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CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION OF THE SURVEY RESULTS
7.10. Series and Manuals
CMW News (2006) is a bimonthly newsletter of the Chinmaya Mission. Its focus is spiritual and religious and carries Gurudev's (the most senior of monks within the organisation) message. Spiritual encounters and philosophical messages are highlighted. Questions and answers, short stories that contain moral endings and Hindu teachings are found in the
newsletter. News about temples, temple events, and special camps are given. The newsletter focuses on information concerning the North American centres. All editorial, design, layout and photographic credits are listed.
A series of significance that was found at the Chinmaya Mission was the Hindu Culture Series (2001) which offered guidance for everyday living according to Dharma rules.
Manuals published by the Jadatharaya Institute of Right Living, which is a branch of the Gayathri Peedam of South Africa, are used during workshops held for stress management, weight loss, and reiki sessions. The manuals are given at special classes held for devotees and who register for the classes by paying a fee.
Dr T.P. Naidoo is the editer for the Heritage Series (2005-2007) which is published by the Indian Academy of South Africa. The series is published with the intent of highlighting the Swami Thyagaraja festival and important shows, and concerts held by the academy to promote Indian culture. Details about the guests at the festival are included. The publication carries a number of messages by prominent individuals who work within and with the Indian community.
Local music orchestras which have had long influential careers and which have contributed to the promotion and tutoring of music to younger individuals have been thanked through this series. Biographical data about members and their achievements are given. Temples of architectural note, individuals, both local and international, who influence the lives of others as well as news about festivals held locally, are described in the series. Awards received locally and abroad by South African Indians are advertised and details of the awardees are shared. International spiritual leaders and local aspirants are featured in the publication.
A number of manuals are published by the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa. All manuals are intended for in-house use only. Manuals for teachers of courses offered at the centre, for the administration of the branches and for the administration of the national headquarters have been produced. Guidebooks for courses offered by the centre have been published, like the Hindu Studies guidebook (n.d.). Such guidebooks have to be used in conjunction with other references and texts on the Hindu religion and teachings of the religion.
The Bhagavata Vahini Series (Sri Sathya Sai Baba, 1970-1986) is a sixteen volume series that contains the teachings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba in a condensed form. Sathya Sai Speaks (Sri Sathya Sai Baba, 1953-1974) is a seventeen volume series that contains the discourses of the Guru over four decades. Volumes can be bought individually. Indian culture and spirituality is discussed in the Summer Showers Series (Sri Sathya Sai Baba. 1972-2002). All information presented in these three series has been written by Sri Sathya Sai Baba himself.
An annual newsletter is published by the local branch of the Swami Narayan Mandir in Durban. The purpose of the newsletter is to outline the projects and achievements of the organisation in Durban. International news is also included in the publication. Experience and thoughts of local devotees are described in the newsletter, Shree Swami Narayan Mandir - Durban, 5th Anniversary Newsletter (Swami Narayan Mandir, 2004).
7.11. Electronic formats
The Divine Life Society had a healthy collection of videos, CDs and cassettes. The videos contain speeches of swamis, self-help, self-development and empowerment. Religious videos on the Ramanyana were also a part of the collection. There were CDs with recordings of sathsangs and cassettes with bhajans dedicated to deities.
The International Society for Krsna Consciousness has adapted to the use of new technologies that are available. A number of DVDs are available through the organisation.
Interactive CD ROMs include: Interactive Bhagavad Gita as it is (2000), The library of Vedic Culture (2004). ISKCON Interactive DVD (2003), and The complete Prabhupada DVD Library (2004). Other titles of CDs are also available. DVDs of festivals held by the various branches, and religious places in India can be obtained through the organisation. A DVD documentary on the Ganges River is popular among devotees and other Hindus.
The small collection of CDs housed at the Manav Dharam consisted of compilations of songs favoured by the devotees of the organisation. A few songs are generally sung by other Hindus outside of the ashram. The sathsangs were rendered by Indian artists and groups of followers of the organisation.
An important feature of the library at the Radha Soami Sathsang of South Africa was the collection of cassettes, video cassettes and CDs. These contained sathsangs and their translations of talks given in Hindi and English. All cassettes, video cassettes and CDs were colour coded for the different decades and the type of information contained on that particular format, for example all material that originated in the 1980s had orange year tags, and the shabads had red round sticks on them. The collection also included material in other languages like French.
A number of e-books are available on the Ramakrishna website. Registered users have indexes and cross-references to guide their use of such books on the web sites. Information can be called up and downloaded by these registered users.
Other formats offered by the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa include VCDs, CDs, and charts. Many of the VCDs contained speeches given by monks of the order or were used to present special information on education, health, environmental science and topics related to the programmes and projects undertaken by the organisation. Recorded music and sathsangs are available on VCDs and CDs. Charts that were published contained vital information relating to topics such as education, agricultural science, health, HIV/AIDS, and diabetes.
The library collection of Saiva Sithantha Sungum has hundreds of audio CDs, DVDs, audio cassettes and video cassettes. Hymns sung by the Sungum saints called Thevaram and Thiruvacagam and Thirukurral are recorded on Audio CDs. Cultural and classical music were found on the CDs. Language lessons for the teaching of the Tamil and Telugu languages were available on CDs. The chanting of sacred hymns, devotional songs and poetry have also been recorded on CDs. The DVD collection is vast and covers a range of titles which are about: the Saivite temples in India; life stories of saints and sages; festivals of India; the Saints of the Sungum; living female saints and a host of topics.
Video cassettes of a number of festivals were found in the collection housed at the Sri Sathya Sai Centre's facility in Reservoir Hills. Meditation. lessons from Sri Sathya Sai Baba as well as discourses given by the Guru are included in the collection. Pictures and photographs, often in life size prints were available. Packages for little children, made up of books and
CDs, and containing rhymes in English and Indian vernacular languages were available.
Audio cassettes with bhajans and mantras were also found on the shelves.
One of the reformed Hindu organisations that has excelled in the publication and sales of audio-visual formats is the Swami Narayan Mandir. Video cassettes, audio cassettes. CDs and DVDs contain a wide range of religious information. For example, devotional songs, cultural events, and songs for children are available through CDs and audio cassettes. Video titles include information on festivals, Indian culture, the teaching of values, educational topics and discourses given by religious leaders. DVDs include information on religious pilgrimages and places of religious significance.