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{{Short description|Hindu leader from the United States}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2015}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox
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| death_place = [[Kapaa]], [[Hawaii]],
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| sect = [[Shaivism]]
| initiator = Jnanaguru Yogaswami
| initiation_place = Jaffna, Ceylon
| initiated = [[Sannyasa]]
| initiation_date = 1949
| predecessor = Jnanaguru Yogaswami
| successor = [[Bodhinatha Veylanswami]]
| subsect = [[Shaiva Siddhanta]]<br/>[[Nath]] ([[Nandinatha Sampradaya]])
| guru = [[Yogaswami|Jnanaguru Yogaswami]]
}}
{{Hindu philosophy}}
'''Sivaya Subramuniyaswami''' (born '''Robert Hansen'''; January 5, 1927 – November 12, 2001)
In 1947, at the age of 20, he journeyed to [[India]] and [[Sri Lanka]] and in 1949, was initiated into [[sannyasa]]<ref>{{Cite book|author=The Swamis of Kauai's Hindu Monastery |year=2011 |chapter=Chapter Twenty: Finding God in a Cave |title=The Guru Chronicles: The Making of the First American Satguru |location=[[Kapaa, Hawaii|Kapaʻa, Kauai, Hawaii]] |publisher=Himalayan Academy |isbn=978-1-934145-39-5 |url=https://www.himalayanacademy.com/media/books/the-guru-chronicles/web/35_guru05_02.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206233622/https://www.himalayanacademy.com/media/books/the-guru-chronicles/web/35_guru05_02.html |archive-date=December 6, 2019 |url-status=live }} [[Wikipedia:Independent sources|(Source closely affiliated with the subject)]]</ref> by the renowned siddha yogi and worshiper of [[Shiva|Lord Shiva]], [[Yogaswami|Jnanaguru Yogaswami]] of [[Jaffna]], Sri Lanka who was regarded as one of the 20th century's remarkable mystics. In the 1970s he established a [[Hindu]] monastery in [[Kauai]], [[Hawaii]] and founded the magazine ''[[Hinduism Today]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailynews.lk/2004/04/01/fea04.html |title=Siva Yogaswami, the Sage and mystic of Sri Lanka |author=Dr. Vimala Krishnapillai|publisher=[[Daily News (Sri Lanka)]]|date=1 April 2004 |access-date=January 16, 2013}}</ref> In 1985, he created the festival of '''Pancha Ganapati''' as a Hindu alternative to December holidays like Christmas.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rudolph |first=Ephraim |date=December 7, 2015 |title=3 International December Holidays You May Not Know About |publisher=The International Center (INTLCTR) |location=Indianapolis, Indiana |url=https://www.internationalcenter.org/2015/12/07/december-holidays/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208061806/https://www.internationalcenter.org/2015/12/07/december-holidays/ |archive-date=December 8, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|date=2010 |title=Pancha Ganapati:The Family Festival of Giving |magazine=Hinduism Today |publisher=Himalayan Academy |url=http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=5071 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121128135654/http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=5071 |archive-date=November 28, 2012 |url-status=live }} [[Wikipedia:Independent sources|(Source closely affiliated with the subject)]]</ref> He was one of [[Shaivism]]'s [[Guru]]s, the founder and leader of the [[Saiva Siddhanta Church]].
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He is part of the guru [[parampara|lineage]] of the Sri Lankan [[Alaveddy]] Hindus. His various institutions form a Jaffna-Tamil-based organization which has branched out from his Sri Subramuniya Ashram in Alaveddy to meet the needs of the growing Hindu diaspora of this century. He also established a {{convert|7|acre|adj=on|spell=in}} monastery in Mauritius, which includes a public Spiritual Park called "Spiritual Park- Pointe de Lascars". He oversaw more than 50 independent temples worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.himalayanacademy.com/monastery/lineage-philosophy/gurudeva|title=Lineage |website=Himalayanacademy}} [[Wikipedia:Independent sources|(Source closely affiliated with the subject)]]</ref>
His influence reflected the reach of his publications, including the approximately 30 books he wrote. Subramuniyaswami was described by [[Klaus Klostermaier]] as "the single-most advocate of Hinduism outside India".<ref>{{cite book|last=Klostermaier|first=Klaus K. |author-link=Klaus K. Klostermaier|title=A Survey of Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E_6-JbUiHB4C&q=Subramuniyaswami|edition=3rd|year=2007|publisher=[[SUNY Press]]|isbn=9780791470824|page=231|quote=Sivaya Subramuniyaswami ... did much to propagate a kind of reformed Saivism through his books. As founder-editor of ''Hinduism Today,'' an illustrated monthly, he became the single-most advocate of Hinduism outside India.}}</ref> The book ''Religious Leaders of America'' explained Subramuniyaswami's role as "a pillar of orthodox Hinduism."<ref name="nyt_obituary">{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9802E2D9103BF93AA25752C1A9679C8B63#|title=Satguru Subramuniyaswami, Hindu Spiritual Leader, 74|author=Douglas Martin|date=19 November 2001 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=January 8, 2013}}</ref>
==Biography==
=== Youth in California (1927–1946) ===
Sivaya Subramuniyaswami was born in [[Oakland, California]]
Sivaya Subramuniyaswami's training in classical
===Visit to Sri Lanka (1947–1949)===
Sivaya Subramuniyaswami spent almost three years on the island of [[Ceylon]], now called [[Sri Lanka]]. Before meeting his guru, he studied with his fourth
In the caves of Jalani, Kurugala Balandha, Sri Lanka, he fasted and meditated until he experienced what he felt to be [[
[[File:Gurudeva after Sri Lanka.jpg|upright|thumb|right|Gurudeva in 1949, right after his return from [[Sri Lanka]]]]
Back in Colombo, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami met his final teacher before meeting his guru. One day, his teacher arranged a meeting between Sivaya Subramuniyaswami and his long-awaited [[satguru]], Sage [[Yogaswami]]. After a deep and inner meeting, Yogaswami gave him the name Subramuniya, an epithet of [[Kartikeya|Sri Murugan]]. ''Subra'' means
Yogaswami continued to communicate with Sivaya Subramuniyaswami 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''.
===San Francisco (1949–1970)===
In late 1949 Subramuniya sailed back to America and embarked on seven years of ardent, solitary [[yoga]] and [[meditation]] In 1956, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami said, he had a tremendous spiritual experience in [[Denver]], Colorado, where
| url = https://www.hinduismtoday.com/magazine/april-may-june-2002/2002-04-the-making-of-a-master/ | title = The Making of a Master | last = | first = | date = 1 April 2020 | website = Hinduism Today | access-date = 23 September 2021 | quote = }}</ref> The following year, in [[San Francisco]], Subramuniya founded what is now Himalayan Academy and opened America's first
[[File:Kadavul Temple.jpg|thumb|left|[[Kadavul Temple]] at [[Kauai's Hindu Monastery]]]]
===Subramuniya in the 1950s and 1960s===▼
The biographies of
▲Subramuniya in the 1950s and 1960s
Subramuniya in the 1950s and 1960s might be placed in an American metaphysical lineage that can be traced from
▲The biographies of "Subramuniya" have a significant gap between 1950 and 1957. Subramuniya states that he was ordered not to teach until he was thirty to account for his silence. He was apparently not inactive during this time spending much of it exploring various non traditional religions. He travelled around the United States experimenting with Christian Science, Theosophy, the Science of mind. the Self-Realization Fellowship, Unity, Religious Science and Spiritualism. His shift to a teaching ministry as Master Subramuniya in 1957 blends elements of these religious movements with Hindu yogic and Vedanta teachings in a language oriented to Westerners.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lucas |first=Phillip Charles |year=1995 |title=The Odyssey of a New Religion: The Holy Order of MANS from new age to orthodoxy |location=Bloomington, Indiana |publisher=Indiana University Press |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IijJRg2MrcIC&pg=PA21 21] |isbn=978-0-253-33612-5 }}</ref>
▲Subramuniya in the 1950s and 1960s might be placed in an American metaphysical lineage that can be traced from nineteenth century Theosophy to the New Age Movement in the late 1970s.
Subramuniya early publications, The Self-God (1959) Cognizantibility (1958) Gems of Cognition (1958) and the Clear White Light (1968) make no mention of Saiva Siddhanta, the term "Hinduism", or Shiva. They provide no biographical details on Subramuniya nor do they mention his guru or lineage. All of Subramuniya's early works stress meditation, an advaita based monism and yoga, but make no mention of Subramuniya's Hindu religion or sectarian affiliations or his avocation of temple worship so prominently found in his later works.▼
▲Accordingly, Subramuniya's early publications, ''The Self-God'' (1959), ''Cognizantibility'' (1958), ''Gems of Cognition'' (1958) and
While Subramuniya blended elements of Aquarian teachings with Hinduism in one context during the 1950s and 1960s he also combined aspects of Hinduism with Christianity in another context. Subramuniya opened two centres in San Francisco in 1957: one nominally Hindu the Subramuniya Yoga Order and the other nominally the Christian Yoga Church.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rawlinson |first=Andrew |year=1997 |title=The Book of Enlightened Masters: Western Teachers in Eastern Traditions |location=Chicago |publisher=Open Court |page=541 |isbn=978-0-8126-9310-2}}</ref> A typical Sunday worship at the Christian Yoga Church included the singing of Christian hymns, readings from the New Testament and the Bhagavad Gita or Upanishads and a sermon related to Christian or Hindu mysticism. In this context, Master Subramuniya was known as Father Subramuniya.<ref>{{harvnb|Lucas|1995|page=13}}</ref> ''All the [Himalayan Academy] biographies are silent on this Christian aspect of Subramuniya's early career most likely because it would place his authority within the Hindu tradition into doubt.''<ref>{{harvnb|Mann|2013|page=125}} ''citing'' {{Cite book|last=Rudrananda |first=Swami (aka Albert Rudolph) |year=1973 |title=Spiritual Cannibalism |location=New York |publisher=Links Books |pages= 32–33, 37, 40, 55, and 72 |isbn=978-0-8256-3005-7 }} and {{Cite book|last=Mann |first=John |year=1987 |title=Rudi: 14 Years with My Teacher |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Rudra Press |page=139 |isbn=978-0-915801-04-6 }}</ref>▼
▲
===Kauai (1970–2001)===
Sivaya Subramuniyaswami moved his ashram to Kauai in 1970, establishing Kauai Aadheenam, on a riverbank near the foot of an extinct volcano. Also known as Kauai's Hindu Monastery, Kauai Aadheenam is a {{convert|
[[File:Iraivan Temple Capstone.JPG|thumb|right|Capstone of [[Iraivan Temple]] at Kauai's Hindu Monastery]]
In 1986 Sivaya Subramuniyaswami founded a [[branch]] [[monastery]] in [[Mauritius]] in response to the government's request that he come there "to revive a languishing Hindu faith."<ref name="nyt_obituary" /> In 1991 he produced the Nandinatha Sutras, 365 [[aphorisms]] that outlines the path of virtuous Hindu living. Especially in the early 1990s he campaigned for fair treatment of temple [[priest]]s, particularly that they should receive the same respect enjoyed by the clergy of other religions. In 2000,he translated the first two books of the [[Kural]] into English<ref name="Manavalan_Compendium">{{cite book | last = Manavalan | first = A. A. | title = A Compendium of ''Tirukkural'' Translations in English | publisher = Central Institute of Classical Tamil | volume = 4 vols. | date = 2010 | location = Chennai | language = English | isbn = 978-81-908000-2-0}}</ref> and also published ''How to Become a Hindu'', showing the way for seekers to formally enter the faith, confuting the notion that "You must be born a Hindu to be a Hindu." In November of that year, he launched Hindu Press International (HPI), a free daily news summary for breaking news sent via e-mail and posted on the web. In 2001, he completed the 3,000-page Master Course trilogy of ''Dancing with Siva'', ''Living with Siva'', and ''Merging with Siva''
=== Death ===
Learning on October 9, 2001, that he had advanced, metastasized intestinal cancer, confirmed by a host of specialists in three states, all concurring that even the most aggressive treatment regimens would not prove effective, he declined any treatment beyond palliative measures and decided to follow the Indian yogic practice, known as ''[[prayopavesha]]'' 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 at 11:54 pm on November 12, 2001, surrounded by his twenty-three monastics.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kauai's Hindu Monastery |url=https://www.himalayanacademy.com/monastery/lineage-philosophy/gurudeva |website=Kauai's Hindu Monastery}}</ref>
==Spiritual lineage==
He followed the [[shaivism]] sect ([[Shaiva Siddhanta]]) of Hinduism. He belongs to [[Nandinatha Sampradaya]]'s Kailasa Parampara. Saiva siddhanta is prevalent in South India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dancingwithsivah00subr_0|title=Dancing with Siva by Satguru Siva Subramuniyaswami|publisher=Himalayan Academy|year=1997|isbn=9780945497974|location=USA|pages=ŚLOKA 152}} [[Wikipedia:Independent sources|(Source closely affiliated with the subject)]]</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dancingwithsivah00subr_0|title=Dancing with Siva by Satguru Siva Subramuniyaswami|publisher=Himalayan Academy|year=1997|isbn=9780945497974|location=USA|pages=ŚLOKA 151}} [[Wikipedia:Independent sources|(Source closely affiliated with the subject)]]</ref>
{{S-start}}
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== Honors and awards ==
[[File:Gurudeva U Thant.jpg|thumb|right|2000: Gurudeva receiving the [[U Thant Peace Award]] at the [[United Nations]] in New York]]
* 1986 - [[New Delhi]]'s [[Parliament of the World's Religions]] named Sivaya Subramuniyaswami one of five modern-day Jagadacharyas, means world teachers, for his international efforts in promoting [[
* 1988 - [[Oxford]], England: Hindu representative at the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders for Human Survival. Sivaya Subramuniyaswami joined hundreds of religious, political and scientific leaders from all countries to discuss privately, for the first time, the future of human life on this planet.
* 1988 - [[Oxford]] : he represented Hinduism at the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders .<ref name="nyt_obituary" />
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=== ''Hinduism Today'' ===
''[[Hinduism Today]]'' is an international quarterly magazine founded by Sivaya Subramuniyaswami in 1979. It is a public service of his monastic order, created to strengthen all Hindu traditions by uplifting and informing followers of the [[Hinduism]] everywhere.<ref name=":0" />
{{Clear}}
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* [[Tirukkural translations into English]]
* [[List of translators into English]]
*[[Hinduism in the United States]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}{{Tirukkural}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Subramuniyaswami,
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:2001 deaths]]
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[[Category:Converts to Hinduism]]
[[Category:Hindu missionaries]]
[[Category:20th-century Hindu
[[Category:Hindu theologians]]▼
[[Category:Hinduism in California]]
[[Category:People from Oakland, California]]
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[[Category:Tamil–English translators]]
[[Category:Translators of the Tirukkural into English]]
[[Category:20th-century translators]]
[[Category:Missionary linguists]]
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