Hindu leader Subramuniyaswami dead at 74
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
WAILUA, Kaua'i — Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, an American who became a spiritual leader for Hindus around the world, died Monday. He was 74.
Saiva Siddhanta Church photo
He was the successor to the guru Yogaswami of Sri Lanka and was spiritual leader for 2.5 million Tamil people. He published the respected English-language newspaper Hinduism Today, which he founded in 1979, from his Saiva Siddhanta Church in Wailua Homesteads on Kaua'i.
Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami was publisher of Hinduism Today.
He designated as his successor Satguru Bodhinatha Veyanswami, 59, a 35-year disciple who will serve as the new guru of Subramuniyaswami's temple and monastery, the Kaua'i Aadheenam.
The guru, known to followers and friends as Gurudeva, lived a quiet life, but was active in the community, helping Mayor Maryanne Kusaka promote anti-drug programs for youths and promoting the aloha spirit.
"Gurudeva was such a gifted and inspired leader," Kusaka said. "He has done so much for our community, always behind the scenes, and he leaves a tremendous legacy of goodness and aloha for us all."
He also worked with other faiths to promote peace and community.
"He was a tremendous participant in the community and a force for world peace. We did Martin Luther King Day together. He came and spoke at St. Michael's," said the Rev. Jan Rudinoff, an Episcopalian.
"He had a holy presence that I felt," Rudinoff said.
Subramuniyaswami was born in Oakland, Calif., and studied dance in his early life, starring with the San Francisco Ballet at age 19.
A year later, he abandoned his dance career and went to India and Sri Lanka to take spiritual training. He was given his name and was ordained by his mentor, Yogaswami, a Saivite Hindu guru.
He formed the first Hindu temple in the United States on Sacramento Street in San Francisco in 1957, and after helping establish other centers on the Mainland, he moved in 1970 to Kaua'i to establish a monastery and temple.
A continuing mission of his monastery is the completion of the massive San Marga Iraivan Temple, being built of Indian granite on the monastery grounds.
Subramuniyaswami was named one of the five Hindu spiritual leaders outside India at the 1986 World Religious Parliament in New Delhi.
In 2000, he was awarded the U Thant Peace Award, named for the former director general of the United Nations. Past winners included the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa.
He is the author of numerous religious books, among which the ones considered most important are his Siva trilogy: "Dancing with Siva," "Living with Siva" and "Merging with Siva."
"Subramuniyaswami has done great work for Hinduism, and the recent reawakening of the Hindu mind carries his stamp," said Hindu writer Sita Ram Goel of India.
He suffered from incurable intestinal cancer and died in the presence of 23 members of his monastic order, after a self-imposed 32-day fast.
A memorial service was held yesterday at Borthwick Mortuary.
