Guest guest Posted August 4, 2008 Report Share Posted August 4, 2008 Om Namah Sivaya Subramuniyaswami "The goal is to realize God Siva in His absolute, or transcendent, state, which when realized is your own ultimate state - timeless, formless, spaceless Truth." - Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami 1947-1949 - Visit to Sri Lanka Gurudeva spent almost three years on the island of Sri Lanka . Before meeting his guru, he studied with his fourth “catalyst†for a year and a half. Gurudeva just wanted to meditate, but his teacher made him work to help village people with reconstructing rural areas. Assignments included seeing that a new village bridge was put up again after a flood, bringing into another village modern electric saws and carpentry equipment to replace the old tools used in building furniture, and getting a school started for Buddhist children in a village lacking a school or teachers. Gurudeva visited and lived in many Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka . He was received by the monks there and saw how they lived and dressed. This experience influenced in a very strict way the monastic protocols that he later put into action in his own monastic order. This part of Gurudeva's training culminated in 1949 and he could finally go meditate in search of enlightenment. He briefly met his fifth catalyst, an old mystic, who helped him complete his training for the realization of the Self. In the caves of Jalani, Kurugala Balandha , Sri Lanka , he fasted and meditated until he burst into enlightenment. Gurudeva relates his feelings while returning to Colombo , Sri Lanka : “Returning back to the city, nothing looked the same anymore. I was in another dimension. Everything was different. I had lost something: the desire for the realization of the Self. I felt complete. I felt alone.†Back in Colombo , Gurudeva met his final teacher before meeting his guru. Up to this point, Gurudeva had studied yoga and had a fine exposure to Buddhism in Sri Lanka , but had not been made aware of orthodox Hinduism. His sixth catalyst brought him into Hinduism from a deep, inner-plane perspective, teaching him the mysticism and then the ritual. One day, his teacher arranged a meeting between Gurudeva and his long awaited satguru, Sage Yogaswami. After a deep and inner meeting, Yogaswami gave him the name Subramuniya. Subra means "the light than emanates out from the central source." Muni means a silent teacher, and ya means restraint. Subramuniya means a self-restrained soul who remains silent or speaks out from intuition. After a few visits, Jnanaguru Yogaswami initiated Subramuniya into the holy orders of sannyasa and ordained him into his lineage with a tremendous slap on the back giving the following instructions: This sound will be heard in America ! Now go ‘round the world and roar like a lion. You will build palaces (temples) and feed thousands. Gurudeva later fulfilled his mission by building two temples of his own, giving blessings to dozens of groups to build temples in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and elsewhere, gifting Deity images to 36 temples to begin the worship, and establishing the Hindu Heritage Endowment to support Hindu temples, organizations, relief efforts, publications and other institutions and projects worldwide. Yogaswami continued to communicate with Gurudeva through Kandiah Chettiar until his death in 1964. In the line of successorship, Subramuniya was considered the 162nd Jagadacharya of the Nandinatha Sampradaya's Kailasa Parampara. Sivaya Namah Not happy with your email address? Get the one you really want - millions of new email addresses available now at Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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