Thank you for your interest in contributing to this website honouring Swami Maheshananda. This website is a place to remember Swamiji, to create a collection of his teachings and thoughts, and to enable ongoing research so that we can all continue to share and learn.
As we begin to build the website we invite you to contribute any material you have that is related to Swamiji and Angelika.
Please read these guidelines and contact us via cafekuti@gmail.com if you have any questions.
Types of content you may contribute
At this time we are collecting the following materials for the archive:
- Photos
- Videos
- Audio recordings
- Correspondence, letters and emails
- Personal notes taken from study with Swamiji
- Any documents or writings you have from Swamiji
- Quotes/short phrases from Swamiji that have inspired you
- Personal memories from your meetings with Swamiji and Angelika.
File formats
If you are contributing photos, videos or audio recordings, please provide these in the original size and format – or if you have multiple versions, the largest version you have. This will prevent loss of quality. We have access to conversion software if necessary.
Language and Translation
Swamiji communicated with his international visitors in English, and this will be the language of the website. Please send any information related to your material in English.
If you would like to contribute to the site by by translating any content into your own language we would welcome your help. Where possible we will be happy to publish content in multiple languages.
Information to include with your content
To create a useful and searchable website we ask that you send details about each piece of content you contribute. The more information you can provide, the better we can create a detailed, searchable and useful archive of Swamiji’s teachings and thoughts.
Information to include is: the date, location and as much information about the content as possible. Additionally, if it is a recording or video include a list of the topics discussed and the languages used (e.g. English, German, Hindi, Marathi, etc). See below for some examples.
Photographs
File formats
Best formats are JPEG or PNG. Other acceptable formats include RAW and TIFF.
Information to include for each photo/series of photos:
- Date
- Location
- Who took the photo
- As much information as possible about the photo
- Names of people in the photo.
Examples:
“2007, Kaivalyadhama. Photograph by David Stott.”
“June 2007, Kaivalyadhama. Swamiji leading morning Puja in the kuti. Photograph by David Stott.”
“19 June 2007, Kaivalyadhama. Swamiji leading morning Puja in the kuti. Photograph by David Stott.
My third visit to Kaivalyadhama coincided with a long trip around India writing and photographing for a travel guide. I spent a few hours each day in the kuti researching and planning my travels.
During this time Swamiji and Angelika invited me to take a sequence of photos of morning puja and havan (fire ceremony). Angelika made it clear that this was a rare privilege and that I should minimise disturbance, but that I was welcome to take pictures of Swamiji and herself.
I set up a tripod in the puja room of the kuti and was able to capture a series of images based on my observation and perception of the puja experience.
In the photo are [names of people]. This photo accompanies a recording which I have also uploaded as [file name].”
Audio and Video Recordings
File formats
Acceptable formats include:
Video: AVI, MP4, WAV, WMA
Audio: AAC, AIFF, FLAC, MP3, MP4, WAV, WMA
Information to include
- Date
- Location
- Who made the recording
- As much information as possible about the story behind the recording
- Names of people who are in the recording
- Subjects discussed in the recording
- Language (English, German, Hindi, Marathi etc)
Examples:
2004, Germany. From a lecture series in English with German translations. Recorded by [name of person].
19 June 2004, [Name of venue], Munich. Recorded by [name of person]
This was the second of four lectures Swamiji gave to a group of Anna’s yoga students. In the audience were [names of people]. Swamiji speaks in English with translations in German by Angelika.
Topics include: Yoga Sutras, Om, Pranayama, Family.
19 June 2004, [Name of venue], Munich. Recorded by Recorded by [name of person].
This was the second of four lectures Swamiji gave to a group of Anna’s yoga students. In the audience were [names of people]. Swamiji speaks in English with translations in German by Angelika.
Topics include: Yoga Sutras, Om, Pranayama, Family.
Contents:
00:00 – 04:20 Speaks about lifestyle.
04.20: “It is so simple to be happy, but it is so difficult to be simple!”
04:45-10:40 Speaks about Yoga Sutras.
10.40 – 14.00 Correct practice of pranayama.
Amazing+
Include a transcription document of the lecture.
Correspondence, Personal Notes and Documents
Much of Swamiji’s contact with us over the years has been via letter, SMS or email. These informal messages often contain interesting learning material. If you wish to share your correspondence you are welcome to remove any content of a private or personal nature.
File formats
.DOC, .RTF, PDF, screenshot from computer. If you are scanning paper documents, acceptable formats include PDF, JPEG and TIFF.
Information to include
- approximate date of the document
- name of the person or people who created the document
- the story behind the document
- if you are scanning hand-written notes on paper, please transcribe the text into a text document. Text in images will not be searchable via the website.
Short Quotes and Phrases
Swamiji could provide a lifetime of wisdom in one sentence. We have collected phrases that have left a long-lasting impression. Some were heard regularly, some just once, but we repeat them and refer to them often. If you have quotes that have special meaning to you we would love to share them – here are two examples:
“It is so simple to be happy…”
“When clever is on the outside…”
Personal Memories and Reflections
We all have fond memories of Swamiji that may not be related to teaching. If you would like to share any personal memories and reflections from your time spent with Swamiji and Angelika we are happy to receive these and share them in the Cafe Kuti section of the site.
These pieces can be of any length and any style. For example, you may send:
- a diary entry
- a story of a memorable moment
- a history of your visits to Lonavala
- a piece of art you have created.
We hope this site will help to build a long lasting connection among the worldwide family of Swamiji and give strength to his teachings. Working together and sharing our knowledge we can create a more complete picture of his teachings and our friendship with both Swamiji and Angelika.
Thank you for your contribution!
Questions?
Please feel free to contact us with any questions or suggestions.
Email: cafekuti@gmail.com