Index of Inspired Talks
Preraka Vārtānukramaṇī
प्रेरक वार्तानुक्रमणी
URUDEVA HAS TRULY GIVEN HUMANITY A LEGACY OF MATCHLESS TEACHINGS. LIVING WITH ŚIVA WAS DRAWN FROM HALF A CENTURY OF INSPIRED TALKS. HERE WE ENDEAVOR TO BRIEFLY RECORD THE DATE AND CIRCUMSTANCES EACH TALK ISSUED FORTH.§
1. See God Everywhere§
See God Everywhere, comprising Monday through Friday’s lessons, is an inspired talk given before a group of devotees by Gurudeva on February 28, 1984, Mahāśivarātri, Śiva’s Great Night, in the Kadavul Hindu Temple, and published in Know Thy Self in 1993. Saturday and Sunday’s lessons are The Self God, Gurudeva’s ultimate statement on Absolute Reality, which he gave to a small group of karma yoga initiates at his Sacramento Street Temple in San Francisco on October 3, 1959, just before flying to Hawaii for the first time.§
2–9. Noninjury and Truthfulness; Nonstealing and Other Virtues; Compassion, Honesty and Diet; Purity and Remorse; Contentment and Giving; Faith and Worship; Scriptural Study and Cognition; Vows, Incantation and Austerity: These eight chapters were composed in a series of question-and-answer sessions with Gurudeva on the Hindu restraints and observances, yamas and niyamas, from February 14 to March 26, 1990, at Kauai’s Beachboy Hotel.§
10. Celibacy and Fidelity§
The lessons of this chapter are drawn from Śaivite Virtue, the Power of Celibacy for Hindu Youth, published in 1989, and from The Book of Virtue, a companion to the Śaivite Śāstras which Gurudeva dictated in 1974.§
11. Physical, Mental, Emotional Foods§
The first six lessons are drawn from a chapter by the same name in the 1967 Master Course, based on an inspired talk given March 1, 1958 in San Francisco . Sunday’s lesson is Gurudeva’s first published article, June 1949, from a Ceylon newspaper.§
12. Chemical Chaos§
This chapter begins with an inspired talk given in 1964 in San Francisco, addressing the issue of psychedelic drugs, when the drug movement was just getting started and no one yet knew the long-term effects of these powerful substances. Additional input is from audio recordings made in February and March of 1999 for a CD published by the monastery called “Drug Free Kauai, Ten Hard Lessons on Drug Abuse.”§
13. Discipline for Self-Transformation§
The first four lessons on sādhana are from an upadeśa given in Kadavul Hindu Temple to devotees at Kauai Aadheenam’s Guru Pūrṇimā festival in 1982. The remaining three lessons are assembled from answers to questions submitted in 1999 and 2000 by cyberspace cadets on Kauai Aadheenam’s daily website and from the study book published in 1982 entitled Hindu Sādhana, The Master Course Book Two.§
14–15. The Meditator; Obstacles to Meditation§
These two chapters embody a discourse by Gurudeva in October of 1972, outlining effective beginning techniques of meditation and offering insights on overcoming obstacles to successful inner life. It was first published in 1973 as The Meditator, in the “On the Path” series.§
16. Harnessing Willpower§
This chapter’s first five lessons are from “Willpower and Comprehension,” an unpublished manuscript dictated at the Kona Surf Hotel in the early 1970s. Saturday and Sunday present “The Consciousness of Comprehension,” a Sunday inspired talk given at the San Francisco Temple sometime in 1958 or ’59.§
17. Life Is Meant to Be Lived Joyously§
The chapter begins with a short excerpt about stress from “Problems and Solutions Confronting Śaivism in the Technological Age,” an inspired talk gathered from discourses given in Sri Lanka on pilgrimage in January of 1982. The first three lessons (beginning with “Spiritual things you must understand with your heart”), are from “Facing Your Past” a talk Gurudeva gave on October 7, 1962, to devotees at his San Francisco Temple. Thursday’s (beginning with “Morning pūjās are…”) and Friday’s lessons are from “Anāhata Yoga,” a pamphlet published in 1964. Saturday and Sunday are from “Facing Overlapping Reactions,” Gurudeva’s Sunday message of June 8, 1958.§
18. The Power of Penance§
This unique chapter is drawn from the dictations on penance that Gurudeva gave in February of 1997 for a series of pamphlets to help devotees and students cope with subconscious obstacles and unresolvable problems.§
19–20. The Hand that Rocks the Cradle Rules the World; Her Power, Her Domain: These chapters are drawn from an historic discourse given by Gurudeva on his fifty-third Jayantī, January 5, 1980, at the Kadavul Hindu Temple, enjoining the modern Hindu woman to not forsake her dharma but protect the home and nurture the family as her gift of love to the next generation.§
21. Marriage and Family Life§
The first five lessons of this chapter are from an upadeśa on marriage which Gurudeva gave on May 17, 1990. Saturday’s lesson is from a series of talks on marital harmony given October 24-25, 1989. Sunday’s lesson is from a series of talks given on ahiṁsā, also in October of 1989. Portions of these talks were reproduced as Publisher’s Desk articles in HINDUISM TODAY entitled “Trouble in the Home, Differences within Marriage” in March, 1991, and “Marriage is Forever” in September, 1992.§
22. Family Togetherness§
This chapter’s first three lessons on family life are from Gurudeva’s October, 1997, Publisher’s Desk, “Keeping Secrets: the First Step in Leaving Home,” followed by “Is Your House a Home or a Hotel Room?” Publisher’s Desk, November, 1999.§
23. The Wisdom of Early Marriage§
The first five lessons here are from “Child Marriage” an inspired talk given in the San Francisco Temple on March 14, 1963, and like other Sunday lectures of that period, reproduced on a mimeograph machine for the congregation. The last two lessons are from “Early Marriages,” Gurudeva’s Publisher’s Desk column of July, 1993.§
24. Modern Matchmakers§
The first four lessons of this chapter are drawn from Śaiva Dharma Śāstras, The Book of Discipline of Śaiva Siddhānta Church. Friday and Saturday are from “Cross National Marriages,” Gurudeva’s Publisher’s Desk column of August, 1993. Sunday’s advice for young men and ladies was excerpted from “Growing Old,” given in San Francisco on November, 26, 1960, along with an internet response given in May, 2000, to a young man’s question, “I’m in love with a Christian girl…”§
25. Divorce and Abuse§
This chapter is drawn from four Publisher’s Desk articles: “Marriage Is Forever” (September, 1992), “Divorce, Indian Style” (October, 1992), “Coping with Divorce” (January, 1991), and “It all Starts with that First Slap” (S eptember, 1994).§
26. Bringing Up Children§
“Teenage Upbringing,” Publisher’s Desk, October, 1989, makes up Monday and Tuesday’s lessons. Wednesday through Saturday are drawn from two Publisher’s Desk discourses: “Who Are the Mentors—Kids or Parents?” (October 1991), and “ The ‘Why Don’t You?’ Philosophy” (June, 1991). Sunday presents upadeśas on chaperoning from 1996.§
27. Positive Discipline§
This chapter’s first two lessons are from “The Problem with Taking It Out on the Children,” Publisher’s Desk, July 1999. Wednesday and Thursday present “Spare the Rod and Save the Child,” Publisher’s Desk, February 1997. Friday is drawn from Gurudeva’s 1996 discussions on penance. Saturday and Sunday present the Publisher’s Desk, “Time In and Time Out: Two Sides of Discipline,” from April, 1997.§
28. Teenage Trials§
This candid advice on raising teens is from “Teenage Upbringing” Gurudeva’s Publisher’s Desk column, October, 1989, as well as from an upadeśa on commitment given at the Concord, California, Palaniswami Temple in June of 1988. Wednesday’s story of heartbreak was first published in Gurudeva’s Publisher’s Desk, “Suicide, Parental Pressures” in December, 1996. This chapter also includes Internet upadeśas from 2000, particularly on short- and long-term goals and educating oneself for future objectives. Sunday, on the choice of careers for youth, is drawn from the 1995 edition of Śaiva Dharma Śāstras.§
29. Language that Hurts§
This chapter captures “Swearing, Gossip and Backbiting (Publisher’s Desk, January/February, 2001) and “Verbal Abuse” (Publisher’s Desk, July/August, 2001) along with excerpts from a Sunday talk given in the ’60s at the San Francisco Temple entitled, “Gossip and Backbiting.”§
30. Bribery and Bad Money§
This discussion on rightly acquired wealth brings forth “Good Money, Bad Money,” Publisher’s Desk, May, 1997, and “Bribery is Disruption of Society and Culture,” Publisher’s Desk, April, 1999.§
31. What about Computers?§
Two Publisher’s Desk columns are the basis of this chapter: “A Cool, Calculating Computer-Educated Generation” (May, 1996), and “Games that Kill” (March, 1992), along with advice on television that Gurudeva dictated to his maṭhavāsis in a question-and-answer session on May 14, 1990.§
32. Adultery and Pornography§
This chapter presents “A Mystical View of Adultery,” and “Pornography on the Internet” from Gurudeva’s Publisher’s Desk column (June, 1999, and June, 1998, respectively).§
33. Birth, Abortion and Suicide§
Monday’s discussion on the timing of incarnation is drawn from a lengthy upadeśa on death and rebirth which Gurudeva gave at an editing session in August/September, 1989. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday present “Let’s Talk about Abortion” (Publisher’s Desk, January, 1992). Friday and Saturday bring forth “Let’s Talk about Suicide” (Publisher’s Desk, December, 1992). Sunday’s discussion on the thirty-nine day retreat is from the 1995 edition of Śaiva Dharma Śāstras, with a response to a question from an Internet devotee.§
34. Old and Gray§
Old and Gray embodies Gurudeva’s June, 1995, Publisher’s Desk, “Old and Gray and in the Way” which was drawn from an upadeśa to his editing team on May 8, 1990. It concludes with “On Growing Old” (beginning in Friday’s lesson with “In the Western World, the elderly....”), a Sunday lecture given in San Francisco on November, 26, 1960.§
35. Beyond Death, Astral Life§
This discussion comes from Gurudeva’s August/September, 1990, upadeśa on death, dying, the afterlife and reincarnation.§
36. The Joys of Hinduism§
This chapter is excerpted from the inspired talk “Courage, Courage, Courage,” given to devotees gathered before the homa fire in the Kadavul Hindu Temple on October 19, 1978.§
37. Duty and Destiny§
The first four lessons of this chapter on dharma are from “Courage, Courage, Courage.” Friday and Sunday’s lessons are from a series of lectures given in Mauritius from February 28 through March 2, 1982, in which Gurudeva ignited a spiritual revival among the large Hindu population of the island nation. Saturday’s insights on the caste system are drawn primarily from answers to questions from Gurudeva’s “Internet congregation.”§
38. The Wheel of Karma§
Monday and Tuesday’s lessons are from “Wheel of Karma,” a talk given to devotees at the San Francisco Temple and published in pamphlet form in 1964. It is followed by “Karma and Responsibility,” a talk Gurudeva gave in Kauai in 1981. Friday is from a short upadeśa given in 1988, and the last two lessons are from writings done while creating Dancing with Śiva, Hinduism’s Contemporary Catechism.§
39–40. To Do No Harm; War and Peace§
This discourse on the Hindu view of ahiṁsā, noninjury, was dictated during a series of question-and-answer sessions in December, 1989, on Kauai, for the Upadeśa Series. Gurudeva dictated hundreds of pages on a host of subjects that year for the coming editions of Living with Śiva and Merging with Śiva, including karma yoga, rāja yoga, japa yoga, haṭha yoga, marriage, and death and dying. These were typed at the Beachboy Hotel on a Sony portable computer. Wednesday’s lesson of Chapter 40 was dictated on September 9, 1990.§
41. The Power Called Forgiveness§
This chapter consists primarily of two Publisher’s Desk columns Gurudeva wrote for HINDUISM TODAY , “Forgiveness, Resentment, Reconciliation” (November, 1997) and “Non-Retaliation” (February, 1998). Sunday is drawn from Hindu Sādhana, a study book published in 1982 .§
42. Nurture Gratitude, Be Considerate§
The first three lessons capture Gurudeva’s Publisher’s Desk column, “Gratitude and Appreciation,” June, 1997. The last paragraph of Wednesday and the first two paragraphs of Thursday capture an unpublished manuscript called “A Little Bit of Kindness,” probably from the ’60s. Friday through Sunday (and the last paragraph of Thursday) are from “How to Be Considerate,” a Sunday lecture given at the temple in San Francisco on September 28, 1958.§
43. Zero Tolerance for Disharmony§
The first five lessons of this chapter bring forth Gurudeva’s Publisher’s Desk of June, 1996, and “How to Stop Tolerating Turmoil,” published in the following issue. Saturday and Sunday are from a talk on spiritual love given in Kadavul Hindu Temple during November, 1999.§
44. Why We Need Religion§
A talk entitled “Vedanta” from the 1970s makes up the first four lessons of this chapter. The final three lessons, on monistic theism, were created in 1990 in response to questions from maṭhavāsis at an afternoon editing session.§
45. Palaces of the Gods§
This chapter is drawn from an inspired talk given by Gurudeva in the small island country of Mauritius during a spiritual lecture tour February 28 through March 2, 1982. The original talk was published as “Dharma, Gods and Temple Worship,” an Insight Section in HINDUISM TODAY published shortly after the tour.§
46. Sending Prayers to the Gods§
This chapter was drawn from Praying to the Gods, A Modern Tantra on Writing Prayers for the Sacred Temple Fire (1990).§
47. The Spirit of the Guru§
Monday’s lesson is an upadeśa Gurudeva gave to two of his āchāryas on September 30, 1989. The remaining lessons are “The Spirit of the Guru,” a talk given in Kadavul Hindu Temple to devotees during the Guru Pūrṇimā festival in July of 1991.§
48. Śiva’s Monastics§
This chapter was drawn primarily from the chapter in Śaiva Dharma Śāstras, the Book of Discipline of Śaiva Siddhānta Church (1995) , in which Gurudeva records the structure, lifestyle and codes of conduct of his monastic order. Sunday is Swami Vivekananda’s “Song of the Sannyāsin.”§
49. Passing on Our Heritage§
Monday begins with “Tools for Educating the Young,” the October, 1995, Publisher’s Desk column. The next five lessons are drawn primarily from “Protect, Preserve and Promote the Śaiva Dharma,” an inspired talk given in the temples and āśramas of Malaysia, Sri Lanka and South India during the Innersearch Travel-Study Program in January, 1981. Sunday’s lesson is from “Global Education,” a presentation which Gurudeva submitted at the Global Forum of Spiritual and Political Leaders for Human Survival, Development and Environment held in Moscow, January 14-19, 1990.§
50. Śaivite Culture§
Monday and Tuesday are from “Problems and Solutions Facing Śaivism in a Technological Age” an inspired talk gathered from discourses given in Sri Lanka by Gurudeva, Sri Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, during his annual pilgrimage in January of 1982, in which he courageously discussed the threats of conversion, liberal Hinduism and Western influences, impelling Saivism’s glorious past into the future. Wednesday and Thursday are from two Publisher’s Desks: “Clothes—Dress Codes” (February, 1992) and “Happy Priests, Happy People” (June 1992). Friday’s is from “Let’s Talk About Detractors” (Publisher’s Desk, November, 1994), and Saturday is from “Let’s Stop Bashing Our Priests.” (Publisher’s Desk, December, 1994). Sunday is from a talk on commitment given to Church members at the Concord, California, Palaniswami Temple in June of 1988.§
51. Hindu Solidarity§
This chapter is drawn from two inspired talks: “Hinduism, Solidarity in Diversity,” given in Walnut Creek, California, on June 3, 1983, and “Problems and Solutions Facing Śaivism in a Technological Age” given in Sri Lanka during January of 1982.§
52. Stand Strong for Hinduism§
This chapter is drawn from the inspired talk by the same title, delivered on May 25, 1980, at Nugegoda, Sri Lanka, in which he called upon Hindus to proudly proclaim their faith to the world, to support one another and to be strong themselves through strengthening their religion.§
Resource 1: Haṭha Yoga§
This insightful presentation is drawn from Gurudeva’s inspired talks on haṭha yoga given in 1971-1972 and in August of 1990.§
Resource 2: Religion’s Dues§
This unique explanation of Hindu tithing is drawn primarily from God’s Money, published by Himalayan Academy in 1989.§