Vageesh Express
Vedic Guru
July 2007 Edition
||Sri Gurubhyo Namah||
In
2006,‘Vedic Guru’ revered the lives of saints who lived in the 19th century and
before.
In
2007, we humbly honor Gurus of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Sivaya Subramaniya Swami
Seven Steps
Toward Golden Silence
- By Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927 - 2001), affectionately known as
Gurudeva by his followers, was born in Oakland, California on January 5, 1927.
In the 1970s he established a Hindu monastery in Kauai, Hawaii and founded the
magazine Hinduism Today. The author of many books on Hinduism and metaphysics,
Subramuniyaswami was one of the most prominent faces of Hinduism during the
last two decades of the 20th century. He was one of Saivism's most orthodox and
revered Gurus, the founder and leader of the Saiva Siddhanta Church, the
world's first Hindu church.
Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami was born
in California in 1927. As a young man of 20, he journeyed to India and Sri
Lanka in search of his guru. Two years later was initiated into sannyasa by a
siddha yogi and worshiper of Siva named Jnanaguru Yogaswami of Sri Lanka. In
the line of successorship, he was considered the 162nd Jagadacharya of the
Nandinatha Sampradaya's Kailasa Parampara and Guru Mahasannidhanam of Kauai
Aadheenam (also known as Kauai's Hindu Monastery).
He traveled extensively from 1969 to 2001,
addressing hundreds of thousands of Hindus, especially followers of Siva in Sri
Lanka and India. He was an ardent supporter of Hindu temples and priests, and
an articulate spokesperson for Hinduism in the West. He was, perhaps, the first
authentic Western guru initiated into Hinduism and acknowledged as a spiritual
leader by the broader Hindu community. He helped found 37 temples around the
world, including two at his monastery in Hawaii.
In May 1999, Satguru Sivaya
Subramuniyaswami of Kauai Aadheenam gifted a 1400 lb., 4 ft. tall granite
Ganesha murthi to the Hindu community of Arizona for the construction of The Mahaganapati Temple of Arizona for all
denominations and sects.
Gurudeva was author of more than 30 books
unfolding unique and practical insights on Hindu metaphysics, Saivism,
mysticism, yoga, and meditation. His works are highly regarded by many
contemporary Hindu leaders.
The four areas of service established by
Gurudeva and now carried out by his successor, Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami,
and monastics, are: Saiva Siddhanta Church, Himalayan Academy, Hindu Heritage
Endowment, and the 'Hinduism Today' international quaterly magazine.
Source - www.wikipedia.org
Submit feedback to newsletter@mahaganapati.org with subject line as <Vedic Guru> Disclaimer: Views of readers/column writers are that
of their own and not of the Temple
