Report from Bodhinatha on events today in Toronto:

“In the morning I met with one of the Master Course student here who is very deep into the study of Gurudeva’s teachings.

Then off we went to the Varasiddhi Vinayagar Temple for morning ceremonies. It is a traditional Ganesha temple with no extraneous deities and has a strong shakti. We enjoyed attending most of the morning puja. I gave my talk on home worship which was translated into Tamil.

We handed out study books to all the children and then vibhuti to the adults. After lunch we called the Golden Gate Mission in Northern California at 2 PM and then had a tour of the temple’s new property across the street.

They are planning to build a traditional temple, the land is huge and the building on it is now functioning as a school for Saivism and Tamil. We went into each classroom and had photos with the students.

In the evening we had darshan meetings with various devotees, follow by an early dinner. We will be off to the airport tomorrow at 5AM and home late in the afternoon.

See you tomorrow

Om Namasivaya,
Bodhinatha

A day of sunshine on a tropical island. Our Iraivan Temple there in the lush greenery.

Today a local man who knew Gurudeva came by. He is John Sotelo and he works with teens on our island. He’s holding a folder with all the bumper stickers the monastery designed and printed for our island, and which he is using in his program with kids.

John has 16 students, ages 11 to 14, and runs a program that works to keep them away from drugs and addictions of all kinds.

John asked the monastery to make color copies of some of the materials for the teens, which we were honored to help with.

Then out to the temple site.

Where the work of past months stands to amaze and uplift all who visit.

Granite detailing shines in the sun.

That’s Karupiah with the straw hat, using a coconut husk brush to take the dust off the stone he is detailing.

One chip at a time.

Sometimes the positions are difficult, and they must hold their hands and arms aloft for hours at a time.

Pandian stands on the roof where major work is underway today.

Here’s an interesting insight into the skill of our artisans, an observation made by Deva Rajan during his recent visit to Kauai:

“While up on the top of the temple doing the gold-leaf patchwork, the silpis came up to watch and visit. There were 5 or 6 of them. An amazing thing happened. I offered a leaf of gold for one of them to apply. He did it perfectly. Then each of the others came up and on their own turn, applied a leaf of gold, again perfectly and flawlessly. Observing their intense concentration, dexterity and innate artistic talents, I realized in a new way what specially skilled artisans these men are. The wind was blowing, they had only watched for 5 or 10 minutes, yet caught on to it immediately and with a high degree of skill. Wow!”

Chelliah has spent 14 years working on Iraivan!

He’s proud of his work and his life, and shows us the joint between two roofing stone he is working on.

Rajendra smiles for us.

He is also working on the roof.

Manikandan, too.

And Pandian.

A bright bromeliad reaches for the sky this morning.

In remembrance of Siva Yogaswami, whose presence lives on in our hearts, we bring you some images today or artwork from the coming edition of the book on our Parampara.