Blog Archives
August 10, 2001 
As we write today's captions, Gurudeva and all the Innersearchers have departed from the UK on the ship... Innersearch has begun!
Meanwhile we have a lot of photos of the last days in UK. Here is Gurudeva being interviewed on the Tamil TV station in London. More pictures below.
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Date: October_23_1998
Topic: Accept a Better Life
Category:
Duration: 9 min., 33 sec.
Date Given: October 23, 1998
Today at Kauai Aadheenam. It is October 23. On our mystical Vedic calendar, it is Sun 3.
A very interesting story has developed. We were written to by a young man, about 14 or 15, from Malaysia, about how badly he had been beaten by his stepfather. One of the members of Saiva Siddhanta Church, actually took a picture of him that showed the scars on his back. This is a very courageous member and we really commend you. A few days ago, he was personally commended by the Police, Security Agents, the Principal of the school in a grand auditorium, for basically saving this young man's life. Though he was beaten, he did survive. Only two weeks ago, he was found to have severe burns on his hands and legs. The adopted parents, made no effort for medical treatment, at all. He was rushed to the hospital and now, is in a foster home. They are filing a case with criminal charges.
Well, one step to us offers us nine steps to you. That is our contract. So, we have used up now about 7 steps to this young man, because he wrote the letter, asking Saiva Siddhanta Church and its members in Malaysia, to help.
We worked for several hours on the color of a beautiful bookmark for the new edition of 'Merging with Siva'. This bookmark gives the colors of the human aura and what they mean. So, if you see auras, you will be able to know what those aura colors mean, by reading our bookmark. 'Merging with Siva' will be out sometime in the first of next year and ready for purchase.
Today, we had a publisher's desk meeting. This means, we plan out the next edition of 'Hinduism Today', international magazine. It worked out very well and we are on our way for the next edition, featuring a beautiful cover, which I think you are going to like. It shows the power of the guru. If it is necessary for the guru to burn out the bad karmas of an individual, there is a quick and easy way to do it, through the third eye. I think you would like to see that.
We have been asked to speak a little bit on drugs and their relationship to inner life by one of our partners on the island, Marilyn Wong, who is head of the 'Drug Free Kauai'. Now, this does not mean that you get drugs free on Kauai! Let us not construe this. We want Kauai to be drug-free. We want everybody coming to our Garden Island to be uplifted, have no need for marijuana, cocaine and all these various expensive things. We want everyone coming to our Garden Island, to enjoy life, enjoy the beauty of nature, be one with nature and not want to escape from life, avoiding situations and circumstances. We want everyone to be loyal to their partners, and raise their children properly.
We hear much today about the drug culture. Can it be called a culture? I don't think so. Where does culture come from? Culture comes from worship in the temple. Culture comes from man's relationship to God, as a group of people, not as an individual. We hear about the Hawaiian culture. When the temples of the Hawaiian people went down, the culture went away, the language went away, and the race went away. All gone, thanks to an aggressive religious movement of another religion. Culture is the outgrowth of man's relationship to God and the angels and devas. He carries that forward to his wife, to their children, their relatives and community at large. That is what culture is. Every thing else is just trashy living.
Now, I don't want to discourage the people who take drugs and may be listening. I know, a few of you are listening to me, on the internet. I don't want to trash you. I just want to trash what you are doing. You are a divine soul. You don't have to escape from anything. The karmas that you are going through, are what you created in a past life. You don't have to escape them. Maybe you don't like society. Well, change it. You are a very special person, because you are a soul living on planet Earth. Call upon your soul power, not upon an illegal package that you hold in your pocket.
That is another thing. Drugs are illegal, makes you a criminal, makes you want to hide, puts you in the chakras below the muladhara chakra. We are going to talk a little bit about this tomorrow. The chakra below the muladhara chakra is the fear chakra. That is not a good state of consciousness to be in, always worried and looking over your shoulder and finding out who is behind you. You get paranoid. Maybe somebody is chasing you. Maybe you will be discovered. Maybe you will be arrested and die KCCC or deported back to your state. You don't want that. You don't want to live like that. That is not right.
Drug Free Kauai. 'Aloha' is the spirit of Kauai, of loving each other in friendship and camaraderie. That is the spirit we want here. Go to another island for drugs. Go to another state, another country. Not here. Not here on Kauai, because this is a spiritual island. This is an island that is a vortex, that lifts you up. It will lift you up. You do not need anything else to stimulate you, to open inner doors of higher chakras and all that.
Now, I am talking to you through cyberspace, to you who are right on this Garden Island, looking right in your computer at me. Right now, as I am talking, I am looking at you and seeing what you are doing.
A better life awaits you. But, you have to accept it. Don't avoid it. It is a valuable time on this planet, living in a physical body. With abortions and murders and all the terrible things that are happening - watch CNN - you can lose your body really easily there. A new body is really hard to get. Don't destroy it.
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A spontaneous international gathering of guests: newly weds Ann and Brent
Mashburn from Gainesville, Florida; Roslyn & Jim Uttleymoore from
Queensland, Australia; Aylah Waltraud Langer from Austria and David Akama
family from Kauai.
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The temple project is really beginning to take some shape as course number three with the "bhuta stones" continues to come together.
Here is the location of the "spout" through which will exit from the sanctum the waters that will be poured over the Sivalingam in the future abhishekam rituals.
An ancient craft, one that requires a lot of patience and skill .
Shanmuga Sthapati stands on the right observing the team at work. He himself will do very little of the actual hands on work, he keeps the overview at all times and is responsible for every decision.
One of the "waste" products of this endeavor, or so we thought, was the wood from all the crates that the stones were shipped in from Bangalore, India. We had assigned Chinnu, the silpi's assistant and cook to burn it all. But the silpis said: "Why burn it to ashes...we can make charcoal out of it and use it to fuel our blacksmith forge."
So, instead of allowing the fire to burn the wood completely to ashes, water is thrown on it and charcoal is the result.
Modern man has a lesson to learn from people who take a different attitude toward conservation of resources. Here this wood now serves a second purpose.
Flowers are growing everywhere on our property. The Siddhidata Kulam is doing a great job bringing color to all corners of our world. Hawaii can be a "sea of green...." but not so any longer at the monastery.
At the center of the vegetable garden is a shrine to Lord Ganesha. This is a "mulch garden" and we do not use a tractor. As per the guidance of the devas themselves, who complained that the tractor was a violent and noisy machine that tore up the soil and disturbed the vibration, Gurudeva asked the monks to try to see if they could change methods... This garden remains quiet and serene at all times. Six inches of mulch is applied and renewed throughout the year. Various sections are left "fallow" and unused while others are intensively planted... we get all our green vegetables from our garden.
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[In Progress]
Gurudeva at the Dortmund airport, about to depart from Germany to the UK.
Kulapati Kantharajah, a German member of Saiva Siddhanta Church, came with his family to send Gurudeva off. Many Sri Lankans have settled down in Germany and made a new life there. Now we have a younger generation of Tamils coming up whose first language is German!
Gurudeva, keeping in touch while he travels.
In UK the next key event was a satsang at the Highgate Murugan temple. Here devotees gather in the cultural hall and sing Natchintanai
Gurudeva chants aum 3 times to begin his talk. He congratulated the Jaffna
Tamil people for their accomplishments - that is, building temples all over
the world.
There is a huge contingent of Saivites in London and it has been many years since Gurudeva touched base with them.
Devotees came up to Gurudeva for blessings after his talk.
The following day in the morning, Gurudeva went to the Deepam TV station. This was a really top-notch, full-blown media company
The interview was conducted by Mr.Suben of Deepam TV.
Editors watch from the control room as the interview progresses.
This interview will be
broadcast throughout Europe, Middle East, Russia, South Africa, Mauritius
and Reunion
The interview can be seen by the people being interviewed on this large flat
screen in front of them.
We passed a huge castle in central London on our way to Liverpool St Station
to catch a train to Harwich, our port of departure for the Innersearch
cruise
Arrival at port Harwich
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Blog Archives
July 31, 2001 
Departure time has finally arrived! Gurudeva, Acharya Palaniswami, Acharya Ceyonswami, Sadhaka Rishithondunatha and Sadhaka Dandapani departed at 11:30 AM Kauai time, bound for San Francisco.
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Date: October_14_1998
Topic: Karma - What we Give, Returns
Category:
Duration: 10 min., 21 sec.
Date Given: October 14, 1998
October 14. Welcome to 'Today at Kauai Aadheenam', our electronic Ashram in cyberspace. We welcome you.
In our reception hall, the beautiful marble project continues.
Oh, from 'The Los Angeles Times', one of the largest newspapers in California, a journalist called and asked for the Hindu point of view on 'Forgiveness'. He is writing an article for the Templeton Fund project.
Also, Professor Kusumita Petersen contacted us through fax. She is doing an article on 'Loving Kindness' and this is for the loving kindness of all the religions of the world, for the World Council of Churches. The belief that makes some people and animals expendable; others are saved and should be saved; others can be killed and not even have a soul. Great exploration. Again, we are helping from the Hindu point of view.
'Merging with Siva' is progressing very nicely. Every day, I am reading on digital cassette, one or two or three, of the daily lessons. It will soon be available.
Remember, a few days ago, or a week or two ago, I mentioned the World Parliament of Religions? The international organization that had the fantastic conference in Chicago, is holding another one in South Africa. We talked to their representative, when she came here about the major belief that we have. If children are beaten in the home, if children are molested, if children are treated badly, put down verbally, emotionally, allowed to be in distress, then a New Age, a new life, a future for all the religions, is really, really doomed. Well, this was very difficult for her to accept. But, after a good lunch and more talking, she said, "I have come to terms with this." We received a very, very nice fax from her saying that, "Yes, we intend to make this the centerpiece of the World Parliament of Religions in 1999, in South Africa and we are going to discuss this thoroughly." We put her in touch with the EPOC organization and other organizations to strengthen and give her all of the pamphlets and knowledge necessary to make this happen.
For those of you who are contributing to building the Iraivan Temple, a beautiful place where the wish-fulfilling Siva Lingam, 700-pound crystal will reside, I wrote a little article about 'Begging'. We are all beggars on this Earth. A professional beggar is one who knows how to release money from people. We just have had several of our mathavasi monks, Yogis and Sadhakas, come back from India, where they experienced professional beggars. For instance, here is a little story.
Just as you are leaving the airport, you come across a little lady, who is too frail, uneducated, too sickly to ever find employment. At 80 years of age in India, who would employ anyone? You reach into your pocket and pull out some last remaining rupees that you might have. Then, you go through a dilemma. "Shall I give her Rs. 40? At this stage of her poverty, Rs. 40 would seem like $ 40 to her!" Actually, US $1 is worth Rs. 40. The dilemma continues. "Just 10? But, I do have to give something. Rs. 10?" That is about 20 cents, you know, in US currency. Then, your hand comes upon a 100-rupee note. It sort-of clings to your hand, and you look at it. Your superconscious mind, your still, small voice, your intuitive nature says to you, "That little old lady there, too frail, too sickly to get a job to support herself, too elderly, all her relatives have probably died or run off someplace .... That might just be me, in a future life." So you say, "What the hell, I will invest in the future." and you give it to her. She stashes it away, gives you a little knowing smile and looks right into your eyes. You remember this. You have invested into the future. You can give nothing away.
The lesson, today, is "We can give nothing away". It always comes back to us. Whatever it is. Gold, silver, money, kindness, unkindness. Whatever we give out physically, mentally, emotionally, will make that big, boomerang cycle and come back to us. We cannot avoid it.
The law of karma, which means action, has an equal and sometimes ever-building, effect, depending upon the emotion involved, the generosity involved in our giving. You cannot give anything away. I am giving to you. It is going to come back to me. I am investing in my future. You take my message and you give it to someone else. It is going to come back to you. You are investing in your future because you are improving life on planet Earth. We are all here to improve life on planet Earth. We are all here to help each other, love each other, take care of each other, not to ignore each other. There are no throw-away people.
I mean, even the Christian Big Book says, "Give and you shall receive." Why! Is that not the law of karma, right there? Buddhists say the same thing. We take it seriously and use that law of karma. It works better than Las Vegas. To win there, you have to own the casino. Life is a gamble, to be sure. We really don't know the next door where we are going to go through and what is going to happen once we get through it. We don't know about tomorrow. But, we do know about yesterday. What we do know is, what we give out, we are going to get back If you go into the next room tomorrow, you are going to get back what you gave out, and put it in that room, You decorated that room. You hung the chandeliers. You filled that room by positive or negative actions of the past. This is divine law. This was a law that was rejected, and is rejected, even today by the abrahamic religions. But, rejecting the law of gravity does not mean that the law of gravity does not exist. What you give out, you will get back.
If you are the person, who gave the 100-rupee note to that old lady, that was so frail, so sickly, that really was in need, you will have, returned Rs. 200, 300, 400 or even more, depending on the release of the gift.
Many people give and have strings attached. I mean, this is happening in our Hindu Temples. Right around the world, there are big givers, who give and expect to be honored, have a place in Management, manage their money. They are actually buying into the corporation and also, getting the credit of being a giver, a patron, a big donor. Well, that too has its problems because, you cannot do two things and get two benefits at the same time.
A true gift is no name attached. A true gift is a total release. A true gift is not an investment in building up our ego. It is an investment in the future of this life and the future of lives to come.
Well, I sat down here to talk with you in cyberspace and through our computers, we are communicating. I had no idea what I was going to say. This just started rolling out. I must be talking to someone out there, who needs to hear these words. Who are you? Communicate with me. Send an email. Let me know who you are, who needed to hear these words.
I will be seeing you in all of our familiar computers, here and there and around the world. About 18-20 different countries, are watching and participating in the daily activities of 'Today at Kauai Aadheenam', our electronic cyberspace Ashram.
See you tomorrow and that will be October 15.
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The entire mission team gathered this morning in the temple for a special homa to bless everyone before departure.
Natyam Tyaganatha had a very tall fire built for the auspicious occasion. Just as the Deity in the temple occasionally leaves the temple and goes on a parade and "comes out" to give darshan to the whole community, so it feels when Gurudeva departs. We feel the joy of all those who look forward to Satsang with Gurudeva and the monks.
Also traveling to London in a few days will be Sadhaka Mahadevan and Sadhaka Japendranatha who will be joining the team just for the Innersearch portion. So, there will be a team of seven total on board the ship.
Here is the entire Innersearch staff assembled in the temple.
Ed and Connie Vincent from Menlo Park, California. They're here on Kauai celebrating their 25th anniversary at Poipu Beach. Sai Baba devotees, they love the idea of Iraivan Temple. A friend in California gave them literature about the carving project. So they decided to come see for themselves.
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Blog Archives
July 30, 2001 
One day left before lift off to Europe. Gurudeva and team depart tomorrow for San Francisco.
Yogaswami says:
"What infinite varieties are seen as the Dance of the
One, whose gracious Feet be my unfailing Guide, Aum."
Natchintanai--264.
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Date: October_13_1998
Topic: Create Change and Thought
Category:
Duration: 10 min., 38 sec.
Date Given: October 13, 1998
Today at Kauai Aadheenam, October 13. By our Vedic calendar, Sun 1. We begin a 6-day phase. This means that we serve for 6 days and then we have a 2-day retreat.
We just finished a 2-day retreat reflecting on life that we live here, reflecting on the future and reflecting on the past. What we do in future, do we want to remember it in the past? Big question. That is why we always have to stop and reflect. We can't be too busy to include reflection upon the past and upon the future, in our agenda of living life here on planet Earth.
Today we had a beautiful homa fire, invoking God and the Gods, to help us create the foundation of the Iraivan Temple. We need to raise about $ 300,000 to have a one 24-hour day cement pour. It is going to take 24 hours for the cement to pour. Over 150 cement trucks will be coming and then we can stop putting temple stones soon after.
We attended the 'Future Fair' here at the Garden Island of Kauai. The people of Kauai are trying to, and are being successful in all parts of the island, in having an unified vision for the next 20 years. An unified vision of all the residents here.
Remember a few days ago, I mentioned that we were creating a big banner? It said, "One Island, Many Peoples, All Kauaians". Well, when you are a Texan, you live in Texas. When you are in Boston, you are a Bostonian. When you are in Kauai, you are a Kauaian. You share in the spirit of Aloha, which means loving, giving, and supporting, acknowledging all the fine qualities of life. It was a very successful event and the big banner was on the front page of ' The Garden Island' paper. We are very happy about that. A beautiful article written by Sue Dixon our fine editor, about we are all Kauaians and the reason why we live in a diverse community but, we are one, under one banner. We are all working for a sustainable future.
Well, we are improving one of our rooms, the room where we receive guests. Milan and Margaret Nezbeda have designed a beautiful marble floor. John Anderson and Wayne Field are experts at putting marble, creating a beautiful place to walk and sit. We will put a picture for you to see, when it is finished. It is really beautiful.
Yogi Tapodana and Markandeya Sendan arrived from India and are telling us many, many stories about their mission through Singapore, Malaysia, and through the southern part of India. Very happy to receive them back.
Now, the thought for today is 'Affirmation'. We often make affirmations that don't work out to our benefit. We say, "Oh, darn!" and "I'll be ..." the d-word, and all kinds of swear words. What we are doing when we do that, is programming our subconscious mind to create barriers and hindrances in our lives. Have you ever thought that something wonderful is really going to work out, all of a sudden falls through and does not work out at all? The subconscious mind is an obedient supercomputer that is performing its functions for you. If you say, "I'll be darned", then you are darned and things don't work out. If you say, "I will be the d-word," then obviously, you will get the d-word working in your life.
There are other 4-letter words that you can use. L-o-v-e. K-i-n-d. Love, kind. You can put positive affirmations into your subconscious mind.
I will be what I will to be.
I will do what I will to do.
Through the grace of God, life is going to be perfect tomorrow, the next day, every day after that, on to the future.
Think positively. Those positive thoughts take the substance, which this universe is made of, and bring it all together, to impress it in your subconscious mind. It actually can be seen in your aura by a psychic person. You become a new person, a brand new person. The 'love' word and the 'kind' word eliminate the "I'll be darned" and all the other naughty words. Erase them. They no longer exist because kindness, love and charity are all the wonderful qualities of powerful, moving energies. Whereas, hate and stopping and jealousies are negative energies and they don't move as fast. They just sit there, grinding away.
Thought is a very powerful thing. The computer that you are looking at now, is a product of thought. Somebody, somewhere had an impulsive vision. Then, that impulse turned into a pulse. The vision began to be more clear in their minds and parties of the various parts came together. They were inspired and they saw how they could help humanity. It became concentrated and finally, it manifested in what we are looking at today. Everyday, it improves. It gets faster and faster and faster. I wonder if it will ever get faster than the speed of light. Maybe, it will be like the newspaper, carried by the cat. We will see tomorrow in today's computer ... who knows? It is advancing so quickly and it is also helping us so much. The building that we are sitting in, that you are sitting in was once a thought. The impulse to pulse to creation to finally manifestation.
You are a creative being. Everybody living on the Earth is a creative being. We say poverty is a state of mind. Poverty is a state of mind. Change the state of mind, stop cursing yourself and cursing others, which is also yourself. You will be an uncursed person, able to go ahead and be successful in life. People who are wealthy control their desires. That is why they don't spend more than they have.
It all begins up there in the head. It is all controlled by the feelings of the heart. If we get lower in the anatomy, we don't know what is going to happen. In those parts below the heart, things get all mixed up, and confused. Things often, back up on us in ways we don't want, in ways we don't like, causing us to resent life and want to end it all. Suicide is not an option. In some countries, they have a death penalty. That is a joke! But, it is not an option.
There is a wonderful movie playing here on the Island of Kauai, about suicide, death, after-life, reincarnation. I forget the name of it .... 'What dreams may come'. Go, see it. The whole nation is understanding reincarnation, life after death.We are moving on very rapidly. Many people are preaching the end of the world, that it will happen next year. Let us hope so. The end of all the worst of the world, just leave the best. We will go on from there into a New Age. Remember, a New Age begins with harmony and peace in the home, raising your children without being afraid of the parents.
Well, we are kind of running out of time here. I will be seeing you in our very familiar place, looking at you. Positive affirmation, think about it. I love you, you love me. I love you, you love me. That is a good affirmation to say to people that you are a little edgy around, that haven't quite pleased you or maybe that teased you. Change the attitude by changing the belief.
We'll gather together tomorrow, cyberspace comrades. We'll be together tomorrow.
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The lovely Lalwani family came for a short stop at the monastery. Ashok (in the back on the left) has been viewing these TAKA pages regularly and had printed out the directions from our web site. The whole family was on a cruise ship that stopped at Kauai and they only had a short time to visit. It is wonderful to see a whole family together like this.
Left to Right: Kamala (Ashok's mother) Lalwani and sister Asha. Ashok and his wife Sangita and American born Manav, son of Ashok and Sangeeta ( and taller than both of them!) and the on the right, Situ, father of the clan. We invited them all to return for a pilgrimage one day.
Young newly weds Pratik and Sampurna came again today and attended the 9am Siva puja.
Sampurna and Pratik feel happy to have their union blessed at the temple and go home renewed and ready to start a family. Sampurna is a school teacher and looks forward to seeing some of our materials for children.
Brahmcharini Damara Shanmuga's in San Diego. A belated showing of this submission to TAKA: Damara's special seva is putting Gurudeva's teachings into braille for the blind. She sent us this little write up from Southern California:
"This is my oldest grand daughter, when she first learned to talk she informed us that her name is Vali Devi Shanmugan. She became be 8 years old on June 11. This picture was taken on April 9, 2001, in Uncle Sadhu's living room. It was his 55th birthday and our little Saivite family was all together for a special family home evening, Easan Sankara and his new bride were visiting San Diego on their homeymoon. This is the very first copy of Weaver's Wisdom, the Tirukural, in braille.
Aum Namasivaya!
Bri. Damara Shanmugan
Sadhaka Jivanandanatha, assistant managing editor for Hinduism Today and our official photographer, gets in front of the camera today. Here he is by the magnificent Maha Spatika Lingam in Kadavul Hindu Temple.
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Another stone ready to be laid into place.
All hands on deck as the stone is tilted over gently onto rollers. The silpis are striving for a "paper joint" which is thin enough not even to allow a post card to be fitted between the stones. Even so, they still use a grouting mix between the stones to fill the joints. In old days they used limestone paste, but today they use highly quality fine mortar. One primary purpose of the mortar is to fill all the spaces so that not a drop of moisture can seep between the stones. If that happens, mold and fungi begin to grow and the joints will "turn green."
Leveling and smoothing each stone may take several days. Pointed chisel and cross hatch head polishing chisels allow the silpis to creat a near perfect fit.
Gurudeva's spiritual center in the island country of Mauritius
in the Indian Ocean near South Africa
Mr. Biharical Naranji Kanak is a very close friend of the Spiritual
Park. He comes there regularly on weekends with his family to enjoy
the peaceful atmosphere pervading the place. Mr. Biharical manages a
big company that deals with jewelry. The Spiritual Park is very
thankful to him for generous donations he has been making to the park
in the past. He has particularly been inspired by the teaching circle
project in the midst of ebony and bamboo growth at the far end of
the park: project which is however, being reviewed.
Children like to accompany their parents at the park on weekends.
Other than running here and there on the lawns, they enjoy watching
the fish in the ponds and look at sailing boats in the blue lagoon.
Here are two nice friends who like to stay close to lord Ganesha
inside the Mandapam.
This wonderful family from Rose Hill comes to the park every month to
hand over humble donations they collect from friends and relatives to
support the maintenance of the park. Ashok Naiko on the left, works
in the Police Force whereas his father in law, in yellow, on the
right has been a sailor all his life. The whole family is practicing
Reiki.
The grey cats of the park are very charming creatures which enjoy the
presence of our visitors especially those who care for them. Here we
see little Sivarathna feeding them.
On the chilly and windy July 28th evening, (it is winter time on this side of the equator) Gurudeva's Mauritian sishyas gathered at the Saiva Dharmasala to enjoy the warm darshan of their Satguru. A nice peedam was set up in the Mandapam and the brahmacharis are here performing the pada puja.
Brahmachari Vel Mahalingum ceremoniously pouring water on the sacred Tiruvadi.
The Kularvana Tantra:
"Cherish the very sandals which hold his feet. All knowledge is founded on those Feet. Remember and cherish those feet which yield infinitely more merit than any number of observances, gifts, sacrifices, pilgrimages, mantras-japa and rituals of worship."
The ladies have their eyes concentrated on the Tiruvadi while the brahmacharis are chanting the sacred mantras.
At the peak moment of the ceremony, everyone stood up to chant the Guru mantra while Brahmachari was doing the arthi on the holy Tiruvadi. After this everyone prostrated at the Holy Tiruvadi while sishyas sang beautiful devotional songs.
Here are some of the sishyas quietly seated an enjoying the Guru's darshan while smoke from incense sticks is uplifting the atmosphere.
"At the root of meditation is the Guru,
At the root of puja are the
feet of the Guru.
At the root of mantra is the word of the Guru.
Atthe root of liberation is the grace of the Guru.
In this world all holy actions are rooted in the Guru.
Therefore is the Guru to be
served with devotion to fulfillment."
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12 Glorious Days, 8 Enchanting Countries and One Chance in a Lifetime! Imagine spending 12 days with one of the greatest spiritual leaders of this century. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami will be leading this exotic educational and spiritual voyage himself combining the mystical path of Indian spirituality with a superlative retreat from it all. Take advantage of this one chance to be in close proximity with a living master. Come with us on an inner and outer voyage to Northern Europe and Russia. www.innersearch.org
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Blog Archives
July 29, 2001 
Guirudeva answered questions posed by the monks today. One asked him about the creative process and how we can nurture this. Gurudeva responded that if the mind is clear, then the powers of creation will flow naturally. So, the task is to keep using the tools to make sure the vasanas don't build up within oneself and then block the flow. And, even if you don't use the tools, then you have another experience... observing how things build up, learning how it should not be... until you get down to work and start using the tools.
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Date: October_09_1998
Topic: Origin, Form, Unfoldment
Category:
Duration: 7 min., 41 sec.
Date Given: October 09, 1998
Today at Kauai Aadheenam, October 9. It is Friday, our time on the beautiful Garden Island of Kauai. Our pilgrim from Australia departed today, back to Australia. He will take our love and blessings to all the temples there. These are beautiful Tamil temples created by Sri Lankans who fled to Australia because of the war in their country. Really beautiful temples and he is taking our love back to all my devotees in Australia.
We had visitors from Hollywood. Other visitors from Japan, representing Japanese groups that are coming here in February, wondering if they would be welcome at Kauai's Hindu Monastery. Yes, of course! They are bringing 3 groups of about 60 people each, to take a beautiful nature walk and see the 700-pound, wish-fulfilling crystal Siva Lingam. Each one will make a wish and be given a beautiful strand of golden beads that have been on the crystal, absorbing its energy and power for quite some time.
Our little cat was hurt, must have gotten hit by a car or something. We have about 20 cats, here at Kauai Aadheenam, because in the sugarcane fields that surround us, there are about a million rats. Also, our cats, cows and birds tell us many things. We have to listen to their language. We do listen to their language. They tell us where negativity happens. Our Temple Gods are living on the astral plane. They also protect our Temple and our Monastery. The local people that have lived all their life on the island have seen them and approach the Kadavul Hindu Temple with great respect. We found the cat by writing a letter and burning it in the sacred fire to our most active and willing genie, who took us right to where the cat was, lost in our neighbor's field.
Those are the happenings at Kauai Aadheenam. Now, how about you? I have been reading 'Merging with Siva', to make a CD of the entire book. It will be about 26 CDs, total. 'Gurudeva's Talking Books' and we hope you will all have a copy. It is really beautiful, it is really inspiring. It tells how the soul is a lotus flower.
Where did a lotus flower come from? I gave this talk to a group of devotees about 45 years ago. The lotus flower comes from the mud. It is a seed. It is in the mud. But, that seed, like your soul is in tune with the ever-present life-force of the entire Universe, the light emanating immanently out from Lord Siva. It bursts open, becomes roots, becomes a stem and is conscious of the water. Rising above the water it becomes leaves, conscious of the air and the sunlight. The sunlight nourishes from above and the mud nourishes from below. Does that not sound like your life? Certainly that is life on this planet.
We are nourished from above, sometimes all too rarely. Nourished from below, sometimes most of the time. Below is the instinctive mind. Water represents intellectual mind. Sunlight, of course, is God-consciousness, superconsciousness, the Divine Self. Then, the bud appears, rising above the water, opens into a beautiful flower. You are on the spiritual path and as consciousness expands, the kundalini flows up imperceptibly through the stem. Consciousness expands.
I am really amazed at how many institutions of kundalini experiences there are in today's world. I mean, we should have hundreds and hundreds of jnanis, of people getting their message from the inside. We should have a better world. We should be listening to them. They should be making differences and changes in every community where they live, because when the kundalini is awake and active, it expands consciousness. Expanded consciousness makes a difference within lower consciousness. Makes sense. The lotus flower comes out of the mud, therefore understands the mud. The stem understands the water and the currents of the water. The leaves absorbing the rays of the sun understand life, and all this supports the bud. As the flower opens, great intelligence comes. Intelligence that does not come from other people's opinions or from books. A knowing, and a dynamic, shall we say, soul qualities.
So, we are looking at these kundalini institutes and their professors and seeing if they are getting results. Are they getting results? Is the kundalini being nurtured in the right way, planted in the right kind of mud. the right kind of water, the right kind of sunshine, with no trees shading it out?
Are we on the spiritual path? Are we on the religious path of the Sanatana Dharma? Of course, we are. This is spiritual unfoldment. This is the life that you keep coming back and back and back into flesh. Reincarnation, re-entering flesh. Don't ask me why this happens?!! It just happens, until there is such a time when it does not happen anymore, until such a time when we are free and can exist in states of consciousness without drawing energy from the mud, without drawing energy from the water, without drawing energy from the sun. A time when we exist by being the sun itself.
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A newly wed couple from New Jersey came to Kauai five days after their wedding. Gurudeva blessed them both: Mr. and Mrs. Pratik and Sampurna Rawal. Sampurna has been in the US for 20 years and she has been a long time reader of Hinduism Today and her parents are subscribers and she has been reading the magazine at home for a long time. Pratik, who has been in the US for five years, felt quite one with us as he declared himself of the "Shiv Panth" which is to say, a Saivite, a worship of Shiva. The received Gurudeva's shawl of "reconciliation" which they must use whenever there is any disharmony... to sit on that shawl together and reconcile everything and not get up until they do.
The publications offices are a bee hive of activity as excitement builds with the departure date of Innersearch approaching. Here monks are preparing the fantastic study guide packets for each of the participants.
Each study guide includes a CD with Sanskrit chants for practice. Everything has been personalized, luggage tags, press passes, temple cards and more. Several months of work is gradually finding its way into boxes and suitcases bound for the England, the point of departure.
Saravananathswami shows our guests around this morning, taking them to the temple site to view the progress on Iraivan.
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Course number three is underway now as the silpis work steadily and patiently. Stone is not a media that one can "whip into shape" but something that requires consistent, diligent attention over a long period of time, much like the work we must do on ourselves every day.
The task here is fitting the stone, smoothing the surfaces to get as fine a joint as possible.
Here a small section on the edge needs to be removed and an inset prepared where another stone will come into contact.
"chink, chink, chink" is all you hear, and gentle murmur of Sthapati guiding his team along quietly and steadily.
The famed "bhuta" stones...depicting the playful earth spirits upholding the temple at the base. The site already has a great power building within it.
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12 Glorious Days, 8 Enchanting Countries and One Chance in a Lifetime! Imagine spending 12 days with one of the greatest spiritual leaders of this century. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami will be leading this exotic educational and spiritual voyage himself combining the mystical path of Indian spirituality with a superlative retreat from it all. Take advantage of this one chance to be in close proximity with a living master. Come with us on an inner and outer voyage to Northern Europe and Russia. www.innersearch.org
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Blog Archives
July 28, 2001 
Gurudeva spoke to the monks this morning in his early morning discourse that follows our meditation:
"We can see now, in the course of the unfoldment of Innersearch, the structure of the Shum language. In the 14th dimension, there is the impulse, then comes the pulse, then creation, manifestation and finally the experience. You can see how we have worked with it, from the first idea, to continuous effort and today we see the Innersearch study guide, but we are not there yet. Not until we are actually on the boat, and people are there, having left their jobs, cut off from their former lives, detached themselves to go on this trip and we sit and do our first inner work...then we will be experiencing, Innersearch. Now a lot of people have an impulse and a pulse and then they bring the idea down into the realm of creation, but then they stop. It takes a lot of tenacity, like you all have, to work and bring something into manifestation."
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Date: October_08_1998
Topic: Rising in High Love
Category:
Duration: 9 min., 46 sec.
Date Given: October 08, 1998
Today at Kauai Aadheenam, it is October 8. Well, we have a wonderful pilgrim here. A Sri Lankan devotee, retired, who has a pilgrimage route. Once a year, he takes a 5-week pilgrimage, alternating the halves of the planet. First half, he goes around all the gorgeous, fantastic and huge South Indian Tamil temples. Then, the next year he visits the Tamil temples through Europe, some of our temples in Germany, throughout the United States and visits us here at Kauai Aadheenam. This is his third visit here and we always look forward to seeing him. He is very uplifting.
Of course, a pilgrim carries the Spirit of God with him. It is easier to see God in a pilgrim than in anyone else. You don't have to look very hard.
Well, our mathavasis, our swamis, our monks have flown now, from India to Malaysia. They are in Sungai Petani, near Penang. They will be there for several days and then, two will return here. Paramacharya Bodhinatha and Brahmachari Nilakantha Devan will fly to the beautiful Garden Island of Mauritius, where we have just finished building the Mahaganapathy Mandapam. That is a very big, almost 3-storey building, a meeting hall for lectures, singing, dancing for the people of the country of Mauritius. They have raised nearly 3 million rupees, that is a lot there, to build this beautiful edifice in our Spiritual Park, in about 11 acres of land, where the river meets the ocean. Beautiful place for rest, spirituality and quiet, for all the religions of the country.
Well, we began on a momentous task of creating 26 CDs, of the 365 daily lessons of 'Merging with Siva'. What a task! We have already finished about 25 of them and we are on our way to completion. This is a new series of CDs called, 'Gurudeva's Talking Books'. This means you can play the CD and also read the book at the same time. Voice is very important because voice and energy, which is prana, conveys meaning. We can look at the pages of the book and everyone understands sentences and words differently, one from another. But, hearing the voice, you tune in to the akasa. The inner space is something like cyberspace, where the experience that produced the words in the first place is recorded. There is a oneness that is developed. Your own superconsciousness, your innate intelligence, your intuition therefore, draws on that original experience that is being explained in these 365 daily lessons.
You know, schools these days are thinking about going into cold teaching. Put the child in front of the computer and let the computer become the teacher. What kind of a person will that produce? Well, we have yet to find out. Warm teaching is verbal teaching, conveying knowledge from person to person, teacher to pupil. Intelligence is conveyed from one human being to another human being. It triggers off an intelligence within that person he is, hopefully, teaching.
We want to talk a little bit about love to all of you in cyberspace. There are 2 kinds of love, high love and low love. Love of God, love of people, is high love. Love which forms attachment is low love. It brings hurt, brings pain, stimulates emotions, stimulates the physical body. But, it is not lasting. It should not be called love. Many people have said and have heard it said that they have fallen in love. In 51 years of my ministry, I have never heard anyone say, "I have risen in love." Maybe they have risen in love and sustained that relationship for a lifetime. I know many, many married couples, who celebrate their 40th and 50th wedding anniversaries.
Just think about it. If you fall in love, what falls? Everything falls - thoughts, feelings, emotions. If you rise in love, everything rises - thoughts, feelings and emotions. So, be careful. Watch your thoughts, feelings and emotions. To really know a person, to really love that person, that person has to have the same thoughts, the same feelings, the same emotions, the same interest, the same hobbies as yourself, preferably the same religion. Oh, absolutely, the same religion. Otherwise, there is nothing in common. Religion comes into play and becomes an issue especially, when the first children are born."How shall we raise the baby?" Then, the battle begins, with parents on both sides saying, "It has to be my religion." The tussle begins. Then, they say, "Well, we are going to let our child choose his own religion, when he grows up." That means, he does not have a religion till he grows up. Growing up is one of the major emphasis of every religion in the world, to guide somebody to grow up properly.
I had the pleasure once, in Trinidad, Tobago, of talking to the Head of the School System. He said, "Without religion in the schools, without morals in the schools, we are raising educated criminals." What is religion? Many people these days pooh-pooh religion. Religion is a repetition of the law of how to live a good life. A good life brings success, lasting happiness, faith, joy, and all the wonderful qualities and gifts that life has to offer. Let us not look askance at religion.Whatever the religion might be, it is worthwhile.
Think about love. High love or low love? Either go up or down. No sideways, no forward or back. It is either up or down. High love is the blending of emotions, thoughts and feelings. Low love is only carnal. Maybe it doesn't start out that way, but it ends that way because the thoughts don't blend. Maybe the feelings did once. But, only when the thought blends and the interest blends, is it lasting.
Well, we don't know how we got into that subject. I think I am talking to somebody out there in cyberspace. The numbers on our cyberspace counting machine are increasing, in listening to 'Today at Kauai Aadheenam'. We are always very happy to meet and greet you.
Pass this information on to your children. This is good, solid information. If you say, "Oh ... my children aren't interested. They won't listen", pass it on anyway. Even though they are not listening, they are hearing. It goes into their subconscious mind. You are planting seeds and it will mature, in the years to come.
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Our Guru Purnima festival is over and the entire publications teams is all focused on preparations for the Innersearch. Packing, gathering supplies, getting equipment together, study guides, literature, cards for distribution and banners. And intense focus on final travel arrangements. Four monastics will depart with Gurudeva on Tuesday, and two more will leave 10 days later.
Meanwhile Sadhu Paksha begins in a few days, so our monastery will be going into a inner time... while Gurudeva is away on Innersearch all the monks will work deep inside themselves to keep up a strong inner vibration that will support and uplift the "away team."
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12 Glorious Days, 8 Enchanting Countries and One Chance in a Lifetime! Imagine spending 12 days with one of the greatest spiritual leaders of this century. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami will be leading this exotic educational and spiritual voyage himself combining the mystical path of Indian spirituality with a superlative retreat from it all. Take advantage of this one chance to be in close proximity with a living master. Come with us on an inner and outer voyage to Northern Europe and Russia. www.innersearch.org
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Blog Archives
July 25, 2001 
As ever, Guru Purnima always feels like the most blissful day of Satsang that one ever had in life. Here Gurudeva gives Swami Bua Maharaj a big hug after the Guru Pada Puja.
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Date: October_03_1998
Topic: Sadhana, Fearlessness
Category:
Duration: 7 min., 50 sec.
Date Given: October 03, 1998
Today at Kauai Aadheenam, on October 3.
Today, we talked with our Mauritius Monastery. They are doing really well. The beautiful Panchamukha Ganapathy Mandapam, which means 'Meditation Hall', has been completed. A gigantic fund-raising program of 3 million rupees is still going on. People are coming by, dropping off money that they have collected for the Spiritual Park, open from 6 in the morning until 6 in the evening, 7 days a week, for the people of the beautiful island of Mauritius.
Today has been a very interesting day. We helped our county, with a 40-million dollar application to the Federal Government, by doing some color work for them. We inaugurated the Coconut Money Tree program of which every member of our fellowship will have a personal endowment. Today, we are designing as our gift to the county of Kauai, banners and bumper stickers, which will appear at the 'Future Fair' on October 10. This is our service to the beautiful island upon which we live and thrive and have lived for over 30 years. Our island people are one family. We make no differences. We are all Kauaians.
Have you ever made a list of your fears? Everybody has fears and they are alone with their fears in their private moments. Write down your fears. What you fear might happen. Or, what you fear that did happen might happen again. Write them down. Most people have 2, 3 or 4 cherished fears, which hold them down in consciousness. These forebodings of the future, these forebodings of the present are a result of not analyzing the fears. Write them down. Look at them and ask yourself, "Are these private fears? Are these self-created fears? Are they real fears?"
Like, standing on the edge of a very tall building and looking down at the traffic - that is a very real fear. Swimming out in the ocean that is known for strong currents that will pull you out - that is a very realistic fear. But, fearing that you might come home and your house has been burnt down or you might go out and have an automobile accident or that your child might get run over by a car or get beat up by an emotional teacher in school - these fears can be handled and dealt with. You are the only one who can do that.
Often we bring what we fear upon us, because we create in our mind whatever we think. Our mind creates, it is a great creative computer. We are using that prana within the mind and we are creating. We are constantly creating, with every thought, with every fear that we have, with every action that we make, we are creating. So, what you fear, you may bring upon yourself.
Reverse the process. You have written down your fears. Underline those which are realistic. Cross out those which are not realistic. This and only this you can do, in your private moments. What do you want to create? Write a positive statement on top of every fear that you have crossed out. A positive statement. You will be creating the positive, instead of the negative. Only you can do this. Nobody can.
Therefore, when you have successfully done this, you will close off the fear chakra. For those of you who understand the chakras, that is the chakra way below the muladhara. It contains fear and all the apprehensions. That is why competitive sports is not good to participate in, because it keeps the fear chakra churning. For those who understand these things, mystically inclined people, the fear chakra spins in the opposite direction than the memory chakra just above it, the muladhara. You can tear yourself apart with your fears.
So now, we have a sadhana to do. I would suggest that if we do have fears, click the button and click it again and listen to me all over again, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 times and you will have a much better life.
Those of you, who have no fear, the fearless ones out there in cyberspace, pass this knowledge on to others. It's yours for the using.
Well, I am seeing you
in our familiar place
our cyberspace
through the internet highways
in this beautiful, beautiful day
October 3, Sun 4 here at Kauai Aadheenam and it is a Saturday. I will always think of you. Your beautiful faces, Indivar, Deva, Gayatri, Jiva and all the silpis are here today. Danabalan, Appasami and all the many others. I am having your darshan. Oh, there is Sadhunathan and the Dandapanis. Everyone is coming in and tuning in. This is so wonderful. I see Siva in you, because God's energy in you is the energy that moves your body, propels your thoughts. It comes right from God. I am seeing God. Many faces, through cyberspace.
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Events began early in the morning at 6:00 am as pilgrims gather on the San Marga path. Everyone had the wonderful experience of climbing to the top of Muruga Hill, where one gets a great mountaintop view of San Marga.
Swami Bua was carried on a palanquin at the head of the parade down the path.
A special requirement of all the bearers was, to be of the same height. Our silpis joined in the process.
Playing at the head of the parade, the tavil and nadaswaram musicians brought a great energy to the parade.
Gurudeva was high up on a chariot pulled by the devotees.
The traditional Guru puja was performed. It is always a magical rite, honoring the Self, the Atman in the form of the Preceptor, offering your love to the one who has sacrificed his life to help others, realizing the living point of contact of Lord Siva through the Sat Guru, all of which mystically affirms the Divine Self within OneSelf. One cannot help but feel the kundalini come alive in this very personal, but very powerful affirmation of the Spiritual Being of man.
Everyone watches silently, our musicians played vigorously throughout.
To the side, the monks chant Sri Rudram and a simple homa fire is kept burning, other monks go deep into meditation.
The sacred feet of the Preceptor, covered with Holy Ashes.
And worshipped with the Arati Light! Jai Gurudeva!
Then the water from the Kumbha is poured over the feet.
Skandanathaswami performs the homa and leads the Sanskrit chanting.
Throughout the ceremony, Gurudeva is centered deep within and a powerful darshan and shakti permeates the atmosphere.
Everyone comes forward to prostrate and receive blessings of the holy ash.
Swami Bua also blesses each one.
After the puja, time for photos. Here are our two musicians from Canada with Gurudeva. Watch for the amazing story in Hinduism Today of these two men and their work to maintain the culture of temple music through a new organization in Canada.
Thambynathan Girish Samugam... his last day at the Aadheenam.
Gurudeva with the ever amazing, 112 year old Swami Bua Maharaj
Gurudeva and Swami Bua drive off back to the Aadheenam.
The morning's events continues with garbha dancing by the ladies.
Our musicians performed a "formal" concert for the crowd.
Muruganathswami presents the duo with Dakshina. The tavil (drummer) player is one of the best in the world.
Remarkably in tune with us, the local Thai community, not knowing about the importance of today, had asked to feed the monks today: a boon for our devotees and monks who would otherwise have a big meal to cook. These Thai Buddhists take great pride in feeding the monastics and feel that they accrue merit through this loving service.
A traditional Thai offering to the spirits, and incredible piece of handiwork of leaves and flowers.
And they always bring this array of offerings to the temple. Our 2001 Guru Purnima celebrations closed with a joyous feeling of bhakti and satsang among all.
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12 Glorious Days, 8 Enchanting Countries and One Chance in a Lifetime! Imagine spending 12 days with one of the greatest spiritual leaders of this century. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami will be leading this exotic educational and spiritual voyage himself combining the mystical path of Indian spirituality with a superlative retreat from it all. Take advantage of this one chance to be in close proximity with a living master. Come with us on an inner and outer voyage to Northern Europe and Russia. www.innersearch.org
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Blog Archives
July 24, 2001 
Today Gurudeva answered Cyber Cadet questions from around the world and we had a short address from Swami Buaji Maharaj. All come forward for blessings at the end, with vibhuti being given by both sages. Today's questions from Cyber Cadets gave testimony to the wide audience this daily page has around the world with one question from a young Indian man in the Netherlands, inquiring about the high EEE sound of the Nada and a 17-year-old girl from Australia making the proverbial and ever relevant query about praying to God "Is it OK to pray for things we want?" Stay tuned for Gurudeva's answers which we hope to be putting up soon. FYI... our internet connection was temporarily reduced to a 56K modem connection at the same time our sound department was diverted to Innersearch preparations. We hope to have a DSL line by next week and an audio editor will be back in the saddle, so again, stay tuned.
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Date: October_02_1998
Topic: Listen to Your Soul
Category:
Duration: 7 min., 1 sec.
Date Given: October 02, 1998
Today at Kauai Aadheenam, October 2. It was a wonderful day at our Bangalore Temple site, where we are carving the Iraivan Temple, completely out of stone, in the old traditional way. Today is a very sacred day when the silpis bless their tools. Silpis are stone carvers and that is the traditional name of their 'jati'. Thousands and thousands of chisels, each lasting 3 or 4 minutes, and then it has to be sharpened again, in the ancient way on a fire.
We are reviving the art of the traditional stone-carvers of India. Actually it is a training school for the young aspirants to come forward and learn. First, how to chip a stone, and in later years, how to carve a flower, then a deity and then a face. It is really a wonderful place. If you are ever in Bangalore, visit. Jiva Rajasankara, his wife, Kanmani and sons, Senthilathiban and Thuraisingam are all there a hundred percent, with all of the silpi carvers, over 75 now. Many have been with us for 7 years, working consistently, a puja every morning, meditation in the evening. It is a veritable ashram. We are so happy with what we are doing.
We are talking right to you, Jiva and Kanmani, right to you. Your celebration included a magic show! A long, long, long applause to Jiva and Kanmani, as to the wonderful work that they are doing, the kindness that they are showing to the workers. We have the first plan in India, for a retirement program and of course, we take care of all the nominal hospital needs and much of the food.
We want to tell you, group of silpis, that we are so proud of what you are doing. We are talking to you, through cyberspace from Kauai Aadheenam to the Bangalore Gallery, where you are scattered around our very small computer there. We hope someone will donate a bigger one. That is a request. We are all beggars here, begging to complete this magnificent project of the Iraivan Temple. The wish-fulfilling Siva Lingam is within it and everybody is blessed. Nobody is denied a blessing.
Have you ever felt that you needed to say, "I am sorry"? Have you ever felt that you needed to say, "I am sorry"? Have you ever felt that you really needed to say, "I am sorry" and were too proud to say, "I am sorry."? Too bashful to say, "I am sorry."? Too resentful to say, "I am sorry"? Yet, you knew you had to say, "I am sorry"? Maybe you said it mentally, but you never let anybody know. Well, you are all bottled up on the inside. Your soul was saying, "Say I am sorry. Settle the matter." You knew you were wrong.
Humble yourself. Humility is a great quality of the soul. Humility is a strength of the soul. Humility is really a siddhi, a power. Our Hindu scriptures say that the wheat and the rice stand tall. But, as the grains develop on the top, the head bows down. It hangs its head, because it is so heavy with nutritious grains. So do the wise bow their head, so heavy with the knowledge of the Sanatana Dharma.
I want you to do something today, if you have been coming to the Aadheenam, our Ashram, at least 3 times, through cyberspace. I want you to go to someone and say, "I am sorry. I made a mistake. I hurt your feelings. I really love you and I didn't mean to do it." Speak to them, speak to their soul. Not to their body, not to their mind, not to their emotions, speak to their soul. As your soul is speaking to their soul, you both move forward in your karma so fast. Say "I am sorry." Don't be too proud. Don't be too shy. Don't ignore those inner feelings of your soul. The still, small voice within you knows what is right. Make that still, small voice loud. Listen to it. It is your soul talking to your intellect, trying to remove all your ignorance.
Well, I will be seeing you tomorrow in our familiar place, looking at our computer screen, PC or Macintosh. We will be together. We like it this way.
This is the sadhana of today. If you don't fulfill it, I will be sorry. You don't want to make me unhappy, do you? So, let your soul shine forth. Make a big advancement in your life. I want you to break through the hard crust of the ego, want you to break through the shyness of the ego. Shyness is only an excuse. You will be able to allow your soul to guide your life and that is called spiritual living.
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It was another auspicious homa. Young Girish Samugam (short, in the middle) is nearing end of his stay and will be going back to Singapore to re-enter the world of public school and young peers. He's a bit sad to leave the loving care and ever uplifting environment the monks have created here, but it's time for him to "face the world," as it were and become a young man, stand on his own two feet and think about his life on his own. Later, he will make the decision to be a monastic or get married, from the platform of his own heart without the influence of the monastery all around him. Whatever happens he will have received a great training as a boy that will help him on any path he chooses.
Another young couple just recently married: Toshadeva and Carol Guhan from Catalina Island.
Today we had a very long puja in the temple with a special Nadeswaram and Tavil concert which was followed by the annual "Ganapati Kulam" presentation where pilgrims have the opportunity for a close up look at our international publications operations. Acharya Palaniswami introduces the group in our small editorial building under the mango tree.
Manish Damani and his wife Rashmi and Nissa Damani were also on the tour. Milan Damani, Manish's brother couldn't make it today. Manisha and Milan were born in the US and both their wives are from India. These young couples are the future "breed" of Hindus, struggling to find their way in the cultural plurality into which their destiny has brought them. We felt a special affinity for Manish and Milan, being American Hindus. Sivakatirswami and Sadhaka Dandapani show them around.
Natarajanathaswami introduces everyone to the art work and the process by which we work closely with artists in Chennai and Bali to produce finished pieces that eventually go to press in our magazine, books or will be carved on the Iraivan temple pillars.
Everyone is quite amazed at all the work and activity that is going on around the world that is being coordinated from this small building in the middle of the Pacific. With correspondents all over the world contributing to Hinduism Today, art being designed here and then completed in India, books being printed in the Ukraine, New Delhi, Malaysia, ten people in different locations helping with various aspects of our web sites... and dozens of small projects such as sending photos to the National Wildlife Federation, writing up editorial pieces about the temple for local magazines... you would never know it was all going on if you looked from outside.
A final shot of a very happy group. Ravichandran from Johor Bahru left from the presentations saying:
"It is really incredible what you are all doing for Hinduism and the world from here. I am going back to Malaysia and will tell everyone what you are doing and get them to support this work!"
Gurudeva's spiritual center in the island country of Mauritius
in the Indian Ocean near South Africa
Vanessa Maistry and her friend carefully planned a one day retreat and chose the Spiritual Park to hold it. She later emailed us to share her feelings:
" It is a great pleasure to know that in our small island of Mauritius we have such wonderful places....I thank you a lot . We had a nice retreat . We enjoyed our day's work and we hope that we will be back for a next visit soon.....I would like to thank the whole group which is engaged in the maintenance of this Spiritual Park. On behalf of the Eau Coul�e Sai Centre, we wish you all good luck in the work you have been engaged in.
Thank you. Sai Ram
Vanessa."
The participants of the Eau Coul�e Sai Centre are attentively listening to instructions regarding their day's work. The favorite spot for seminars is always in the mango groves because of its refreshing shade and the beautiful sea view in the background. Other spots of natural beauty exist on the park. The next photo speaks of itself.
Visitors can also enjoy the shades in the newly coming up pine forests at the park. This is one of the rare spots in the island where one can see "bengali" birds during the day. These small brownish grey colored beautiful birds are not seen so much now in Mauritius. They like nature and do not usually breed in highly active human settlements. Your kids would enjoy them... Many scriptures in Hinduism associate birds to lovely devas, divine beings that hover in the atmosphere.
A group of ladies of the local Marathi community led by Mrs. Vidula Babajee, of Coromandel, dropped at the park and were fascinated at the keralan architecture of the Ganesha Mandapam. They wanted to know more about Lord Ganesha and our host read them many answers to their questions from the the very informative and instructive book, Loving Ganesha, which is also on sale at the Mandapam.
Another dynamic youth, Sailendra Lochan of Quatre Bornes brought a bus full of Sai devotees to the park one Sunday evening. They sang such beautiful bhajans at the Ganesha Mandapam that one would have imagined being on a great festival day there.
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12 Glorious Days, 8 Enchanting Countries and One Chance in a Lifetime! Imagine spending 12 days with one of the greatest spiritual leaders of this century. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami will be leading this exotic educational and spiritual voyage himself combining the mystical path of Indian spirituality with a superlative retreat from it all. Take advantage of this one chance to be in close proximity with a living master. Come with us on an inner and outer voyage to Northern Europe and Russia. www.innersearch.org
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Blog Archives
July 23, 2001 
Guru Purnima 2001, Day Three:
The day began with our regular homa and satsang afterward. But today we were graced by the presence of the venerable Sri Sri Swami Bua Maharaj. Swami has been coming to our Guru Purnima celebrations three years in a row. Reputed to be 111 years old or more, Swami has perfect eye sight, a bright wit and sharp mind. One of the world's foremost exponents of Hatha Yoga, and a living example of that great Hindu science, Swami continues to travel to South America and give talks and lectures. Today he brought with him his endorsement of the new book by Gurudeva, called Living with Siva, which he has painstaking written and edited and placed in a beautiful folder. We will share with you excerpts from his endorsement tomorrow.
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Swami presented Gurudeva also with a plaque, praising him in Tamil.
After our big "party" yesterday, the vibration today was one of quiet bliss as all the close devotees and monks were together for homa and a day of rest and tranquility after having done a lot of work. The vibration of the temple was one of deep meditation during the worship.
We are taking you back to yesterday to fill in the story of our "open house." events... here is the big tent put up just adjacent to Iraivan Temple that held about 380 people for the presentations of the day.
The Honorable Mayor Maryanne Kusaka performed the traditional lighting of the lamp that inaugurates Hindu gatherings.
The main feature of the morning was Gurudeva's presentation to the island of Kauai specially carved signs in red granite of the themes from the past few years of "vision work" that island leaders have been focusing on.
These are small representations of the giant stone signs Gurudeva had commissioned in India.
This is red granite, highly polished with the wonderful slogan:
"One Island, Many Peoples, All Kauaians"
Another one says, "Aloha, it's Kauai's Spirit."
Guests of honor today included our own silpis. Sadhaka Thondunatha explains to the crowd about their great tradition and the building of the Iraivan temple.
We are reminded of days of yore when the Rishis and Maharaja's worked together to maintain a dharmic society.
After the formal presentations came dance performances by Neesha Alahan.
And Shatrini, a young lady from Canada, also performed. She had flown all night, just arrived and still wanted to dance. It also happened to be her birthday, so Gurudeva honored her with a shawl and everyone sang "happy birthday". In the back is a lovely batik of Lord Nataraja, made in Chennai, India.
Our silpis had brought stones to the podium and the guests were given the opportunity to chip them and thus, be a small part of building the temple. Our Honorable Mayor tries her hand at the art as Shanmuga Sthapati looks on in amusement.
Everyone got a chance and this young man really got inspired!
Afterward we had the joyful honor of feeding everyone. Here is our former mayor, Joanne Yukimura. Our family members, Chinnu from India and our monks had over 27 different items in the line up. We estimated that probably another 50 guests came late, just for lunch and we think we may have fed nearly 500 people.
As people were waiting in line to receive their lunch, we had a preview showing under our big banyan tree of the documentary movie "San Marga" that was filmed in March by Martine Thom and her crew of the "White Turtle Productions" from Vancouver, Canada. The movie is still in the editing stages, but is a lovely presentation of our monastic life which the guest enjoyed while waiting. The final cut will be ready in a month or so.
Vadai, several rice dishes, curries, chapatis, idli, two kinds of coconut chutneys, dahl, five different pickles from hot to salty to sweet, papadams, yogurt. . . the warning was "don't ask for too much at the beginning!"
It was a joyful finale to a very happy day with the feeling of "island family," permeating the crowd.
Moving on.... today's events comprised outings for the group. Everyone, including our silpis, went on the famous "Smith's Boat Ride to Fern Grotto" on the Wailua River.
We all became the proverbial tourists bound for that magical place up the river.
Our silpis are feeling really overjoyed as they are having one amazing experience after another here on our little island of Kauai. In India, as stone workers their social status is that of "mere labourer" while senior architects receive all the attention and respect. Suddenly these humble men find themselves looked up to as "master craftswmen from India" which indeed they are!
The famed Fern Grotto consists of an ancient indentation in the face of a hill with heavy fern growth and the last falls of the Wailua River, just before it widens and flows out to the sea.
Here, one can go inside the "cave" like area as the river flows over you, out in front. It is an important tourist attraction for our small island and a favorite wedding spot for those who like to "tie the knot" in Hawaii.
One of our pilgrims generously sponsored a lunch at Panda Gardens restaurant for everyone. It was the first time for some using chopsticks, which brought some humorous moments with our silpis. A well deserved time of relaxation and fellowship for this small band of Siva Thondars!
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12 Glorious Days, 8 Enchanting Countries and One Chance in a Lifetime! Imagine spending 12 days with one of the greatest spiritual leaders of this century. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami will be leading this exotic educational and spiritual voyage himself combining the mystical path of Indian spirituality with a superlative retreat from it all. Take advantage of this one chance to be in close proximity with a living master. Come with us on an inner and outer voyage to Northern Europe and Russia. www.innersearch.org
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