Kalratri, the black one; young-looking Maha Gauri, who seems no older than eight years; and Siddhidatri Ardhanarishvara, the all-powerful Siva-Shakti. Each is invoked with a special mantra and, frequently, with complicated tantras.
During the nightime rites, the Goddess is invoked with precise repetitions of the Durga Sapta Shasti, followed by recitations of the Devi Bhagawat Purana and the Devi Mahatmya. The most dedicated chant a mantra or shloka thousands of times during the nine nights.
Asking for fertility and blessings, priests and women devotees intone Her words into the night, chanting, "When for hundreds of years there will be no rain and the Earth will be without water, the great contemplative rishis shall sing praises of Me, seeking Me. I will come down without human parentage; and with hundreds of eyes, I shall look kindly upon those profound sages. Then I shall cover the entire Earth with greens born of my own being. I shall nourish them all with these greens, sustaining the prana of all beings, and thereby I shall be known as Shakambhari, 'the Bearer of Greens'" (Durga Sapta Shasti xi 42-45).
In West Bengal, Durga Puja is everywhere. In playgrounds, traffic circles, ponds and wherever space is available, elaborate structures called pandals are set up, many with a year's planning behind them. Usually made of bamboo and cloth, they serve as temporary temples. Each houses a highly decorated murti of the Goddess worshiped throughout the festival. While some pandals are simple, others are extravagant works of art with themes that range from the traditional to the wildly modern, often based on current affairs, famous movies or pure imagination. Representing the Universal Mother's transcendence of cultural boundaries, in West Bengal one can find Her in an Inca or an Egyptian setting, or even aboard the famous Titanic.
Most people celebrate buying new clothes and jewelry, which are worn on the evenings when the family goes out to see the pandals. Ritual drummers, called dhakis, carrying large leather-strung instruments, enliven the surroundings with their performances during the many ritual dances that happen in every pandal. The festivities are so pervasive that it is common to see people from all backgrounds and religions participating.
At the end of the celebration, in all Her glory, the exquisitely crafted Durga murti, with countless adornments, is taken to a river, where it is immersed. The procession leading to the waters is accompanied by loud chants of "Bolo Durga mai-ki jai" ("Glory be to Mother Durga") and "Aashchhe bochhor abar hobe" ("It will happen again next year"). Intense drumbeats mark Her release into the waters. It is said that this final ritual returns the Goddess to Her eternal home in the Himalayas--until next year's Durga Puja.
In Bangladesh, which shares a common Hindu heritage with West Bengal, numerous pandals also crowd the cities. The Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad, a Hindu organization, counted more than 20,000 pandals nationwide in 2007. Here, Durga Puja is an national holiday. The president of Bangladesh, Iajuddin Ahmed, recently stated, "Though it is a festival of the Hindu religion, Durga Puja is an indivisible part of our Bengali culture." Bangladeshi Rabindranath Trivedi, former press secretary to the government, puts it more poetically: "Devi Durga represents the eternal victory over ugliness and terror, and out of it the lotus of beauty arises." Unfortunately, attacks on these celebrations by Muslim radicals are not uncommon.
In Orissa, the celebrations have grown more similar to those in neighboring West Bengal, due to an influx of migrants from the neighboring state. Historically, the Goddess is profoundly revered by native Oriyas. The capital, Cuttack, has a very old temple in the heart of the city, the Ma Katak Chandi temple. Most devotees make a point of visiting this temple during the festival. Recently, Bengal-style pandals have become popular in Orissa, too, and in grand style. One, a silver-ornamented pandal known as chandi merha (silver home), has dazzled countless devotees. It has been improved and gold plated, changing its name to suna merha (golden home).
In Punjab, Navaratri's disciplines are strictly followed by most of the population. Although few Punjabis are vegetarian, alcohol, meat and some forms of entertainment are completely avoided at this time. Following the fast, on the last day, devotees feed beggars and follow the tradition of worshiping a young girl representing Shakti.
Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir used to celebrate in more pomp, but the region's insurgency has forced the festival indoors, where it has become quiet and focused on the family. Adult members of the household are expected to fast on water and take fruits in the evenings. As elsewhere, Kashmiris grow barley in an earthen pot and watch expectantly, as an augur for the coming year's crops. The most important ritual for those near Srinagar is to visit the temple of guardian Goddess Kheer Bhawani on all nine days.
In Gujarat, dance in adoration of the Goddess takes a whole different form. Temples have a constant stream of visitors into the night. But after leaving the temple, devotees will gather in public squares, open grounds and streets to dance garba, Gujarat's popular folk-dance, late into the nights. Garba dance takes a circular motion, the dancers' circles closing, opening and touching according to the rhythm. Dancers move around the center while clapping rhythmically. At every step they bend sideways and wave their arms, each movement ending in clap. A variation is the dandiya-ras, where sticks are used as part of the choreography.
Garba began as a dance around a suspended earthen pot with many holes, called the garbo. A lamp inside the garbo shines through the holes, creating an array of twinkling, swirling dots of light around the room. Garba may be one of the most ancient forms of dance: its special pots have been found in the 5,000-year-old Harrapan excavation site.
Nepal: In the Himalayan nation of Nepal, Durga Puja is the grandest national festival. Over 21 million Hindus celebrate it here--not just for nine nights, but fifteen, reports Hinduism Today correspondent, Dr. Hari Bansh Jha. In addition to the various forms of the Goddess, Siva, Ganesha and Kartikkeya are worshiped. Even with the former Maoist rebels in charge of the government, now secular Nepal still declares national holidays from the seventh day of the Navaratri until the next full moon night.
As is the case with most of India, Dr. Jha reports, Navaratri in Nepal begins with the ghatasthapana--creating holy temporary vessels for the Deities and planting seeds. In Nepal, barley is planted on sand. Each day water is sprinkled on the sprouts, which begin to germinate from the fourth or fifth day and by the ninth day can be six inches tall.
The last days of celebration are the most intense. On these bustling national holidays, the whole country is engaged in Durga worship. On the sixth day, devotees rejoice in parading from Durga temples to a bilva tree, playing conches, bells and drums. The tree roots are washed with cow dung and the best fruits are adorned with red cloth. On the seventh day, the same fruits are wrapped in red and offered at the feet of the Goddess.
But in Nepal, a country where Shakta beliefs have a large following and vegetarians are rare, another form of red adorns the Goddess' feet. From the seventh until the last day of Navaratri, goats, cows, chickens and other animals are sacrificed in large numbers. In Kathmandu, at the Courtyard of the Hanumandhoka Palace, the military sacrifices 54 water buffaloes and 54 goats in honor of Shakti. Modernity and Maoists aside, the demand for sacrifices has noticeably increased in the last years. Reformers, such as Sita Karn from Janakpur, one of Nepal's most progressive cities, demand, "This tradition of violence and cruelty must come to an end. Killing animals is killing oneself." Some Durga temples have adopted the breaking of grain-filled clay pots or coconuts instead.
By the tenth and most auspicious day, the nation is completely taken up by the festival. On Vijayadashami, the sacred yellow grass called jayanti (meaning "victory") is harvested. Sanskrit pandits recite mantras while placing jayanti on the head of the devotees for blessings. Elders also offer jayanti to the young. In reverence, devotees carry it on their heads and walk to the local temples or to a river, where they offer it to the Goddess. In temples the jayanti with rice and grass can be knotted up and tied to a devotee's arm. This amulet is called bali, and some keep it for one year as a protective amulet.
In Nepal's pahad region (the plains), the young go to the elders to receive tika, rice mixed with red vermilion, applied to their forehead. Until recently, it was a tradition for ministers, high-ranking officials and all citizens who could attend to line up in front of the royal palace and receive tika from the King of Nepal himself--a custom likely to be ended with the monarchy's abolishment.
Jai Ma!
Hinduism Today's Delhi correspondent, Rajiv Malik, paints a word picture of Navaratri: "With the coming of Navarartri, Delhi assumes a festive air. It signifies the coming of fall and departure of the sultry months of summer. Here in Delhi, we see the confluence of cultures within the Hindu community, as Bengalis, north Indians, Gujaratis and South Indians all celebrate according to their own customs. The overall enthusiasm for the Goddess is summed up by M. K. Sethi, an official of Delhi's Jhandewalan Temple, who told me during an interview, 'Ma Durga is the incarnation of power. All evil is destroyed by Her. Whatever I have asked of Her, I have received.'" PIpi
with Rajiv Malik, New Delhi; Harish Bansh Jha, Nepal; Lakshmi Sridharan, Chennai
Ram Vanquishes a Demon
Joining the festive season, Vaishnavites hold Ram Lila during the same days Navaratri is observed. Ram Lila is a dramatic re-enactment of the battle between Lord Rama and the demon Ravana, as told in the Ramayana. The play, which is often staged over ten or more successive nights, culminates in Dusshera, Rama's defeat of Ravana in faraway Sri Lanka.
In most of India and especially in the North, Ram Lila and Navaratri celebrations are not entirely separate. Many homes will find it difficult to explain the differences, and some will describe Navaratri as an event honoring Rama alone. In the Ramayana, Rama invokes the help of Durga in his battle against Ravana, so many understand that the Goddess is being honored in gratitude during this celebration of the incarnation of Vishnu. It is not uncommon for home shrines to honor the Goddess along with Rama or even Krishna during Navaratri. Where the lines of theology get blurred, regional tradition or the family ways prevail.
During Dusshera, giant effigies of nine-headed Ravana and his fellow demons are stuffed with firecrackers and set alight. The fireworks are often spectacular. The festival, described as a celebration of the victory of good over evil, is considered auspicious for spiritual practices. In Gujarat, a common saying goes, "If your horse (representing dharma) cannot stand on the other days of the year, at least today it should."
From the Puranas
The story behind Navaratri is one extolling the power of the Goddess. According to the most common version, from the Markandeya Purana, a vastly powerful demon called Mahishasura had the cunning to be dedicated and patient in his tapas. He performed austerities for countless years, excelling in self-control and cold astuteness. Eventually, he gained a boon from God Siva, that no man or God would ever defeat him.
Satisfied at last, the presumptuous demon saw no more reason for moderation. Greedy, devilish, insatiable, he began to wreak havoc in all three worlds. Mahishasura had always been a formidable opponent, but that boon made him unstoppable.
Alarmed by the disturbance in the cosmos, the Mahadevas convened. Siva's word was that no God could stop Mahishasura. But the edict said nothing about Goddesses; and the three greatest, Lakshimi, Sarasvati and Parvati, held hands and meditated together, balanced on a space no bigger than the head of a needle. They combined their strength in one fierce aspect of Shakti, and terrible Durga came into existence. Durga received the best weapons from the celestial lords, and flaming with rightful might, She set out to protect Her children in all planes of the universe.
For nine nights, Durga and Mahishasura battled. Their struggle ripped the skies apart, and there was no place that did not tremble with the power of Shakti. Feeling he had met his match, the demon tried to trick Durga by changing into a lion, then a man, then a buffalo. But the Goddess senses were keen, and on the tenth day, She pierced the holy trishul though Mahishasura, vanquishing his dangerous ignorance into nonexistence.
In the Skanda Purana, another story is told. Mahishasura, roaming about Earth, one day arrived at Arunachala. Parvati, piously sitting in lotus and doing japa, caught the demon's lustful eyes. Insidious, sly, he spoke to the Goddess with a melodious voice until he caught Her attention. "Why are you performing tapas, O beauty?" He asked. With her eyes half-open, absorbed in the bliss of Her meditations, She answered, "To please the Supreme God and to achieve Him." The demon lost all manners and returned to his arrogant, frightful self. "Nonsense! I am more powerful than Him. Come and marry me," he boasted in a harsh, demonic voice. The Goddess replied calmly. "I myself am more than you, wretched creature. And I will show you your place." In this less common version of the festival's origins, She became a fierce warrior, and for nine nights battled ignorance and evil until fully vanquishing it on the tenth day.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Toastmasters’ International
Become the Speaker and Leader you want to be
What is Toastmasters?
It is an organization that started in 1924 at the YMCA in Santa Ana, California in USA. Its main purpose is to encourage members to practice and hone their communication and leadership skills. There are more that 12,500 clubs in the world in various languages. Since 1924 Toastmasters International has helped millions of men and women become more confident in front of an audience.
How do we learn to speak confidently?
There is no instructor. Instead each speech meeting is critiqued by a member in a positive manner, focusing on what was done right and what could be improved.
What happens at the meeting?
Toastmasters meetings should ideally be compromised of about 20 people and they meet twice a month for about 2 hours. Participants practice and learn skills by filling a meeting role, ranging from giving a prepared speech or an impromptu one to serving as a timer, evaluator or a grammarian.
Skills from Toastmaster Meeting
Confidence. The ability to communicate, persuade and lead. The skill to tell one’s story, shape better tomorrows and point others in the same direction. These are the attributes of leaders, and not all leaders are born with talent. They learn it, one experience at a time, and so can you.
For nearly a century, Toastmasters International has been helping women and men of every background, education level and economic standing develop the competency they need to become effective communicators and, ultimately, inspired leaders. That proud tradition continues to this day, bolstered by a reaffirmation of purpose and a new aesthetic vibrancy that includes our logo, colors, fonts and educational materials. Our organization is growing like never before; Toastmasters International now comprises more than 13,000 clubs in 116 countries around the world, from Myanmar to Mexico, China to the Netherlands. Our new look and feel represents a realization of this truth and a tireless commitment to it going forward.
This is an exciting time in Toastmasters history; more than ever we are prepared to equip a new generation of success-oriented people with the practical communication and leadership skills necessary to improve their confidence and achieve their goals. Whether you’re a college student, stay-at-home mom, small business owner or CEO, we invite you to join Toastmasters International—where leaders are made.
Become the Speaker and Leader you want to be
What is Toastmasters?
It is an organization that started in 1924 at the YMCA in Santa Ana, California in USA. Its main purpose is to encourage members to practice and hone their communication and leadership skills. There are more that 12,500 clubs in the world in various languages. Since 1924 Toastmasters International has helped millions of men and women become more confident in front of an audience.
How do we learn to speak confidently?
There is no instructor. Instead each speech meeting is critiqued by a member in a positive manner, focusing on what was done right and what could be improved.
What happens at the meeting?
Toastmasters meetings should ideally be compromised of about 20 people and they meet twice a month for about 2 hours. Participants practice and learn skills by filling a meeting role, ranging from giving a prepared speech or an impromptu one to serving as a timer, evaluator or a grammarian.
Skills from Toastmaster Meeting
Confidence. The ability to communicate, persuade and lead. The skill to tell one’s story, shape better tomorrows and point others in the same direction. These are the attributes of leaders, and not all leaders are born with talent. They learn it, one experience at a time, and so can you.
For nearly a century, Toastmasters International has been helping women and men of every background, education level and economic standing develop the competency they need to become effective communicators and, ultimately, inspired leaders. That proud tradition continues to this day, bolstered by a reaffirmation of purpose and a new aesthetic vibrancy that includes our logo, colors, fonts and educational materials. Our organization is growing like never before; Toastmasters International now comprises more than 13,000 clubs in 116 countries around the world, from Myanmar to Mexico, China to the Netherlands. Our new look and feel represents a realization of this truth and a tireless commitment to it going forward.
This is an exciting time in Toastmasters history; more than ever we are prepared to equip a new generation of success-oriented people with the practical communication and leadership skills necessary to improve their confidence and achieve their goals. Whether you’re a college student, stay-at-home mom, small business owner or CEO, we invite you to join Toastmasters International—where leaders are made.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Thiruvaiyur Temple in Tanjavur India
Thiruvaiyaru (also spelt as Tiruvaiyaru) (Tamil: திருவையாறு) is a panchayat town in Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is situated on the banks of the river Kaveri, 13 km from Thanjavur, Thiruvaaiyaru has an old Shiva temple dedicated to Panchanatheeswar. Though pilgrims flock to this temple throughout the year, Thiruvaiyaru is more renowned for its association with Saint Thyagaraja, who, along with Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shyama Sastri, comprises the Trinity of Carnatic music. Thiruvaiyaru means Five Rivers around the city. The Five Rivers are Arisilaaru, Vennaaru, Vettaaru, Kudamuruttiyaaru and Kaaviriyaaru.Thiruvaiyaru is a small, quiet town. However, its modesty belies its importance as a pilgrim centre. On the National highway from Thanjavur,
Thiruvaiyaru is the headquarters of the Thiruvaiyaru taluk.
Near the Shiva temple is the one-roomed house where Thyagaraja composed some of his greatest works. On the banks of the river is the samadhi of the saint composer and it is here that the greatest music festival in the country takes place annually.
The Thyagaraja Aradhana festival is held in January when most of the leading exponents of Carnatic music come to perform and are watched by thousands of ardent fans of classical music. A huge complex is now under construction at this site to accommodate the large audience that come to the concert in ever increasing numbers every year.
History
The vast temple in this town, known as "Dakshina Kailasam" (Southern abode of Shiva), built in an area of approximately 60000 square meters, boasts of 5 prakaram(outer precincts used for religious purposes) and many 'mandapams' (great halls). Several inscriptions in the temple affiliates the temple to the Cholas, Pandyas, and other rulers. Karikala Chola, Rajaraja the great, Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan, and Krishna Devarayar are associated with Thiruvaiyaru. The temple has two distinct divisions called 'Uttarakailasam' and 'Dakshinakailasam'. Uttarakailasam was built by Rajaraja Cholan's queen in the late 10th century who also made several endowments . Dakshinakailasam was renovated by Rajendra Cholan's queen. Appar, one of the important Nayanmar, was closely associated with this shrine and dedicated one of the songs in 'Thevaram' to this temple.[1] The Tiruvaiyaru temple has also a shrine for Aatkondar or Kala Samharamoorthy, which is unique in the world. A Homa Kund started by saint Shri Adi Sankara can be found outside the shrine of Aatkonda.
Some images of the temple
http://www.google.com/search?q=thiruvaiyaru+temple&hl=en&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=5bxuTqv6KY3xrQeWn7GbBw&ved=0CGEQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=643
Thiruvaiyaru is the headquarters of the Thiruvaiyaru taluk.
Near the Shiva temple is the one-roomed house where Thyagaraja composed some of his greatest works. On the banks of the river is the samadhi of the saint composer and it is here that the greatest music festival in the country takes place annually.
The Thyagaraja Aradhana festival is held in January when most of the leading exponents of Carnatic music come to perform and are watched by thousands of ardent fans of classical music. A huge complex is now under construction at this site to accommodate the large audience that come to the concert in ever increasing numbers every year.
History
The vast temple in this town, known as "Dakshina Kailasam" (Southern abode of Shiva), built in an area of approximately 60000 square meters, boasts of 5 prakaram(outer precincts used for religious purposes) and many 'mandapams' (great halls). Several inscriptions in the temple affiliates the temple to the Cholas, Pandyas, and other rulers. Karikala Chola, Rajaraja the great, Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan, and Krishna Devarayar are associated with Thiruvaiyaru. The temple has two distinct divisions called 'Uttarakailasam' and 'Dakshinakailasam'. Uttarakailasam was built by Rajaraja Cholan's queen in the late 10th century who also made several endowments . Dakshinakailasam was renovated by Rajendra Cholan's queen. Appar, one of the important Nayanmar, was closely associated with this shrine and dedicated one of the songs in 'Thevaram' to this temple.[1] The Tiruvaiyaru temple has also a shrine for Aatkondar or Kala Samharamoorthy, which is unique in the world. A Homa Kund started by saint Shri Adi Sankara can be found outside the shrine of Aatkonda.
Some images of the temple
http://www.google.com/search?q=thiruvaiyaru+temple&hl=en&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=5bxuTqv6KY3xrQeWn7GbBw&ved=0CGEQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=643
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Publisher of Hinduism Today Speaks on the September 11th, 2001, Attack on America 9/12/01
Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami,
Publisher of Hinduism Today
Speaks on the September 11th, 2001,
Attack on America
9/12/01
The giant 12-foot by 24-foot saffron-colored Hindu flag which flies at my monastery on the island of Kauai, Hawaii lies at half-mast today, in honor of the victims of yesterday's abhorrent and tragically violent attacks on America. In response to the many queries I have received about yesterday's calamity, we offer these thoughts and perspectives:
Every high-minded and good soul on Earth has been hurt and shocked by the appalling images of the buildings being destroyed in New York and Washington and the resulting deaths of untold thousands of innocent human beings. Hindus everywhere in the world, of every tradition, are praying for those who have suffered and rightfully calling for the terrorists to be brought to justice and for terrorism itself to be stopped in every nation of the world so people everywhere may live in security. Leaders must be vigilant, and governments have the duty to protect all citizens and to punish the guilty. We must all rely on the integrity of the US leadership to do the right thing to assure a future free from such terrorism.
"Hindus everywhere are reminding themselves and those they meet of the great principle of Ahimsa, noninjury, which Gandhi lived so faithfully and which lies at the heart of all Hindu thought and culture. Not to injure others is the highest path. The ancient South Indian scripture, Tirukural, says, "It is the principle of the pure in heart never to injure others, even when they themselves have been hatefully injured. Harming others, even enemies who harmed you unprovoked, surely brings incessant sorrow." The wise never let hateful people fill them with hate, never give permission to the angry to arouse their own instinctive nature of anger. They cling to the Divine, trust in the Divine in all circumstances and thus are channels for the divine process of human transformation and evolution.
"As unimaginable as this tragedy is, we must all not respond to violence with more violence in our homes and streets. Trust our government and the governments of the world to perform their military duty to assure our safety in the future. We must be the peacemakers, the arbiters of differences and the protectors of goodness. The world has always been populated by people of the lower nature and those of a higher nature. Immature souls, young souls in spiritual evolution, live in the chakras below the muladhara, where fear, anger, hatred, jealousy, confusion, selfishness and maliciousness without conscience reside. Old souls live in the higher chakras, where reason, will, understanding and love prevail. Life on Earth has always been happiest, safest and most rewarding when the higher-consciousness people are in control, both of themselves and of those who follow a lower path. Each one can make a choice in the days ahead to remain in the light and illumine the world or be drawn into the darkness of hate, fear and revenge. Our Siva is a God of love, and our traditions and scriptures assure us that this love will overcome every lesser force."
Read below Gurudeva's presentation at the United Nations on Stopping War.
Particular advice for devotees:
I strongly endorse the giving of blood by my devotees at this hour of human need.
What To Tell our Children
The question has arisen among so many regarding what to tell our children about the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Here are some simple guidelines gathered from experts who counsel children professionally about tragedies and violence.
TALK, TALK, TALK: They say to sit for more time than usual with your kids and talk to them. Talk about democracy and how wonderful it is, and about freedom, and how these can be abused, as in the case of terrorists. Talk to them about violence and about peace, about why people get violent and why we should not respond with violence. Talk about ahimsa, the great spiritual law of noninjuriousness. Talk about karma and how when we hurt others, that hurt comes back one day and causes us to suffer, and when we love others we are naturally loved. Experts say to admit to children when you don't know the answer to their questions. This shows our sincerity and lets them know we don't have all the answers. It will actually help their trust grow.
ENVELOP THEM IN SAFETY: Kids can become insecure easily, especially if the parents are themselves uncertain or upset. So, be calm, be an example. Hug them, tell them stories, make them special meals, take a walk. Time spent with them is invaluable. Don't let them watch TV for hours. Do carefully limit the images of violence they see. Show them ways in which the world is a safe place, and assure them they are safe with you, in their home, far from the source of these awful happenings (most are). Give them a strong sense of the future, and speak about how such problems are being worked on by thousands of very smart and good men and women. You can tell older kids details about finding and punishing those who did it, but not the very young. Give them hope by your words and your assurances. Young ones can be distracted into happy play and experiences. Kids, like all people, want to feel safe.
American Academy of Pediatrics Offers Advice on Communicating with Children about Disasters
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In response to the tragic events unfolding in New York and Washington, DC, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) would like to offer some advice on how to communicate with children and adolescents during times of crisis.
* It's important to communicate to children that they're safe. Given what they may have seen on television, they need to know that the violence is isolated to certain areas and they will not be harmed. Parents should try to assure children that they've done everything they can to keep their children safe.
* Adolescents in particular can be hard hit by these kinds of events and parents might want to watch for signs such as: sleep disturbances, fatigue, lack of pleasure in activities enjoyed previously, and initiation of illicit substance abuse.
* Overexposure to the media can be traumatizing. It's unwise to let children or adolescents view footage of traumatic events over and over. Children and adolescents should not watch these events alone.
* Adults need to help children understand the significance of these events. Discussion is critical. It should be stressed that the terrorist acts are ones of desperation and horror -- that there are "bad" people out there, and bad people do bad things. But not all people in a particular group are bad. Children should know that lashing out at members of a particular religious or ethnic group will only cause more harm.
For World Peace,
Stop the War in the Home
A talk given by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami to 1,200 delegates at the United Nations Millennium Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders in New York, August 30, 2000. A few days earlier, on August 25, in the Dag Hammarskjûld Auditorium Gurudeva received the prestigious U Thant Peace Award.
I was asked by the United Nations leaders how humanity might better resolve the conflicts, hostilities and violent happenings that plague every nation. my answer was that we must work at the source and cause, not with the symptoms. That is what we do in ayurvedic medicine„focus on the causes, on establishing the body's natural balance and health. That way we are not always working with illness and disease; we are spending time and resources instead to establish a healthy system that itself fights off sickness. To stop the wars in the world, our best long-term solution is to stop the war in the home. It is here that hatred begins, that animosities with those who are different from us are nurtured, that battered children learn to solve their problems with violence. This is true of every religious community. Not one is exempt.
In Asia, in the United States and among Hindus all over the world, there's a war going on in every home. Few homes are exempt from the beating of children. This is a global problem, in all communities, but I believe that Hindus have the power to change it because our philosophy supports a better way. If we can end the war in our homes, then perhaps we can be an example to others and this will lead to ending war in the world. People will choose a different path.
In our homes when we strike our children, we teach everybody to beat everybody else, and the beating goes on, right on down the line, until they are a soldier or a gang member or rebel, and then they are fighting to kill. That's how all the religious wars have trained religious people to create the wars and to disturb the planet. The hitting and the hurting begin in the home. We should all be vowed to bring peace into the homes and stop the war within the home. Why? Because our neighborhoods and communities will not come up, the nation will not come up, the world will not come up until there is harmony within the home, until problems are solved before bedtime, until children are not abused and pushed down into fear, into a condition where they've lost all self-respect.
The children are amazingly intelligent these days, different than twenty or thirty years ago. These bright children are watching television. They see on TV that those people whom people like are loved and hugged, appreciated, lifted up, and nice things are said to them. They see on TV that other people whom people do not like, that they hate, are put down, told they're stupid, made to feel they're worthless and no good, they're hit and sometimes maimed or killed. Therefore, children will know with the first slap that they are hated, no longer wanted. Where are they to go? They can't, at a young age, go make a living. They can't run away from home, though some of them do and join gangs which will give them the only belonging, the only love and friendship that they have, to share their suffering with other people who have been suffering because of parental abuse, verbal abuse and physical abuse.
Sadly, in this day and age, beating the kids is just a way of life in many families. Nearly everyone was beaten a little as a child, so they beat their kids, and their kids will beat their kids, and those kids will beat their kids. Older brothers will beat younger brothers. Brothers will beat sisters. You can see what families are creating in this endless cycle of violence: little warriors. One day a war will come up, and it will be easy for a young person who has been beaten without mercy to pick up a gun and kill somebody without conscience, and even take pleasure in doing so. I've had Hindus tell me, "Slapping or caning children to make them obey is just part of our culture." I don't think so. Hindu culture is a culture of kindness. Hindu culture teaches ahimsa, noninjury, physically, mentally and emotionally. It preaches against himsa, hurtfulness. It may be British Christian culture„which for 150 years taught Hindus in India the Biblical adage, "Spare the rod and spoil the child"„but it's not Hindu culture to beat the light out of the eyes of children, to beat the trust out of them, to beat the intelligence out of them and force them to go along with everything in a mindless way and wind up doing a routine, uncreative job the rest of their life, then take their built-up anger out on their children and beat that generation down to nothingness. This is certainly not the culture of an intelligent future. It is a culture that will perpetuate every kind of hostility.
In some Asian countries, if children ask a question, they're answered with a slap across the face. How brutal can people be? These are mean people, vicious people. The working mother slaps her children at home when they add stress to her already stressed-out nerve system. Father has a tough day on the job and takes it out on his son's back or face with the hand, strap or cane. Does it give him a sadistic joy to hear young children cry in pain? Does it enhance his feeling of "I'm in charge here! You are not!''? How do I know all this is happening inside the Hindu home? Hotmail. Young kids are getting into Hotmail. They all have their own account. They all have their own computer, and they are writing to me, "Gurudeva! Gurudeva! My father beats me and I'm beaten in school and if I tell anybody I'm beaten in school my mother will strike me. At least three to five times a week, a knock on the head, a pinch, a cane across the back or the legs." Is this the way of tomorrow? We hope not. But this is the way of today. It can be corrected by all of you going forth to bring peace within every family and every home, no matter what faith you belong to. If you know about the crime of a beating of a child or a wife, you are party to that crime unless you do something to protect that wife or to protect that child. Similarly, if you are driving with a friend in the car and he says, "Stop at this service station. I'm going into the convenience store." You stop and he goes into the convenience store, pulls out a gun, robs that store and jumps back into the car, you are an accomplice to the crime, whether you know it or not. You're an accomplice to the crime. All of a sudden, you become a criminal, unless you do something about it. That is taking on spiritual responsibility.
So, knowing that so much child abuse is happening behind a wall of silence, what do we do? Call one of our attorneys, call one of our missionary families and say, "Call the police. Have them watch this family very closely, to protect this child." We had one child put in a foster home and the father put in jail. He took the discipline a little too far. The child had burns all over his body, plus scars from earlier beatings. How do we know? Pictures were taken and sent to us by someone who cared enough not to ignore what was happening. In Canada, the teachers in school tell Asian kids, "If your parents hit you, you call this number." It happens to be 911. The police come to the house. Canadians want to stop the war in their homes.
In the past 85 years we've had two world wars and hundreds of smaller ones. Killers come from among those who have been beaten. The slap and pinch, the sting of the paddle, the lash of the strap, the blows of a cane must manifest through those who receive them into the lives of others. But there is a price to pay. The abuser one day becomes the abused. This is a law of life seen manifesting every day. It is called karma. Action gives an equal or more intense reaction, depending on the intent and the emotion behind it. Corporal punishment is arguably a prelude to gangs on the streets, those who will riot on call, and others who suffer in silence and hide behind a desk or in a routine profession, fearing reprimand and punishment, never talking back or offering an opinion.
We do know a few families who have never beaten their children or disciplined them physically in any way. We ask them "Why? "They say, "Because we love our children. We love them." "So, how do you train them; how do you discipline them?" "Well, we have them go into the shrine room and sit for ten minutes and think over what they did wrong, and they come back and we talk to them. We communicate. We encourage them to do better rather than making them feel worse." Then we ask, "What about TV? Aren't your kids watching TV all the time?" "No. We can't watch a lot of TV with children. Personal time with them is our family's way."
Holding the family together can be summed up in one word: love. Love is understanding. Love is acceptance. Love is making somebody feel good about his experience, whether the experience is a good one or not. Love is giving the assurance that there is no need to keep secrets, no matter what has happened. Love is wanting to be with members of the family. When harmony persists in the home, harmony abides in the community, and harmony exists in the country. When love and trust is in the family, love and trust extend to the local community, and if enough homes have this harmony among members, the entire country becomes stronger and more secure.
Advanced
Copyright © 2002 Himalayan Academy Publications. All rights reserved.
Publisher of Hinduism Today
Speaks on the September 11th, 2001,
Attack on America
9/12/01
The giant 12-foot by 24-foot saffron-colored Hindu flag which flies at my monastery on the island of Kauai, Hawaii lies at half-mast today, in honor of the victims of yesterday's abhorrent and tragically violent attacks on America. In response to the many queries I have received about yesterday's calamity, we offer these thoughts and perspectives:
Every high-minded and good soul on Earth has been hurt and shocked by the appalling images of the buildings being destroyed in New York and Washington and the resulting deaths of untold thousands of innocent human beings. Hindus everywhere in the world, of every tradition, are praying for those who have suffered and rightfully calling for the terrorists to be brought to justice and for terrorism itself to be stopped in every nation of the world so people everywhere may live in security. Leaders must be vigilant, and governments have the duty to protect all citizens and to punish the guilty. We must all rely on the integrity of the US leadership to do the right thing to assure a future free from such terrorism.
"Hindus everywhere are reminding themselves and those they meet of the great principle of Ahimsa, noninjury, which Gandhi lived so faithfully and which lies at the heart of all Hindu thought and culture. Not to injure others is the highest path. The ancient South Indian scripture, Tirukural, says, "It is the principle of the pure in heart never to injure others, even when they themselves have been hatefully injured. Harming others, even enemies who harmed you unprovoked, surely brings incessant sorrow." The wise never let hateful people fill them with hate, never give permission to the angry to arouse their own instinctive nature of anger. They cling to the Divine, trust in the Divine in all circumstances and thus are channels for the divine process of human transformation and evolution.
"As unimaginable as this tragedy is, we must all not respond to violence with more violence in our homes and streets. Trust our government and the governments of the world to perform their military duty to assure our safety in the future. We must be the peacemakers, the arbiters of differences and the protectors of goodness. The world has always been populated by people of the lower nature and those of a higher nature. Immature souls, young souls in spiritual evolution, live in the chakras below the muladhara, where fear, anger, hatred, jealousy, confusion, selfishness and maliciousness without conscience reside. Old souls live in the higher chakras, where reason, will, understanding and love prevail. Life on Earth has always been happiest, safest and most rewarding when the higher-consciousness people are in control, both of themselves and of those who follow a lower path. Each one can make a choice in the days ahead to remain in the light and illumine the world or be drawn into the darkness of hate, fear and revenge. Our Siva is a God of love, and our traditions and scriptures assure us that this love will overcome every lesser force."
Read below Gurudeva's presentation at the United Nations on Stopping War.
Particular advice for devotees:
I strongly endorse the giving of blood by my devotees at this hour of human need.
What To Tell our Children
The question has arisen among so many regarding what to tell our children about the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Here are some simple guidelines gathered from experts who counsel children professionally about tragedies and violence.
TALK, TALK, TALK: They say to sit for more time than usual with your kids and talk to them. Talk about democracy and how wonderful it is, and about freedom, and how these can be abused, as in the case of terrorists. Talk to them about violence and about peace, about why people get violent and why we should not respond with violence. Talk about ahimsa, the great spiritual law of noninjuriousness. Talk about karma and how when we hurt others, that hurt comes back one day and causes us to suffer, and when we love others we are naturally loved. Experts say to admit to children when you don't know the answer to their questions. This shows our sincerity and lets them know we don't have all the answers. It will actually help their trust grow.
ENVELOP THEM IN SAFETY: Kids can become insecure easily, especially if the parents are themselves uncertain or upset. So, be calm, be an example. Hug them, tell them stories, make them special meals, take a walk. Time spent with them is invaluable. Don't let them watch TV for hours. Do carefully limit the images of violence they see. Show them ways in which the world is a safe place, and assure them they are safe with you, in their home, far from the source of these awful happenings (most are). Give them a strong sense of the future, and speak about how such problems are being worked on by thousands of very smart and good men and women. You can tell older kids details about finding and punishing those who did it, but not the very young. Give them hope by your words and your assurances. Young ones can be distracted into happy play and experiences. Kids, like all people, want to feel safe.
American Academy of Pediatrics Offers Advice on Communicating with Children about Disasters
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In response to the tragic events unfolding in New York and Washington, DC, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) would like to offer some advice on how to communicate with children and adolescents during times of crisis.
* It's important to communicate to children that they're safe. Given what they may have seen on television, they need to know that the violence is isolated to certain areas and they will not be harmed. Parents should try to assure children that they've done everything they can to keep their children safe.
* Adolescents in particular can be hard hit by these kinds of events and parents might want to watch for signs such as: sleep disturbances, fatigue, lack of pleasure in activities enjoyed previously, and initiation of illicit substance abuse.
* Overexposure to the media can be traumatizing. It's unwise to let children or adolescents view footage of traumatic events over and over. Children and adolescents should not watch these events alone.
* Adults need to help children understand the significance of these events. Discussion is critical. It should be stressed that the terrorist acts are ones of desperation and horror -- that there are "bad" people out there, and bad people do bad things. But not all people in a particular group are bad. Children should know that lashing out at members of a particular religious or ethnic group will only cause more harm.
For World Peace,
Stop the War in the Home
A talk given by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami to 1,200 delegates at the United Nations Millennium Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders in New York, August 30, 2000. A few days earlier, on August 25, in the Dag Hammarskjûld Auditorium Gurudeva received the prestigious U Thant Peace Award.
I was asked by the United Nations leaders how humanity might better resolve the conflicts, hostilities and violent happenings that plague every nation. my answer was that we must work at the source and cause, not with the symptoms. That is what we do in ayurvedic medicine„focus on the causes, on establishing the body's natural balance and health. That way we are not always working with illness and disease; we are spending time and resources instead to establish a healthy system that itself fights off sickness. To stop the wars in the world, our best long-term solution is to stop the war in the home. It is here that hatred begins, that animosities with those who are different from us are nurtured, that battered children learn to solve their problems with violence. This is true of every religious community. Not one is exempt.
In Asia, in the United States and among Hindus all over the world, there's a war going on in every home. Few homes are exempt from the beating of children. This is a global problem, in all communities, but I believe that Hindus have the power to change it because our philosophy supports a better way. If we can end the war in our homes, then perhaps we can be an example to others and this will lead to ending war in the world. People will choose a different path.
In our homes when we strike our children, we teach everybody to beat everybody else, and the beating goes on, right on down the line, until they are a soldier or a gang member or rebel, and then they are fighting to kill. That's how all the religious wars have trained religious people to create the wars and to disturb the planet. The hitting and the hurting begin in the home. We should all be vowed to bring peace into the homes and stop the war within the home. Why? Because our neighborhoods and communities will not come up, the nation will not come up, the world will not come up until there is harmony within the home, until problems are solved before bedtime, until children are not abused and pushed down into fear, into a condition where they've lost all self-respect.
The children are amazingly intelligent these days, different than twenty or thirty years ago. These bright children are watching television. They see on TV that those people whom people like are loved and hugged, appreciated, lifted up, and nice things are said to them. They see on TV that other people whom people do not like, that they hate, are put down, told they're stupid, made to feel they're worthless and no good, they're hit and sometimes maimed or killed. Therefore, children will know with the first slap that they are hated, no longer wanted. Where are they to go? They can't, at a young age, go make a living. They can't run away from home, though some of them do and join gangs which will give them the only belonging, the only love and friendship that they have, to share their suffering with other people who have been suffering because of parental abuse, verbal abuse and physical abuse.
Sadly, in this day and age, beating the kids is just a way of life in many families. Nearly everyone was beaten a little as a child, so they beat their kids, and their kids will beat their kids, and those kids will beat their kids. Older brothers will beat younger brothers. Brothers will beat sisters. You can see what families are creating in this endless cycle of violence: little warriors. One day a war will come up, and it will be easy for a young person who has been beaten without mercy to pick up a gun and kill somebody without conscience, and even take pleasure in doing so. I've had Hindus tell me, "Slapping or caning children to make them obey is just part of our culture." I don't think so. Hindu culture is a culture of kindness. Hindu culture teaches ahimsa, noninjury, physically, mentally and emotionally. It preaches against himsa, hurtfulness. It may be British Christian culture„which for 150 years taught Hindus in India the Biblical adage, "Spare the rod and spoil the child"„but it's not Hindu culture to beat the light out of the eyes of children, to beat the trust out of them, to beat the intelligence out of them and force them to go along with everything in a mindless way and wind up doing a routine, uncreative job the rest of their life, then take their built-up anger out on their children and beat that generation down to nothingness. This is certainly not the culture of an intelligent future. It is a culture that will perpetuate every kind of hostility.
In some Asian countries, if children ask a question, they're answered with a slap across the face. How brutal can people be? These are mean people, vicious people. The working mother slaps her children at home when they add stress to her already stressed-out nerve system. Father has a tough day on the job and takes it out on his son's back or face with the hand, strap or cane. Does it give him a sadistic joy to hear young children cry in pain? Does it enhance his feeling of "I'm in charge here! You are not!''? How do I know all this is happening inside the Hindu home? Hotmail. Young kids are getting into Hotmail. They all have their own account. They all have their own computer, and they are writing to me, "Gurudeva! Gurudeva! My father beats me and I'm beaten in school and if I tell anybody I'm beaten in school my mother will strike me. At least three to five times a week, a knock on the head, a pinch, a cane across the back or the legs." Is this the way of tomorrow? We hope not. But this is the way of today. It can be corrected by all of you going forth to bring peace within every family and every home, no matter what faith you belong to. If you know about the crime of a beating of a child or a wife, you are party to that crime unless you do something to protect that wife or to protect that child. Similarly, if you are driving with a friend in the car and he says, "Stop at this service station. I'm going into the convenience store." You stop and he goes into the convenience store, pulls out a gun, robs that store and jumps back into the car, you are an accomplice to the crime, whether you know it or not. You're an accomplice to the crime. All of a sudden, you become a criminal, unless you do something about it. That is taking on spiritual responsibility.
So, knowing that so much child abuse is happening behind a wall of silence, what do we do? Call one of our attorneys, call one of our missionary families and say, "Call the police. Have them watch this family very closely, to protect this child." We had one child put in a foster home and the father put in jail. He took the discipline a little too far. The child had burns all over his body, plus scars from earlier beatings. How do we know? Pictures were taken and sent to us by someone who cared enough not to ignore what was happening. In Canada, the teachers in school tell Asian kids, "If your parents hit you, you call this number." It happens to be 911. The police come to the house. Canadians want to stop the war in their homes.
In the past 85 years we've had two world wars and hundreds of smaller ones. Killers come from among those who have been beaten. The slap and pinch, the sting of the paddle, the lash of the strap, the blows of a cane must manifest through those who receive them into the lives of others. But there is a price to pay. The abuser one day becomes the abused. This is a law of life seen manifesting every day. It is called karma. Action gives an equal or more intense reaction, depending on the intent and the emotion behind it. Corporal punishment is arguably a prelude to gangs on the streets, those who will riot on call, and others who suffer in silence and hide behind a desk or in a routine profession, fearing reprimand and punishment, never talking back or offering an opinion.
We do know a few families who have never beaten their children or disciplined them physically in any way. We ask them "Why? "They say, "Because we love our children. We love them." "So, how do you train them; how do you discipline them?" "Well, we have them go into the shrine room and sit for ten minutes and think over what they did wrong, and they come back and we talk to them. We communicate. We encourage them to do better rather than making them feel worse." Then we ask, "What about TV? Aren't your kids watching TV all the time?" "No. We can't watch a lot of TV with children. Personal time with them is our family's way."
Holding the family together can be summed up in one word: love. Love is understanding. Love is acceptance. Love is making somebody feel good about his experience, whether the experience is a good one or not. Love is giving the assurance that there is no need to keep secrets, no matter what has happened. Love is wanting to be with members of the family. When harmony persists in the home, harmony abides in the community, and harmony exists in the country. When love and trust is in the family, love and trust extend to the local community, and if enough homes have this harmony among members, the entire country becomes stronger and more secure.
Advanced
Copyright © 2002 Himalayan Academy Publications. All rights reserved.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Inaugural Meeting of a New Tamil Toastmaster Club : September 11, 2011
Dear friends,
The next regular meeting of the KL TSM (Tamil Solvaenthar Mandram) and the
Senthamizh Roobam TSM will be held:
at -- 3:30 pm
on -- Sunday, 11th September 2011
at -- No 15-1, Jalan 3/116 D Travelling along Jalan Kuchai Lama (heading toward
Kuchai Entrepreneurs Patk Sungei Besi), take the U-turn below the flyover and travel
Jalan Kuchai Lama back toward KL and PJ. Upon reaching the BHP petrol station,
off Jalan Klang Lama turn left into the road beside the BHP station. Travel slowly
for about 40 meters. Jalan 3/116D will be a turn to the right.
Look for a Toastmasters logo (the former version) to guide you. No 15-1 is almost at the end of the block.
For those needing transport, car pooling will be made available at 3:00 pm from the Asoka Restaurant in
Jalan Thamby Abdullah 1. Please contact SV S Jayaveeran at 012-393 5379.
This is planned as a 3-in-1 Toastmasters meeting. It will be as a regular meeting for the
KL and SR Solvaenthar Mandrams. It will be a Special Meeting to commemorate the 90th
Anniversary of Mahaakavi Subramanya Bharathi. It will also serve as a Demo Meeting for
the proposed new Tamil Mandram -- the Iniya Tamil Solvaenthar Mandram.
The initiator of this event is Advanced Communicator James Arokiasamy of Friendship TMC.
The theme is: "Ach-chamindri seyalpaduvohm; anaihalindri saathippohm"
Word of the Day is: "Ach-chamillai "
Invocation Master is none other than DTM Loghandran -- our International Speech world
champion. Another star attraction arranged by SV James is DTM Geoff Andrew, who is practicing hard to make
an impression with his Tamil. SV James is also stretching and straining to get several yesteryear
greats to be also with us on that day -- Thilothaman (PP of MII TMC), ATMB Seelan (PP of Speakers
Dream TMC), DTM Muhendran (PP Bangsar TMC), and ATMB V S Ravi of UEM TMC are all in the list.
This is a call too for all senior Tamil TMs to respond on that day. If enough of you turn up, then a
fourth objective can also be fulfilled -- a reunion of the "old boys" !!
There is no door fee charged for this event.
Do please come with family and friends.
It'll be good if you can also inform in advance of your attendance.
It'll help the Organizing Team tremendously. Call Ms Mugilavathee -- 016-460 0730 ; or Ms Sara -- 016-314 4245.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
James Arokiasamy Singam
012-204 3203 016-396 3242
The next regular meeting of the KL TSM (Tamil Solvaenthar Mandram) and the
Senthamizh Roobam TSM will be held:
at -- 3:30 pm
on -- Sunday, 11th September 2011
at -- No 15-1, Jalan 3/116 D Travelling along Jalan Kuchai Lama (heading toward
Kuchai Entrepreneurs Patk Sungei Besi), take the U-turn below the flyover and travel
Jalan Kuchai Lama back toward KL and PJ. Upon reaching the BHP petrol station,
off Jalan Klang Lama turn left into the road beside the BHP station. Travel slowly
for about 40 meters. Jalan 3/116D will be a turn to the right.
Look for a Toastmasters logo (the former version) to guide you. No 15-1 is almost at the end of the block.
For those needing transport, car pooling will be made available at 3:00 pm from the Asoka Restaurant in
Jalan Thamby Abdullah 1. Please contact SV S Jayaveeran at 012-393 5379.
This is planned as a 3-in-1 Toastmasters meeting. It will be as a regular meeting for the
KL and SR Solvaenthar Mandrams. It will be a Special Meeting to commemorate the 90th
Anniversary of Mahaakavi Subramanya Bharathi. It will also serve as a Demo Meeting for
the proposed new Tamil Mandram -- the Iniya Tamil Solvaenthar Mandram.
The initiator of this event is Advanced Communicator James Arokiasamy of Friendship TMC.
The theme is: "Ach-chamindri seyalpaduvohm; anaihalindri saathippohm"
Word of the Day is: "Ach-chamillai "
Invocation Master is none other than DTM Loghandran -- our International Speech world
champion. Another star attraction arranged by SV James is DTM Geoff Andrew, who is practicing hard to make
an impression with his Tamil. SV James is also stretching and straining to get several yesteryear
greats to be also with us on that day -- Thilothaman (PP of MII TMC), ATMB Seelan (PP of Speakers
Dream TMC), DTM Muhendran (PP Bangsar TMC), and ATMB V S Ravi of UEM TMC are all in the list.
This is a call too for all senior Tamil TMs to respond on that day. If enough of you turn up, then a
fourth objective can also be fulfilled -- a reunion of the "old boys" !!
There is no door fee charged for this event.
Do please come with family and friends.
It'll be good if you can also inform in advance of your attendance.
It'll help the Organizing Team tremendously. Call Ms Mugilavathee -- 016-460 0730 ; or Ms Sara -- 016-314 4245.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
James Arokiasamy Singam
012-204 3203 016-396 3242
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Ganesha's Milk Miracle Incident
Vanakam and Namaskaram to All Pure Atma,
www.milkmiracle.com
KAUAI, HAWAII, March 19, 2006: HPI note: A reader sent this link to a six-minute video of the 1995 "Milk Miracle." The website introduction (borrowed mostly verbatim from Hinduism Today's report at the time) reads:
"Never before in history has a simultaneous miracle occurred on such a global scale. Television stations (among them CNN and BBC), radio and newspapers (among them Washington post, New York Times, The Guardian and Daily Express) eagerly covered this unique phenomenon, and even sceptical journalists held their milk-filled spoons to the statues of Gods - and watched as the milk disappeared. It all began on September 21st when an otherwise ordinary man in New Delhi dreamt that Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed God of Wisdom, craved a little milk. Upon awakening, he rushed in the dark before dawn to the nearest temple, where a skeptical priest allowed him to proffer a spoonful of milk to the small stone image. Both watched in astonishment as it disappeared, magically consumed by the God. What followed is unprecedented in modern Hindu history. Within hours news had spread like a brush fire across India that Ganesha was accepting milk offerings. Tens of millions of people of all ages flocked to the nation's temples. The unworldly happening brought worldly New Delhi to a standstill, and its vast stocks of milk - more than a million liters - sold out within hours. Just as suddenly as it started in India, it stopped in just 24 hours."
www.milkmiracle.com
KAUAI, HAWAII, March 19, 2006: HPI note: A reader sent this link to a six-minute video of the 1995 "Milk Miracle." The website introduction (borrowed mostly verbatim from Hinduism Today's report at the time) reads:
"Never before in history has a simultaneous miracle occurred on such a global scale. Television stations (among them CNN and BBC), radio and newspapers (among them Washington post, New York Times, The Guardian and Daily Express) eagerly covered this unique phenomenon, and even sceptical journalists held their milk-filled spoons to the statues of Gods - and watched as the milk disappeared. It all began on September 21st when an otherwise ordinary man in New Delhi dreamt that Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed God of Wisdom, craved a little milk. Upon awakening, he rushed in the dark before dawn to the nearest temple, where a skeptical priest allowed him to proffer a spoonful of milk to the small stone image. Both watched in astonishment as it disappeared, magically consumed by the God. What followed is unprecedented in modern Hindu history. Within hours news had spread like a brush fire across India that Ganesha was accepting milk offerings. Tens of millions of people of all ages flocked to the nation's temples. The unworldly happening brought worldly New Delhi to a standstill, and its vast stocks of milk - more than a million liters - sold out within hours. Just as suddenly as it started in India, it stopped in just 24 hours."
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