Approaching Satguru Purnima

On July 19 the monastery and all devotees on Kauai will celebrate Guru Purnima with a parade to Iraivan, a homa and blessings from Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami (who is on his way home from a week in Edmonton, Canada at their Ganesha Temple kumbhabhishekam).

We will soon celebrate the day, as millions will and as billions have over the millennia. But equally, we celebrate the miracle of having a Satguru in this life--something that is rare indeed in the 21st century.

A devotee in California sent this work of art that he had prepared by a team in Indonesia, a delightful and creative image of Bodhinatha holding the silver Nandi danda of the Nandinatha Sampradaya that represents his authority as head of Kauai Aadheenam.

We quote from Gurudeva's Master Course trilogy:

Before books were invented, the traditional way of conveying information was through the spoken word. This is called sampradaya. Sampradaya, verbal teaching, was the method that all satgurus used. A satguru can only give his shishya as much as the shishya can hold in his mind at any one time. If the shishya comes with an empty cup, the cup is filled by the guru. But if the shishya comes with a cup that is already full, nothing more can be added by the guru. Many satgurus work with their devotees in unseen ways. They have the ability to tune into the vibration of a devotee anywhere his physical body might be on the planet, feel how he is feeling and send blessings of protection and guidance.

The guru-shishya system of training is personal and direct. Much is unspoken between them, so close is the mental attunement. The traditional observance of brahmacharya helps to stabilize this relationship. An advanced shishya is one whose intuition is in absolute harmony with that of his satguru. This harmony does not occur in the beginning stages, however, when the devotee is probing the subject matter of the guru's teachings for answers.

Only after he has conquered the fluctuating patterns of the thinking mind does an inner flow of harmony begin to become apparent to both guru and shishya. The shishya is expected to cultivate his inner life as well as his outer life. The more sincere and consistent he is with his inner work and his inner friends--God, Gods and guru--the more safe and secure and blessed he will be. Your relationship with your guru is growing stronger even now as you come to better know yourself and proceed in your study of these daily lessons. Hindu temples sustain Hinduism around the world.

The sun rises on Kauai, shining its life-giving rays on the Earth, as the Satguru shines his grace on the world.

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