Gurudeva describes the wonderful day after his birthday, with cultural events, and his talk with the six young men from Mauritius and Malaysia who are today having their upanayana in India. He tells the story of Shanmuga, of six faces. Gurudeva encourages us to make a postive plan for 1999, have a vision, with a purpose, and persistence to fulfill it. He describes his vision of the 1999 installation of Lord Ganesha in Alaska, and invites us to join him on the cruise ship where he will personally teach classes in meditation in this uninterrupted becautiful environment.

Unedited Transcript:

Today at Kauai Aadheenam, January 6th. 'Happy Birthday to me' is over and were off to another year. Hasn't ended yet. Wonderful birthday yesterday and beautiful lunch at Princeville Sheraton. The entire group was like one family, devotees from several countries. Really heartwarming and inspiring.

( and)We talked of the beautiful gift that was given to me from Malaysia and Singapore. Six young men are having their upanayana; they are becoming Brahmins, and they are beginning their vedic training in Bangalore, at the Ashram. I already mentioned this, but I talked to each one of the boys. All six of them are my birthday gifts from the families. Each mom and dad I talked to and they say, "He's all yours, Gurudeva. Take good care of him".

They were born to be priests of the beautiful Iraivan Temple. How did that happen? Well, before conception the mothers and fathers prayed to Lord Siva for a son, an outstanding soul to be born to serve in our monasteries and in our temples. All six of them.

Reminds me of the story of the Pleiades, when Lord Muruga was born into six young men and Goddess Parvati hugged them all together at one time and became one body with six heads, twelve arms, called Shanmuganatha.

Those of you who are in our cyberspace worldwide community will understand these things, will know all about this Puranic story.

We want to thank each and everyone for the lovely gifts of love and the beautiful cards that you sent. Mahalo. Nandri. Merci. Thank you very much.

Today we had a beautiful breakfast, again with the same group at another Sheraton hotel, closer to the Aadheenam. The beautiful dancer, the wife of Jyoti Senden, Vasuki, danced for us Bharata Natyam. Really lovely. (And )The son and daughter of the Rajan family, Deva and Gayatri, sang for us beautiful Carnatic songs. Their voices blend so nicely. Kailas and Shivani are real fine artists. They are very young, but they do, oh, so very well.

( And)Now for the message today. We want to tell you today that we have a wonderful year ahead and we hope that some of you have followed the advice of summing up last year. The good and the not-so-good and blending them together and making a positive plan for 1999.

A vision of the future is nothing more than seeing the destination. Sometimes we get all mixed up in words. Vision means one thing to one person and means something to somebody else, but it is defining a destination.

We are going to Alaska. We are going to install Lord Ganesha for a religious community in Anchorage. That is our vision. That is our destination. Then we make a plan, because we have a purpose. (And)Then with persistence and push, we will arrive there and we want you all to join us on that big, big ship. We will have seven days, wonderful experiences together. Story telling, teaching meditation in the Shum-Tyeif language, from its lexicon. It will be a rare experience because I have not travelled or conducted one of these wonderful programs for over three years. Usually, when Himalayan Academy arranges a travel-study program, we are travelling on a plane. We get off, go into a hotel, we unpack. We have a study program, we pack up again, go to another place; over and over again. But this time, it is on a ship. Don't think you are going to get sea sick. You won't. It is an enormous ship, like a little city. Passengers alone number one thousand two hundred, and there are five hundred crew, just to take care of the passengers. (And)They are of Balinese and Indonesian, and Oriental descent. So therefore, we have all the time in the world to blend our energies together without the interference of buses and trains and hotels and lobbies and you know the rest. So, come on board. If you want information, go to 'Questions', ask a question, and we will send you information. (And)Our travel agency happens to be one of my devotees. He will maybe get in touch with you. His name is Dakshinamurthi.

We are very happy to be together with you at darshan time, in cyberspace ashram today. (And )A special Aloha to Durvasa, Isani, and their children. We loved talking with you on the telephone today. And, to mother, and father and brothers of Nanthakumar. He did arrive safely from Australia after a 3,000 mile flight. He looked great and the first thing he said, "Let's go to work". I think he has telephoned you by now, letting you know that he is safe and happy with us at Kauai Aadheenam, today.