e-Anjali, Issue 1, March 4, 2005
Dear friends,
KHNA Chicago convention committee is starting an e-mail newsletter e-Anjali. It will keep you updated on the Convention activities and will be emailed weekly to all our email contacts. In this issue of e-Anjali there is an article on "Questions & Answers on Hindu Traditions". Please communicate all your comments on this article directly with the author. Please send articles for publication in e-Anjali to souvenir@namaha.org.
Sasneham,
Anil Kumar Pillai
Chairman, Kerala Hindus of North America
CALL FOR SOUVENIR ARTICLES - DEADLINE: MARCH 31, 2005
Chicago convention souvenir committee is hard at work to bring out a memorable souvenir that all of us could be proud of. However your whole-hearted participation and help is essential to make this venture a success.
We are planning the souvenir to be a forum for showcasing the literary talents of the Malayalee Hindu community of North America . I am happy to inform you that we have already started receiving articles for publication. Even if you have never written for another publication, we would encourage you to start now and send in your work. Also please encourage our youngsters to participate and make their viewpoints be heard.
We will be publishing a full color family photo album of attendees as part of the souvenir. Additional details are given on our website. Please send in your family photos now so that we will have ample time to process and print it well.
We are compiling a list of Kerala Hindus residing in North America and plan to publish a directory. There is a form on our website (http://www.namaha.org/directory
With best regards,
Presannan K Pillai
Chair-Souvenir Committee
Questions & Answers on Hindu Traditions
What is the significance behind chanting of Veda mantras and the mantras connected with the havan ceremony?
Rajagopala Pillai, Pasadena, Texas
Man’s body is filled with innate intelligence. Through speaking words of confidence and power over and over, man gains conscious attention of the intelligence within the organs of the body. As he continues speaking words of power, that innate intelligence is tapped and it releases increased life and substance into the mind, body and affairs of man.
James Newton Powell, a graduate in religious studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, is the author of the book `Mandalas, the Dynamics of Vedic Symbolism'. The following excerpt is from his book:
Modern metaphysicians are rediscovering the fantastic powers released through spoken words. By certain arrangements of words, such as in Veda mantras, a tremendous vibratory force could be set upon in the invisible which profoundly affects physical and metaphysical substance in the body of man.
According to the rishis (seers) the mantras are the living body of the luminous inner truth of which they sing, a truth which does not reveal itself to the busy conceptual mind as readily as to the more receptive inner audience of unbounded awareness unfolded through meditation. There are four different levels of languages describing four domains of Vedic experience.
1. Language of communication or everyday speech. The gross physical level of articulate speech (Vaikhari).
2. Language of ritual, the rhythmic sacrificial language of chant. Language as `thought', which is not yet spoken (Madhyama).
3. Language of illumination, of vision. The level of luminous, `flash like' intuitive `seeing' speech (Pasyanti).
4. Language of eternity, of imperishable silence. The silent, unbounded, absolute level of speech (Para).
Speech reveals herself only to the seer, the one she loves.
Speech is born of tapas (austerity) and throughout the Vedic literature is related to Agni (fire). Mystics of all ages have discovered the relationship between the repetition of sound and an inner fire, and these take the mind to profound depths and eventually spiritual illumination. The rhythmically formulated word, with its tendency towards rhyme, its alliteration, assonance and other types of repetition make it an instrument of power. The sound of such words is often of greater importance than their meaning, which has often been lost. Intoned speech becomes experienced as inner light.
The Veda is eternal and of non-human origin. The transcendence of the seer might give birth to an entirely new utterance, a new mantra, finite and localized when heard by the mundane sense of hearing, but with its origins in the infinite, and capable of again revealing the Infinite to the seer.
The function of the Vedic mantras is to reveal their own inner being.
The entire body of Vedic knowledge is Vac-(goddess of speech, Sarasvati)- with combinations and permutations of sound- in all its various degrees of manifestation. The meaning of the mantra is known not by attending to the semantic meaning, but by attending to the tendencies- the dynamics of sound. One of the Vedic or Yogic methods of gaining knowledge is organized on the level of sound. Within the tendencies of the sounds of the mantras lie the method of gaining knowledge of the 'object' the mantra describes.
The Vedic mantras possess the impulses or tendencies which constitute the knowledge of these 'objects'. Thus there is a close relationship between sound and form. This knowledge is on the level of pulsating consciousness. The Veda is a supreme example of a type of poetry in which the life of the symbol corresponds so intimately with the truth it clothes that it is indeed the living form of that truth. There are, residing within the language of the Veda, a hierarchy of potencies, indwelling powers of speech which inspire by means of sound and a transcendental logic.
Image, sound and sense were indissolubly united to forge luminous language- symbols capable of conveying the most orient hues of the imperishable. The mantras are secret words, seer wisdoms, which utter their indwelling meaning to the seer prepared by tapas. The uncanny longevity of these hymns (mantras) can be attributed to the fact that they are in such intimate contact with the eternal. The mantras are self-revealing, preserved by the imperishable for those who would seek their indwelling dimensions. The mantras exist in a supreme, imperishable location, in which all the gods are seated. By the friction between the worshipper and the mantra (mind instrument), Om, the inner fire is kindled and the highest Truth is seen.
****
Souvenir Announcements
Souvenir Advertisements - Deadline: April 15, 2005
Souvenir advertisement spaces will close on April 15th and advertising materials are due by April 30th, 2005. We need to get as many advertisements as possible for the success of this convention. Each one of us should persuade our employers or other contacts to get at least one advertisement. Please make copies of the advertisement rates page in our newsletter for passing on to potential advertisers. You can also use the links below to print the forms.
To reserve advertisement space in the souvenir now please click on the link below.
Reserve Souvenir Advertisement Online
For information on advertising rates in the 2005 Chicago Convention Souvenir, please click on the link below.
Advertising Rates for 2005 Chicago Convention Souvenir
Additional Copies of Souvenir & Directory - Deadline: April 30, 2005
All attendees of the convention will be provided with one copy of the souvenir and the directory (one per family). In case you are unable to attend the convention or would like to receive an extra copy by mail please send your mailing address and a check for $50.00 towards the cost to KHNA, PO Box 112 , Skokie, IL 60076 before April 30th, 2005. You can also reserve it online on the directory information registration page.
Directory of Kerala Hindus of North America - Deadline: March 31, 2005
KHNA will be publishing a directory of Kerala Hindus residing in North America along with the souvenir during the convention. Names and addresses of all recipients of the convention newsletter "Anjali" will be automatically included in the directory unless opted out. Please use the form below to include additional information or for opting out. You can submit the information online by filling out this form and then clicking the "Submit" button. You may also send the information by mail to KHNA, PO Box 112, Skokie, IL 60076 or by e-mail to khnasouvenir@yahoo.com. All information must be received by March 31st, 2005 to be included in the directory.
Directory Information Registration
Family Photo Album - Deadline: March 31, 2005
Convention Souvenir will include a full color family photo album of convention attendees. Please send a family picture of size 4"x6" along with a check for $200.00 to cover the additional expenses of printing. Convention sponsors are entitled to publish the family photo as a benefit of sponsorship and need not send the $200 check. All photos must be received by March 31st, 2005. Please include the names of everyone in the picture for publication. Digital photo is the preferred format and may be sent by e-mail to khnasouvenir@yahoo.com. Checks and printed photos should be mailed to KHNA, PO Box 112 , Skokie, IL 60076 to reach before March 31st, 2005.
Photos require additional processing and printing time and will not be accepted after March 31st.
Articles for Publication in the Souvenir - Deadline: March 31, 2005
Souvenir committee is beckoning all of you to send in your literary creations for publication in the souvenir. Be it a poem, story or an article that you always dreamed of writing, now is the time to get those creative thoughts to take shape. Articles covering issues of interest to our youngsters are especially welcome. Please send in your work by e-mail to khnasouvenir@yahoo.com before March 31st, 2005. Both Malayalam and English articles are accepted. Microsoft Word document attachment is the preferred format. Please note that all submissions must be in electronic format, fax and mail submissions cannot be accepted.