HINDU CONNECTIONS Volume 1 - Number 4 June, 2003 *

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS ISSUE:

DIVINE MOTHER KARUNAMAYI IN MADISON_

AMRITANANDAMAYI (AMMACHI) IN CHICAGO

FAITHS CELEBRATE TOGETHER

THE EGO IS THE OBSTRUCTION

THE GUNAS AND BHAKTI

LANGUAGE CLASSES FOR CHILDREN OF ALL AGES

THANKS TO VOLUNTEERS

LEAVE A LEGACY AMERICA

FRIDAY EVENING PUJA

 

*_DIVINE MOTHER KARUNAMAYI IN MADISON_*

Sri Karunamayi, venerated in India as a living incarnation of the Divine Mother, will visit the Madison area to offer spiritual discourses and individual blessings. "Karunamayi" literally means "compassionate Mother," and she warmly receives all who approach her as her beloved children. Before Karunamayi's birth, the great saint Ramana Maharshi told her mother she would give birth to the Divine Mother. In her childhood, Sri Karunamayi delighted all who met her with her intuitive understanding of holy scriptures and her deeply compassionate nature. At the age of twenty she withdrew to a sacred forest in southern India, where she meditated in silence for ten years on behalf of all humanity. When she emerged from this period of silence she began her mission to share her divine wisdom and love with the entire world. Sri Karunamayi has said that she has not come as a guru, but rather as a loving mother who wishes to provide spiritual sustenance to her children in their quest for self-realization. The program schedule is as follows:

Thursday, June 26 - 7-9 PM Middleton High School Auditorium 7400 North Avenue Middleton, WI

Program is free, no registration required, all are welcome!

Directions from I-90: Merge onto US-12 W via exit number 142A - on the left - toward MADISON. Exit University Avenue going east toward Madison/Middleton. Go two blocks past Parmenter St, to Bristol Street and turn left (north). Take Bristol all the way to the end, which leads to the parking lot. The auditorium is at the north end of the building. www.karunamayi.org/tour/2003Madison.shtml

 

*_AMRITANANDAMAYI (AMMACHI) IN CHICAGO_*

(Holiday Inn, Lisle-Naperville*) July 12-14.

Programs include meditation, satsang, bhajans and darshan. Families are welcome and there is a supervised space for small children, pre-teens and teens. A vegetarian meal is available on site and there is an Indian restaurant close by. Morning program begins at 10 am with short meditation and darshan until about 3 pm. Evening program begins at 7:30 and includes satsang, 90 minutes of bhajans, brief meditation and darshan late into the night.

Devi Bhava begins at 6:30 pm on the last evening (Monday, July 14) and includes satsang, traditional Devi puja and Devi Bhava darshan beginning about 8:30 and lasting until all have received darshan.

You may come and go from the programs as your schedule requires. The world today needs solid proof that our human values are useful. Amma's work in the field of spirituality, as well as social service, provides us with the much needed proof. Indian Prime Minister Attal Vajpayee at the inauguration of the AIMS hospital. www.amritapuri.org .

Amma's spiritual hugs and charitable works, including orphanages, women's shelters, hospices and vocational education programs for the poor, have helped her to become what many Hindus and non-Hindus consider a living saint. -- The Los Angeles Times

She enveloped her admirers in the same way a mother comforts her crying child. But her hug is meant to impart divine inspiration. -- The New York Times

*Directions: Take I-88 to Naperville Rd. south. The Holiday Inn is immediately south of I-88 on Naperville Rd.For more information about Ammachi, go to www.ammachi.org or www.amritapuri.org

*_TWO FAITHS CELEBRATE TOGETHER_*

The American Hindu Association celebrated Buddha Jayanti (Birth of Buddha) on May 16, 2003. Many Hindus of Madison and surrounding communities gathered and chanted Bhajan/kirtan and had discussions to celebrate this auspicious day. Hindus consider Buddha the ninth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Hindus and Buddhists share many similarities. However, the paths and the ultimate goal of these two religions are different. Hindus (Dwita Dharma followers) believe that there is Paramatma (Super Soul) that is the cause of all living and non-living entities in this universe. In contast, Buddha believed there is nothing beyond the individual self.

Buddha denied there was a soul. The self-denial he advocated was literal, a denial of self-hood with its mirage of an individual and personal soul. "The founder of Buddhism postulated that life is a stream of becoming. There is nothing permanent in the empirical self. Throughout life all his sermons, exhortations, and counseling had only one theme, Nirvana. Yet the important question for him was not, 'What is Nirvana' but 'How is Nirvana attained?'

Explaining Gautam Buddha's achievement, Rama Lingampally notes that Sidartha Gautam was born in 563 B. C. His parents were the king Suddhodan and Queen Maha Maya of Kapilvastu. At birth, Gautama was named Siddartha, meaning one who has accomplished. At the age of 29 he left home leaving all his princely luxury and began searching for the cause of misery and pain. At the age of 35, one evening Gautama sat beneath a giant fig tree. He believed that he had found the solution to his problem and felt that he had attained enlightenment. Thus, he came to be known as Gautam Buddha or the enlightened one.

In Nepal, Hindus and Buddhists dwell together peacefully. Buddha did not discard the substructure of primitive Hinduism, but rather built upon it. Therefore, the followers of both religions respect each other, and Buddhists visit Hindu temples and vice versa. Recently the King of Nepal inaugurated the Maya Devi temple at Lumbini, which was constructed in the name of Buddha's mother.

On May 16, Dr. Reverend James Paul, a well-known speaker on Buddhism talked about Nirvana. He explained how one could achieve it in order to escape from the pain and suffering of this material world. He said man seeks liberation -- freedom and salvation or Nirvana, for the cassation of all sorrows, which is the ultimate goal of life. At the end, all devotees stood in front of the altar and chanted Aarati. Finally prasad was distributed to all devotees. The whole program lasted for about an hour and a half.

 

* THE EGO IS THE OBSTRUCTION *

The ego is the main obstruction to a total identification with the Divine and there are only two ways to get around this. It is possible to merge with the Divine by either shrinking one's ego to nothingness or by expanding it to infinity. The former is the easier approach, suitable for most people but a few spiritual giants have been known to do it the latter way.

Sri Girish Ghosh, a devotee of Sri Ramakrishna once described these contrasting styles with reference to two other devotees. As Sri Girish Ghosh explains it, when Mahamaya (The Mother of Illusion) ensnared all beings in her net of worldly existence, two beings managed to escape. One, Sri Nag Mahashay (a great householder devotee of Sri Ramakrishna) managed to make himself so small that he was able to swim out through the gaps in the net like a minnow. The other, the illustrious Swami Vivekananda, expanded himself so much that he broke through the net and swam free like a great whale.

 

*_THE GUNAS AND BHAKTI_*

Bhakti or devotion may manifest itself secondarily in many hues but the primary colours are three: White for Sattwa, Red for Rajas and Black for Tamas. In other words, the particular expression of bhakti manifested by an individual depends upon the mix of primary gunas in that individual. Sattwa is usually regarded as being superior to Rajas which in turn is regarded as being superior to Tamas, in the conventional conception.

However, Sri Ramakrishna explains how even the so-called 'bad' gunas can be turned to advantage. He points to the existence of three brands of bhakti - Sattwic, Rajasic and Tamasic. The Sattwic bhakta (devotee) is like the quiet man who meditates at night under his mosquito net. His devotion is unostentatious and recessed. The Rajasic devotee in contrast, wears his devotion on his sleeve. This is the kind of devotee who relishes public participation and wears silk robes and huge rudrakshas (beads) around his neck. The Tamasic devotee's bhakti is marked by the attributes of violence and destruction. The Tamasic devotee is capable of going to extremes of rage, anger, violence and other negative emotions in a bid to 'out' the hidden God. He may threaten to harm himself if God does not appear to him, or alternatively, he may vent his fury on the object of his devotion. Such devotion, though Tamasic, and inherently negative, nevertheless has the potential of catapulting the seeker towards God. Thus Tamasic devotion can be very powerful.

Thus it does not greatly matter what mix of gunas a seeker has. Whatever be one's predominant guna, all that is necessary is to turn that guna towards God. A strong guna, even if negative, can be profitably deployed in the spiritual enterprise by directing it to God. It does not matter whether a devotee is quiet or flamboyant or prone to negative emotion, so long as the fire of devotion rages in his heart.

As the same fire assumes different shapes

when it consumes objects differing in shape,

so does the one God take the shape

of every creature in whom he is present.

As the same air assumes different shapes

when it enters objects differing in shape,

so does the one God take the shape

of every creature in whom he is present. -Katha Upanishad

 

Know God and all fetters will fall away.

No longer identifying yourself With the body, go beyond birth and death.

All your desires will be fulfilled in him Who is One without a second.

Know him to be enshrined in your heart always.

Truly there is nothing more in life to know. Meditate and realize this world

Is filled with the presence of God. -Shvetashvatara Upanishad

 

* AHA-LANGUAGE CLASSES FOR CHILDREN OF ALL AGES, YOUTH AND ADULTS *

AHA has started language classes for Kids/Youth/Adults. The program runs every Saturday from 3:45 to 4:45 p.m. at Madison Memorial High School. This is a great opportunity to learn an extra language. If you want to know about this program please contact us by email: whindu@yahoo.com.

* WE LIKE TO THANK OUR VOLUNTEER TEACHERS *

Bengali language Teacher - Saswati B.

Gujarati language Teachers - Parag & Heena K.

Hindi language Teachers - Chetna M, Vinitha P and Anuradha V.

Marathi language Teachers - Arun & Ashwini M.

Nepali language Teacher - Buddhi & Anju L.

Telugu language Teacher - Prasad G & Venu P.

Other Languages are still open

* THANKS TO CUB FOODS - GROCERY RECEIPTS_*

Please continue to save Cub Food grocery receipts, and ask others to give you their Cub Food grocery receipts. All complete, dated receipts are due to the AHA end of each month. Thanks for your assistance with this small community fund-raiser. We receive one per cent of the total receipts. With your help we raised over $100 from Cub Food. Thank you for Supporting AHA.

*_BECOME AN AHA SUPPORTER_*

By becoming a monthly donor to American Hindu Association, your contributions allow us to develop and grow steadily and consistently. Please consider supporting AHA year round by signing up to be a monthly donor. We would like to thank the people who have previously supported AHA. AHA would like to thank the contributors who have graciously made financial contributions for the following Funds.

AHA-Building Fund

AHA-Disaster and Humanitarian Aid Fund

AHA-Food for Needy Fund

AHA-Hindu Festival Fund

AHA-Education Fund (including Library)

 

* Awards and Honors *

Wisconsin State Journal: Sunday, June 1, 2003 Jonathan Garber and Madhav Naidu have been named Volunteers of the Year by the American Hindu Association.

*_LEAVE A LEGACY AMERICA_*

The American Hindu Association participates in Leave a Legacy America, a nationwide awareness campaign to encourage people to make gifts to the charities that are close to their hearts when writing their wills. Surprisingly, only 8% of the Americans include a gift to their favorite charities in their will, although many make annual gifts to the organizations that are important to them. They thus miss out on the opportunity to leave a legacy that will continue to support the causes they care about and that will perpetuate their memory.

Individuals who inform the AHA about their planned gifts are honored with membership in the AHA Society or the AHA Circle. Please talk with your attorney or financial advisor about making a gift through your will or estate plan, or please contact our President of American Hindu Association by e mail : whindu@yahoo.com.

*_FRIDAY EVENING PUJA_*

Every Friday evening at 7:30, we gather at Main Street Yoga to sing Bhajans, offer prayers, hear stories and teachings, and share prashad. Every other week, we do yoga together. Friday evening sessions are very important in the life of our community. These are the times when we gather - both adults and children -- to share our experience of worship and meditation with each other.

*_PLEASE JOIN US!_*

This is our monthly newsletter. Our intention is to inform our readers about our spiritual programs. If you would like to participate in this endeavor, want to volunteer for spiritual activities of AHA, or make some financial contribution for its services please contact us at whindu@yahoo.com.

We invite our readers to send us news, stories, slokas, sayings of our sages etc. on Hindu culture, philosophy and/or religion. The article could be big or small. The editor will try to fit it in the Hindu Connection as soon as possible. If the article is not acceptable then we will notify the sender/author. The article is accepted only through email. Please be kind to proof read your article. Send the articles to editor at whindu@yahoo.com. AHA staffs are all volunteers and receive no payments for services. Contributions to the American Hindu Association are tax deductible. AHA uses e-mail to save paper and postage. Confidentiality statement: AHA never shares its e-mail list of members.

Editorial Board - American Hindu Association