Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami of Kaua`i has joined select company as the latest recipient of the U Thant Peace Award. Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pope John Paul, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama and Bishop Desmond Tutu are all previous winners of
Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami of Kaua`i has joined select company as the
latest recipient of the U Thant Peace Award.
Nelson Mandela, Mikhail
Gorbachev, Pope John Paul, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama and Bishop Desmond
Tutu are all previous winners of the award named in honor of the late United
Nations secretary general.
Gurudeva, as Satguru is known by his followers
and friends, received his award on Aug. 25 in New York City. He was in the Big
Apple as a Hindu delegate to the Millennium Peace Summit of Religious and
Spiritual Leaders.
The award recognized Gurudeva’s contributions to world
peace, including his founding and developing of Hinduism Today, an
international magazine begun in 1979. The award proclamation called the
publication “a global force upholding the highest values of Hindu dharma for
the benefit of Hindus and non-Hindus worldwide”.
Gurudeva is scheduled to
speak Wednesday at a meeting of the Rotary Club of Po`ipu Beach at the Hyatt
Regency. Gurudeva’s talk is slated to start at approximately 8 a.m.
He’ll
also be featured at a luncheon Oct. 18 at the Terrace restaurant by Kaua’i
County Mayor Maryanne Kusaka and Councilman Ron Kouchi, chairman of the County
Council. Organizers said the event will honor Gurudeva’s “rainbow of local and
global contributions.”
Gurudeva traveled to India and Sri Lanka in 1947.
He was 20 years old. Within two years, he was initiated into the Hindu faith.
For 50 years, he has taught Hinduism to Hindus and seekers from all
faiths.
Gurudeva is also the founder of Kaua`i Aadneenam, a 51-acre temple
and monastery complex near the Wailua Homesteads.
He is the hereditary guru
of 2.5 million Sri Lankan Hindus.
Hinduism Today, the international
bi-monthly magazine, reaches 135,000 readers in 115 nations.
Gurudeva, the
author of 30 books, is also a member of Vision Kaua`i 2020, a group of
community leaders that includes business people, Kusaka and the council in
discussions of Kaua`i’s future for the next 20 years.
Staff writer
Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and [
HREF=”mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net”>dwilken@pulitzer.net]
Photo
courtesy Hinduism Today Magazine
