A Message from Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami
November 1, 2024
Namaste and welcome to our various websites and mobile apps, through which we endeavor to provide accurate, useful and contemporary information on Hinduism.
Our main website underwent a major transformation recently and has just been released in a preliminary version. It is graphically richer and more user friendly. Take a look at himalayanacademy.com
There is still more to do to complete the upgrade and make those important little updates and enhancements—a task that will comprise an important project for the coming year. This year, our publication efforts have embraced the use of generative AI, which allows us to do some tasks faster, such as programming and proof reading, as well as other tasks not previously possible, a good example being creating recordings in Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami’s voice dictating those writings that he did not himself record. With an AI-assisted cloned voice, this is now possible.
More of our Hinduism Today readers are choosing the digital version of the magazine over the print version, and we have upgraded our magazine’s website to provide a higher quality reading experience, especially on mobile phones. Take a look at hinduismtoday.com
The material on our websites and mobile apps is available for free. Our Guru, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, insisted that all of his books as well as our other publications be offered in digital formats without charging for access. We do, however, follow the model of Wikipedia and ask for donations during the last two months of the year. These donations cover the professional fees needed to continue to upgrade and expand our digital offerings, which includes some key translation work. For fourteen years running, you have responded generously to our Digital Dharma Drive, and after another year of dynamic digital progress, we are back again with our 2024 appeal.
In our “How the Funds Are Used” page, we detail what we did with your past generosity, and what we hope to accomplish in the coming year. Digital Dharma Drive funds do not pay staff salaries or administrative overhead, since our sites are created and maintained by selfless monks who work for free and live simply in our remote monastery on the island of Kauai.
Ten percent of your tax-deductible contribution goes into the permanent Digital Dharma Drive Endowment, which now stands at $303,622 after thirteen years of fundraising. This follows Gurudeva’s vision that ultimately, in the future, all major aspects of our work will be supported by endowments. As the endowment accumulates, it will provide an ever-increasing income for decades to come, protecting the digital future of Hinduism, your religious heritage.
We urge you to donate today, and improve Hinduism’s global English-language resources for the benefit of this and future generations.
Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami
Guru Mahasannidhanam of Kauai Aadheenam
Publisher of Hinduism Today