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

(jCTOBE~ 199tf
• I",/,
I " .

~~~- CY~~
INTERNATIONAL
Lead StorN: Precious Hiildu Island in an
Unsteady Muslim Nation 20
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OFINION •
~ubllsher's Desk: Making the Gods
A Reality in Our Daily Life 10
Letters 12
My Jurn: Tourisms Toll on My Atoll 13
Editorial: Hinduism¥ Identity Cnsis 18
WOlllen of Vision: ThE1 Cows Golden Gill 39
Healing: Don't Be Suckered by Sugar 44
Minister's Message: Women Are Anything
But Weak, Says . Santoshi Ma Ji 50

News In Brief 49
Digital Dharma 58

o 74470 12134 3
"l""'''' sandaran dancers await their turn to perform. Their ·inove-
LI,....
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pj~I'nalJS the most splendorous surviving culture on Earth. p. .
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 1

PILGRIMAGE
. band, Arun, describes the mus-
A New Cave Is DJscovered
VERY YEAR THEY GO .
Ene threat of death qy
. - - - - - - - -- ---::-- - - - -----".,
wretched weather or
weathered·terrorists can-
not dissuade them. These
hardy, humble pilgrims to
the Amarnath ice Lingam
cave are certain that the
benefits of their arduous
devotional trek far out-
weigh any risk of mere
physical calamity.
In 1996, weather
claimed the lives of 300.
In 1995, Muslim sepa-
ratist guerrillas staged
two bomb attacks upon
the heavily guarded pil-
grims. This year, well
over 30,000 pilgrims
reached the sacred desti-
nation. But many
rejoiced as much in what
they found along the
way. «Tell the people that
if you want to see Hin-
du-Muslim unity, visit
this place," Mrs. PooRam
Mehta of Mumbai told
The Hindu. Her hus- Trekking the rugged terrain,to Amarnath
lim locals as "excellent people"
, . and adds, "Next year we will
bring our' children."
Unbeknownst to the
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planned to attack pil-
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THE VEDAS continence. For a man through continence realizes the

God's Word,
Sages'Voices
Words cannot describe
the joy of the soul whose
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atman, his own Spirit.
Only those who feel this
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KRISHNA YAJUR VEDA 6.34
There is on Earth no
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seeing diversity. As a unity only is It to be looked upon-
this indemonstrable, enduring Being, spotless, beyond
space, the unborn Soul, great, enduring.
SHUKLA YAJUR VEDA, BRIHADARANYAKA UPANISHAD 4.4.l~20
What people call salvation is really continence. For
through continence man is freed from ignorance. And
what is known as the vow of silence, that too is really
8 HINI?UISM TODAY . OOT \? BER, 1998
Self and lives in quiet contemplation.
SAMA VEDA, OHANDOGYA UPANISHAD 8.5. 1.
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PUBLISHER'S DESK
Ange.li~ 'Beings
Are a Living 'Reality
In Bali, as elsewhere in the Hindu world, the Deities
are a po~ent presence, impacting every part of life
BY SATGURU SIVAYA SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI
EVOTION TO GOD AND THE GODS OF HIN-
duism is alive in Bali, 'as our fascinating
feature this month proves. We realized this
during a visit in this beautiful island coun-
try while attending an International Hindu
Conference. The music, the art, the drama and
dance all reflect some aspect of spirituality. It is in
BaIi that an entire realm of knowledge,and practice
begins at an early age for children, It ranges from
the childlike wonder of the unknown and the myste-
rious to the deep reverence which comes with un-
derstanding of esoteric inter workings of the three
worlds. The Hindu view of existence is composed of
three worlds. The First World is the physical uni- ,
verse; the Second World is the subtle astral or men-
tal plane of existence in which the devas, angels and
spirits live; and 'the Third World is the spiritual universe of the
Mahadevas, "great shining beings," the Gods. In the pantheon of
Gods there are said to be three hundred and thirty~three million.
The religious life is to invoke' the harmonious working together of
these three worlds,
The most prevalent expression of worship comes as devotion to
God and the Gods. Hindus believe in one Supreme Being. The
plurality of Gods are perceived as divine creations of that one Be-
ing, So, Hinduism has one supreme God, but it also has an exten-
sive J¥erarchy of many, many Gods, Still there are many whp view
the <sods as mere symbols, representations of forces or mind strata,
or as various personifications generated as a projection of man'~
mind onto an impersonal pure Beingness. In reality, the Gods are
individual soul beings, and down through the' ages ordinary men
and women, great saints and sages, prophets and mystics in all
cultures have inwardly seen, heard and been profoundly influenced
by these superconscious inner plane beings. Lord Ganesha, the
elephant-headed Deity, is suc!) a being. He can think, just as we
can think. He can see and understand and make decisions so vast
in their implications and compl~ity that we could never compre-
hend them with our human faculties and understanding,
These intelligent beings have evolved through eons of time and '
are able to help mankind without themselves having to live in a
physical body. These great Mlilladevas, with their multitudes of
angelic devas, live and work constantly aild tirelessly for the devo-
tees of Sanatana Dharma, protecting and guiding them, opening
new doors and closing unused ones,
It is said in the Rig Veda, "He who is beyond all exists ~ the
relative universe. That part of Him appears as sentient and insen-
tient beings. From a part of Him was born the body of the uni-
10 . ,
HINDUISM TODAN OCTOBER , Igg8
'
verse, and out of this
body were born the Gods,
the Earth and men."
As the Gods are indi-
vidual soul beings, so too
is humankind, The soul
body is a body of light
which evolves and ma-
tures into the likeness of
Purusha Brahman, just as
the seed of a tree one
day becomes a tree.
Within this body of light
and consciousness exist,
without beginning or
end, the two perfections
of Parabrahman and Satchidananda..
Satchidananda is the superconscious
mind of the soul body-the mind of
Brahman. Parabrahman is the inmost
core of the soul. Many of the village
Deities in Bali and other countries who
protect children and crops are actually
souls living close to Earth in the astral
plane, still functioning through the astral
female or male body that is a duplicate
of their last physical. body.
It is in the temple that the three
worlds meet and devotees invoke the
Gods. The .temple is built as a palace in
which the Gods live. It is .the home of
the Gods, a sacred place unlike every
other place on the Earth. Hindus associ-
ate themselves with these Gods in a
very §ensitive way when they apprOach
the templ~ Though the devotees rarely
have psychic vision of the Deity, they
are aware of the God's divine presence. As they approach the sanc-'
tum sanctorum, they are fully aware that an intelligent being,
greater and more evolved than themselves, is there. Their Gods are
intently aware of them, safeguarding them, fully knowing their
inmost thoughts, fully capable of coping with any situation the
devotees may melltally lay at their Holy Feet. It is important that
the Deity be approached in this way-conscious and confident
that the needs are known in the inner spiritual worlds.
The physical representation of the God, be it a stone or metal
,lives, clearing and clarifying conditions that were created
image, a yantra or other sacred form, simply marks the place that . ' kind on the planet and see them through their tenure on Earth,
the God will manifest in or hover over in His etheric body, It can
be conceived as an antenna to receive the divine rays of the God
or as the material body in or throu~h which He manifests in this
FirstWorld. When we perform daily puja, we are attracting the
attention of the devas and Mahadevas in the inner worlds, That is
the purpose of a puja; it is a form of communication, To enhance
this communication, groups build temples and individuals establish come to prayer, faith in the morning, faith at noon and at the set-
altars in homes. Both become charged or magnetized through our
Heaven on Earth: An artist's view of a Village in Bali, where per-
haps more than anywhere on Earth, human life is deeply integrat-
ed with the angeliC worlds. Shrines and temples are'everywhere,
and Balinese Hindus make intricate offerings several times a day to
invoke the Deities' bleSSings and success for each endeavor.
. .. . ............ uu ...... J1". .. . . . . ............. unu ....... .. . .............. . . . ... .... H . . . . . ... . . , . .. u .... . . ............ . . ......... ... . ... .
devotional thoughts and feelings which radiate out and affect the
surrounding environment. Soon the presence of these divine be-
ings-and this radiation from them is known as shakti--can be
felt. Shakti is a vibration of spiritual prana coihing from the God
and devas through the temple and home shrine. It is first experi-
enced in the simple physical glimpse of the form of the Deity in
the sanct~. Later that physical sight gives way to a clairvoyant
vision or to a refmed cognition received through the sensitive gan-
glia within the nerve system: the chakras. Through these recep-
tors, a subtle message is received, often not conS'ciously. Perh~ps
not inlmediately, but the message that the shakti carries from the
Mahadeva manifests in the life of the devotees. This is the way the
Gods converse. It is a communication more real than the commu-
nication of language that is experienced each day.
Visiting a 'Hindu temple, receiving the shakti from the majestic
Gods, can altogether change the life of any individual, It alters the
flow of the pranas, or life currents, within the body. It draws
/
awareness into the deeper chakras. But the change is slow. The
devotee lives with t?he experience for months and months after
visiting the temple. The devotee comes to know and love the De-
ity. The God extends sublime psychic assistanCe, but never tests or
punishes a devotee. Shakti coming from the great temples of the
Gods can change the patterns of karma dating back many past
hundreds of years ago and are but seeds now, waiting to manifest
in the future. Through the grace of these loving Gods and God-
desses, those seeds are removed, if the manifestation in the futur.e
would not enhance the evolution of the souL
If a temple or shrine is not available for worship, then it is possi-
ble to establish' a communication with Jhe Deity through visualiza-
tion, Take for example, Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed
governor of nature, dharhuL, science and knowledge. Worship of
Lord Ganesha is immediate; to think of His form is to contact
Him. Close your eyes for a second, visualize His :nurthi or form,
and a direct communication has begun. This is like .£lunching in a
€ode on a computer terminal which gives immediate access to a
central supercomputer. All information and answers to every ques-
tion are now available. Wherever we are, whatever we are doing,
we can use the d omputer terminal of our brain and code in'the
divine image of Lord Ganesha. We have complete access to His
grand computer mind which has been progranImed over eons of
time and naturally encomlDasses the intrica~ies of the universe in
all its ramifications and simplicities. I
Hindus look to God and t4e Gods for very practical assistance-
from affairs of employment, family and heart to knowledge both
secular and superconscious. Devotees devoutly believe that the
Gods, from their dwelling in the Third World, are capable of con-
sciously.working with the forces of eVolution in the universe and
they could tQ.en certainly manage a few simpler problems. Devo-
tees devoutly believe that the Gods are given to care for human-
,
and that their decisions are vast in their implications. Their
overview spans time itself, and yet their detailed focus upon the
complicated fabric of human affairs is just as awesome.
The ancient Rig Veda (10 .151.4-5) intones, "The Gods, led by
the spirit, honor faith in their worship. Faith is composed of the
heart's intention. Light comes through faith. Through faith"lllen
ting of the sun. 0 faith, give us faith!"
OCTOBER , Igg8 HINDUISM TODAY 1~
 - ------------~----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

•• " . ~., •••• " " "

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LETTERS
, /
All Religions Are Not the Same '98] is as ~elf-deceptive as it is dangerous. term deva in the sense of "God," is disturb-
THE OCTOBER 1997 MINISTER'S MESSAGE Since when is one gorilla able to wipe' 0ut in&> Early Buddhism is atheistic, while Hin-
by...Swami Dayananda Saraswati stimulated millions of other gorillas at the flick of a duisms fundamental postulate is Brahman
much discussion , He sent a devotees querY, switch? We are not talking about relatively (not deva), the Divine Reality, GOD, both
with his response, to share with our readers, harmless international political posturing Absolute and personal. But devas are deities
Will Tourism Trample
• here, but the flagrant usage of the most with specifIc functions. It is those deities,
DEAR SWAMI DAYANANDAJI: WE ENJOYED YOUR hideous weapons of mass-destruction. I say such as Indra, who are referred to as paying\
article in HINDUISM TODAY. Your statement, this as a Western European who has been homage to the Buddha [not- Brahman]'
"all religions do not have the s1f}ne goals," drawn increasingly close to Hindl1i.sm in the The other confusion is made between Self HINDU RENAISSANCE TEAM
Bal.i's Hindu Heritage?
g~ve rise to some questions and doubts. past year, only to have been sent spiritual and self Sht surprisingly called it [Atman or
Many raised the belief that ali religions are reeling by the explosions in the deserts of Self] "the center 1" and "abiding by its own HINDUISM TODAY was founded January 5, 1979, It may take more than borrowed sarongs and
equally valid. We assumed that this meant Rajasthan which were the decisions of a deeds." But karmas pertain to the psycho- by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, for the
that the ultimate goal is the same. One government which claims to be the political physical integuments of Atman, which, ae'- following purposes: l.Jb foster Hindu solidarity
as a unity in diversity amo~g all sects and lin-
behavior drills to curtail cultural pollution
scholar here says that all religions have pro- face of that most consumately life-respect- companied by the karmic or psychic body,
duced great saints and liberated, self-real- ' , ing, life-affIrming faith, Sanatana Dharma. is simply reembodied. lIt is to be ultimately eages; 2, To inform and inspire Hindus world-
ized souls. I would greatly appreciate it if DR. J, J. GORDON freed from karmic bondage and reincarna- wide and people interested in Hinduism; 3. To BY ~ MADE SURYASA
you would clear our confusion. BERLIN, GERMANY tion. Vedanta posits a unitary principle of dispel myths, illusions and misinformation
trans personal consciousness Atman as the about Hinduism; 4. To protect, preserve and
PROFESSOR R. RANGA RAo ALI IS A HINDU OUTPOST tourism. Fortunately, tourism
promote the sacred Vedas and the JIindu reli-
ILLINOIS, USA THE AUGUST, ' 1998, EDITORIAL PROCLAIMING basis of all conscious and fluctuating expe- the world's biggest with a cultural orientation can
gion; 5, To nurture and monitor the ongoing
"India's nuclear threat mere gorilla dilst" was riences. Buddhism denies Atmah (anatta) , , nLU~LHH counti y, Indone- help to maintain culture conti--
DR. RAO, AS I MADE CLEAR IN THE 'ARTICLE the height of irresponsibility. To gloat over which is the real point of difference. Both
spiritual Hindu renaissance. We invite our read-
sia, with more than 200 nuity and also give the Bali-
/
ers to share these purposes with us by writing
published in HINDUJSM TODAY, all forms of the CIA's alleged failure at forecasting, while fully coincide in their notion of self or "I and letters, contributing reports and articles on million people. It is impressive nese, historically an agricultural
prayer are valid, But each religion has its ignoring the permanent change in risk of mine" as the source of uffering, that one events, sending news clippings and encouraging that this tiny island of 2.7 mil- community, an alternative way
own concept of moksa, which is what we holocaust to citizens of all nations strikes me must eventually extinguish. othe\s to subscribe. ' lion,.only 90 miles long and 50 to make a living. So, we try to
\
call the goal. The Veda says that you are the as superfIcial and unworthy of HINDUISM PROFESSOR MAHESH MEHTA miles wide, survived numerous teach visito s how to Behave
whole and that you are already free and you TOD4Y'S usually high editorial standards. WINDSOR, ONTARIO, CANADA attempts to convert her inhabi- when visiting spiritual/religious
Publisher: Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
have to know that. Your being away from the PROF. ROBERT MANIS Admin. Dir:: Paramacharya Bodhinatha tants to other faiths. Retaining events, and to encourage tour
whole is by wropg thinking. Now, if some re- COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN NEVADA Praises from Australia Editor-in-Chief: Acharya Palaniswami our Balinese Hindu belief sys- operators and hoteliers not to
ligions say that you are different from God, ,; LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, USA WE ARE VERY PROUD OF HINDUISM TODAY Publisher's Aide: Acharya Ceyonswiuni tem has been a challenge. Today, perhaps desecrate any artifacts that have religious
the whole, that you are limited, and with the -a storehouse of spiritual and general Deputy Editor: Acllarya KumarsWanu the biggest challenge of all is tourism. meaning. We are a very open society, and
blessings of God you have to redeem your- V A~y right-thinking human being will de- knowledge, I carry a copy of it wherever I Managing Editor: Sannyasin Arumugaswami For hnndreds of years the Dutch colo- we treat all visitors to the island as tamu, .•
self from your sin and go to heaven, how can plore escalation of such devastating arms, go for people to enjoy its valuable contents. Graphics Director: Sannyasin Natarajnathaswami nialists kep't a hands-off policy in Bali, ex- guests. We greet and entertain ow; guests
there be identity of goals-unless you inter- and we do, too. Our purpose in the editorial It's so attractive externally as well as inter- Mauritius Editor: Sannyasin Sivamurugaswami ploiting instead the Java and Maluku is- with our traditional values and hope that
pret the whole thing differently? To inter- was not to say the obvious, though we per- nally. Wishing you all at HINDUISM TODAY Mauritius Staff Writer: >Sannyasin Sivadevanathaswami lands, rich in spices, tea and rubber. , our guests beh\l-ve themselves.
pret all this to' fIt info the Vedic vision of haps should have. It was to acknowledge radiant health, success, peace of mind, joy, Prod.lPromotion Mgr:: Sannyasin Sivakatirswami Attitudes changed in the early 20th centu- We also tried to maintain cultural conti-
moksa [liberation from rebirth] is to have and celebrate India's newfound strength- wealth and longevity. Long live HINDUISM Managing Ed. 's Aide: Tyagi Saravanannathaswami
ry. The 'Dutch attacked and razed Bali's nUity by setting aside an arid but beautiful
Dep. Managing Ed.: Tyagi Karttikeyanathaswami
the Vedic knowledge in the fIrst place. It is not of bombs but of rediscovered self-worth TODAY. It's by your sincere efforts that all are fIve major palaces. After slaughtering the beach in the south as a tourist resort, to
Editor-in-Chiefs Aide: Yogi Yuganatha
v~ry clear that we are away from the whole add lost self-loathing caused by centuries of blessed with this ~nderfullI!-agazine. Advertising Manager: Sadhak~ Jothinatha Rajahs and their followers in the Puputan restrict close daily contact between tourists
by thought, so when some religious theolo- cruel tyranny from outside. Bharats real, NAGESWARI NADARAJAH SubSCription Manager: Sadhaka Adinatha (Death March) of the major capitals of and the Balinese. Unfortunately this policy
gies advocate thoughts that separate us from profound and only endUring strength lies in EpPING, N.S.W., AUSTRALIA Correspondents: Gowri Shankar & Anandhi Rama- Denpasar in 1906 and Klung Kung in 1908, proved unsuccessful due to the machina-
the whole, we cannot say that all religions her spiritual heart, in her assertion of ahim- chandran, Chennai; Choodamani Shivaram, Bangalore; the Netherlands strove to change their im- tions oHhe recently deposed Suharto gov-
lead to the.same goal. sa and her native devotion. We will rejoice Send your Soil to Lalithambiga Rajiv Malik, Prabha Prabhakar Bhardwaj, Mangala age, They created an intensive promoti0n ernment and lack of local participatjon.
Christianity has not produced another with you when Pakistan and India disown LALITHAMBIGA TRUST IS CONSTRUCTING A Prasad Mohanty, Delhi; V S. Gopalakrishnan, Kerala; of Bali as an " F;nchanted Isle," "The Last Suharto's family and cronies bought up
Christ. If anyone claims to be another weapons of mass destruction forever, hope- temple for universal mother, Lalithambiga, Basudeb rihar, Bangladesh; Archana Dongre, Los An- Paradise," etc .... to lure visitors to come -most of the designated "green" areas of the
Chr~st, the theology cannot allow such a fully in the bargain bringing other nations to symbolic of the unifIcation of all humanity. , geles; Lavina Melwani, New York; Dr. Hari Bansh Jha, experience the arti»tic, traditional Balinese island. With hotel occupancy at just 76%,
claim, because Christ is the only son of God. do tTie same. The editor, The trustees appeal to you to send 100 Nepal; Parasram Ramoutar, Anil Mahabir, Trinidad;' way of life. Around 1914 the Dutch they announced that there were not
Dr. Devananda Tandavan, Chicago; V G, Julie Rajan,
So too, Islam has not produced another Mo- ..grams of the soil of your nation, clearly ~earnship line KPM brought Bali's fIrst enough hotels to heuse visitors, and the
Philadelphia; Shikha Malaviya, Minnesota; Rajesh Jan-
hammed. He was the latest and the last marked, and to ask your friends in other tilal, South Africa; Tara Katir, Hawaii. Sanskritist: Dr. recorded tourist. Soutb Bali preservation project was
prophet. By saying so, it cannot produce an- God, Not J;)eva; Atma, Not I countries to send their soil also to:'" S, Jayaraman, New York. Artists: A. Manivelu, S. Ra- As early as 1917, reports began to circu- • scrapped. Another challenge now is to let
other prophet. But there were always spiri- I APPRECIATE YOUR COMPARATIVE LOOK SHRI LALITHAMBIGA TRUST jam, Cartoonists: Barry Geller, David Lourie, Mario late that Balinese culture would be ruined some travelers know that Bali is not a "s"ex
tual persons in all traditions who transcend- at the two great traditions [Feb! '98, Insight 11, SIVAKAMI NAGAR, SBt P.O, de Miranda, Manick Sorear, Gary L. Stair, Bob Thaves. by tourism. In the 1950'S the Governor of tour" destination. Research done by Bali's
ed their theologies and talked about the on Buddhism and Hinduism], which is neC- COIMBATORE, 641 007, TAMIL NADU, IN.DIA Photo Contributors: Thomas L. Kelly, Stephen P. Bali was horrifIed to discover tQur compa- University of Udayana reveals that some
truth. But they were not produced by those essary to identify their common grounds Huyler, Dev Raj Agrawal, Phal S. Girota, 'J12ny Stone nies promoting Bali as "The Island of Bare visitors ask for "services" they fInd else-
religions. They grew out of them. You can and diff~rences and to establish a meaning- Images, Photobank, Art Wolfe Inc., Gordon Wiltsie, Breasts." Cultural preservation and certain where in Asia.
not grow out of Vedanta to realize that you ful rapprochement. The disappearance of Letters with writers name, address and daytime Indivar Sivanathan. Web Masters: Deva Seyon, Sad- types of tourism usually do not work to- It is very hard to control all tourism ac- ,.
are the whole. In fact:: you understand Buddlllsm from India was a major loss, since phone number, should. be sent to: hunathan Nadesan. Scanning: Vikram Patel, New gether. Despite this, we Balinese under- tivities. The best that we can do is to treat
Vedanta to realize that you are the whole. Buddhism provides an ethical and philo- Letters, HINDUISM TODAY York. Distribution: USA: Ingram Peribdicals, New stood time and again that we have some- situations case by case and, meanwhile, try
107 Kaholalele Road Leaf, EBSCO Subscription Services, Indo-US Books, ,
I SWAMI DAYANANDA SARASWATI sophical complement as well as a c.,9rrective One ~urce, Ubiquity, Total Circulatiou.:Services,
thing valuable that we wanted to share, but to strengthen the Banjars, our neighbor-
ARSHA VIDYA GURUKULAM to Hinduism in its non-casteist orientation KAPAA, HAWAII, 96746-9304 USA
PENNSYLVANIA, USA and in its focus on universal compassion. or faxed to: (80B) 822-4351 Canada: Gordon and Gotch. Europe: SWETS Sub- also to try to preserve. hood associations, as our last defense.
or e-mailed to: letters@hindu.org scription Service, Malaysia and Singapore: Sanathana Mass tourism was recently introduced to .•
I..-take issue with some imprecise state- , Dharma Publications~ South Africa: Atlas Printers, in- the island by an Indonesian government I MADE SURYASA, 39, a scholar and priest's
Your Editcrrial Bombed ments made by the Honorable Yihua that Letters may be edited for space and clarity and may dia: Central News Agency Limited, New Delhi. desperate for 'foreign currency. It is now son, lives in California, teaches mask dance
TO COMPARE THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT'S obfuscate the real issues and misrepresent appear in electronic versions of HINDUISM TODAY, Printer: Banta Publications Group, Kansas City unrealistic for us to close the island to and conducts tours to Bali (Danu Enterpr.)
actions to "gorilla dust" [Editorial, August. the differences. Her confused use of the " INDICATES LEITERS RECEIVED VIA E-MAIL
I

12 ffi NDUISM TODAY OCTOBER, 1998 OCTOBER , 1998 HINDUISM TODAY 13

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~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~
EDITORIAL
Why D~ HindusS8~
"I Am 'N ot a -'Hindu ?
Exploring the erosive power of self-alienation and
the mas9uerade that denies who we really are
BY THE EDI -TOR
HERE ARE TWO KIND OF HINDUS : THOSE WHO ADMIT
they are Hindu and those who will admit they are just about
anything else. I exaggerate, but not much. To be sure, such
identities are part of the political and social fashions of the
day, and fashions change. From century to century, overt affil-
iation with Hinduism becomes faddish and'then usty in cycles. In
recent years it has become voguish for,Hindus to openly and
proudly proclaim themselves. Five decades back, being a Hindu
was not cool, what with the Anglican British in charge and all.
Nine decades back, Swami Vivekananda, bucking the anti-Hindu
fashion of the late 1800s, spoke proudly of his Hinduism, and
called on others to do the same, as did Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo and
Swami Dayailanda. And so it goes, see-sawing back '8Ild forth.
Diverse reasons drive today!> Hindus to not openly ~sociate
themselves with their heritage. They might lose their jQb or their
friends. They rriight forfeit members in insti-
tutions which have attracted large numbers of
Christians and Jews. They may feel Hinduism
has "backward" elements, such as caste or rit-
ualism, which they wish to distance them-
selves from. They may be cowered by a brash,
confident and aggreSsive Western cultural as-
sault and its superior attitudes, bOfJiowing a ~ 1933), the Englishwoman who became the leader
contempt for Eastern culture and Hinduism ~ of the Theosophical Society: 'Mter a stugy of some
from foreigners. Or they may simply be ~ forty years and more of the great religions of the
cultill"al Hindus, not all that religious. ~ world, I find none so perfect, none so scientific,
While these may be advantageous reasons, ~
today the trend is shifting, and once again it is II:
stylish to embark on a journey of spiritual self- ~
discovery and claim one's Hinduness. Sudden- ~
ly, it may win an election or empower an insti- ~
tution. Witness the audaciously pro-Hindu ~
Swaminarayan Fellowship's astpunding growth ~
aild impact in the US and Europe, and com- ~ will inevitably witlfer, as a tree torn out from i ~
pare it to the conflicted "We ar~t Hindus, 8 place. Many are the religions and many are the
yet we sort of are, but not really" position of @
the ISKCON movement [see page 32]. Politicians are showing the
press their home shrines. Executives are talking dharma at cocktail
parties. Even globe-trotting sWamis are saying, "I was a Hindu the
whole time. I thought you knew iliaC'
'Still, not everyone is following the fashion. Especially in the
West, institutions don't like the H word. Groups whose roots lie in
Indian spirituality prefer the neutral sound of words like yoga,
Vedanta or Sanatana Dharma, and use those instead of Hindu to.
describe themselves. This is true even if they build orthodox. Hin-
16 HINDUISM TODA;Y OC OBER , 1998
I ' •• l. lA" AAl"'. \ •• l • • 1 ••
du temples, worship Hindu Deities and
observe Hindu holy days. Even if they
teach the Vedas and hold havanas and
pujas. Even if their founder is a Hindu
swami, born and raised in the faith.
-I
Even if they wear the Hindu monk's
JJ saffron robes and take the sannyasin's
initiation. Ify ou ask them, they will
declare, "We are not Hindus."
Such a trend'is based on the
tenacious misconception that Hin-
duism is somehow unacceptable to the
non-Hindu world. Those who do
speak openly of their Hinduness know
this is not true. People these days en-
joy knowing about other paths, enjoy
hearing other's spiritual passions and-
beliefs. The clearer, the better. No
apologies or dissembling needed.
Indian intellectual Ram Swarup, who
rediscovered his own Hinduness as an adult, notes that lmti-Hindu
Hindus are casualties of cultural illiteracy, self-loathing and self-
alienation. He is campaigning for Indians to rediscover their her-
itage, as he did. He writes from New Delhi, "A permanent stigma
seems to have st<\lck to the terms Hindu and Hinduism. These have
now become terms of abuse in the mouth of the very elite which
the Hindu millions have raised to the pinriacle of power and pres-
tige with their blood, sweat and tears. How did this happen? I
have come to the conclusion that the Muslim and British invasions
of India, though defeated and dispersed, have yet managed to
crystallize certain residues~psychological and intellectual-which
a battered Hindu society is finding very difficult to digest. These
residues are now in active alliance with powerful international-
forces, and are being aided and abetted on a scale which an im-
poverished Hindu society cannot match. Although at loggerheads
• ., among themselves, these residues have forged a
united front which is holding Hindu society under
siege. The danger is from within as from without."
Ram Swarup envisions a daY,when Hindus are
again centered in their dharma, proud of their
faith. His ideal is echoed by a profound statement
and fitting conclusion from Annie Besant (1847-
none so philosophic and none so spiritual as the
great religion known by the name of Hinduism.
The more you know it, the more you will love. '01e
more you ,try to understand it, the more deeply will
you value it. Make no mistake, without Hinduism,..,:
India has no future. Hinduism is the soil into which
India's roots are struck, and torn out of that, ~he
races flourishing in India, but none of them
stretches back into the far dawn of her past, nor is necessary for
her endurance as a nation. Everyone might pass away as they
came, and India would still remain. But let Hinduism vanish and
what is she? A 'geographical expression' of the past, a dim memory
of a perished glory. Her history, her art, her monuments all have
Hinduism written across them. And if Hindus do not maintain
Hinduism, who shall save it? If India's own children do not cling to
her faith, who shall guard it? India alone can save India, and India
and Hinduism are one."
,
"I've been practicihg two months to say his name.
Il He's my b~ss, so I hf!veto' prono~unce it correctly!"
.
Silicon Valley engineer Vladimir Orlovsky, after demonstrating how fast he could address his Tamil boss,
Frank and Ernest
We have kindly requested them to carry
only religious symbols. 1998 kumbha mela
. manager J.P, Sharma asking Naga sadnus
• not ·to tote pistols and other firearms dur-
ing procl.!.ssions to the Ganges ' With the passing of Sri Frank, the faith
. ,
The only problem with Yogi Berra is that
every time he exacerbated a 'situation it
just got worse. From our Editor
Smile! It takes only 13 muscles.
Frowning takes 64.
However beautiful sex may be,5t does not
open the door to a state of higher
consciousness. If that w~re so, the majority
of people who believe ill sexual excesses
would all have achieved enlightenment
The Z::Zte Swami Sivananda Radha in her
book, KjJndalini. Yoga for the West
~~~~1~~~£~C~A1~~~=-__~
OUR NlW PRACrlC! IS TO NOlO
CRmClSlNG IX2 JUIJGING
O1llER fEom.
U IES~
© 1996 TH Jl.VES, REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION
yts,
.:t ~NOyi AL.L. T~E
AN~.;~'5 TO EV~/lYTti/NG.
w~Y 1>0 YOU AS'1C1
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery.
Today is a gift from God, that's why it is
called the present.
\
community will soon be welcoming what
has come to be called The Sinatra Dharma,
which loosely translated means "The Eter-
nal My Way." Adherents to this movement
take inspiration, guidance and ritual from
their sCripfures known collectively as the
Vegas. Fred Stella,president ofthe Inter-
faith Di~logue ASsociation in Grand
Rapids, Michigan, giving his humorous
take on the passing of Frank Sinatra
(1915-1998), American singer and actor
.
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very
persistent one. Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
When I moved from
I
Roman Catholic to
<
OCTOBER ,
,
Kodampak~am Balachandran
Druid in 1980, this was considered incredi-
bly weird. It was something you wouldn't
dare mention at the office. But today, when
I explain that I worship the power resonat-
ing up through the Earts', people are 'inter-
ested. They say, "Now, Chris, how should I
celebrate the equinox?" Druid Chris
Turner, quoted June 22 by the Washington
Post as he and other Druids marked the
summer solstice at Stonehenge in England
DID YOU KNOW?
A Seed to Heal With
P.
RABHAT KUMAR SRIVASTAVA
claims to be the only person in
India who practices rudraksha
therapy- A rudraksha is the seed of a
blue marble tree. <It can cure skin and
psychosomatic diseases, nervous disor-
ders, as well as alcoholism and drug
addiction," informs Srivastava, who left
his job with a leading law journal to
practice his two-generation-old family
profession. He says rudraksha also pro-
motes longevity and protects against
calamities and adversities. «Rudraksha I
emits electromagnetic waves to body
cells and promotes well being. It sharp-
ens intuitive faculties, overcomes nega-
tive thoughts and brings inner peace
and success."
1998 HINDUISM TODAY 17
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.1

The Ayurvedic Institute

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~ .

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18 \ 19
 ,

HINDU LANDS Island central: Festival at Pum Besak-

ih, Bali's preeminent temple complex,
situated just below the island's most sa-

Bali: . Island
cred mountain and volcano, Gunung
Agung. Two-and-a-half million devo-
tees pilgrimaged here over a 42-day pe-
riod for the massive Eka Dasa Rudm
ceremony in 1979. Siva is worshipe r

Oftha 'Gods
most prominently in Bali, and Besak-
ih s three main sanctums are dedicawI
to different aspects of Siva, with '~a­
masiva" in the center sanctum.

A tiny, lush enclave fights to preserve a magical

culture little changed over 't he millennia

Bali-which means "offering" and is popu- Visitors to Bali

larly known as the "Island of the Gods"- NUMBERS OF TOURISTS IN THOUSANDS /
had cast its spell on Blair. It's a religious oa-
sis where two million Hindus, out of a 2.8 1400
million total population, live and breathe
th.eir faith 24 hours a day.
Bali lies just below the equator in South- 1200
east Asia, part of the world's largest stretch
of volcanoes. Peppered with mountains,
lakes, rivers and for~ sts, it has 2,147 square
miles of fertile land and history. Legend 1000
states that the Supreme God, Ida Sanghyang
Widi Wasa, created the sky for Gods, the
Earth for animals and seas for fish. He de- 800
cided te create man in an earthly paradise.
Pulling a fish from the water, He held it to
the light. Its tail became the Kutri peninsula,
its gills Lake Bator, and its backbone the
range of mountains shimmering across the
length and breadth of the island.
Many have felt Balis blessedness-Hick-
man Powell, a 1930S visitor, called it a "vast
wonderland" and the "embodied 'dreams of
pastoral poets," and India's Jawarhala1 Nehru 200
immortalizeq. it in the 1950'S when he
dubbed it the "Morning of the World." Adds
Blair, "It wasn't, surprising that the rest of
the world saw Bali as the living symbol of
0---
1900 '60 '79 '88 '92 '97
Temple-bound: Balinese women take offer- , heaven on earth, where man and Gods, na-
ings offruits, flowers and rice to the Gods ture and spirits, the within and without, co-
existed harmoniously in the best of all pos- prod~cts, and more converts to total vege-
ILMMAKER LAWRENCE BLAIR, MID- sible worlds. What did surprise me, was tarianism are appearing with the desire to
through documel}ting Indone- fmding that the Balinese entirely agreed, and eat pure food. Even though life is urbanized
indigenous peoples, planned to took the unusual position th~t the grass was in Denpasar, Bali's capital, six 16-and 17-
Bali, with its interrl{ltional air- indeed greener on their side of tIte fence." year-old youth (we'll call them the Youth
port and luxury hotels. But "When I fi- Tourists-1.2 million a year- have their Group) told HINDUISM TODAY they daily
nally arrived in 1975, on the desk of impact. Rima Xoyamayagya, a recent visitor, "offer cooked food to ancestors, devas and
the immigration officer who stamped my says ''Areas around big beach hotels have is Bali's charm. And the Muslim Indonesian to ooh and aah. HINDUISM TODAY inter- ridge. After breakfast, her two children are buta kalas (evil spirits), worship at the fam-
passport was an. exquisitely Woven offering crime and a low vibration now." A thousand government, understanding the economic viewed Hindu Balinese and outside visitors off to school and her husband to the nearby ily house temple and recite Gayatri Mantra."
of ,flowers with burning incense leaning hectares of rice fields are turned over year- benefits, tries to maintain it in several ways. to understand what fosters Bali's charm. ' rice field. Most Balinese eat very simply at It's hard work for Men Parni's husband in
against his ink pad. Outside, I noticed an ly for development, much of it for tourism. Hotels are restricted to certain areas. For- Their 'nsights are shared in the cont ext of a home-and mainly rice. It's consumed, us- the fields, but the inseparable religion
even more elaborate offering affixed to the You can't drink the tap water, and when eigners wanting to live in Bali are also con- day in the life of Balinese village housewife ing fingers, with a side dish of vegetables , (shrines to Dewi Sri, the Rice Mother, dot
radiator grill of my taxi. For this was the day stepping out of a hotel you're likely to be ac- fined to special areas. Tourists aren't allowed Men Parni, narrated by her nephew, Ny- and tofu, a spicy chili seasoning made fresh the fields) offsets hardships of a 'lifestyle
of offerings to active sharp and blunt objects costed by liawkers. So why do travelers flock in the center of temples. And the rigidity of oman Wenten. daily, and soy'sauce. A banana leaf is usual- largely unchanged since the 1600s. In the
of our lives, ...thus ritually connecting the of- to Bali? Man~ are eager to witness the non- Balinese social structures keeps tourists at 5am: First to arise, she fetches firewood, ly the plate. Peo~le eat little meat in every- 1970S bureaucrats tried to impose the
ficer's inkpad with the front of my taxi." Western, uninhibited Hindu culture which the "onlooker" level, where they are content water at the family well, then makes por- day meals, deriving most protein from soy "Green Revolution" on Bali's rice irrigation,

20 HINDUISM TODAY 0 TOBER , 1998 OCTOBER, 1998 HIND U ISM TODAY 21


my land anyway. Only Gods can own land.
Humans borrow it for awhile." The whole
village turned out to built! Blair's house.
6pm: An offering is given to the home's
four corners and temple. Men Parni and her
husband leave for their nightly dance per-
formances in temples all over Bali, to which
they often bring the kids. He is a drummer,
while she is an opera dancer. Dances begin"
at lOpm and last tilt""early morning. Bali has
20,000 public temples, and most homes have
a family temple. Each celebrates its dedica-
tion anniversary, which is frequent, because
the Balinese lunar year lasts just 210 days.
It's hard to miss a temple festival~ because
one occurs somewhere every day. But watch
..what you wear-modest clothing with a sash
is the rule for everyone. Blair observes,
"Food and entertainment is right in the tem-
pIe. If my childhood churches were like this,
I would've spent a lot more time'in them!"
The Youth Group say they always observe
at least five festivals: 1) Galungan, where de-
ified ancestors descend to former homes;
2) local temple anniversaries; 3) Nyepi, or
Day of Silence, during which the whole is-
land shuts down-people stay home to med-
itate (tourists can't leave their hotels), and
Prayer time: Married women wear their hair in a bun; unmarried girls let a lock fall loose lights are out; 4) Saraswati puja; and 5) Pur-
nima-full moon. Miss Ayu Eka, 24, says she
but it failed miserably, and farmers reverted husband. Then she makes more decorations. pays homage to knowledge on Saraswati
to their intricate "water-temple" system. Unless the wife has an outside job, her main Day. "I make offerings of yellow rice to my
8am: A festival is coming, so Men Parni duty .is to make offerings and care for the temple and books." And children sweep
makes decorations out of young coconut house. ~he may gossip with a neighbor or schools with brooms to honor their place of
leaves for a couple hours. Then time to cook help her- conduct a home ceremony. Kids re- learning.
lunch, which her husband returns to eat. turn from school and play gamelan instru- Shadow pvppetry, dance, theater, carving
Before serving, she offers rice and salt to all ments or help in the rice field. Young chil- and other art forms are abundant. Nearly all
corners of the house and the family temple. dren "are revered as divine. They're carried arts are religious, because all life is religious
Dewan Nyoman Batuan, a painter friend of everywhere, held in the protective arms for the Balinese. Paintprs aren't possessive
Lawrence Blair, observes, "You don't need (without ever touching the ground) of a about their work, and even create many of
much in Bali, just enQ.ugh to eat and to make family member until three months old. their canvasses together. Nyoman Wenten,
necessary ritual offerings. Feed- """'iiii~§j~===:::::':7~=::-""""::::::::::::::~--~ 53, describes the flowering of a dance artist.
ing the Gods feeds your soul as , II "My grandfather was an actor, puppeteer,
well." musician and dancer. I began at age six by
The Youth Group feels Hin- watching older dancers perform' at my vil-
duism. fares better in Bali than in lage, who I then imitated. My grandfather
India, because it's cared for by the saw I was interested, and corrected my
government, the Hindu Parishad, moves. One day he appeared with a cos-
teachers and village customs. tume and said, 'Let's g0 to the temple: I ?las
Most schools have a Hindu reli- sc.ared. 'I've never performed with an or-
gion teacher who, besides parents chestra!' He said, 'No problem, you can dp
and priests, is the Balinese equiv- it.' This was my debut, at age seve!}." Girl
alent of a guru. Most girls wis.b. to dancers are at their peak at age 11, because
marry Hindus. The Group be- they're still 'Considered totally heavenly,<until
lieves the next generation will b~ puberty. One instructor, Ms. Utuwarthi, uses
even stronger than now. In fact, no mirrors for training. "If the inner dance is
Western visitors occasionally con- right," she says, "it'll show itself outwardly." ,
vert to Balinese Hinduism, as in the case of Bali has an extraordinary sense of com- With Bali's powerful belief that religion is
scholar Fred Eiseman: "The Central Hindu munity, transcending Western ideals of lib- woven into every part of life, it's no wonder
Dharma Committee approved. Then a erty and individualism and putting coopera- iliat the Balinese Youth Group tells brothers
peCianda (high-caste priest) at a Denpasar tion above competition. Restaurant manager and sisters worldwide: "Keep Hinduism, it's
temple said prayers and administered a pu- I Komang Budastra, 27, says this "keeps us the great religion. All must learn its essen-
rification offering, bestowing the name I from differentiating between rich and poor. tials. We must be strong in faith and devo-
Wayan Darsana. I received a certificate By following individual ways, people don't tion. God will always bless us." ..,.;
from. the committee signifying my religion." share." When Nyoman Batuan invited Blair With SARA SASTRA in Denpasar, Bali, NYOMAN WENTEN
12:30pm: Naptime for Men Parni and her to build a home on his land, he said, "It's not in California and RIMA XOYAMAYAGYA in Texas
22 HINDUISM TODAY OCTOBER , 1998
~
: I
~ I
\
~
HISTORICAL BALI ;
ca 10ce: Indian traders bring Hinduism to
the northern Indonesian islands.
ca 650ce: Visited by Indian literati, Bali-
nese embrace Hinduism. Java and Bali
royalty marry. Many Javanese Hindus im-
migrate to Bali as eastern Java's Majapahit
empire takes over Bali.
1478: Muslims overthrow Java's Hindu
Majapahits, making Bali a refuge for their
Hindu nobles, priests and intellectuals.
1906: Dutch invaders attack Denpasar,
Bali's capital, massacre 3,600 Balinese
and capture the whole island.
1950: Dutch are overthrown and Bali be-
comes part of the Republic of Indonesia.
I 1963: Bali's highest peak, Mt. Gunung
Agung, known as the "navel of the world,"
erupts after a 120-year dormancy, killing
1,500 and leaving 85,000 homeless.
ca 19n: Television enters homes, offering
first glimpse of world tourists come from.
1979: Eka Dasa Rudra, Bali's most elabo-
rate ceremony, held only once each centu-
ry. Taking months to enact, it intends to
achieve a balance of good and evil
throughout the 11 directions of space.
Chip, chip: I B aka, right, a wood carver, takes full advantage of Bali's booming business.
"3
ings?" She replied, "Well, the neighbor's
Beyond Bali's FOllies offerings are taller!" There is a movement
now to simplify ceremonies, like holding
collective crem~tions and tooth-filings.
One professor's c?ntemporary take on things On the strength of the next generation
Many families can't afford to send their
kids to normal schools, so lads go to the
YOMAN WENTE-tl IS AN ACCOM- Christian schools and get converted. Our
youth need to be well educated in Hin-
'plished musician, actor and dancer
tliving in southern California s~ce duism. They learn some in school, but
.1972, where he teaches at the Insti- just at surface leveL They only get ta~ght
tute of the Arts in Valencia. He returns to in depth every six months, so we need
his vi!lage in Bali for three months each more frequent teaching programs.
summer.
On nonviolence and meat-eating
On spirituality in performing We have blood sacrifices. Balinese are
There is more thim just great talent. Spir- educated to not hurt other living beings,
its, Dewa Taksu, help the performers gain so we"must consider whether to continue
stage presence or charisma. In order to killing animals. I hope we can slow down
receive the Taksu, we must giv~ offerings the offering of meat at temples. Recently,
ana recite mantras before and after every my friend Sreeruvasan took me to a South
performance. Indian vegetarian restaurant in Califor-
nia, and I really enjoyed the food!
F
On tourism's impact
Hotels make us shorten our dance from Maestro: A spirited Wenten on drums On corporal punishment of children
25 minutes to five. if you dance at the ho- My aunt raised a cane to scare me, but
tel every night for a living, you don't have ' On village obligations and ceremonies dicW't strike me. Grandfather was differ-
a 101 of energy, not the same soul1nspira- We have so many ceremonies that take so ent. He spoke compassionately and loving-
tion as when you dance at the temple or much time and money. People are too ly. Now he is the one I respect, because
for rites of passage like the tooth fIling proud, spending hundreds of dollars and he had a different mentality for discipline.
ceremony or weddings. Certain sacred getting in trouble fmancially. I used to ask 1 N YOMAN WENTEN , 23202. REDBUD RlDGE
C IRCL E , VALE NCIA, CALIFORNIA 91354-2037 USA
dances shouldn't be performed in hotels. my mom, "Why-do you make huge offer-
OCTOBER, 1998 HINDUISM TOD;\.Y 23

Experience Balis moods and colors at home
MAJOR BENEFIT OF BALI'S THRIVING
tourist industry to world culture en-
thusiasts is the abundance of medi-
ums to promote Bali's beauty. You
can enjoy vividly poetic descriptions by ear-
ly visitors, scholarly expositions of every as-
pect of Balinese life, full-size photos, music
CDs and detailed websites.
Foremost among the glossy, coffee-table
style overview books is Bali, Morning of the
World (97 pages, Periplus EditiQns), with fan-
tas tic rich photographs by world-renowned
Luca Invernizzi Tettoni. African.;born Eng-
lish writer Nigel Simmonds, living in Bali
since 1992, opens one chapter: " 'Do you be-
lieve in God?' We. were sittin~, my Balinese
landlord and I, on the floor of his house in
Sayan, close to the town of Ubud, where
pamters and sculptors ply their trade amid
deep green rice fields and steep river gorges.
I wanted to rent his house; he needed to
make sure I was a suitable occupant. 'Do you
believe in God?' he repeated. 'I need to
know before you rent this house.' He was
24 HI~DUISM TODA.Y OCTOBER, 1998
dressed, like the rest of the village that day,
in his temple clothes-an immaculate picture
of white and,gold, his cloth headdress set off
by a sweet smelling champaca flower tucked
in the fold of cotton cloth around his crown.
In the background I could clearly hear the
delicate tapestry of the gamelan .orchestra
playing for the temple ceremony. 'Yes,' I said,
'I believe.' "Good!' he said with a flourish.
'Then we will be friends.' " Another lavish
picture cornucopia is found in Offerings, The
Ritual Art of Bali [see page 30 J.
Balinese mask drama-you w.pn't know
the half of it without Masks of Bali (131
pages, Danu Enterprise), written by educa-
tor Judy Slattum. With full page photos by
Paul Schraub, the visually stunning masks
literally jump out at you. Masks are powerful
receptacles of wandering spirits, as well as
representations of witches, gods, animals
and people. Because many of the masks are
sacred and never displayed, most Western-
ers have not 'seen their spectacular detail
and craftsmanship.
Grace: The legong dance (part of
photo feature in Bali, Morning of
the World), said to be created by
a king who saw two devas (an-
gels) during a deep meditation
Gunung Agung, Bali's "dwelling
place df the Gods," is celebrated
in a small section of Sacred'
Mountain'S of the World (291
pages, University of California
Press,) by Edwin Bernbaum. Gu-
nung Agung plus every other tid-
bit about Bali is found in the
finest scholarly work weTe aware
of [see page 28], Bali, Sekala &
Niskala (two volumes, Peripltls
Editions).
Needing great photos of Bali to
accompany your travel brochure?
Corel Professional Photos on CD-
Rom can help. Two CDs with 100
photos each cover Bali's length
and breadth. On their website
(corel.digitalriver.coml) you can
order a whole CD, or just one im-
age for as little as US$9.
World music lovers will be de-
lighted with the international
fame of Balinese gamelan which
has resulted in many fine CDs.
Music of the Gamelan Gong Keb-
yar (Vital Records), performed by
musicians from the National Insti-
tute of the Arts in Denpasar, Bali,
cqrries the essence of a frenetic
style that is now Bali's predomi-
nant musical force. Amazingly, the
US is home to 80 gaIllelan orchestras, the
most accomplished bring the Gamelan
Sekar Jaya based in Q.a lifornia-they're
about to release a special CD to honor their
celebration of 20 years of artistry. Honoring
a major part of Bali's musical anc~stry is the
Banyumas Bamboo Gamelan (Nimbus Re-
cords), a new CD of traditional music from
Centra Java.
I Now that we'ye seen, heard and read
about Bali, let's go! Lfimg years of tour,ism
h~ve yielded sensitive tour companies that
truly educate about Bali's Hindu religio~
life, such as Art Research Tours (WW\¥-learn-
ingvacations.comlartis7.html), which offers
hands-on Classes in making offerings and
other artistry. Websites are burgeoning with
everything you need to know to plan a trip.
Most spectacular is the award winning Bali'
Online (www.indo.com). Also exciting is
Bali Paradise Online (www.baliparadise
~com). See you there! ..,.;
Publishers and contacts
PERlPLUS (SINGAPORE) PRIVA'!iE LIMITED,S LITTLE ROAD
#08:01 . SINGAPORE 536983; DANU ENTERPRISE, 313 MC-
CORMICK AVE, CAPITOLA. CALIFORNIA 95010 USA; UNIVERSI-
TY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, 2120 BERKELEY WAY BERKELEY
CALIFORNIA 94720 USA; VITAL RECORDS, 6485 CONL ON AVE:
EL CERRlTO, CALIFORNIA 94530 USA; NlMBUS RECORDS, PO
BOX 7746, CHARLO'ITESVILLLE, VIRGINIA 22096 USA' GAME-
LAN SEKAR JAYA ( SAME ADDRESS AS VITAL RECORDS)
DOCUMENTARIES
"1
Vicarious
Voyaging ,r
Remote and exotic, r
Bali has been captured
on film for all to see
ORTUNATELy' FOR THOSE WHO DON'T
have the means to travel to Bali, the is-
I
land is one of the most thoroughly and
sensitively documented exotic destina-
tions. If you can settle for being an armchair
wayfarer, you're in for a lengthy and fasci-
nating journey to cultures and places you've
never even heard aboJlt, and people you
wouldn't dare to meet in person.
Released May 15, 1989, and seen by mil-
lions of public television viewers, the excit-
ing Ring of Fire series (four 58 min. videos,
1988~ Mystic Fire Video, New York) docu-
ments the ten-yeru: voyage of two filmmak-
ers, brothers Lorne and Lawrence Blair,
through the world's largest and least-known
archipelago-the spectacular islands of
Indonesia. The Blair brothers found them-
selves drawn into danger and.discovery in a
magical land where ancient myths still
flourish. "It was a"form 6f meditational sur-
render and possession by a higher energy,"
offers Lawrence. "Isolated and living for
• , 10ng1>eriods amongst little-known peoples, I
felt that we were drawing closer to the shad-
ow screen, beyond which lay a much subtler
and perhaps more dangerous adventure. Sacred scapes: The temple lotus pool in Ubud; (inset) Lawrence Blair in his Bali home
Trance and possession of every form were
all around us." A complementary Blair classic is Lempad turned to the Indonesian island every year
The Blair videos include, but are not lim- of Bali (58 min., $24.95, 1989, Mystic Fire, for the last ten. Ed climbs the sacred volcano
ited to,J he island of Bali, which the Blairs New York), revealing the incredible and mys- of Batur in search of spiritual vision, visits
made their port of call. They end up living tically cf.eative life of Lempad, one of mod- an astrological calendar-maker for personal
there, with the local community volunteering ern Bali's most highly revered spiritual fig- guidance and meets with Hindu priests and .
to build their house. ./ Ures, now deceased. After accompanying the festivals. Revering Bali ~s his special "place
Blairs throughoVt Indonesia in these five of vision," Ed tenderly presents the place rit-
videos, you will anguish at Lawrence's ac- ual and prayer holds in Balinese life. He
count of his brother's sudden' death in Bali in comments, "To the Balinese, the spirit world
Beyond the Ring of Fire (58 min., $24.95, is real, and exists right here, right now."
1996, Mystic Fire, New York). The story of A highlight of Beyond is an insider's look
the tragedy. is briefly told, then this latest into the enthralling kecpk, monkey dance, in
, video records a new voyage of discovery, which Ed participates: The exciting, rare
eight years later, into some of the same areas footage of this dy.p.amic village perfor-
first visited in the initial series, as well as oth- mance, along with personal meetings with
ers never previously filmed. the dancers, leave us with a feeling of inti-
Keep your seatbelts fastened, there:s still mate rapport with these gracious people-a
more adventure to be had. Bali: Beyond Good people who dare to defy change. ..,.;
and Evil (50 min. , $19.98, 1997, WinStar,
MYSTIC FIRE VIDEO, 524 BROADWAY,'#604, NEW YORK, NEW
New Yqrk) centers around the spiritual YORJ( 10012 USA. 1--800-291--9001 (USA). WINST.AR HOME
quest of Ed Ross, professor of fme arts at the ENTERTAINMENT. 419 PARK AVENUE SOUTH, NEW YORK,
NEW YORI< 10016; , -ll0D-4'4- ,6go (USA); 212-674-9505·
University of South Florida, who has re-
OCTOBER , 1998 HINDUISM TODAY 25
 Sacred Journeys to Nepal 'lPadltlonai 1am.1an Music on CD
Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville- A brand new release from
invites you to join us on our next Nimbus Records:
pilgrimages to wondrous Nepal: Banyumas Bamboo Gamelan,
.Oct. 25-Nov. 8,1998 traditional music from
• Feb. 17-Mar. 9 , 1999 Central Java. NIM 5550.
Visit holy temples and shrines, view
the majestic Himalayas and meet • This village music from
the Nepalese people. All meals are the Banyumas region is
vegetarian. Morning meditations. melodic, simple in form and
Tel: 800-858-9642 or 804-969-3121 structure, yet played with
Fax: 804-969-1303 (USA) an energy and sense of fun
yoga@yogaville.org rarely found in other types of
gamelan music. The bamboo xylophones provide a dynamic
rhythmic backing to the enticing melodies of a female vocal-
ist, while the accompanying male musicians also shout and
sing short melodic fragments or rhythmic patterns which fit
Yoga in Beautiful Bali in with the complex drumming style. In Banyumas, this mu-
sic accompanies Ungger, a traditional all-night event of
Enjoy yoga in beautiful, exotic Bali dance, music, song and comedy.
with Barbara Benagh and JJ Gorm- • The recording was made during the 1996 UK tour of
ley. 20 Jun-4 July 1999 tour includes: Banyumas Bamboo Gamelan, which represented the first
15 days and 14 nights in Bali, accom- time this music had been heard outside Java. And now, it is
modations, most meals, yoga instruc- the first time it is presented on CD.
tion, Balinese arts studies, cultural • Nimbus World Music releases are available at fmer record
lectures, dance performances, and shops everywhere, or by calling Allegro Corporation at
group tours. US$ 2,290. Contact: 1-800-288-2007 (USA). A free, full-color catalog is also
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2107 N. Pollard St., Arlington, VA
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26
 ERHAPS NOWHERE ON EARTH IS HINDUISM
energetic and culturally explicit than
the tiny island of Bali. It has a unique ex-
pression, different than India, yet the same.
Perhaps it mirrors what Hinduism was like in
India 1,500 years ago. Let's explore a bit of
Bali's religious beliefs, temple structure and rites of
passage, excerpting generously from the scholarly
Bali, Sekala & Niskala, by Fred Eiseman.
Eons ago, seven celestial nymphs from the Pleiades
star cluster visited Earth. A prince fell in love with
one, and a child was born-half divine, half earthly.
That child is all children. And so goes the Balinese
version of human origins. If a Balinese child cries at
night, she is comforted by being shown the night sky
and gently told, "There is your mother, where we all
come from and where we all return. There's no need
for tears." "Religion is everywhere," wrote Gregor
Krausse, a young medical officer sent to Bali by the
Dutch army in 1912. "It causes all laws to descend
from Heaven to Earth, it allows nobody and nothing
to feel alone. Each duty is divine, each place holy,
each hour sanctified, every exterior feature is spiri-
tually connected with the inner life." Balinese call it
Agama Hindu Dharma, an amalgamation of elements
from Hinduism and Buddhism, mixed with indige-
nous customs. They produce a colorful mix of ritual
and doctrine dominated by two Hindu epics-Ma-
habharata and Ramayana-and the trinity of Brah-
ma, Vishnu and Siva; most temples being dedicated
to one of the three. Affinity is shown by an old Ma-
hayana Buddhist poem composed in Java: "The one
substance is called two, Buddha or Siva. They say its
different, but how can it be divided by two? Such is
how the teaching of Buddha and Siva became one.
It's different, but it's one; there aren't two truths." Ida
Sanghyang Widi Wasa is the Balinese equivalent of
the Supreme God of the Vedas, Brahman.
Balinese are never alone, but coexist with good and
evil forces. Life is devoted to maintaining an equilib-
rium, so that neither Gods or demons get the upper
hand. All religious practices are based on this princi-
ple, summed up by Balinese painter Dewan Nyoman
Batuan, "Everything has its opposite- up/down, day
and night, good and evil. If we can integrate these op-
posites, then we share the strengths of both in our
lives and our art." How is this done? Mainly through
honoring the Gods daily (in traditional dress) with
fruits, flowers, incense and food, and-where Bali de-
parts from classical Hinduism-honoring the demons
just as equally, but with meat and rotten vegetables.
If the demons are not constantly pacified, believe the
Balinese, they can wreak havoc and disrupt the bal-
ance. But if they are honored, they can actually be
helpful. Another contributor to a balanced cosmos is trance. Chan-
nelers, known as balians, are commonly hired by families to bring
through ancestors and other entities, who are asked if they are well
satisfied in their world, or if more offerings should be given to them.
In celebration of this integration is the arts. "Everybody in Bali
seems to be an artist," wrote Miguel Covarrubias in 1937. "Coolies
and princes, priests and peasants, men and women alike, can dance,
play musical instruments, paint or carve in wood or stone." And it's
still like that today. Whether carving a mask to represent a God or
performing a sacred dance to welcome the Deities in a temple, all
the arts strive to bring alive the Gods and demons from great epics.
28 HINDUISM TODAY OCTOBER , 1998
August occasion: Young girls perform
the baris dance in a large temple's out-
er courtyard. Bali's temples are hubs
for traditional entertainment. If a
dance is especially sacred, it will be
performed in the temple's innermost
courtyard. Inset: A wooden dance dra-
ma mask Kumbakama, I
Ravana's younger brother:
('
I Wayan Dibia, Director of the National Institute of Art in Den-
pasar, says, ''A dancer must purify herself with rituals, because
dance is a religious offering. It comes from Siva Nataraja. All move-
ment came from Siva when He created the macro and microcosms."
Temples: Every family compound (each contains homes for broth-
ers and their families) has its temple in the corner closest to Mt.
Agung. A village has three public temples: in the center is Pura
Desa, temple of the first settlers, dedicated to Brahma. In the moun-
tain direction is Pura Puseh, dedicated to Vishnu. At the opposite
end is Pura Dalem, dedicated to Siva. One of the oldest temples in
Bali, Goa Gajah, is a cave dedicated to Lord Ganesha, the only one
of its kind, thought to have been created during Bali's first contact
with Hindus from Java. Jitendra Russle, a recent visitor to Bali, says
he was told by a priest that twice people have tried to steal the an-
cient Ganesha icon. In the first case, the thief was attacked by a
rooster and fell to his death. In a later attempt, two thieves were
found in a trance on a roadside, with a rooster standing guard!
Each village temple is divided into three roofless sections. In the
upslope direction is the inner sanctum, which contains sacred
shrines. If the land is flat, the sanctum is elevated. During a temple
anniversary festival, carved humanlike figures are taken out of
repositories, placed in the shrines and Gods are invited to inhabit
them. This courtyard is divided from the
rest of the temple by a wall and a huge split
gate decorated with a carving of a leering
face, bhoma, whose fangs and bulging
eyes keep evil away from the holiest area.
A temple's middle section contains stor-
age rooms, a kitchen and pavilions for ar-
ranging offerings before they are taken into
the inner courtyard. Separated by another
wall and gate is the least sacred courtyard,
where secular activities are permitted: food stalls
are present and people relax, eat and chat.
The brahmana priests, pedandas, are revered
spiritual leaders. Besides conducting subtle tem-
ple ceremonies and dispensing holy water to fam-
S ilies, it's their duty to help other castes with
~ sculpture repairs, cremations, house purifications
t: and family temple anniversaries where they read
"~from the Balinese sacred scriptures, lontars. It's a
~ joy for Ida Rsi Bujangga Widnyana, a pedanda
~ who says he is "always asking God through
~ mantras and offerings to make the micro and
~ macrocosm safe and calm, and all life happy."
/
:oJ Rites of passage: Balinese mark, sometimes
with elaborate purification ceremonies, passage
from the godlike child to the duty-bound adult.
These include: birth, cutting of teeth, puberty,
marriage and death. The aim of these rites is to
purify and ensure the transition of one's spirit
from birth to death and later reincarnation.
Everyone HINDUISM TODAY interviewed said
tooth filing was the crucial ceremony. While a
certain implication in this ceremony is beautifi-
cation- the front teeth are evened out- the filing
is a symbolic reducing of the sad ripu, six per-
sonality characteristics: lust, greed, anger, drunk-
enness, confusion and jealousy. Ms. Ayu Eka, 24,
says it was important for her because "it gets rid
of bad habits," and Komang Budastra adds it
"makes us more godlike and calm."
Nyoman Wenten [see pg 23] describes the cer-
emony. "I had my tooth filing after graduating
from high school (it can happen between ages 12
and 18). I asked the priest to not file my teeth too
deeply, because its painful! The priest uses three
levels of files, from rough to smooth. Many offer-
ings were given-to the house shrine, where I lay
down, etc. With all the people around you, you go
into a different state of mind and don't feel the
pain as much. For the next three days you have to
stay home and eat food that is not chewed."
According to Bali resident Lawrence Blair, "In
recent years there's been a government attempt
to influence Hindus on Bali to be more monothe-
istic. But over the last year of political change
we've reverted to the rich brew of the original import from India, a
dash of Buddhism and much original island animism. This brew is,
to my ·mind, what lies behind the much touted 'Bali magic'-and
which delights foreign visitors for the same reason that it vexes for-
eign academic ethnographers: namely, the endless varieties of ritu-
al expression, plus as many interpretive versions of what they mean
as there are lay and high priests of the some 20 ,000 active temples
and major shrines on the island. So, the recession may be bad for
business, but its been good for the soul of the island." ..,.;
With SARA SASTRA in Denpasar; Bali, and RIMA XOYAMAYAGYA in Texas
ORDER BALI, SELUA &: NISKALA FROM: THE CROSSING PRESS,
97 HANGAR WAY, WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA 9507 6 USA
OCTOBER , 199 8 HINDUISM TODAY 29
I American Institute of Vedic Studies Sevaks Take Vow, Seek Translators
Except for once a year, no day passes
without offerings, found everywhere. Each Expand your horizons in Mrs. Kusum Patel and all devotees of
day the lady of the house places little flower- Vedic and Hindu Dharma. Gayatri Pariwar Yugnirman, Chicago,
laden palm leaf containers on a family Practical teachings of recently solemnly pledged to acquire
shrine. A driver places a similar offering on Vamadeva Shastri (Dr. David translations of each of Pandit Shree
his dashboard. Families graciously carry Frawley ). Authentic knowl- Ram Sharma Acharya's 3,000 books I I

towers of fruits and cookies to a temple on edge in a clear modern idiom. into as many languages as possible.
I

its armiversary day. Whole villages some- Books and courses, confer- Those able to translate from Gujarati
times create enormous offerings meters ences and seminars, research or Hindi into any of the world's lan-
high. Within offerings, wondrous details like information, from the Rig guages are urged to come forward
rice dough figurines and delicate palm leaf Veda to India Today . and help. Contact: 2046 W Devon
creations are nearly hidden from view. Ave., Chicago, IL 60659-2128 USA
An offering is the most important means Dr. Frawleys latest books: Tel: 847-692-7712 or 773-465-2533
of maintaining good relations with Gods and • Ayurveda and the Mind
demons. When presented to the Deities, it • Oracle of Rama
expresses gratitude and thanks for Earth's • Awaken Bharata:
fertility, for everything making life. When A Call for India's Rebirth
offered to the demons, it prevents them from
• Ayurvedic Correspondence Course:
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continual renewal of life in Bali, an offering six hundred pages of in-depth material. • singing bowls, bells, cymbals /
has a life cycle of its own. Its ingredients are • clothing • books • tapes and CD's
the fruits of the Earth, and stay fresh only • Vedic yoga and the new view of ancient India. A beautiful variety of Hindu and
for a couple of days. Beyond Buddhist statues and other religious
the ephemeral nature of the American Institute of Vedic Studies items in a calm, spiritual gift shop.
materials themselves, the PO Box 8357 948 Pearl St., Boulder, CO 80302
gift is transitory by inten- Santa Fe, NM 87504-8357 USA Tel: 303-440-0323 • 635 Lincoln Ave.
tion: once offered it may not Tel: 505-983-9385 • Fax: 505-982-5807 Steamboat Springs, CO 80487 USA
be offered again. Made one Email: Vedicinst@aol.com.Web: www:vedanet.com Tel: 970-870-9401
day, gone the next, only to be
recreated again and again, it
symbolizes the hope that na-
ture itself will continue to
renew its fruitfulness. •••• ,par.pte..... Parenting and Educating for Wholeness
After daily food is pre-
pared and before a family Enhance your spiritual life The Comrrwn Vision,
starts eating, Deities, ances- with uplifting, vibrant home Parenting and Educatingfor 'The
tors and demons receive prayer temples. Wholeness, by David Marshak Common V ision
their share in the form of e Parenting .(met ,educating
many tiny offerings consist- Offer your deities the best. We How children can grow up to for wbofiness~ .
ing of small pieces of banana leaf with rice are reputed for making the be whole-the practical
and salt. Every day, too, they are given little very finest, most elegant deity wisdom of three spiritual
Offering: Giant rice dough sculpture depicts Bali's three worlds. Inset: a typical offering offerings called canang, palm leaf contain- altars. Choose from the teachers. Describes human
ers with colorful flowers and the ingredients Mathura (pictured), Vrindaban, unfoldment from birth
DEVOTION for chewing betel: betel leaf, areca nut and Rasa Lila, or other styles, each through age 21 for body,
lime. Apart from these basic daily offerings, available in various sizes. The emotions, mind and spirit.

Outstanding Offerings the complex Balinese calendrical system re-

Look no further for top standards of selflessness
NE BALMY EVENING IN UBUD, BALI
visitor Rima Xoyamaygya looked out
her hotel window: "Streaming by me
were 300 children and adults joyfully
carrying offerings to a temple festival. A
gamelan orchestra played alongside in a
truck, and all traffic was stopped. This was
my happiest experience on Bali."
Miguel Covarrubias wrote in 1937 that of-
ferings "are given in the same spirit as pre-
sents to the prince or friends, a sort of mod-
30 HINDUISM TODAY OCTOBER, 199 8
est bribe to strengthen a request; but it is a
condition that they should be beautiful and
well made to please the Gods and should be
placed on well-decorated high altars." These
devotional creations are stunningly show-
cased in the coffee-table book Offerings, The
Ritual Art of Bali (160 pages, Image Net-
work Indonesia) , with lavish photos by
David Stuart-Fox and accompanying text by
Francine Brinkgreve. The following is ex-
cerpted from the book:
quires more elaborate ones on many special
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by 24 deep by 38.5 high. We
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ple festivals. Gods and ancestors receive
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their offerings on high shrines whereas
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Offerings also serve to cleanse or purify, • Fully covered with hand-carved designs
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31
RELIGION · mains the case today, for Srila Prabhupada
left no.i successor with the authority to
IDENTITY the table below, including an excerpted
statement on their position.

Can it Be ,That the Hare change his spiritual edicts.

So why does the general Hindu communi-
ty mistakenly believe that ISKCON is a Hin-
Who Then The method isn't perfect, and ,perhaps
some ,.9rganizations don't quite mean what
they say (or don't say) on their web site. The

Krishnas Are Not Hindu? du organization, when it never describes it-

self as such? Well, it sometimes does.
D.uring the recent ISKCON temple openings
in New Delhi and Bangalore, where news:
Are the cle1p'est distinction is between those who
declare up front they are Hindus, and those
who never use the word "Hindu" any-

Hindus?
where-despite their teaching of Hindu
ISKGON's Srila Prabhupadas edicts on religion are clear paper reports freq uently identified the
grand temples as Hindu, the ISKCON press
scriptures, worship of Hindu deities, etc.
The organizations which are fmnly in the
releases, such as that of April 15,
1998, never used the H word.
., Hindu camp 'l[e those that share responsi-
HERE IS A MISCONCEPTION," o FIND OUT WHICH ORGAmZATIONS bility for all Hindus. Those who have set
Yet, when Indian devotees serv- with prominence in the West call themselves apart are not necessarily con-
wrote His Divine Grace
ing at each of those' temples themselves Hindus, we tapped the mas- cerned with the promotion, protection and '"
A.c. Bhaktivedanta Swami were aske"d in late July by jour- r-
Prabhupada in 197'7 in Sci- sive power of the Internet's World Wide renaissance of our religion. Hindus need to
nalists for this article, they said Web. Many major Hindu, not exactly Hindu educate themselves about: organizations, and
ence of Self Realization, "tha~ the
it is a Hindu temple. The dis- and non-Hindu organizations have a web especially distinguish in their minds those,
Krishna consciousness move-
crepancy between public per- I site, and a search of each usually locates a Swami Chinmayanallda: The founding mem- such as ISKCON, the Brahma Kumaris and
men1: represents the Hindu reli-
ception and internal policy is statement of identity, aims and purposes. ber of the Vishwa Hindu Paris had said, "My ·TM, who have completely forsaken the Hin-
gion. Sometimes Indians both in-
side and outside of India think
further confused by the group's The resUlts of our search are summarized in mission is to convert Hindus to Hinduism" du fold to pursue an independent path., wi ;'
that we are preaching the Hindu
official exceptions to the non- '"
Hindu position. Faced with dif-
religion, but actually we are not."
ficulties, ISKCON leaders have
In chapter three of the book
[available from Bhaktivedanta
appealed to the Hindu commu-
nity to back them up, as in a dis-
Organization Statement of Purpose
Archives, P.o. Box 255, Sandy
pute over the Bhaktivedanta AryaSamaj "move Hindu dharma away from all factitious beliefs, back to Vedas"
Ridge, North Carolina 27046
Manor in the UK or when being Chinmaya Mission "Chinmayananda's ... primary aim was 'to convert Hindus to Hinduism'"
USA],.this startling point is made
several times: "The Krishna con- hassled by Christians in Russia Gitananda Ashram (Italy) "If you are really interested in the Hindu culture and spirituality, click here"
and Poland. In appeals to judges Hindu Students Council "Learn about Hindu heritage and culture"
sciousness movement has no-
and governments, the word Hin- Hindu Temple Society of North America "Everything in Hinduism begins with worship of Ganapati"
thing to do with the Hindu reli-
du is openly used. In other legal International Swaminarayan Satsang (ISSO) "Our sampradaya in Hinduism is called Swaminarayan"
gion or any system @f religion....
cases, including one to the US Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam "propagation of Sankara's advaita based on Vedic tenets"
One should clearly understand
Supreme Court, ISKCON has at- Nityananda Institute "Trika Yoga, an Indian Tantric tradition of Kashmir Saivism"
that the Krishna consciousness
tempted to counteract the "cult" Ramakrishna Mission (New York) 'based on Vedanta, both the religion and philosophy of the Hindus"
movement is not preaching the
so-called Hindu' religion." l.abel by claiming to be a tradi- Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) "[Our] supreme task ... is to consolidate the Hindu society"
tional Hindu lineage, and asked Saiva Siddhanta Church "a traditional Hindu fellowship" [Subramuniyaswami, publisher HINDUISM TODAY]
Followers of Srila Prabhupada
other Hindus to affirm this in Swaminarayan Hindu Mission (BSS) "a socio-spiritual organization with its roots in the Vedas"
have assembled all of his letters,
the courts. Other organizations Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) "foster Hindu unity, consolidate Hindu society, work for Hindu interests"
books, lectures, interviews and
who parted company with Hin-
conversations on the Bhaktive- Yoga-Vedanta
duism, such as Transcendental
danta Vedabase [alsp available "Institute for the traditional study of Vedanta... "
Meditation and Brahma Ku- Arsha Vidya Gurukulam
from Bhaktivedantd- Archives] . Divine Life Society "Disseminate spiritual knowledge [by] yoga, and revival of true culture"
maris, do not compromise their
This CD-Rom database yielded > Ramanashrama (Ramana Maharshi) "ashram confers on devotees of all religions mental peace, bliss and happiness"
position under anX circum-
18:3 references to Hinduism, = u
Siddha Yoga Dham (Chidvalasananda) "Wisdom of India's ancient sages ... welcomes people of all faiths and cultures"
which were compiled and ana- "., stances.
Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers "Yoga can be practiced by individuals with any set of beliefs"
ISKCON founder: Srila Prabhupada (1896--1977) leading.bhajana What also sets ISKCON apart
lyzel'i to understand Srila Prab-
is its open repudiation and criti-
hupada's point of view. I Social Service and/or Universalism
Often Srila Prabhupada would, simply duism. Therefore there is trouble." cism of HinduisJ;Il, especially among mem- "an international social service organization"
Ananda Marga
deny the existence of a religion called "Hin- .. The Guru frequently explainecL his posi- bers. There are :reports of Hindus who joi,ned Gayatri Pariwar "charitable and educational organization ... integrating sciences with spirituality"
duism." He attributed the improper designa- tion, and acted upon his beliefs in establish- I1iKCON only to be taught to reject their M.A. Ashram (Mata Amritanandamayi) "infused devotion to God, love for fellow beings and spirit of s'elfless service"
tion to "foreign invaders." At other times he ing his dynamic society. At a 1974 Mumbai family's religion. "Previously we were HiJi- Sadhu Vaswani Mission "non-sectarian, non-political, non-communal body"
a,cknowledged the existence of the faith, but lecture, he declared, "We are not preaching dus. Now we are Hare Krishnas," sOlI}e said. Integral Yoga Institute (Satchidananda) "a spiritual center based on principles of yoga and ecumenism"
considered it a hopelessly degraded form of Hindu religion. While registering the associ- At the same time, the organization often ap- Satya Sai Baba "not come to speak on behalf of any particular religion, e.g. Hindu religion"
th'e original Sanatana Dharma of the. Vedas. ation, I purposely kept this !lame, 'Krishna peals to the'lfindu community and bU§iness- Self-Realization Fellowship "reveal the basic oneness of original Christianity and original yoga"
In his April, 1967, New York lectj..rres he re- Consciousness,' neither Hindu r ligion nor men for financial support of its social pro- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar "engaged in community services and spreading Vedic knowledge"
marked, ''Although posing as great scholars, Christian nor Buddhist religion." grams and political help to protect ISKCON
ascetics, householders and swamis, the so- Srila Prabhupada was aware that the Indi- from detractors. ' New Religions or Non-Religious
called followers of the Hindu religion are all an community had a mistaken impression of Considering ISKCON's appearances- Brahma Kumaris [Designated their organization as a new religion at Global Forum meetings]
useless, dried-up branches of the Vedic reli- his Hinduness. In a 1970 letter to a temple member's dress, names, bhajana, festivals, ISKCON "is neither Hindu religion nor any other religion."
gion." ISKCON, he believed, was the oilly administrator in Los Angeles, he wrote, worship, scripture, pilgrimage, temple build- Transcendental Meditation "purely a practical technique ... a science ... does not depend on any faith"
true exponent of the Vedic faith today. In an "The Hindu community in the West has got ing; and so forth-it's little wonder that so Veerashaivite "Veerashaivas call Veerashaivism a separate religion"
interview given for Bhavan's Journal on some good feeling for me because superfi- many have assumed they are Hindus. To
June 28, 1976, he said, "India, they have giv- cially they are seeing that I am spreading fmd out they are not will certainly surprise Note: InfoTTTU.Ltion here is based upon statements on each organization's World Wide W eb sites. See www.hindu.orglteachers-
en up the real religious system, Sanatana Hindu reUgion, but factually this Krishna many-Hindus and non-Hindus alike. It orgslidentityl for a complete listing of URLs to the complete original documents. Organizations wishing to clarify the infor-
Dharma. Fictitiously, they have accepted a Consciousness movement is neither Hindu may even surprise a few Hare Krishnas mation given on their web sites, or those not listed at all, may send their position statement to the editor of Hinooism Today.
hodgepodge thing which is called Hin- religion nor any other religion." That re- themselves. wi
32 HINDUISM TOD AoY OCTOBER , 1 9 9 8 OC TOB E R , 199 8 H I'N DUISM TODAY 33
RELIGION · Pagans celebrate: (clockwise from top) Congress
Pot~nt Pagan
Po -ow
Representatives of Europes pre-Christian faiths
meet in Lithuania, last of th~ Pagan nations
OR SIX DAYS OVER THE SUMMER
solstice, 200 representatives to the
World Pagan Congress met in Vil-
nius, capital city of the Baltic coun-
try of Lithuania. 1)1e modest event
augured well for what is being called
" Europe. As church mem-
bership drops across the continent, some are
harkening back to the pre-Christian days
when the Pagan religion flourished. That
wasn't so long ago in Lithuania, where Pa-
ganism was suppressed: only in the 18th
century. In nearby parts of Ukraine and
Russia, Pagan ritual never ceased. The con-
gress is one attempt among several to re-
gather the threads of tradition and re-estab-
lisP. ancient indigenous religions.
Timed to begin on- the June 20 solstice,
the 50 international participants joined their
local hosts and about half of Lithuania's 3.7
million people for th~ national celebration of
Rasa, a Pagan festival. In the cities, people
just party late into the night, bu~ in the
countryside they assemble, as they have for
centqries, outside the villages on forest hills
Lithuania: Reviving a nation's Pagan past
34 HINDUISM TODA.Y OCTOBER, 1998
near rivers, decor~te themselves and kupo-
lines, sacred poles, with wreaths of herbs
and ferns, and build large bonfires. The
congress gathered for the night's celebra-
tions outside Vilnius, at the nearby K€r-
n ve ruins, medieval capital of Pagan Li-
thuania. Dancing around bonfires to ethnic
music was followed by setting floats with
candles adrift on the nearby Neris river.
This Rasa celebratjon is remarkably close
in practice and name to rasayatra, the festi-
val celebrated in North India in the lunar
monMl of Karttika (OctoberlNovember), by
nocturnfil dances in circles and representa-
tions of-the sports of Krishna. It is only one
indication of how closely allied these Pagan
faiths are with Hinduism. Lithuanian is ad-
ditionally the oldest living language of Eu-
rope, closely related to Sanskrit and ancient
Greek and hence widely studied by lin-
guists. These three languages were used as
a basis for the reconstruction of Proto-Indo-
European. ' followers of all other religions, faiths and beliefs.
Returning from the Rasa celebration at 3
AM, dawn, organizers wisely set the con-
gress opening ceremonies for -
late afternoon, at the statue of
Grand Duke Gediminas. He was
the 14th-century Pagan ruler
who defended Lithuania against
Christian crusaders seeking· to
convert his nation by force. In his
time, he declared that Pagans,
Catholics and 0 1;thodox Chris-
tians worship the same.,Qivinity in
different forms, and guaranteed
religious· freedom. His openness
did little good, for it is a fact of
European history that nation after
nation was converted to Chris-
tianity by conquest, and the exist-
ing Pagan faith in each forcibly
suppressed. Lithuania fell to the
crusaders in i41O, just fifty years
after Gediminas' rule. Pagan tem-
ples were demolished and church-
e; built upon their ruins. Even then, ~
church missionaries complained tlJat the
peasant population-who regarded the
Christians '8.s foreign invaders-were tena-
cious in holding to their old beliefs. The last
Pagan temple was closed in-1790. Paganism
and Lithuanian nationalism have since been'
linked, and provided a double reason for the
people's resistance to conversion. Even the
Soviet occupation following World War II
failed to eliminate Romuva, the national Pa-
gan church. Believers, including Jonas Trin-
kunas, one of the congress organizers and a
leading religious scholar, kept it alive through
to the nation's independence in the '80S.
On the 22nd evening, Lithuanians, Lat-
vians and Belorussians conducted a Baltic
fire ritual for congress members at the Ro-
muva temple, followed by Russian, Ukranian
and Polish rites. After the fire was lit, Dainas
[related to Sanskrit dhyanam, "medi.tation"],
ancient Pagan songs known as the "Lithuan-
ian Vedic hymns," were sung as participants
slowly circled the fire altar. Beer was offered
first to the FIre Goddess Gabija (tuso known
as Ugnis, the same as the Hindu FIre-God '
AgniY;- then to the Earth Goddess Zemyna,
the ancestors and finally to the deities of the
skies. Everyone was offered a sip of the
sanctified beer. The Russian Pagan priest,
Vadim Kazakov, smudged everyone's third
eye with ashes from the fire, in accordance
with traditions-this use of sacred
ash being another parallel to Hin-
du practice.
On the third and fourth day, c9n-
gress delegates discussed their con-
cerns, such as the on-going demoli-
tion of ancient temples in Greece
and the discrimination against Pa-
gans in the Czech republic, where
people have lost their jobs because
of their beliefs. They drafted a dec-
laration [sidebar] and have contin-
ued discussions on the Internet
(www.wwa.coml-audriusl) since
the event, working to set up a meet-
ing next year in Greece. ..,..;
guests at statue of Gediminas, Lithuania's great Pa-
gan king. Fire ritual at Vilnius, June'22. Modem
druids at Stonehenge, England, on June 21 solstice.
At Vilnius
Pagans Define
Their Faith
E HAVE GATHERED TO EXPRESS OUR
solidarity for the ethnic, indigenous, na-
tive and/or traditional religions of Eu-
rope and the world. All cultures, native
religions and faiths should be equally valued
and respected. Each religion and each people
have their distinctive local traditions (faith, /
mythology, etc. ) which articulate their love of
their land and history, and cultivate a regard for
the sacredness of all life and the divinity of Na-
ture. Just as Nature survives through a wide va-
riety of species, so can humanity be allowed to
develop freely and without interference along a
wide variety of cultural expressions. According
to our ancient traditional ethics, the Earth and
all creation must be valued and protected. We
as human beings must find our place within the
web of all life, not outside or separate from the
whole of creation.
We share a common understanding of our
position in the world, based upon our common
historical experience of oppression and intoler-
ance. Ethnic and/or "Pagan" religions have suf-
fered great injury and destruction in the past
from religions claiming they possess the only
truth. It is our sincere wish to live in peace and
harmony, and to strive for cooperation with the
We believe that the dawn of a new era of indi-
vidual and intellectual freedom and global ex-
change of views and information gives us an
opportunity to start again to return to our own
native spiritual roots in order to reclaim our
religious heritage.
We are worshipers of Nature, as most of hu-
manity has been for the greater part of hUlllan
history True indigenous religions should give us
love and respect for all that we see and feel
around, to accept all forms of worship which
emphasize sincere hearts, pure thoughts and
noble conduct at every moment of our life, to-
wards all that exists. Let us be proud of our re-
born ethnic religions. Our new Universalism
induces people not to remain closed within walls
of hatred and jealousy against those who are not
inside our walls. We established the World Con-
gress of Ethnic Religions to help all ethnic reli-
gion groups survive and cooperate with each
other. Our motto is "Unity in Diversity."
weER, v l VULSn o 27-4. L T -20og VILNIUS,
LITHUANIA. EMAI L: I ONTRlN@TAIDE.LT
OCTOBER , 1998 HINDUISM TODAY 35

MYSTICS
, ·
Solar-Powered Seer
Gnostic Mas't~r of Surya Yoga spre~d the
Sun's divine powers throughout France
N THIS DEEPAVALI MONTH,
it is appropriate that we hon-
or a man of light. For thou-
sands of years, pious Hindus
have recited the-GayatFi mantra
in praise of Savitri, the quicken-
ing aspect of the life-giving 'Sun.
In o'ur own time, this ancient
solar teaching has had a most
ardent and convincing spokes-
man in the person of Omraam
Mikhael Aivanhov. The Bulgari-
an-born European master made
the life-bestowing solar being
the focus of his whole life and
teaching. Mainstream Chris-
tians denounced him, for Aivan-
hoy was a follower of Gnosti-
cism, a pre-Christian Pagan,
Je)Nish and early ChristiaI'J. eso-
teric tradition regarcted as
heresy by many orthodox. Over
the centuries, European mystics
have often turned to the syn-
cretic Gnostic theology as a sys-
tem within which to expound
their realizations.
Aivanhov was born in 1900 in
the village of Serbtzy in Mace- "
donia, a small Balk1Pl country § lar umbilical ~ord to the Divine.
just north of Greec1!. He early ..,
on became fascinated with spir- ~
itual matters. At the age of six- ~
teen, ,he was plunged into a state ~
of eostasy in which he experi- ~
enced everything bathed in, Z
and suffused with, light-an ex- European
perience that left a lasting mark
on his understanding of the nature of exis-
tence. Aivanhov had learned Hindu philos-
ophy and yoga through the books of "Swami
Ramacharaka"-pen name of the erudite
Alnerican writer William Walker . Atkin-
son-published at the turn of th~ century.
Aivanhov's yoga without a guru's guidance
proved hazardous. He later said, "I had
throwiJ. myself tot~y into certain yoga exer-
cises of breathing and concentration. One
could say that I.had lost my head. I spent
days and nights studying, fasting, meditating,
concentrating, breathing, and I became thin,
pale and very' weak." He experienced the
awakening of kundalini, the primordial cos-
mic energy which lays dormant at the base
of the spine. "It was a terrible sensation, as if
36 HI\'IDUISM TODbY 0 TOBER, 1998
ited nearly every country in the world.
When touring India in 1960, Aivanhov
was welcomed by severa'! renowned Hindu
sages, including Swami Nityananda, as an ac-
complished master from Europe. The title
"Omraam," bestowed on him by Neernkaroli
Baba when visiting that Indian sage, is the
French spelling Of the two sacred syllables
am and Ram. His devotees remarked upon
his return from Iiitlia that he seemed a
deeply changed man, different
even in physical appearance.
It was on the basis of his own
spiritual realization and of his
reading of what he called the
"Book of Nature" that Aivanhov
discovered in the Sun a great se-
cret. He observed, "Deprived of
sunshine, men could never have
existed. Without his light, men
could never have had the faculty
of sight, and not only on the
physical level but also on the in-
tellectuallevel: they could never
have had understanding, for un-
derstanding is a higher form of
sight." Rivanhov taught that, as a
supremely intelligent being, the
Sun is responsive to our spiritu-
al intentions and aspirations,
able to reply "in a flash, like an
electronic machine." Thus his
teachings parallel the Gayatri
Mantra, "We meditate upon the
glorious splendor of the Vivifier
divine. May He Himself illu-
mine our minds."
Aivanhov gave the name
Surya Yoga, "Solar Yoga," to the
conscious cultivation of that so-
He explained: "By the practice
of Surya Yoga you establish a
link between yourse,lf and the
power that governs and gives life
to the whole Universe: the Sun.
That is why you must necessari-
mystic: Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov in France, 1984 ly get results! No book can give
you ·what ,the Sun gives yO\!, if
my head was on fire. I was very afraid. I then YQU learn to have the proper relationship
made gigantic efforts to make it go to sleep with him. If you want to create a bond bE;{-
again, and I succeeded. As I was so young, it tween you [and the Sun], you have to) ook at
would have been the greatest disaster for me him in all consciousness. If you do that,
if I had not been capable pf making this there will ])e a communication of vibrations
force go to sleep once again." , between the Sun and you in which forms and
A year later he found his teacher in the colors, a whole new world, will be born."
saintly Peter Deunov (Beinsa Deuno), a Master Aivanhov never wrote anything(
Gnostic master who had a following of tens but his countless talks were recorded and
of thousands organized as the "Universal collected by his disciples. Over forty vol-
White Brotherhood." At his teachers behest, umes of these impromptu talks are in print
Aivanhov immigrated to France in 1937 to in English and other languages, with hun-
spread the teaching of light outside. his dreds more being planned for publication
homeland. He lived and tirelessly taught in over the coming years. .-
France for nearly half a century until his By Georg Feuerstein, California
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Teachings in the Kriya Yoga Tradition Making and Using Ghee- The Royal Oil
WOMEN OF VISION and insomnia by the time she came to me
for help. A10ng with dietary help, I recom-
Programs and books by Roy "The purified soma juices
mended a simple tea made trom hot water,

The Buttersweet
Eugene Davis, a disciple of have flowed forth, mixing
with curd and milk."-Rig ghee and triphala which she took for three
Paramahansa Yogananda. months every evening after dinner. Her
Veda IX 1.24
condition is now vastly improved.

BeneBts ofGhe~
Ayurveda extols ghee as an
• Meditation retreats from For centuries ghee has been used as a
May through Autumn incomparable tonic, as the
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• Kriya Yoga philosophy diseases tend to become more prevalent. At
and practices featured virtues. "Ghee... enhances
wellbeing in almost every the onset of spring, a t~blespoon of ghee
• Sanskrit instruction and may be taken with a few pinches of
Ayurveda seminar by conceivable circumstance. It
qualified teachers nourishes, detoxifies and car-
ries healing herbs to our cells
Proper preparation and utilization of the turmeric every morning for a week or so.
Similarly, a tablespoon of ghee can be tak-
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essence of the cow is itself a form of s~dhana en for a week at the commencement of
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her life-sustaining milk and the dimming of her ~ (constitutional types) and is a specific for
. natural Divine Light. But when butter, yogurt
i
u pitta. It requir~s no refrigeration, should be

"Sweet", > and ghee are made from milk produced by

conscious organic dairy farmers, they are con-
'---_ _ _--'!LL:;iIU

sidered to be our most nourishin.g and healing foods. Among them,

ghee stands out as the elixir for excellent health.
kept covered, away from direct sunlight or
lieat and protected from any contaminants.
Ceremony of ghee making: In times of yore, Vedic monks basked
in the joyous ceremony of making ghee. This was held at pumima,

Sattvic, Sushruta, an ancient Ayurvedic seer, regarded ghee as an intelli-

gence-building principle that fosters the bodys confidence and
virility. Another ancient, Charaka, praises ghee's ability to promote
mem0ry and immunity within the body. From the perspective of
the full moon. In meditative silence they would oversee the vari-
ous stages of preparation. You, too, can approach ghee making as a
sadhana. Proceed with a clean body and a calm mind. As the
Vedic monks discovered, this sadhana can evoke the sattvic mind

Jyotish sadhana,. spiritual discipline, ghee is associated with the body's.

elemen~of love. Its dominant action allows it to soothe our vital
tissues. In Ayurveda, ghee is used as a primary vehicle for conveYi
ing her:bal powders, essences and medicines into affected tissues
and brings forili wondrous healing energies in its practice. Be
mindful of the aromas, sounds and presence of this delightful cere-
mony. For one pound of organic, sweet (unsalted) butter, you will
need a heavy stainless steel saucepan, a staipless steel spoon and a

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soothing the body, inind and spirit of the patient.

thereby reducing fatigue and stress while aiding the body to let go
glass storage jar, all sterilized in advance with bo$ng water. Melt •
the but.t er in the saucepan oyer low flame. Continue to heat until it
Ghee also builds ojas, the body's primordial immunological force, boils gently and a bUff-colored foam rises to the surface. Do not
stir the melted butter or remove the foam (which would result in

Gemstones ~.

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cook gel}tly until the foam thickens arfd settles to the bottom of the
out the year. Since the nature of gh~e is usually peaceful and nour- pan as sedi~nt. When the ghee turns a golden color and begins
ishing, it accommodates all metabolic types, restoring agni, to boil silently, with only a trace of air bubbles on the surface, it is
,
digestive fIre, and allowing the body to adjust to its newly attuned " done, When it is cool, pour the liquid into the jar, making sure that
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infection was gone, Eric, who had a chronic case of psoriasis, treat- established author, b.er columns for HINDUISM TODAY are based on
ed his condition oy applying a poultice made from ghee and neem her newest work, Migrant Spirit: Recovering Our Ancestral'Memo-
powder. One month later, Eric's skin ailment was completely c ured. ries, to be published in the spring of 1999. Tiwari lives reclusively
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42 43

••• , .It.l' ll •• 1 ••• ' •• ;'.l ~ ,l"l \;",."
~ ~~ ~ ~ ~~.~~~~~.~~~~~~~~~
HEALING
. and Insidious:
Sweet
,
Ptease Pass the Su~{
Few fully comprehend the serious physical
ailments.. incurred from excessive sugar intake
\
BY DEVANANDA TANDi\VAN,
UGAR'S EFFECT ON OUR
well being is a very contro-
versial subject. Any of the
following symptoms may be
related to a high intake of simple
sugar: anxiety, bed-wetting, tooth
decay, depression, diabetes,
..\ . .poor
lIIlIIlune response, perSpIratIOn,
fainting, fatigue, heart disease,
hypog~cemia,insomnia,memo­
ry loss, obeSity,' osteoporosis,
seizures, skin rashes, itching, rapid heart
beat, hoarseness, vaginal'itching, weakness,
marked irritability and many others.
The causal relationship of these symp-
toms is rather complex. For instance, a high
intake of sugars will produce an elevation
of insulin secretion. If the sugar is not all
utilized, the insulin will help convert some
of the sugar to fats which thEm are deposit-
ed in the arteries, especially the small ar-
teries of the heart. 1P.ose people who eat a
lot of sweet foods tehd to overeat, as the
sugars do not satisfy the appetite as well as
the more complex carbohydrates. That is,
they p.o not fill us. Since B vitamins are
required to help metabolize the sugars,
these are taken from the stored quantities,
which can easily be depleted. These factors
combined tend to produce not just obesity
but hypertension and heart problems.
Usually, by sugar we mean the highly
purified, concentrated, white product of
sugar beets or sugar cane. Alsp there are
other sugars such as: raw sugar, brown sug-
ar, fruit sugar, milk sugar, honey, 'sucanat,
maple, jaggery, etc. Of these, white sugar is
the most processed and contains a singular
structure of sucrose. Pure white sugar has
zero nutritional value and is only a source
of ,pure energy. The other sugars
mentioned contain some contaminates or
other plant products that give them some,
but minimal, nutritional value. The ideal
energy source in our diet is the complex
carbohydrates from whole grains, fruits and
44 HI)'IDUISM TODAY 0 TOBER, 1998
•• 'll" ll.", ••• ' •• I ' l' l' l', ll.ll ••• \ l' II
M.D.
vegetables.
It has been shown that excess
dietary sugar will deplete the
stores of copper in the body.
There is also a disruption of the
calcium/phosphorous ratio, re-
sulting in some degree of bone
absorption. Reactive hypo-
glycemia, the result of sudden
increase in blood sugar levels,
will manifest as the many psy-
chological types of symptoms mentioned
above. This is the most easily treated of
conditions-one merely needs to lower the
intake qf sugars and increase the intake of
complex carbohydrates accompanied by
high fiber and low protein foods, which are
digested more-slowly, so that the sudden
rise in blood sugar level does not occur.
The biggest hazard to our dietary effi-
ciency is processed foods, for it is very easy
to obtain sugars in these without its pres-
ence being obvious. Who would think that
tomato catsup is high in sugar? Sugar and
salt are both the unsuspected offenders in
most proces~ed foods. It is absolutely essen-
tial, for health's sake, to become a label
reader. It is pos~ible that over 75% of all
sugar intake is hidden in the processed
foods that are advertised so highly: in the
media. These are the first things one
should eliminate to reducing dietary sugar.
If we could eliminate all hidden sources,
we could then control our intake and keep
it within the reasonable limiJ of less than
10% of all ingested calories. ....
We must also note that excessive sugar in
the diet is addictive, making us slaves to a
habit which may be equally as strong as
drug or alcohol addiction.
DR. TANDAVAN, 78, retired nuclearphysi-
cian and hospital staff preSident, lives in-
Chicago, where he specializes in alternative
healing arts. Visit his ho17l£ page at the
HINDllSM TODAY website.
--
,I"
EVOLUTIONS
RECOVERING: From quintuple heart by-
pass surgery at New York's Lenox Hill
Hospital on July 7 is H.H. Pramukh Swa-
mi Maharlij.
Swamishri had
arrived in New
York with a ret-
inue of 12 sadhus
for a nationwide
tour of Swami-
narayan Sanstha
temples and cen-
ters in North
America. The
tour was cut
short when Swa- Leaving hospital
mishri suddenly
fell ill. Thousands of fullowers and well-
wishers prayed and fasted for the 78-
year-old elders complete recovery. After
the successful surgery by Dr. Subra-
manian and his expert team of cardiolo-
gists (several of them Swami's followers) ,
Swami rested at a devotees house in a
quite suburb of New York. He had spent
6 days in the hospital before moving out
on July 13. As of July 26, Swamis condi-
tion is fme, and he is able to eat and
walk as per the doctor's advice. While
awaiting surgery, Swamishri requested
the saints present to sing bhajans and
he remained absorbed in worship.
EMBARKING: On a new and ambitious
blueprint for life are the world famous
classical Indian dancers C.P. Shanta and
V.P. Dhananjayan. Having been en-
riched by dance for so many years, they
now want to give back. Their venture is
Bhaaskara, a center for Indian culture
and arts which they are working to es-
tablish in scenic Kerala, on a small hill
near an ancient Siva temple. Facilities
will include courses in the Indian arts
for up to five-hundred students studying
in the gurukula system, a craft village
and a national theatre.
HONORED: By Pandit Leelapat Sharma,
head of the Gayatri Pariwar, Mathura,
was Kusumben Patel of Chicago on
April 16. Patel
was awarded the
"Gyan Mashal,"
the "Torch of
Enlightenment,"
in recognition of
her spiritual ser-
vices in spread-
ing the message Service awarded
of the Pariwars
Guru, Pandit Shree Ram Sharma.
"I,.l"., ••• 'I'".".". \.•• ,l \ , •• , " ' , ••• ,. \., •• , . " . " , ~,. 'l,") ll"'" t\ It'' 'I"
~~ ~~ ~~~g ~~~ E~~ ~ ~~~ ~ ~~
DIVINATION spected astrologer BV Raman spent many
a Life
years trying to unravel their mystery. He
Leafing Through
found most readers were able to give de-
The mysterious Npdi Shastras saw it all before
tailed information of one's past up to the
prese;;'t, but only a few could accurately pre-
dict the future. The best system, according
to Raman, were the 36 Tantra Nadis. Each
Tantra Nadi contains 1,588,320 astrological
charts, which re-occur every 360 years. A
third theory is that kshudra devatas (angels,
spirit beings) pass on information about the
individual to the Nadi reader.
Raman said>'The correctness of the fore-
casts depended upon the intensity of the rit-
uals performed and recitation of the mantra '
to propitiate the devata. " Raman cites an ex-
ample: "The native will be born in a holy
city on the coast of the ocean. At the age of
20, he will go to a foreign country. His
·mother will die at the age of 22 in his ab-
sence. He will marry at 13. At 32, he will be
a lawyer. He will always speak truth and
will be pure in heart. There will be no dis-
/
tinction between his thoughts, words and
deeds. Before the age of 65, 11e will meet the
king of the white race. He will resort to fast-
ing for the good of the world and will live
b.eyond the age of 70." These accurate de-
tails were on the leaf for Mahatma Gandhi.
In Hoshiapur , Punjab, the Nadi reader
casts a chart for the moment you walk in his
door and then proceeds to find the appro-
priate leaf, which may take hours. At Sub-
burathinam's Nadi centre in Chennai, only
your thumb print is used. The particular
pattern of lines in the center of the thumb is
identified, and the corresponding set of
palm leaves are then taken.
Subburathinam makes it clear that "We
are only Nadi reader/. What is written on
the leaves is read and explained' by us. We
ourselves do not add anything. Some clients
get irritated when some of the facts are un-
pleasant. We carmot help it. Common peo-
ple and VIPs from all walks of life have con-
sulted us. We show them the particular leaf
with the predictions, and some of our cus-
tomers are able to read the leaves on their
OIa oracle: Ancient rishi writes upon ola / palm) leave~, the essence of the Nadi Shastras own. Some even buy their leaves for preser-
I vation. The language 1; poetic, and the
MAGINE WALKING INTO A SIMPLE including their name, caste, occupation, script is the same as in the ancient temples.
, dwelling in India and having someone medical problems and remedies for sins We have only a certain amount of leaves.
: you have never met pull out an ancient committed in the past life. -Subburathinam Natives whose leaves are here will somehow
l palm leaf and begin reading about your says the existence of the leaves can be or other come to us at the appropriate age
past, telling about the house you were born traced back at least 2 ,000 years. Reading the specified on the leaves from any corner of
in and the name of your parents. Hard to leaves is a' hereditary profession, passed the world. Leaves are Shere not only for In-
believe, but persons are daily unnerved by down from father to son. The leaves are said dians, but also for foreigners belonging to
such details at the Chennai Mme of Mr. Du- . to be aut'hored by the Sapta Rishis (seven other religions. Who,ever is destined to look
rai Subburathinam, a "Nadi r~ader." Nadi as- sages), who long ago used their divine sight into the leaves will come to us on his own
trology is relatively unknown in the West, to look into the future and give details about accord. The very word Nadi in Tamil means
and even in India it's surrounded by mys- the lives of every soul who would one d.ay go 'destined to come on its own accord.' So, we
tery. Thousands of palm-leaf bundles of for a Nadi reading. do not advertise for our profession. Whoev-
prophecy, going by the name of Nadi Another theory-different from the idea er is destined to come will come. Faith is the
Granthas in Tainil in South India and that leaves exist only for those who will root of our system." \ ~
Bhrigu Samhitas in Sanskrit in. the North, come-is that readings for all possible horo- WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM EXPRESS STAR TELLER. EX-
PRESS ESTATES, CLUB HOUSE ROAD, MOUNT ROAD, CHENNAI,
expound minute details about a persons life, scopes were written on the leaves. The re- INDIA 600002 INDIA. HTTP://www. STARTELLER.COM
OCTOBER, 1998 HINDUISM TODAY 45

One God, One World, the theme of
the Iraivan Temple, will be caNed
into its stone ceiling in all the worlds
languages. It declares that peoples
of all religions seek the same One
Source in many ways and amidst the
seeming diversity of the world we
are ultimately a one race of Divine
beings. Contact us for information
on how to spread this message
and build this monument for the
generations of the next millennium.
1-808-822-3012
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ONE GOD
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TELEVISION
Karma Comes Full Circle
TV~s Early' Edition delivers a lesson, in Hinduism
: N THE POPULAR US TELEVISION SERIES,
1 Early Edition, young Gary Hobson, co-
manager of a Chicago bar, mysteriously
receives the next da)'s new~aper early
each morning. Think about it. If you have to-
morrow's news, you know what will happen
today. This gives him an overwhelming sense
of 'responsibility. He now has the chance to
halt disasters, save lives and otherwise inter-
vene'in destiny, which he dutifully does, of-
ten aided by bar partner, Chuck Fishman.
But the plots are thick, and he usually fmds
his own destiny intricately woven with those
he tries to rescue. And while there is a pru-
dent non-sectarian stance, there is always the
supposition that Hobson is being use<'i by
s~e superior cosmic guiding force.
One episode early this year went a bit fur-
ther and borrowed from Hinduism, hinging
an ethical transformation of Fishman on the
law of karma. After a typical fateful turn of
events, Fishman is deep in trouble, faced
with an execution by mob thugs. Hobson and
Fishman turn to Crum, a retired police de-
tective 'fho is an earthy former beat-cop. So
it is all -t he more potent and surprising when
Crum casually explains to Fishman that all
his problems are due to his own karma:
Fishman: Why is this happening to me?
Crum: Its your karma. Bad things have a
way of catching up with you. You reap what
you sow.
Fishman: You believe that?
Crum: In your case, absolutely.
Fishman: You can change your karma, right?
I mean, by ds>ing a good deed you can make
a difference?
Crum: I forgot tq.e rulebook.
At this point, Fishman, desperate for any
good karma he can earn, runs out. to help a
bag lady cross the street. :But it seems too
late. Caught by the mob, Fishman ends' up
trapped on a tugboat. Hobson and Crum
also become prisoners. A dejected Fishman
worries, «Crum says, 'You .reap what you
sow.' If that's the case, I'd hate tc;! be me at
harvest time."
With no hope for escape and having en-
dangered his friends, Fishman is overcome
with the burden of his karma. He confesses
to a series of past transgressions which, ac-
cording to him, reveal his flawed character.
He repents, begs forgiveness and vows ,t hat
if he ever gets out of this mess, he will
change his ways forever.
They esca~e, barely, and Fishman later
learns that the bag lady he helped was actu-
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The Book of the Century BRIEflY",

A SAGJ OF THE FOREST, 80-year-old Swami estation of the region. Other scientists point and these dishes are corrupting the morals
"The Divine Vision of The Divine Vision Vankhandi lives high on India's Nicllinba , to simply the natural evolution of the glaci- of tp,e young people."
mountain. He is using his spiritual clout to er, river and planet. But Swami Sundara-
Radha Krishn" is a of Radha Krishn save the region from poachers an~ revive a nanda, who lives in Gangotri, states, "In RESIDENTS OF THE SAN FRANCISCO Bay Area
Divine gift by H.D. spirit of environmental stewardship among 1947 even this town was full of green cover. were lovingly introduced to the Hindu God
locals and eve!) government Now it has turned into a concrete jungle." Siva through the Kala Vandana Dance Cen-
Swami Prakashanand officials. Swami has
, ters presentation,
plantyd more than 3,000 EIGHTEEN LETTERS BY MAHATMA GANDHI were Lord of Dance{ at
Saraswati. It is a trees and hundreds of medi- sold for US$33,900 in July by the UK auc- the Spangenberg
practical guide for all cinal plants, posted signs tion house, Sotheby's. Two British Asian Theater in Palo Alto
identifying edible tree and businessmen made the purchase for the In- on April 26, Ten
who sincerely desire to shrub species and healing dian High Commission (IHC) in London. dances choreo-
herbs, and he has b"anned The letters, written to Indian Moslem ' graphed by Sundara
experience the logging, foraging and hunt- leader, Maulana Abdul Bari, reveal Gandhi's Swaminathan fo-
by His Divinity
loving Bliss of Radha ing. The swami admits, anxiety over riots which had broken out in cused upon distinct
Swami Prakashanand "Some people are not hap- protest of British rule. In 1997, the sale by a ·aspects of Siva.
Krishn or any other py with me, but the Hawaii Hindu charity of a separate collec- Each dance-and
Saraswati trees and birds are." tion of Gandhi papers collected by V. ~­ aspect-was de- i
form of God as yanam was cancel).ed, and the Haw~ Hin- tailed in the
described in our It incorporates the TEMPLES WERE CLOSED to the public in Hy- du group agreed to freely give the letters event's program, Siva's dancing team
scriptures. philosophy and the theme derabad, India, briefly in July. Priests in over to the -Indian government. The distinc- giving viewers not ~
most temples in and around the city per- tion of the two cases is that the Bari letters only an exciting show, but a memorable les-
of more than 400 formed requisite rituals, but admitted no were written personally to Bari, and thus son in Hinduism as well. '
scriptures and gives a entry to protest a double suicide of two were the legal property of his descendents.
young priests-Srinivasa Shastry, 32, and THE UNBECOMING BIDI (Indian cigarette) has
crystal clear view of the Ganapati Shastry, ~5, who served at the Sri BREATHE EASY! A car that runs OI} tanksp f become a cult craze among teens in the US.
path to supreme God. Sitaramanjaneya complex. The two were compressea air, producing zero pollution, A recent study by a Community Center in
found dead under suspicious circumstances. was unveiled in France in February. It is due San Francisco reveals that 58 percent of
Police conjectured the two were "unable to go into mass pro- students at four S. F. high schools have tried
The Divine Vision of Radha Krishn is, in fact, a reference book that provides the authentic
to bear the ignominy at,the hands of duction in Mexico bidis, 40 percent had been smoking them
information about all the aspects of soul, maya, brahm, creation, karm, gyan, yog, sanyas, bhakti, darshan shastras, the Divine the temple management," whQ had this year, where it for over, a year and 45-percent of bidi
abodes, bhakti tattva, bhagwat tattva, Krishn tattva, Radha tattva, Vrindaban tattva and the devotional path (of raganuga charged them with theft. The po- will eventually re- smokers were female. The S.F. Department
bhakti) that reveals the Bliss of Divine Vrindaban. Hardbound, 6114 "x 9 112 ", 445 pages, 16 color pages, $45. lice arrested the temple Vice presi- place Mexico Citys of Public Health stresses that bidis contain
dent and ,two of the managing com- 87,000 petrol and 7 to 8 percent nicotine, compared to 1 to 2
mitt) e for abetment of suicide. diesel taxis, Invented percent found in American cigarettes.
• The Desire of Your Inner Self. Definition of God • Dispelling the 15 Most Important Fallacies • What is Grace • The Oneness of
all the Forms of God along with Their Blissful Superiority • Kinds and Classes of Saints • The Creation of the Universe is still
by race car engineer "'
AUSTRALIAN PRESS DEFAMED the Hindu' Guy Negre in France, , THIRTY-SIX THOUSAND TEMPLES across Tamil
a mystery to Physicists. Creation as Described in our Scriptures • Reconciliation of all the Philosophies (of the Jagadgurus) • The God Ganesha with a crude depiction the ZP engine runs Nadu shut down for three days in June to
Practical Side of Raganuga Devotion. Reconciliation of Shankaracharya's advait vad • How to Experience the Bliss of the Name... of Him in The Au.stralian, the nation's The hybrid harbinger on an integrated protest wage structures and benefits for
leading newspaper, on July 16. The image system which starts priests of non-senior-grade temples. Over
"It is astonishing to find Shree "The Divine Vision of Radha Krishn is "This is probably the first book in the shows the most loved Hindu God.holding a the car moving with petrol, then switches to 10,000 staff participated in the walk-out to
Swamiji's penetrating perception of the the 'book of the century'. " English language that reveals the true beer bottle, cake, a cigarette and a glass of compressed air. A carbon fIltering system in leverage a 23-point charter of demaids.
complexities of human nature and the - Smt. Premlata Paliwal, Dir., Vrindaban Divine form of Radha Krishn, Divine beer. It"accompanies an article which has the engirJe results in emissions that are Priests performed the core rituals required
marvelous manner in which he co-relates Shodh Sansthan (Research Institute), India Vrindaban and raganuga bhakti. " no mention of Ganesha, leading one to cleaner than the surrounding environment. by Agamic rules, but once this duty was
the teachings of all of our ancient - Prof. Dr. Jayamanta Mishra, Ph.D. Vyakaran- wonder even more at the choice. Three . The cost (electric) to refill the compressed dORe, they left. No individual services, such
"Really 'The Divine Vision of Radha Sah ityacharya, Ex-head of Department of
scriptures (the Vedas, the Puranas, the hundred Hindus demonstFated peacefully air tmtl< is estimated at $1.60. as archanas, were provided, resulting in a
Krishn ' is a shastra for devotees of Priya Sanskrit, Bihar University, Muzaffarpur, India outside the office of News Ltd., publisher substantial revenue loss that the govern-
Upnishads, the Brahm Sutra and the Priyatam. We should be grateful to
Gita). His message, though rooted in of The Au.stralian. The deputy editor met IT WAS LOUD AND'CLEAR to all Afghanistanis. ment took seriously. On June 12, negotiators
Shree Swamiji for one of the most "The Divine Vision of Radha Krishn"
with Hindu representatives and promised On July 10, 1998, the Islamic Talibfm came to agreement, including some wage
deep philosophy, is marked by clarity authoritative expositions of the spiritual by Swami Prakashanand Saraswati ~s a movement, which rules most of Afghani-
to publish an apology. revisions, and the temples reopened.
and simplicity and is pragmatic. We wealth of India ever to be published. " spiritual discourse that answers all the stan, amplified a 1996 ban on audio cas-
need the teachings of Shree Swamiji. " - Dr. Krishnaji, M.A., Ph.D., D.Litt., concerns of humankind. " IN A FEW THOUSAND YEARS, a tick or two on settes and {ave citizens 15 days to dispose AT LAST! FOR THOSE TRA~ELERS interested in
- Justice Ram Nandan Prasad, M.Sc., B.L. Principal Institute of Oriental Philosophy, - K.Y.S. Rama Sarma, Editor-in-Chief, the cosmic clock, pilgrims to the Ganges of televisions, VCRs and satellite dishes, Af· more than just basic food and lodging, we
Visharad, New Delhi, India Vrindaban, India National Herald, New Delhi, India river may find a dry river bed. Scientists at . ter the Is-day period, the religious police have found the The Vegetarian Traveler
the Geological Survey of India (GSI) report promised to smash any equipment that re- (294 pages, Larson 'Publications, uS$l5 .95)
. that Oangotri glacier, the sburce of the holi· mained. The move aims to stop dilution of by Jed and Susan Civic. An extensive and
Please send me " The Divine Vision of Radha Krishn" for $45 plus shipping ($3.00 US/Can, $5.00 Intl.). (Allow 2 wee ks
est river, is melting and receding at a pace Islamic culture by Western influenceS'and worthwhile guide, the environmentally sen-
Make checks payable to - International Society of Divine Love, and mail to ..............•............ Books & Tapes for deli very) that could leave the Ganges high and dry. give Afghans more time to pray. Ha~i Mul- sitive traveler can now fmd accommoda-
Name Barsana Dham Ravi Kumar, a senior scientist at the GSI,' lah Qalamuddin, a Taliban official ex- tions and food to suit his or her needs. Lar-
attributes the rat~ of recession to increased plained, "We want to reform society and son Publications, 4936 NYS Route 414,
Address 400 Barsana Road make it 100 percent Islamic. Televisions Burdett, New York 14818 USA.
human activity and indiscriminate defor-
City _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ State ___ Zip _ _ _ __ Austin, TX 78737 USA
,
CLOCKWISE Fj\OM TOP: CENTER FOR INDIAN KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS;
International Society of Divine Love • Barsana Dham • Ph: (512) 288-7180 Fax (512) 288-0447 • www.isdl.org KALA VAND~A DANCE CENTER/PETERSON PHOTOGRAPHY; PEOPLE AND THE PLANET
OCTOBER, 1998 HINDUI SM TODAY 49
An ashram in the raganuga tradition which is a main aspect of Hindu religion
MINISTER'S MESSAGE
"-
~waken Moral Force,
S~e Uri'i ty'in ~God
Forget the women-are-weak idea, thi.s Hindu
nun advises, and stop grasping for materialism
, ~in than Brahm hatya [murder of a priest].
BY SRI - L A - S· R I SANTOSHI MA
WANT TO DO SOMETHING FOR SOCIETY. JUST BE-
cause I am a woman, I do not think this is an impedi-
ment in my path. Twelve years back, during the last
Kumbha Mela, Niranjani Akhara appointed me as one
of their Maha Mandaleshwars [senior abbots]' Though
I was not expecting this, t!Iese people pushed me forward
and honored me with this title. This decision was made by
tHe head of this monastic order in consultations with other
Maha ·Mandaleshwars.
Whenever I determined to do something with a pure heart
and went ahead, I got willing support from all men and
women of our society. I have never expected anything in
return from society.•And whenever I initiated any work, I got
excellent cooperation from the people. That!; why I do not think
that being a women has ever been a limitation for me. ] have no
experience to substantiate the idea that I could do better if I were
a man. To my ol'her sisters alSQ I will like to suggest that not much
importance be given to the idea that if one is a woman, therefore ,
she is weak. If our soul power and mind power are fIrm, then
everybody cooperates, and everybody looks alike. It is of no signifi-
cance whether an individual is a man or a woman. All are parts of
God. All have the same soul and same prana, life force, The same
mind is there, and the same five senses are there.
India today: India's youth are forgetting our moral and cultural
values. They are going into modernity. But they must first stop at
the P9int where they are in life. From there, they must look,back
and identify and understand their ancient heritage and culture.
Once this is done, they can move forward again and learn to cQm-
bine the modern outlook with the ancient way of thinking.
We are all watching
.
the situation in India."-Due to the fall in
moral standards, there has been a fall in people's characters. To
build a society with people of high character we must provide
moral education. There is a high level of corruption and exploita-
tion of women in society, also .because of India!; race for material-
ishl. Man is lost in material comforts -and means. But our country
has never given importance to blipga [materialism]. India's innate
uniqueness is that even when one's feet are in bad shape, when one
has no proper clothes and a poor material standard of living, still ..
the happiness and contentment of the soul are there. Lack of mate-
rial things was never felt by oiu- people as something significant.
Our people were always happy at heart, because they had wealth
or-character and moral force. We cannot be safe until our people
revert back to our ancient heritage and high moral values.
On men and women staying in ashrams: In the state of param
siddhi [full realization], it does not matter. But until that stage of
God.Realization is reached, then for a lady sadhak [spiritual'prac-
50 HINDUISM TODA.Y 0 TOBER, 1998
tioner J, the company of a male is banned.
For a male sadhak, the company of a fe-
male is not permissible. If will be more
appropriate if both live separately, because
the heart is not trustworthy. Our scriptures
An Experience of aLifetim
terna
say that when a girl is grown up, she should
not stay alone, even with her father.
Though father is lier creator, still even his
company, unchaperoned, has not been ad-
vised. So, the more the gap, the better it is.
Both have to practice restraint of senses.
ave
On abortion: According to our scriptures
jiva hatya [killing of the soul] is a maha II If I were asked under what sky the human mind has
••
paap [a great sin]. It has been said that
killing of the child in the womb is a bigger fully developed and has found solutions to some of1he
JI ..Today's man is deeply influenced by West·
ern thought. So immersed is he in the blind greatest problems of life, I woul(j point to India ... 11
race for materialism that he has no time to
study his ancient scriptures, understand
them and follow their teachings. 'One result
- Max Muller
is that this deplorable crime of abortion is
done in such an easy and simple manner.
Instead of indulging in this great sin, it is
better if the person leads a regulated life in
our system. We do not approve.
of
On the harmony mankind: At the
Kumbha Mela we have a glimpse of com-
plete Bharatiyata [Indianness]. People have
ali Travel is unique in
come from all four directions-East, West,
North and South-people whose languages, the travel industry. Our
eating habits and lifestyles are different. We
have a glimpse of unity in diversity in this great festival. From
outside we all look different, but in fact we are all one..This spirit
well..designed custom
of oneness should be imbibed by all of us. This is my message for
all tliose who have gathered here fr9m all over India and all over tOUES meet the special
the world. Pilgrims should also make an attempt to discover their
own selves. They must know who they are. They must not forget
their identity. Our eternal identity is one, and that is that we are
requirements of groups,
children of one God. He is the One who has created this entire
creation. People must remember Him. .... organizations, and
A key principle of Indian culture is vasudhaiva kutumbakam
[the whole world is one family]. This thought has not been limited individuals. We work
to any caste, community or section of society. It has be~n for the
entire universe. The entire cosmos is just the reflection of God.
Nothing is separate from God. So all human beings must recog- closeLy with you to
nize this creation of God, this omnipresence of God. They must
understand that they are a part of the Almighty and should get stf,'ucture an itineFary
liberated hom feelings of lack of self cenfidence and weakness,
All must become knowlelJgeable. All should be blissful. All should
be healthy. Anarchy, violence and feelings of ill will towards oth- . that results in smooth
ers should be removed from this earth. Then only will people be
truly happy. travel and total
NIRANJA1(PEETHADHISHWAR SANATAN RATNA ANAT SRI
VIBHUSHIT PARAVRAJKACHARYA TAPOMURTI SRI SRI 1008 MAHA
satisfaction.
MANDALESHWAR SANTOSHI MATA ]I ,
was interuiewed by Hinduism Today at
the 1998 Kumbha Mela. A senior female
abbot of the Niranjani Akhara monastic
order, she is based at a large ashram in
Raridwar where she lives with about
twenty sadhvis (nuns) of her "order while
overseeing the spiritual life of hundreds
of other sadhvis and thousands of devotees the world over.
=- 169-12 Hillside Ave.
Jamaica, NY 11432
Tel: 718-291-9292
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, I
Total $ 1,648.59 Edwin Hawk $1,345.57 Total $67.00
exempt by the IRS on April 22, 1994. Its employer ID ~umber is 99-0308924. FOl,!11.deq by Satguru Hindu of the Year Fund Selvanathan Jothiswarar $425 .88
- "
Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, its philanthropk\tnission is to provide secure, professionally man-
VelAiahan
Total
$5 1.00
$5 1.00
Usha Devi Katir
Diksha Katir
$41.20
$22.60
Mathavasi Travel Fund
Erasenthiran Poonjolai $75.00
Andrzej & Beatriz Kraja $50.00 Total $75 .00
Hindu Orphanage Endowment Fund
aged £mancialsupport f9r i!tstitutions and:religious leaders of all lineages of Sanatana Dhar~a.
Toshadeva Lynam Guhan $ 185.20 Saiva Agamas Trust
Anonymous $150.00 Santha Devi Muniandy $76.68 Matthew Wieczork $12 .00
Theresa Kato $25.00 Deva Natharaja $100.00 Total $12.00
Alex Ruberto $30.00 Nalakini Niranjana $113.52 Saivite Hindu Scriptural Fund for the
OC:rOBER, DONOR PROFILE " Matthew Wieczork $24.00 Umah Rani Palanisamy $76.45 VISUally Impaired
GokuJa Vani $50.00 Kanthasamy Pillaiyar $110.00 Anonymous $15.00
If every Hindu diO. a little service throughout their life, supporting , Troy Zukowski $5.00 Deva Rajan $1,000.00 Total $15.00
Total $284.00 Padmini Samuthiran $325.05
their favorite temple or ashram, and left a part of their fortune, large Hinduism Today Endowment Trust Hitesvara Saravan $413.90 Sri Siva Subramauiya Swami Devasthanam
Trust
or small, at the time of their death, Hinduism would flourish on the Anonymous $540.05 Loganatha Shivam $300.00
Vel Alahan
Bryan Bailey $5.00 Palaka Shivam $300.00 $25.00
planet as it once did just a few centurie§ ago. So believes Ahila Devi Joanne Baryla $25.00 Rodney & Ilene Standen $10.00 Shiva Sookhai $20.00
Total $45.00
Ganesan of Sungai Petani, Malaysia. A strop.g-supporter of Hindu Nils Victor Montan $ 15.00 GokulaVani $100.00
Aran Sambandar $360.00 Vayudeva Varadan $110.70 Sri Subramuuiya Kottam Fund
dharma, she made the proud decision to devote her full time and Total $945.05 Peshala Varadan $693.00 Peshala Varadan $10.00
energies to her-family"following the ~cieri.t tradition of womanly Hinduism Today Distribution Fund Total $12,208.05 Andrew Schoenbaum $10.00
Iyarappan Temple Trust Total $20.00
Dharma. Finding Jhat' she owned an insurance policy that was not Vinaya Alahan $175.00
Alphonse Van Well
Jatinder Bhan $46.00 $50.00 Sundari Peruman Memorial Fund
needed, she has donated its proceeds. td Hindu Heritage Endowment Anand Greedhur $20.00 Total $50.00 Markandeya Peru man $50.00
, as a legacy for future generatiorts'. She observed, "It is very satisfying Tarakini Gunasegaran $10.87 Kauai Aadheenam Annual Archana Fund Total $50.00
Tirunyanam Gunasegaran $10.87 Small Gifts to Fund $40.58 Thank You Gurudeva Fund
to know that by leaving an insurance policy to an endowment, I benefit not just one or two peo- Rajan Kumar $71.00 Total $40.58 Vayudeva Varadan $42.00
ple, but I leave a gift for futu~e generations 9~Hindus around the world." Chundadevan Mahadevan $12.59
Kauai Aadheenam Monastic Endowment Total $42.00
Kartikeyen Man:ick $30.10
Jayaluxmee Moothoo $4.09 Sinniah Sivagnanasuntharam $105.62 TirumuJar Sanuidhi Preservation Fund
Govinden Sanjeevee $20.00 Kumaren Nata raja $8.25 Shyamadeva Dandapani $5 1.00
FUN,D OF THE MONTH Ramsamy Natarajan $49.04 Total $5 1.00
Sarkunavathy Sockanathan $7.39
• J Srinivasaraghavan $20.00 Dhasan Sivananda $24.95 Tirunavakkarasu Nayanar GurukuJam Fund
When Bala Shanmugam decided to create a memorial fund in honor of his father, A. Shanmugam, OmkarTiku $52.00 Total $ 187.86
Anonymous $ 108.00
he was joined by his mothgr, Sambugardevi, and other m~mbers of the fam.ily. The fund pow gives Bhamar & Kanta Trivedi $50.00 Loving Ganesha Distribution Fund Small Gifts to Fund $24.40
Priya Devi Utchan ah $38 .00 Eric Mitchell $10.00 Total $132.40
a permanent and steady income to the Abirami Appamal Athimulam $20.09 Total $10.00
Amman Temple at Thirukadaiyur! South India. Aravindraj Chandrasekaran $27.62 Mahajana College Hindu Endowment Fund Total Recent Contrib. $21,612.32
Kamala Mootoosamy $17.1 7
As long as the temple stands, it will receive a Surya Sabaratnam $5.00
Anonymous $5,000.00
Total Endowments at Market Value
Total $5,000.00
check eaci1 year from the A. Shanmugam,.. Total $637.79
As of June 30, 1998 $2,536,037.45
Family Fund. In return, the temple is requested
to perform an archana (ceremonial blessing for
the fa-!Ilily) on the full-moon evening of each INVESTMENT MANAGERS AND CONSULTANTS: Franklin Management Inc.; First Hawaiian 'Bank,
month. Born in 1925, A. Shanmugam married Trust & Investment Division; Brandes In'\restment Partners, Inc.; Pacific Century Trust (Bank of
Sambugardev( at the age of 25 (wedding photo, Hawaii); Alvin G. Buc'hignani, Esq., attorney; and Nathan palani, CPA. HHE is a member of the
right). He pursued his path to God by way of . Council on Foundations, an association of 1,500 foundatiohs which interprets relevant law, inteJ;-
service and spent much of his time, effort and national and domestic, and gccounting, management and investment principles.
resources in assisting the less fortunate. He is
suryived by his wife of 27 years, his .son Bala, . I WANT TO PARTICIPATE. WHERE SHOULD I SEND MY DONATION? You can send your gift to
and three other children. His wue teaches Tamil and Thevarams to local Mala~ian children, con- , an existing fund, create a new endowment or request information through the address below.
do.cts Hinduism classes at a local t~fuple and doep socio-religious work for the community.
- . Credit card gilts may be made directly by E-mail. Or, use the- HHE tear-out card in this magazine.
to join our family of benefactors who are Strengthening Hinduism Worldwide. Thank you.
A PROFESSIONAL'S PERSPECTIVE: Wealth creation needs in;vestmeIolt acumen and some starting
capital. Howeyer, wealth preservation is more complex. It requires knowledge
- '
; lIINDu HERITAGE ENDOWMENT
of income tax and estate tax laws, as well as t'echniques of retirement plan: "
KAUAI'S HINDU MONASTERY
ning. N~turally, professional assistance in this area is very important. Proper 107 Kaholalele Road
income tax planning and retirement planning will allow you to preserve Kapaa, Hawaji, 96746-9304 USA
wealth for later years, while estate planning will preserve wealth for your Tel: (800) 890-1008, Ext. 235
heirs. Whatever the size of one's estate, it always pays to plan. Dilip Vyas,
Outside US: (808) 822-3152, Ext. 235
CLU, EAi of Valley Ta-x & Fi1Jancial Services, Inc., San Jose, California
Fax: (808) 822-4351
1-408-723-319Q.
E-mail: hhe@l}indu.org
. As a public service, HHE occasionally will offer the opinions of various finanGial planners. However, it ~nd,?rses neither these advisors nor their
counsel, and recommends that all individuals seek J;rofesslOnal adVice from several sources before m aking lffiportant long-term deCiSIOns.
" www.hindu.org/hhe/
 FOOD
On-Une
Cookbook
o ONE HAS SOLVED
N the interface prob-
lem between cookbooks
and kitchens, nor CDs
and kitchens, and cer-
tainly not the WWW
and the kitchen. FIngers
soaked in ghee 01; cov-
ered with flour just don't
go well with keyboards
and pointing devices. So,
if you want to try the
delicious recipes avail-
able at http://www
bawarchi.coml, print
them out first. "Your
Indian Cook,
Bawarchi" is
one part of
the web
site,
www.india-
world.co.in,
Ibawaucb
. tour, and save lots of money over actually travel-
This on-line chef delivers sumptuous home meals
ORIGINS
TheWeb
Weaver
UST NINE SHORT YEARS
Jago, Tim Berners-Lee
sought to improve com-
munications among re-
searchers at the Euro-
pean Particle Physics
Laboratory in Geneva,
Switzerland. The UK-
18063 LIFETIME
HINDUISM TODAY
107 KAHOLALELE ROAD
KAPAA, 'HAWAII 96746-9304
ADDRESS CORRECtION
REQUESTED
// ,/ '" /,/, /, /'" //" /, /'" /, /, /, /'" //" /, /, '" //, /
spoIlSored by India
World Communications.
Bawarchi.co alone is
huge, with recipes (in-
cluding some non-vege-
tarian, ones), feature sto-
ries (such as the 77
kinds of mangos grown
in Goa), glossary of
terms and correspond-
ing EnglishlHindi food
and spice names, tips for
cooks (such as making
perfect eggless cakes)
and a place to submit
your own favorite recipe.
Discover creative re-
placements to hard-to-
find ingredients, such as
khoya, buffalo milk
cooked down to a
semi-solid state and
essential for the
famed Indian sweets,
burfie and laddu.
North Indian dishes
tend to dominate,
with a lesser number
from the South.
Bemers-Lees system linked mankind as never before
LIFE MEMBER HINDUISM TODAY REHArSSAHCE CrRCL~.
••••••••••••••••••••••, AUTO 3-DISIT 959
Bytes for "
the Masses
~ DATE ALL HARD-
I ware manufacturers
have been marketing
computers to the five
percent of India that
speaks English," said
Manu Parpia, president
of the Manufacturer's
Association for Informa-
MULTIM E DIA tion Technology. MAlT
has begun a national In-
dian effort, named the
Virtual Stonehenge BharatBhasha Project
ORGET THIS WEB SITE IS REALLY A PRO-
F I
promotion for Superscape programs and
Pentium II processors (it won't run on
your Mac). Borrow a PC, if you must, but
check out www.connectedpc.comlcpclexplore/
stonehenge/ for a trip into virtual reality. Don't
just look at pictures of Stonehenge, the ancient
English Druid astronomical calculator, as you
might on any other website, but take a walk
through the giant stones, fly over them if you
like, jump backward to 8500BCE or forward to
the future, all with a click of your mouse. Don't
let the fog- part of the special effects-chill your
ing to the Salisbury Plain in southern England. Just 13 of India's languages
(www. bharatbhashaorg),
born, Oxford educated, to "make computers ac-
son of computer engi- cessible to the 855 mil-
neers developed ''hyper- lion Indians who speak
text" to uniformly link vernacular languages,"
inform~hon stored in according to Parpia.
the many computers al- Both computer use and
ready connected by the progranling in any Indi-
existing Internet. And
voila!-the World Wide
an language will be pos-
sible from a standard
Web. Just two measures English keyboard. It will
of the impact: 217,000 also be possible, with
documents mentioning special fonts, to create
"Hindu" and 2.5 million World Wide Web pages
referencing "India." in regional languages.
NOH-PROFIT
ORGANIZATION
KEITH & IRENE SCOTT U. S. 'POSTAGE
PAID
5430 SAWMILL ROl12 LIBERTY, MO
PER"!{T NO.
'PARADISE Cft 959~9-5969,