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Tamils - a Nation without a State
Himalayan Academy Hinduism
Mailing Lists
Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami's five daily email lists are on
Nandinatha Sutras - Living with Siva
Thirukural
Dancing with Siva
Daily Vedic Verses and
Merging with Siva".
Members of each list receive a daily email round the year one or two verses,
or one lesson, or a few sutras, or a shloka and bashya.
For example, of the Nandinatha Sutras ("Living with Siva") and of the
Thirukural, there are 365 instalments of each, for round the year inspiration.
The subscriptions are free. Anyone is welcome to subscribe or unsubscribe at any
time by sending a request to the mailing list software for each list. You
may send an empty message or short message with any subject, any content, to the
email addresses listed and the mailing list manager will start your
subscription.
 Thirukural
:
[email protected]
Dancing with Siva :
[email protected]
Merging with Siva :
[email protected]
Living with Siva :
[email protected]
Vedic Verses :
[email protected]
You can unsubscribe automatically at any time with an empty message to:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
If you should need additional help or have any difficulties, please contact the
postmaster at [email protected]
Aum Namah Sivaya.
Om Namasivaya,
Sadhunathan Nadesan
postmaster
What are the "Nandinatha
Sutras"?
Sutra means "threaded precise focus". It is defined as an aphoristic verse or
maxim, or the literary style consisting of such maxims. From 500 BCE, this style
was widely adopted by Indian philosophical systems. Reciting relevant sutra
texts from memory is a daily sadhana in various Hindu arts and sciences.
"Living with Siva, the Nandinatha Sutras" are a modern compilation by Satguru
Sivaya Subramuniyaswami about the authentic way to enlightenment for the
followers of Siva. They are based on the tantras, or traditional methods, that
Hindus have observed for thousands of years. Other than a long introductory
message, the daily Sutra mails are very short, about 5 lines, such as Sutra One:
Sutra 1
All seekers of truth shall strive for God Realization as the
first and foremost goal of life. They learn to dance with Siva, live with Siva,
merge with Siva. Deep within they find their eternal, immortal oneness with God.
Aum.
What is the "Thirukural"?
One of the most revered and beautiful Hindu scriptures on Dharma, the
Thirukural, has never been translated into modern American English. We are
pleased to announce that a new and deeply profound translation is nearly
completed.
The translation contains 1080 of the original 1330 verses written over twenty
centuries ago, in Tamil, by the revered saint, Tirurvalluvar. It is the foremost
classic of Tamil poetry, sung by school children, sworn upon in the courts of
law, and widely quoted in Tamil Nadu, south India. Satguru Sivaya
Subramuniyaswami says that Saint Tiruvalluvar gave us the laws of living a good
life, a virtuous life. He described to us how to live in the world so the
highest dharma could be fullfilled.
Other than the introductory message by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, the
daily email consists of a few short verses such as the following:
Verse 97
Words yield spiritual rewards and moral excellence When they
do not wander far from usefulness and agreeableness.
Verse 98
Sweet speech which is stranger to pettiness inparts pleasure
Not only in this life, but in the next.
Verse 99
Why would anyone speak cruel words, Having observed the
happiness that kind words confer?
Verse 100
To utter harsh words when sweet ones would serve Is like
eating unripe fruit when ripe ones are at hand.
What is "Dancing with
Siva"?
The subject of Hinduism is vast, and sometimes bewildering, even contradictory.
"Dancing with Siva", by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, is an illustrated
sourcebook, timeline and lexicon on contemporary and ancient Hinduism. 1,008
fact filled and inspiring pages in short question and answer format, with
extensive indexing and cross referencing, the book organizes a simple approach
to a complex way of life and religion. Each chapter is beautifully annotated
with quotes from the Vedas, Upanishads, and Agamas. Satguru Sivaya
Subramuniyaswami is distributing the daily chapter portion at no charge by
email. Other than the introduction, which is several pages, each daily lesson is
about a page. Here is a sample, lesson eleven:
Why Is There Suffering in the World?
SHLOKA 51
The nature of the world is duality. It contains each thing and its opposite: joy
and sorrow, goodness and evil, love and hate. Through experience of these, we
learn and evolve, finally seeking Truth beyond all opposites. Aum.
BHASHYA
There is a divine purpose even in the existence of suffering in the world.
Suffering cannot be totally avoided. It is a natural part of human life and the
impetus for much spiritual growth for the soul. Knowing this, the wise accept
suffering from any source, be it hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, famine, wars,
disease or inexplicable tragedies. Just as the intense fire of the furnace
purifies gold, so does suffering purify the soul to resplendence. So also does
suffering offer us the important realization that true happiness and freedom
cannot be found in the world, for earthly joy is inextricably bound to sorrow,
and worldly freedom to bondage. Having learned this, devotees seek a satguru who
teaches them to understand suffering, and brings them into the intentional
hardships of sadhana and tapas leading to liberation from the cycles of
experience in the realm of duality. The agamas explain, "That which appears as
cold or as hot, fresh or spoiled, good fortune and bad, love and hate, effort
and laziness, the exalted and the depraved, the rich and the poor, the
well-founded and the ill-founded, all this is God Himself; none other than Him
can we know." Aum Namah Sivaya.
note: there are 155 instalments of DWS, so it repeats about twice each
year.
What are the Daily Vedic
Verses?
"Daily Vedic Verses" are Hinduism's revealed scriptures. There are 365 verses in
this collection, and one is sent via electronic mail each day, repeated round
the year. Here is an example of 3 verses from the collection:
Today's Vedic Verse: Day 1
I magnify the Lord, the divine, the Priest, minister of the sacrifice, the
offerer, supreme giver of treasure. Worthy is the Lord to be praised by living
as by ancient seers. He makes present for us the Gods.
Rig Veda 1.1.1 Vedic Experience p. 329
Today's Vedic Verse: Day 2
The Lord brings us riches, food in daily abundance, renown, and hero sons to
gladden our hearts. So, like a father to his sons, be to us easy of entreaty.
Stay with us, O Lord, for our joy.
Rig Veda 1.1.3,9, Vedic Experience p. 329
Today's Vedic Verse: Day 3
May the Lord, wise and true offerer, approach, most marvelous in splendor,
encircled with his crown of Gods! To you, dispeller of the night, we come with
daily prayer offering to you our reverence.
Rig Veda 1.1.5 Vedic Experience p. 329
The Vedas, the ultimate scriptural authority, permeate Hinduism's thought,
ritual and meditation. They open a rare window into ancient Bharata society,
proclaiming life's sacredness and the way to oneness with God. Aum.
Like the Taoist Tao te Ching, the Buddhist Dhammapada, the Sikh adi Granth, the
Jewish Torah, the Christian Bible and the Muslim Koran, the Veda is the Hindu
holy book. For untold centuries unto today, it has remained the sustaining force
and authoritative doctrine, guiding followers in ways of worship, duty and
enlightenment—upasana, dharma and jnana. The Vedas are the meditative and
philosophical focus for millions of monks and a billion seekers. Their stanzas
are chanted from memory by priests and laymen daily as liturgy in temple worship
and domestic ritual. All Hindus wholeheartedly accept the Vedas, yet each draws
selectively, interprets freely and amplifies abundantly. Over time, this
tolerant allegiance has woven the varied tapestry of Bharata Dharma. Today the
Vedas are published in Sanskrit, English, French, German and other languages.
But it is the metaphysical and popular Upanishads which have been most amply and
ably translated. The Vedas say, "Just as the spokes are affixed to the hub of a
wheel, so are all things established in life, the Rig and Yajur and Sama Veda,
sacrifice, the nobility and also the priesthood."
What is "Merging with
Siva"?
Merging with Siva is a compilation of Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami's lessons
in deep mediation and comtemplation, gathered together from his many many years
of teaching. He delves into the nature of the mind, the various esoteric aspects
of man (such as the chakras), astganga yoga, and the techniques of meditation,
the purpose being God-realization. These lessons are just being compiled at this
time, and presently there are about 15 weeks of material, so it repeats about 3
times per year.
Here is lesson one:
Week 1 - How to Realize God
Lesson 1 - Self Realization is the Goal
Never have there been so many people living on the planet wondering,"What is the
real goal, the final purpose of life?" However, man is blinded by his ignorance
and his concern with the externalities of the world. He is caught, enthralled,
bound by karma. The ultimate realizations available are beyond his understanding
and remain to him obscure, even intellectually. Man's ultimate quest, the final
evolutionary frontier, is within man himself. It is the Truth spoken by Vedic
rishis as the Self within man, attainable through control of the mind and
purification. It is karma that keeps us from knowing of and reaching life's
final goal, yet it is wrong to even call it a goal. It is what is, known by the
knower to have always existed. It is not a matter of becoming the Self, but of
realizing that you never were not the Self.
And what is that Self? It is Parashiva. It is God. It is That which is beyond
the mind, beyond thought, feeling and emotion, beyond time, formand space. That
is what all men are seeking, looking for, longing for.When karma is controlled
through yoga and dharma well performed, and the energies are transmuted to their
ultimate state, the Vedic Truth of life discovered by the rishis so long ago
becomes obvious. That goal is to realize God Siva in His absolute or
transcendent state, which when
realized is your own ultimate state--timeless, formless, spaceless Truth.
That Truth lies beyond the thinking mind, beyond the feeling nature, beyond
action or any movement of the vrittis, the waves of the mind. Being, seeing,
this Truth then gives the correct perspective, brings the external realities
into perspective. They then are seen as truly unrealities, yet not discarded as
such. This intimate experience must be experienced while in the physical body.
One comes back and back again into flesh simply to realize Parashiva. Nothing
more. Yet, the Self, or Parashiva, is an experience only after it has been
experienced.
Yet, it is not an experience at all, but the only possible nonexperience,
which registers in its aftermath upon the mind of man.
Prior to that, it is a goal. After realization, one thing is lost, the desire
for the Self. |
