Blog Archives
The dharmic way is to look within and bring out the latent contentment that is already there by doing nothing to inhibit its natural expression, as santosha, the mood of the soul, permeates out through every cell of the physical body. Contentment is one of the most difficult qualities to obtain, and is well summed up within our food blessing mantra, from the Shukla Yajur Veda, Isa Upanishad invocation, “That is fullness. Creation is fullness. From that fullness flows this world’s fullness. This fullness issues from that fullness, yet that fullness remains full.” This joy we seek is the joy of fullness, lacking nothing.
–Gurudeva
Bodhinatha left this morning at 5 AM amidst early morning tropical showers, traveling with Paramacharya Ceyonswami. They landed in Honolulu for a several hour stop over and then went on to Vancouver. Tomorrow morning they will fly to Edmonton in the province of Alberta, Canada, where devotees await their arrival. Their days will be filled with personal darshan with families and with special events that will unfold on TAKA in the days ahead.
Bodhinatha is currently visiting Edmonton and Vancouver, Canada. Please visit his travel page for more information.
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Click for most recent TAKA page with an Iraivan Temple progress update. |
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This coming retreat is Iraivan Day, when all the monks work together to push Gurudeva’s temple forward one more step. Sadhaka Haranandinatha is checking in with the different kulams and monks, assembling projects he will coordinate on that day. Here he is in the Ekadanta Kulam.
Planning for the tasks we will all undertake on Iraivan Day with Sadhaka Dandapani. They have an on-going dialog about how best to host visitors as they come to see this magical architectural masterpiece.
In preparation for Guru Purnima, we are doing a renovation of our paths. These were painted years ago and are getting a face lift. On the right is today’s improved path around the temple tank.
Jonathan is a local young man who has been coming to the monastery from time to time since he was very young. His father, John Andersen, is one of the men we contract for various construction and renovation jobs at the Aadheenam. Jonathan is now going to college, studying criminal justice with an eye to going into a law enforcement career.
 The Remarkable Vision |
Iraivan Temple Progress Update |
Join this historic undertaking. Please contribute generously. Sponsor a stone today! |
| New Beautiful 2004 Calendar Now Available. Seeing out fast! | ||
Other TAKA pages with recent Iraivan images.
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The Raising of the Lion Pillars documentary continues today. The overview is that there were two lion pillars, which first had to be moved from the foundation onto the bed of the crane truck and then taken around and laid on the ground. Then the crane lifted them carefully into place. It took all morning….
Note the two square projections on the bottom of the pillar. These fit into two square holes on the foundation stones, to lock the pillars into place.
The East side of the temple… just below the yellow scaffolding you can see the bases where the pillars are to be set…
The silpis all gather for the important maneuver.
The first pillar on the bed of the truck now being moved out onto the ground…
The presence of the second smaller column inside the pillar is cause for extra caution. It took several years to carve each one of these, and we don’t want to break anything! So everyone works methodically, or “slow-by-slow” as the Hawaiians say.
The pillars will be placed out in front here…
Ok, everyone, up, and off the truck…
Now, down on the ground…
Now we go back for the second pillar… We did not move it with the forklift as there was the possibility that, although the forklift could lift them, it might have damaged them… We have much better control with the crane… but it’s a more time-consuming task…
Gently, down on the bed…
Our master builder guides the crane operations. “A little to the left.” Sadhaka Nilakantha is at his side, helping in all ways.
Now we drive around in front of the East side.
For each maneuver, the crane has to stop and be set up… the entire truck gets lifted off ground by hydraulic feet, so nothing moves during the lift.
A few gems and a small gold piece are placed under the pillars, as a traditional blessing.
Yoginathaswami places these in a small bed of sandalwood paste at the bottom of the small square notch that will accept the “peg” that protrudes from the bottom of the pillar…
The blessing is placed….
OK, now, to rig up the pillar that is on the ground…
A single strap at the top, carefully placed so that the pillar is nearly straight up and down.
We all know that the straps are strong enough to hold the pillar weight, but still, everyone is holding their breath as the pillar swings into place. These Lion Pillars are significantly larger that the 12 pillars already in place, but even larger pillars will go up in the future.
Gently now… hands guide the pillar and prevent any swinging.
Final touch to the sacred substances… as the pillar comes down…
Mortar is hand-mixed to be placed as a thin layer under the pillar.
We wonder how they used to do this in India ages ago? Actually, we know. Lifting such a giant pillar would take dozens of men a couple of days, using bars, ropes and pulleys. Now it happens in an hour or less. Iraivan is the first time these builders have had the crane experience, and they continue to be amazed by the efficiency and accuracy of this approach.
The lions have been carved with a ball inside their mouths, from the same stone, and the ball cannot come out. But, it is loose, so it is packed with coconut husk to keep it from bouncing around during the moves.
Spreading mortar on the base…
Almost done…
[to be continued tomorrow]
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MORE UPLIFTING THINGS |
Color Trilogy Complete! We are happy to announce that the new edition of the enormously popular Dancing with Siva is now available in hard back with all new color artwork. It’s truly an amazing and beautiful work, with more art than any of the collection. This completes the fulfillment of the vision that Gurudeva had of his Master Course Trilogy being produced in full color. In addition, Bodhinatha is taking pro-active steps to bring Gurudeva’s teachings out in a new forms that can be broadly disseminated in the mass mind. With this in mind we, are also pleased to announce that the Dancing with Siva pocketbook is also available. Keep the three-pound book in your shrine room, and take the little one with you on the airplane or subway! How little? It’s just 3″ by 4.5″ — truly pocket-sized, and just over half an inch thick. Yet it is a full 375 pages, containing ALL of the 155 sutras. Available now at our online store. The complete Trilogy is being offered at a discount. |
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From Our Gurus' Teachings
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