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(Reel rattles)

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♪♪♪

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- Jetan: There's four pillars
- of Hinduism.


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- There's Dharma
- which is the code of ethics.


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Jnana which is knowledge.

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Vairagya which is detachment.

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And Bhakti which is worship.

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So these are the four -

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four areas of Hinduism

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- that we try to perfect
- ourselves in.


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- A Mandir is a Hindu place
- of worship.


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The Mandir's location itself

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- is that it's build just outside
- downtown Toronto


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- and really close
- to the airport.


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- So if you're coming from
- the north end going south,


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you will come over this ridge,

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- and all of a sudden a Mandir
- just appears.


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- To see such a structure
- in Canada,


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almost makes you believe -

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- almost makes you feel surreal
- that you are in India.


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- It's a place where
- we can feel peace.


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It's a place where the mind,

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- the body, the soul becomes
- still,


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- and peaceful and there's
- a sense of tranquility


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throughout the Mandir.

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The Mandir itself is built

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- on traditional Vedic
- scriptures.


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- We believe that the Mandir
- structure itself


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is the form of God.

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- So the steps are the feet
- of God.


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- The windows are the ears
- of God.


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- The flags is also
- the top portion,


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the head of God.

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Growing up, Mandir was...

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a central point in my life.

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All the activities that I do,

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everything that I am today,

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- is because of how I was brought
- up through Mandir.


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- When I first come into
- the Mandir,


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- the first room to my right
- is the Abhishek Mandap,


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or the Abhishek room.

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- And there we perform a sacred
- traditional ritual


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which is called Abhishek.

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As I enter in, I will -

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I will prostrate.

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I will provide obedience.

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- I will surrender myself
- from head to toe -


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mind, body and soul.

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- I will proceed
- and I will start to pour


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- the holy water on to the Murti
- of the (unclear).


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- Essentially what
- we're doing is we are


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letting out our inner wishes

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- or, as we say,
- the word (sanko).


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- And we are offering
- our devotion.


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(Singing a prayer)

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After performing the Abhishek,

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- so the pouring of the sacred
- water,


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- I will go around the image
- of Nilkanth Varni.


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And what I will try to do

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- is I will try to keep complete
- eye contact with the image.


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- And the symbolism of going
- around


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- is to realize that
- at the centre of your life,


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- no matter where you go,
- no matter what you do,


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- you are always in the presence
- of God.


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- As I am clapping I am saying
- the Somnath mantra.


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- So each clap essentially for me
- would be the Somnath mantra.


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Saying the word Swaminarayan.

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- That's almost instinctive
- for me.


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- For me it's a personal
- preference


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- where I do not like to turn
- my back


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- to any of the images that
- are in the Mandir.


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- So what I try to do is
- I back out


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- um, so I'm face first
- with the Murti.


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(Singing a prayer)

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- So coming into the Mandir
- my hands will be folded.


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- I will come to the central
- shrine.


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- And the central shrine
- that is in the Mandir itself


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is who the Mandir itself

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is actually dedicated to.

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- So in our case it is
- Bhagwan Swaminarayan.


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And with Bhagwan Swaminarayan

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- is his choicest devotee
- Gunatitanand Swami.


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I will come before the images

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- and I will perform
- prostrations.


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- I am thinking of being
- at the feet of God.


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- As I'm stretching out
- I'm trying to reach


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- the feet of God,
- I'm touching the feet of God.


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And...

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it's humbling as I'm doing it.

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I will...

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- I will perform those
- prostrations


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- to each of the shrines
- that are in the Mandir.


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- So as I'm performing
- my prayers,


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- I think the one main thing
- that you need to do


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- is to clear your mind
- of anything


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that's happening around you,

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- whether it's the meeting
- that you're going to have


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- with your boss later on
- in the day,


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- whether it's the sleepless
- night that you had,


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whether it's bill payments,

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anything that you have.

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When you're actually praying,

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- you want all that clutter,
- all the,


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- all the hustle and bustle
- in your life to not be there.


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- You want to solely focus
- your mind on God.


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So to do that,

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- one tool that I have that
- was given to me


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- by Bhagwan Swaminarayan
- is the Swaminarayan mantra


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- which I use to chant
- and to clear my mind.


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- As I go through all the sacred
- images in the Mandir,


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my Guru is one of the images

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- that I will focus on probably
- the most,


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- because I have a personal
- connection with him.


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- I have, I have met him
- in person.


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Today he's in India.

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He's 93-years-old.

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- When I'm there praying
- in front of him,


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I have my connection to God.

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I see him as my friend,

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- I see him as my mother,
- my father,


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my Guru, so my teacher.

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- When the Mandir itself
- as built,


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- it opened up doors
- to, to everything for me.


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- It allowed me to express
- myself as a Hindu.


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- It allowed me to explain
- to others


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uh, the Hindu faith,

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the Swaminarayan faith.

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- And it made it so much
- easier for me


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to talk about my religion,

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- my culture,
- the festivals we celebrate.


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- Because more people
- are beginning to see more


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about not only Hinduism

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but other religions as well.