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Gurudeva spoke to the monks today about candidates for monastic life and the inner attitudes that must be there. Primary is that the original intent of someone entering the monastery must be to realize the Self. If the intent is to do something, to help with this part of the mission or to become someone... ultimately this will not work. Vairagya (complete detachment from wordly life) must be there from the start.
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Today was a special puja in honor of Kadaitswami who was the Guru of Chellapaswami, who was the Guru of Siva Yogaswami.

Kadaitswami was a tall man who had been a judge in the Bangalore area of South India when most of the south was part of one state called "Karnataka." He was seated on the bench when a murderer came before him to be sentenced. Rather than pronounce judgement, Kadaitswami walked off the bench never to return. He wandered for a time as a mendicant and found his Guru, who we know only as the "Rishi from the Himalayas" who had been seated silently for seven years in a tea shop near Bangalore. Just before Kadaitswami came looking for him, the Rishi got up and left the tea shop. Eventually Kadaitswami found him and was trained and told to go to Sri Lanka to do austerities and then preach to the people. Kadaitswami loved to roam around the town and the market place, mixing with the people and he became known as the "Marketplace Swami" or "Kadaitswami." He was a renowned siddha, worker of many miracles and a powerful orator who urged the populace to adhere to their ancient Saivite faith in the face of the onslaught of Christian missionaries who were breaking down the Hindu culture at that time when the Sri Lanka was a British colony.

Today was guest day and brought a wonderful bright group of souls. We are especially happy to have so many of our brother and sister Kauaians come and visit. The "locals" have heard about the temple and monastery for many years, but many have never come to visit. Recently more and more are coming to experience the bliss of being here.

We are delighted that some of our jackfruit trees are bearing fruit this year. It is hard to describe the wonders of this fruit. What you see here is actually quite large, nearly 18 inches in length and one foot in diameter. Inside these huge fruits are large seeds surrounded by a delicious edible pulp. The pulp of some varieties can serve as a delicious vegetable, while others, if allowed to ripen completely will sweeten to the point of tasting just like "juicy fruit" bubble gum... in fact, some of us think it was the other way around: someone chewed on a ripe jack fruit seed pod and then invented "Juicy Fruit" bubble gum.

A lovely shot from the front of the monastery up the Wailua river valley toward Mount Waialeale which is shrouded in clouds.

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Iraivan Temple Progress Update

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Jeff Griffin and his team arrived today to erect the next level of the plywood retaining wall around the sanctum. As course number five is being joined, course number three will be buried in sand.

At any point in time we will only see two courses, the one being joined and the one just below it. We are now up to about a height of 5 feet off the foundation level.

Meanwhile the team in India has been working hard. The beams that go across the ceiling are magnificent, huge, solid pieces of granite with designs that have been carved to a one inch depth to reveal stunning patterns. Here the master arcitect of the temple (arms folded center) V. Ganapati Sthapati, views the finished stone with approval. Standing on the left is our on worksite resident architect, Chidamabaram.

Here is a close up of the carving on the beams. Usually it will not be taken to such a depth, but since the beams will rest 17 feet above the floor we wanted the designs deep enough to be easily seen and admired. Indeed the silpis have done a fantastic job.

Ragu (on the stone itself) is working on the ornamental carvings on the beam. Standing from left: Jiva Rajasankara, our carving site manager; V. Ganapati Sthapati, master architect; Chidambaram, resident sthapati; in the back in dark shirt, Manikandan (trainee marking silpi, brother of Adaikalam who is in Kauai), and without shirt wearing a sacred thread, Thangavelu. Thangavelu is the one responsible for all the markings and supervision for all the ornamental carvings of the Iraivan temple.

V. Ganapati Sthapati discusses the project with his resident sthapati.

Another ornamental carver, Essagi, working on a beam. As you can see, these stones are nearly four feet wide, two feet in depth and twelve feet long -- massive!

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transcription begins

Date: September_12_2001
Title: Making the Right Choice
Category: Hinduism and Tradition
Duration: 1 min., 37 seconds
Date Given: July 15, 2001

Acharya Palaniswami: This first question comes from Mohana Das. Mohana Das lives in Johor, Malaysia and has two questions.

Vanakkam Gurudeva. If a person in this lifetime has been a devotee of Gurudeva's, is it possible that this same person in his next reincarnation could still be a devotee of Gurudeva or in the same Guru lineage? Also Gurudeva why is it so easy to do bad things and so difficult to do good things in life? Vanakkam. Mohana.

Gurudeva: Yes, Mohana Das. If you pass on, you should be born within the same lineage, sampradaya and the same parampara for continuity of philosophy knowledge. It is very difficult for the soul to be born a Muslin one time, a Christian the next time, a Hindu the next time, a Jain the next time, or a Vaishnavite one birth, a Saivite another birth. It is really quite confusing to the inner mind.

Of course, doing bad things or doing good things is related to habit. Make a list of all the good things that you could do and like to do. Write them down on a piece of paper. Also, all the bad things that you do and don't want to do. Then, do the good things. You have free will, you have choices. Make the right choice and you make good karma.
transcription ends

MORE UPLIFTING THINGS		Innersearch postponed Due to the horrific tragedies of September 11th, Himalayan Academy has indefinitely postponed the Canadian Innersearch scheduled to leave next July. Please be assured, we will re-schedule the Innersearch, but only when the present insecurity around the world settles down. Until then, if you are planning to go on a future Innersearch program with Gurudeva, continue to set aside a little income each month in a special fund. www.innersearch.org
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