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Sitaram · Site Admin Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 1079

Date: Mon May 26, 2003 3:16 pm
Subject: Two Religious Fasts Unto Death om_namah_shi...

http://www.sulekha.com/redirectnh.asp?cid=309895
Jain sadhvi breathes her last after fasting for 20 days

Press Trust of India
Sonepat, May 24

A Jain sadhavi who was on Santhara (fast unto death), for the last 20
days, has died in the premises of a Jain Temple in Gohana town in
Sonepat district.

The 68-year-old Nirbhay Vani, died on Friday and thousands of people
thronged the town to see her.

Santhara is a rare event in the Jain tradition in which a Jain
ascetic decides to obtain moksha (salvation) and stops eating and
drinking water, waiting for death.

Nirbhay Vani was initiated in Pahrai Dheeral, Delhi and had stopped
eating foodgrains on July 26 last year. She leaves behind three sons
and four daughters.

============================================

http://www.gurudeva.dynip.com/~htoday/press_releases/gurumaha/summary.
html

Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, World Hindu Leader, Passes Away at
74

KAUAI, HAWAII, USA, November 13, 2001: Satguru Sivaya
Subramuniyaswami, one of Hinduism's foremost spiritual teachers, a
prolific author and publisher of Hinduism Today magazine, passed away
today at age 74 at his ashram home on the island of Kauai, Hawaii,
USA. A spokesperson for the ashram said the Hindu master discovered
on October 9 that he had advanced intestinal cancer. Three medical
teams of radiologists and oncologists in Hawaii, Washington State and
California all concurred that even the most aggressive treatment
regimens would not prove effective, and estimated he had just a few
months to live. Consequently, Subramuniyaswami declined any treatment
beyond palliative measures, and made the decision to follow the
Indian yogic practice, called Prayopavesa in Sanskrit scripture, to
abstain from nourishment and take water only from that day on. He
died on the 32nd day of his self-declared fast, passing on quietly at
11:54 pm on November 12, 2001, surrounded by his 23 monastics.
Upon news of his impending passage, prayers and worship were offered
in hundreds of temples around the world by tens of thousands of
Hindus. The suddenness of the events especially stunned the 2.5
million Tamils of Sri Lanka, for whom Subramuniyaswami, the successor
of Lanka's great guru Yogaswami, is their hereditary spiritual
leader.

At his passing, Subramuniyaswami consoled his sorrowful monks,
telling them, "Don't be sad, soon I will be with you 24 hours a day,
working with you all from the inner planes." Bereaved devotees
arriving at the ashram heard the same message, and by the time of the
passing, a great peace had descended upon the ashram and all
connected with it. His designated successor, Satguru Bodhinatha
Veylanswami, was duly installed as guru of the ashram, formally known
as Kauai Aadheenam.

When notified of his passing, Sita Ram Goel, one of India's most
influential Hindu writers and thinkers, wrote, "Subramuniyaswami has
done great work for Hinduism, and the recent reawakening of the Hindu
mind carries his stamp." Ma Yoga Shakti, renowned teacher and
Hinduism Today's Hindu of the Year for 2000, said, "For more than
three decades, Subramuniyaswami, a highly enlightened soul of the
West -- a Hanuman of today, a reincarnation of Siva Himself -- has
watered the roots of Hinduism with great zeal, faith, enthusiasm and
whole-heartedness."

Few in the Hindu world would not recognize the tall, white-haired
American who had gained prominence over the decades for his practical
and clear-minded books replete with explanations of everything Hindu,
from the most basic beliefs and daily practices to the loftiest
refined philosophy and yoga techniques. He was equally famous as
founder and publisher of Hinduism Today, an award-winning,
international, full-color magazine, respected for its authoritative
reporting on Hindu events, institutions, personalities, issues and
controversies around the world. Among his innovative projects are the
creation of Iraivan Temple on Kauai, the first all-stone, hand-carved
granite temple ever built in the West, the founding of Hindu Heritage
Endowment to perpetually fund worthy Hindu institutions and his
participation in numerous international conferences on religion,
peace and interfaith harmony. He inspired and guided the construction
of dozens of temples among Hindu communities outside of India,
especially in America, Canada, Europe, Mauritius, Malaysia,
Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.

From his ashram in Hawaii, Subramuniyaswami continued to follow his
own guru's instruction to bring Saivism to the Western world by
teaching others to "know thy Self by thyself" and thus "see God Siva
everywhere."

Among his honors are being named one of 25 "presidents" of religion
at the 1996 Parliament of the World Religions held in Chicago, and
receiving the U Thant Peace Award while attending the Millennium
Peace Summit of World Religious and Spiritual Leaders held at the
United Nations in August, 2000. This award was previously given to
the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pope John Paul and
Mother Teresa. On August 25, 2000, he addressed 1,200 spiritual
leaders during the UN events in New York.

"Just before his passing," said the monastery spokesperson, "He asked
devotees worldwide to carry his work and institutions forward with
unstinting vigor, to keep one another strong on the spiritual path,
to work diligently on their personal spiritual disciplines and to
live every moment in harmony and love for all peoples. His monks,
gathered from six nations, forged in the fires of his wisdom and
love, are well-prepared to keep his mission potent and effective.
Equally, his family devotees are pure, one-minded and deeply
committed. These two communities will continue the work together:
building the Iraivan Temple, managing the Spiritual Park in
Mauritius, shepherding souls on the Saivite path of enlightenment,
continuing the many publications, teaching children their Saivite
Hindu religion, preserving traditional culture and art, protecting
Hindu priests and the indigenous faiths of the world, contributing to
our local Kauai community, guiding the future of Hinduism around the
globe and working to reduce violence, child-beating and spouse
abuse."

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