Kauai Aadheenam

We have this screen above Gurudeva’s samadhi shrine in Kadavul Temple which changes the image every hour or so. Gradually gathering the best vertical close-up photos of Gurudeva through the years, we recently added another batch and now rotate through 45 images. Here they are in this gallery.

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 two paths—householder and renunciate—every young man has to choose between them. In Hindu tradition the choice is made before the marriage ceremony, and, if not, during the ceremony itself. The choice must be his and his alone. Though guided by the advice of parents, elder family members and religious leaders, the choice is his and his alone as to how his soul is to live through the birth karmas of this incarnation. Both paths take courage, great courage, to step forward and embrace the responsibilities of adult life.“

For many years we used a certain dirt road (in addition to other roads) for vehicles to go past Iraivan Temple towards the Swayambhulingam Mandapam and west borders of our property, but it was steep and consistently gouged from heavy rain runoff. It also negatively affected water drainage on the northwest side of Iraivan Temple, so we finally decided to close it off in preparation for creating a concrete utility road around Iraivan in the hopefully not-too-distant future. Dennis Wong recently brought in dirt and boulders to lift the area and close it. The photos show a few angles, plus a larger visitor group experiencing Iraivan due to the end-of-year holidays.

This morning during Chitra nakshatra we observed the monthly pada puja for Gurudeva.

We just recently completed generating the “Cognizantability” resource section of Merging with Siva in Gurudeva’s clone voice. This will appear on the audiobook page for Merging with Siva that is being created. Here are the first few sections:

Section 1 introduction–

Section 1, Canto 1–

Section 1, Canto 2–

Section 1, Canto 3–

The five days of Pancha Ganapati home festival have begun around the world. We have hundreds of extra visitors coming to our monastery temples during this holiday time until after January 1st, so we’ve put copies of the Pancha Ganapati article at the Kadavul Temple entrance threshold for people to learn from.

December 21, yellow: The family sadhana for the first day of Pancha Ganapati is to create a vibration of love and harmony among immediate family members. The day begins early, and the entire family works together to design and decorate the shrine with traditional symbols, rangoli, lamps and more. Then a grand puja is performed invoking the spirit of Pancha Ganapati in the home. The sadhana of the day now begins. The family sits together for the purpose of easing any strained relationships that have arisen during the year. They make amends one with another for misdeeds performed, insults given, mental pain and injuries caused and suffered. When forgiveness is offered to all by one and all, they speak of each other’s good qualities and resolve that in the days ahead they will remember the futility of trying to change others and the practicality of changing one’s self to be the silent example for all to witness. Gifts are then exchanged and placed unopened before Pancha Ganapati. As family harmony is important to all Hindus, this sadhana must be taken very, very seriously.

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.

“There are two traditional paths for the devout Hindu of nearly every lineage. The first is the path of the renunciate. The second is the path of the householder, who guides human society and produces the next generation. The ancient ṛishis evolved well-defined principles for both, knowing that unmarried aspirants would most easily unfold by adhering to principles of nonownership, noninvolvement in the world and brahmacharya, while married men and women would uphold the more complex and material family dharma. Though the principles or guidelines for these two paths are different, the goal is the same: to establish a life dedicated to spiritual unfoldment, hastening the evolution of the soul through knowledge of the forces at work within us, and wise, consistent application of that knowledge.“