Here is Bodhinatha teaching today, a redwood forest behind him in the idyllic Ralston White Retreat, in Mill Valley, California.

The Shum classes are delighting everyone attending.

We also bring you a fun movie on noodle making and the Mag-Lev train in Shanghai by Yogi Jivanandanatha and a another slide show from their last day in New Delhi, India.

Today was the auspicious day of Gurudeva’s Chitra Padapuja for this month.

Yogi Japendranatha and Sadhaka Dandapani conducting.

The 108 names of Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami are chanted by all.

And the Mantra Pushpam chant as well.

Task forcer Kamil Bigda is helping to give out the sacraments.

Kamil is originally from Poland where he began his spiritual search as a young teenager.

He and his mother moved to Chicago several years ago and Kamil found out about the monastery in Hawaii and he got a job in Honolulu to be nearby and is here on Task Force to learn about monastic life.

At the temple site the silpis are preparing to raise up the last two pillars.

Among our guests today was Shelah Young, her husband and family. Shelah travelled with Bodhinatha on the last Innersearch trip to Australia and New Zealand and had a marvelous time. Her visit to the island this time was also to share with her family our monastery and what we do here plus to view the progress on Iraivan Temple. They enjoyed all the colorful plants that make up our garden.

We pick up the story of Bodhinatha’s teaching mission to California with a retrospective series starting with their departure and sightseeing day on Friday. Sadhaka Satyanatha has the story:

Bodhinatha, Saravananathaswami and Sadhaka Satyanatha leave for a retreat and Shum seminar in California completely based on Gurudeva’s language of meditation.

Before the retreat starts, Bodhinatha and the monks have time for some sightseeing in San Francisco, the magical city where Gurudeva first began to teach.

The Rahavendrans, a wonderful family from San Diego who pilgrimaged to Kauai a few months ago, join the monks. They are attending the seminar, too — spirituality is the core of these seekers’ lives.

A windy day, but Bodhinatha, who lived here with Gurudeva for years, was fully prepared with some warm clothes and perfect bihaiiishum. Nothing can touch one who is poised in the center of himself.

The unique Golden Gate bridge, engulfed in the city’s characteristic fog, is a powerful experience. The bridge itself has so much charisma it makes one wonder why. A good mind exercise was to concentrate on each aspect of it as we walked, the style, the construction, what it means for people, numberless successive thoughts but all related to the bridge. This is the essence of how Gurudeva taught us to control the mind.

One could not see the other side. A bridge to the Antarloka!

Sarvananathaswami and the monks’ wonderful host, Easvan Param, check the cables that hold the brdge.

The Rahavendran family and Saravananathaswami in front of a commemorative plaque. The bridge was built from 1928 to 1931, a marvel of engineering. It is so simple, and so elegant and flexible, that this may be the reason why it has withstood many earthquakes.

Perhaps this is a good reminder for us all in our spiritual life: a good, strong structure, based on planning, with a simple design and flexibility, is the most likely to withstand the waves of karma.

Aum Namah Sivaya!

A ship crossing underneath the bridge catches Bodhinatha’s attention.

This is a sample of the cable used in the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. Yes, it is solid, composed of thousands of smaller cables inside. A cut of it looks like a honeycomb.

Interestingly, a little latter Bodhinatha remarked that our inner nerve currents of simshumbisi are also like this, many wire-like currents united in one tube-like bundle. In one of these, the uda current, Gurudeva found the source of the Shum language.

The Rahavendrans and Easvan Param took Bodhinatha to a wonderful, very San Francisco-style restaurant: the Betelnut. Asian “fusion” cuisine is its specialty. This is one of the many beautiful artworks they had on the walls. The food was even better.

One of the reasons for this sightseeing tour was to show some of legendary San Francisco to young Sadhaka Satyanatha. Some streets are so steep that one has to drive diagonally, such as this one, the famous Lombard Street. A beautiful view of the city makes it hard for one to focus on the sinuous road.

We also visited the Conservatory of Flowers.

And then to Coit Tower. Built in 1933 by Lilie Coit in homage to the firemen of the city, it is a place where one can see a lot of the city.

Up in the tower.

Alcatraz!

The marina.

San Francisco lies below in all its charming glory.

Sadhaka Satyanatha, atop the chilly tower, actively practicing much-needed alikaishum, feeling the heat of your body as a divine force.

Finally, in the afternoon, the traveling monastics arrived at Ralston White Retreat, a wonderful haven at the feet of Mount Tamalpais, surrounded by an evergreen forest.

The smell of redwood fills this place. This is where the retreat is happening. The silence is utterly amazing, and the high ‘eee’ is very clear here. A perfect setting for a satsang with Bodhinatha, which is about to begin. More on TAKA soon! Aum Namah Sivaya.