Bodhinatha is in Syndey today… he writes:

“Today had a variety of activities. In the morning we had an hour and a half interview with the Sydney morning herald which should appear as a separate article in the Saturday edition. In the afternoon there was a radio interview with ABC, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which will be incorporated in a program on Hinduism in Australia to be played in April. Then were personal darshan suggestions with four Sri Lankan families. This was followed by our last event a lecture at the Minto Siva Temple which had about 200 people in attendence. Lots of individuals there had been to Kauai.”

More picture below from the earlier stay in Melbourne.

Another quiet day at the Aadheenam. The inner vibration has been very high… good for meditation. It’s easy to sit like Tirumular here these days.

“Summa Iru” as Yogaswami would say “Just Be Still!”

The Ekadanta Kulam of one, Saravananathaswami, gave his report today. He was happy to announce that monastic aspirants from Brazil and Malaysia will be arriving soon.. we will leave the details until they are actually here… and he detailed an up and coming visit from 100 school children…

Brahmacharini Shama Kumaran on the right has retired and comes to the temple almost every day now. She does a lot of karma yoga in her free time. One of which is hosting visitors…

Thank you Shama!

A side view of Kadavul temple…

Jan 21st: We arrive in the beautiful city of Melbourne. Here’s a night view of Flinders Street Railway station (middle building).

Our first event was with a small gathering of Yogaswami devotees.

This young group of girls did a wonderful Siva dance for Bodhinatha.

Jan 22nd: The morning started with a 3 hour seminar by Bodhinatha on the key practices of Hinduism.

Darmaguhan and Sashinath have been a great help to Bodhinatha during his visit to Melbourne.

That afternoon it was off to the Shiva Vishnu temple in Carrum Downs.

From the Shiva Vishnu temple Bodhinatha headed to Pundit Navaratnam’s home. Punditji has long been an ardent devotee of Satguru Yogaswami.

A white carpet is laid before Bodhinatha

A traditional welcome arathi

showered by flowers as he enters the home.

A sweet abhishegam ceremony was conducted for Yogaswami

Bodhinatha performs the final arathi

Bodhinatha presents Pundit with a gift of a rudraksha mala.

Our beloved Paramaguru, Siva Yogaswami

Before heading back to the hotel we made a brief stop at Pundit’s son’s, Mr. Murthi’s home.

Bodhinatha blessed the ground in the garden where Mr Murthi will build a small shrine to Lord Ganesha

Jan 23rd: Today we visited Swami Shankarananda’s ashram, known as Shiva ashram.

Palaniswami offers this report from the visit….

“We have just returned from four hours at Swami Shankarananda’s Shiva Ashram about an hour from Melbourne, and Bodhinatha is in the other room meeting with two young men from Mauritius who are studying here in Australia.

“The Shiva Ashram is on 3 acres of land, at the edge of some housing and bushlands, with a small pond, three buildings and a tent about the size of Banyan Mandapam, but more friendly. Swami has 22 residents in the ashram, men and women, and about 100 in all attended the satsang. Bodhinatha and swami all sat in traditional style on large seats at the front, accompanied by another disciple of Baba Muktananda visiting from Virginia, Master Charles, the founder of Synchronicity. It began with half an hour of Namasivaya chanting, with some very devotional voices over a grand sound system….

[cont. below]

A warm and loving welcome for Bodhinatha and big crowd of about 80 to 100 people were in attendance even though it was a Monday morning.

Story continues:

“Swami gave a warm welcome, praising our Gurudeva knowledgeably and offering his appreciation for all Gurudeva had done, especially Hinduism Today. He spoke with candor and humor, and deep respect. After an informative overview, he invited Bodhinatha to give an upadesha and what followed was a marvelous talk. Bodhinatha spoke of Muktananda, of the ties between Kashmir Saivism and Saiva Siddhanta, of the beauties of Hinduism. [Cont. below]

Bhajans began the program followed with a dynamic question and answer session for Bodhinatha.

Story Continues:

“Swami then invited questions from the audience, and that began a most interesting exchange, the most potent part of the encounter. Bodhinatha responded to the sincere queries in information-rich ways. Every question was a thoughtful but tough one, something that swami had apparently hoped for. One by one Bodhinatha was asked about how to pass Hinduism along to children, about the role of women in Hinduism, about the intolerance seen in all world religions, and several on ethical conversion, how we approach a formal exit from one faith and entry into Hinduism. The questions were posed with unusual maturity and even humor, but under it all you could sense the serious concerns the group has. At the end of it all, Bodhinatha spoke eloquently about the importance of the Guru in Saivism, in both our traditions. [Cont. below]

Both swamis bless all that came.

Story Continues:

“All came forward afterwards, kneeling to receive vibhuthi from Bodhinatha and a tap of peacock flowers and a hug by Swami Shankarananda. About 15 of the Tamil community that has been hosting us also were there.

“Swami took us to his personal quarters we chatted about Saivism, about our publications.

“A great lunch followed, served by about five of their lady residents, and coming in large measure from their own gardens.

“We returned, the five of us, back to his quarters after lunch, where we exchanged some gifts. He signed three copies of his book, “Consciousness Is Everything,” a profoundly mystical book on Kashmir Saivism. He wanted to know how our two traditions are the same, and how they may also differ. Bodhinatha deferred his answer to our next meeting. Swami thanked us profusely for coming all this way to be at the ashram (it is a bit remote from most of the world). Knowing we had appointments waiting for us back in Melbourne, swami took us to the door and had his followers chant a few slokas as we departed.”

THE END

To the left is the chief priest of the Siva Vishnu Temple

Two members from Mauritius now living in Melbourne happy to see their satguru, Veylen (left) and Deivanaden