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 :
Dancing with Siva :
Merging with Siva :
Living with Siva :
Vedic Verses :
You can unsubscribe automatically at any time with an empty message to:
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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 enlightenmentupasana, 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. |
