Taka Archives

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives his weekly upadesha in Kadavul Temple at Kauai’s Hindu Monastery in Hawaii. It is part of a series of talks elaborating on the inspired teachings of Satguru Śivaya Subramuniyaswami as found in his book Merging With Śiva.

"The study of awareness is a great study. “I am aware.” The key to this entire study is the discovery of who or what is the “I am.” It is the key to the totality of your progress on the path of enlightenment. What is awareness? As you open your physical eyes, what is it that is aware of what you see? When you look within, deep within, and feel energy, you almost begin to see energy. A little more perception comes, and you do actually see energy, as clearly as you see chairs and tables with your physical eyes open."

One of the requirements for our monastic aspirants is to learn the Saiva Atmartha Puja and then, soon before taking his first monastic vows, perform it in front of all the monks. This puja is learned by all of our Saiva Siddhanta Church formal sishyas.

After taking monastic vows, Brahmachari Shankara will learn the parartha puja, "worship for the benefit of others", that is performed in temples.

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Aum Namah Shivaya

Today the moon resides in the Krittika Nakshatra, one of 27 lunar mansions in our Vedic sky. Krittika nakshatra, also known as the "Star of Fire," is represented by a group of seven stars known as the Pleiades and spans across the zodiac sign of Aries Taurus. Symbolized by a razor or a flame, Krittika is associated with determination, courage, and transformation. This nakshatra is ruled by the Sun and is considered auspicious for activities like initiation, starting new ventures, and personal growth. Lord Siva is sometimes known as "Krittivasan," which means "the one who resides in Krittika." This name signifies His connection to the Krittika nakshatra.

This nakshatra is significant for Iraivan Temple, and thus we hold a special homa each month on this day.

"God is with us always, even when we are unaware of that holy presence. He is His creation. It is an extension of Himself; and God is never apart from it nor limited by it." - Gurudeva

\"Do you know that the ability to live right now, in the instant, is a spiritual power, reflecting the awakening of the soul and requiring a subconscious control of the mind?\" - Gurudeva

\"Life is meant to be lived joyously. There is in much of the world the belief that life is a burden, a feeling of penitence, that it is good to suffer, good for the soul. In fact, spiritual life is not that way at all.\"

\"Self Realization is finding That which is beyond even superconsciousness itself, beyond the mindtimeless, causeless, spaceless.\"

\"The guru helps the devotee to hold his mind in focus, to become pointedly conscious of thought, word and deed, and to cognize the lessons of each experience.\"

\"Yes, willpower is the key, the must, the most needed faculty for spiritual unfoldment on this path. Work hard, strive to accomplish, strengthen the will by using the will.\"

\"The inner light is so beautiful. It is firm, like a plasma. It is sometimes fibrous and full of energy. And yet, it is quiet and full of colors.\"

\"To know yourself is why you are on Earth. You were born to realize the Self. You are not here to make money, to clothe yourself or to entertain yourself. These are incidentals.\"

\"The inner worship is to enjoy God\

s presence and not rush away, to stay, to sit, to meditate awhile and bask in the shakti, endeavoring to realize the Self within.\"'

\"Examine the word \

I\' and honestly see what it means to you.\"'

\"In a relaxed state, happiness is found, and the qualities of the soul shine forth. Selfish, greedy people are tense, concerned, often inhibited. Tension breeds negative thinking.\"

\"To all Hindus, who today are found in every country on the Earth, I say: Courage! Courage! Courage! Have the courage to know beyond a doubt that Hinduism is the greatest religion in the world.\"

\"Performing daily sdhana, keeping good company, pilgrimaging to holy places, seeing to others\

needs--these evoke the higher energies, direct the mind to useful thoughts and avoid the creation of troublesome new karmas.\"'

\"Hinduism has no founder. It was never founded. It has neither a beginning nor an end. It is coexistent with man himself. That is why it is called the Sanatana Dharma, the Eternal Path.\"

\"Aum Namah Sivaya, the Saivite chants. Aum Namah Sivaya feeds his soul, brightens his intellect and quells his instinctive mind.\"

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Puna Dawson, whose full first name is Keikilaniwahinealiiopuna, has had a close relationship with Gurudeva and the monastery for many decades. She is one of Hawaii's most distinguished kumus and travels extensively to share Hawaiian culture, dance, and spirit. Last week, she visited the monastery with over 60 members of her Honolulu group, many of whom had never been there before. Sadasivanathaswami welcomed them on behalf of Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, received their traditional gifts, and guided them through the gardens. At the Iraivan Temple, they were inspired to offer a divine oli, a chant in the Hawaiian language. Their powerful, unified voices resonated against the granite walls, creating a profound experience, especially for Pravinkumar, who had never heard a Hawaiian chant delivered with such potency. They toured the sacred gardens, rang the Bell of Dharma, and left with wide smiles of gratitude.

Taking a moment to capture the visit at Iraivan Temple.

Kumu Puna Dawson at a Kauai TED Talk sharing the Hawaiian way of life.

Gathering in the Kenikeni Mandapam at the beginning of the visit.

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Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives his weekly upadesha in Kadavul Temple at Kauai’s Hindu Monastery in Hawaii. It is part of a series of talks elaborating on the inspired teachings of Satguru Śivaya Subramuniyaswami as found in his book Merging With Śiva. (Video was not captured this time due to technical challenges.)

"Have you ever had people come to you and tell you all of their problems? What did they do? As a pure state of awareness, they came to you as a pure state of awareness. You were not identified in the area of the mind that they are living in. So, they came to you, because they want to get out of the area of the mind that they’re living in. They’ve been living in it so long, they think they are that area of the mind, like somebody that has lived in a house so long and is so attached to it that they would rather die than move from the house. So then, they come to you and start telling all the problems. First they start with the little ones, and then they start with the big ones, and all their complaints, heartaches and everything that that area of the mind involves. Now, you can do one of two things. You can gently talk with them and bring them out of that area of the mind into your area of the mind, or they can move your awareness right into that area of the mind, too. And when they go away, you are feeling terrible. You’re feeling just awful.”

We are teaching monastic Aspirant Brahmachari Kodiswara how to turn the current July/August/September Hinduism Today printed issue into online articles at hinduismtoday.com.

He re-sizes all the images for quicker viewing, uploads them to our Wordpress Media Library, then copies the article text and photo captions from Adobe IndDesign into new posts in Wordpress. He formats the headers etc. to look similar to the printed article. The posts are scheduled to publish one after the other in the early morning of July 1st.

Kodiswara is a very quick learner and finished it within a few days.

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Aum Namah Sivaya.
Recently Kodiswara has been exploring some new web tools during his seva with the monks of the Ganapati Kulam. One such tool is Adobe Express, with which he made this nice presentation for us all to enjoy!

Yesterday Rajkumar Manickam sent us this creative expression of Gurudeva's classical upadesha on Parasivam, the Self in all. The original talk was recorded in his San Fransisco Ganesha Temple on October 3, 1959, on vintage audio equipment so the fidelity is not great, but the message makes up for that. Click on the Adobe link to mouse through Rajkumar's artful photos (he is a pro) and Gurudeva's remarkable talk. Then click on the second link to hear the original unscripted and unedited recording.

Rajkumar's Presentation

Gurudeva's 1959 Recording

Manivelu depicted the yogi\

s moment of perfect surrender and mmersion in the All and the Nothing, an art piece he did for Gurudeva\'s Merging with Siva book. '
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