Dharmaraj Tillai with Bodhinatha on the retreat. He left to return home to spend the holidays with his large family in Tennessee. We want to thank Dharmaraj for all his service and the wonderful spirit he brought to the monastery throughout his three-month stay. His mother, Rhonda, should be duely proud to have raised such a soulful, kindly and pure young man. It shows it can be done.

Sadhu Paksha is over and today we enter the Moksha Ritau. We begin this phase with the usual excerpts from the Saiva Dharma Shastras, reminding us of the sadhana and areas of focus for this part of the year.

112 Introduction
Beginning with Hindu New Year in mid-April, three seasons of the year divide our activities into three great needs of humankind the learning of scripture in the first season, Nartana Ritau; the living of culture in the second season, Jivana Ritau; and the meditating on Siva in the third season, Moksha Ritau. Thus we are constantly reminded that our life is Siva s life and our path to Him is through study, sadhana and realization. In ritau one, we teach the philosophy; in ritau two, we teach the culture; and in ritau three, we teach meditation.

120 The Third Season: Moksha Ritau
The third period of the year, Moksha Ritau, the cool season, is from mid-December to mid-April. It is the season of dissolution. The key word is resolution. Merging with Siva: Hinduism s Contemporary Metaphysics is the focus of study and intense investigation. The colors of this season are coral-pink, silver and all shades of blue and purple coral for the Self within, silver and blue for illumination, and purple for enlightened wisdom.

High above flies the coral flag, signaling Parashiva, Absolute Reality, beyond time, form and space. Moksha Ritau is a time of appreciation, of gratitude for all that life has given, and a time of honoring elders, those in the sannyasa stage of life.

Moksha Ritau is excellent for philosophical discussions, voicing one s understanding of the path through an enlightened intellect. In finance, it is the time for yearly accounting and reconciliation. On a mundane level it is a time of clearing attics, basements, garages, sheds, warehouses, workshops and desks, getting rid of unneeded things, of pruning trees, of streamlining life on the physical plane of reengineering.

122 Festivals and Realms of the Third Season
The major festival of Moksha Ritau is Mahashivaratri. It is at Kauai Aadheenam, as are all other gatherings, not a public event but a private one, due to the special sacredness of this sanctuary and its Iraivan moksha koyil. Church members, Academy students and special guests by invitation are all who attend.

This and all other gatherings at the Aadheenam are restricted in size in keeping with a covenant with the county of Kauai in respect to the surrounding residential area. From December 21-25, the Pancha Ganapati festival is enjoyed in Church family homes worldwide, and the resulting joy and peace is felt even by strangers.

The Aadheenam realms of this season are: 1) San Marga Iraivan Temple, a hand-carved, white-granite edifice seated upon a lava-rock plinth, golden tower shining in a rainbowed sky; 2) Tamil Nayanar Neri, the 1,300-foot-long path that winds around ponds, banyan trees, tropical plants in seven distinct botanical habitats, with seven shrines to the great Saiva saints of South India, and 3) Kauai Aadheenam central, with its offices, publications facilities, kitchen, library, workshops, monks  quarters, aviaries and cloistered gardens.

We have had some remarkably clear days and the morning shift from moon to sun is a daily show of wonder…

The flag raising of this season…

On the retreat, we set up our time lapse… and focused on Iraivan… here we see the moon setting in the west as the sun strike the top of Iraivan…

For those of you who have not yet seen this new resource, we have posted the songs of Saint Tayumanavar here on the web. Today we share with you the first song from this famous collection.

“What is it, which is
Uncircumscribed Effulgence,
Perfect Bliss,
Divine-Love Filled —

What is it, which willed
To contain the countless universes
In boundless space
And there flourishes as Life of life, –