Sun One has come again… Bodhinatha gave a wonderful discourse, an upgrade of his earlier upadesha on the Hindu principle of tolerance. It was a master piece…

Sadhaka Jivananandanatha performs the homa today.

It seemed there was a remarkable inner peace today…

” Diffusing glory with your rays,
you have scaled the shining realm of heaven.
By you are supported all things that are,
O God All-Creator, essence all-divine.

Rig Veda, X, 170, 4

“That splendor which is from the sun, which illumines
this whole world, which is in the moon and in fire–know that splendor as also mine.”

This is Nilesh and Koki Kotak with their sons Harsh, Rudra and Neel. They recently moved from Chicago to Honolulu.

Since they used to attend temples in Chicago area, they are missing it because there is no real Hindu temple in Honolulu.

They are very happy to discover Kauai Aadheenam/Iraivan Temple as their new local pilgrimage destination.

Stepping back to our three day retreat. Bodhinatha met with the Shah family again before they departed back to the mainland.

Mr. and Mrs. Suresh also came to see Bodhinatha…

Each retreat Sannyasin Arumugaswami will put time in on the on-going, giant task of nurturing the Himalayan Acres land across from the temple. It is a challenge at times as the forces of nature sometimes see to work in opposite directions from where you want to go… but there are surprises hidden in the tall guinea grass weeds… What’s that over there. Some tree has popped above the weeds…

My goodness! It is a Koa tree, one of the most valuable wood trees of the Hawaiian islands… Look how much it has grown in just the two years since it was planted.

And there are more, over there…. The Guinea grass is so aggressive, easily topping 12 feet in a year’s growth, that we feared this planting of Koa, Milo and Mahogany trees had been lost.

“This is a new tree in the temple grounds, called Sesbania grandiflora or the “Hummingbird Tree,” since the birds feed from the large flowers. This tree was lovingly planted by Yogi Japendranatha’s family during their visit this spring. When they all joined together to put it in the ground, it was less than four feet tall. Now, just a few months later, it’s 20 feet tall. It’s flowering for the first time.”

We recently asked for a photo of the work in progress in Mahabalipuram on our newest masterpiece for Kauai Aadheenam, the 7-foot Arumugam that will grace the entrance under the ancient and truly giant banyan tree on the left as the path approaches Kadavul Temple. It is proceeding swiftly at this point, and Tiru Nellaiappan informs us that it may be completed in January and ready to ship to Kauai.

As you can see, the main forms are revealed and ready for the refinements of the sculptor’s art.

It will be the first six-faced, 12-armed Murugan on the property.

The Sacramento Shri Sai Baba Satsang group invited Kulapati Easan Katir to give a 2-hour class on “10 Questions about Hinduism” to celebrate their one-year anniversary of conducting satsang each week. This is a harmonious, mystical group.

Here are the ladies of the Golden Gate Mission involved in the greeting card project. Cards are sold at the Kauai Aadheenam Mini Mela, and by going here, online at our Himalayan Academy store.

Left to right: Kulamata Devi Param, Kulamata Savitri Palani, Kulamata Chandra Shankara, Gowri Shankara, Chidambaram Sendan sitting on Kulamata Valli Sendan’s lap, Punita Ajaya, Sahana Param, Yatrika Ajaya, Mira Sendan. Not in this picture, but also very involved are Kulamata Asha Alahan and Kulamata Sundari Katir.

Such a wonderful seva… thanks to all the ladies from Iraivan!