Sun One arrived after a 3-day retreat. Bodhinatha gave another inspiring discourse after this morning’s homa on Merging with Siva, coming to you later this phase.

Dora Kovak’s brother in Eastern Europe is an engineer who is trying art for the first time in his life. He is also studying Merging with Siva, so he chose Gurudeva as the subject of his first work, a charcoal drawing.

Today’s homa…

Bodhinatha read from “Merging with Siva,” lesson 132 from the chapter on Love of the Gods and gave his commentary.

Our two traveling swami’s have been away from the internet until just yesterday when they finally were able to send us some photos for TAKA.

“We stayed first at Kulapati Guhan Sivalingam’s home in Klang. Aravindraj, Gowri and Maruthu stopped by to discuss plans for fund-raising for Iraivan Temple’s floor. Bodhinatha gave the Malaysian congregation the mission of gathering sponsorships for all the floor stones.

Dr. Maruthu Pandyan Dharmalingam, despite 24-hour days on call, is like a tiger. He is doing a wonderful job of heading up the fund-raising committee and looking after every detail.

Aravindraj’s son, Jagdish, came with us to the Siva temple in Puchong. He’s a lot of fun to be around, and he loves to be around the Swamis. A very religious child, he does puja several times a day in the family home. He’s so much like a monk, but in a tiny body.

Here is the group at the Siva temple in Puchong, the second temple we visited on this trip. This is a very small, humble temple, but it is like an oasis. When you enter the gate into the compound, it’s like passing into the inner worlds. The group of about 60 was so attentive.

Most of the people who attend these village temples have never heard of Gurudeva, Bodhinatha or the Aadheenam before. Swami begins each talk with an introduction to us and our work. The main message of the yamas and niyamas, Hinduism’s code of conduct, the foundation for spiritual progress, is given in simple Tamil so that they can easily understand.

After each talk, the devotees come up to receive from the Swamis vibhuti prasadam, a small picture of Gurudeva and a flyer with descriptions of the yamas and niyamas in Tamil.

Yoginathaswami and Senthilnathaswami stand with the priests of the Siva temple in Puchong.

Next that night was the Puchong Maha Mariamman Temple. Kulapati Appasamy Kuppusamy gave a wonderful opening address.

There were 100 or more in attendance at this temple. It was Saturday night.

Once again, Yoginathaswami does an excellent job of conveying the teachings of the restraints and observances so necessary to making consistent progress on the spiritual path. It is a first for Saiva Siddhanta Church to send a Tamil-speaking Swami to Malaysia to give lectures. The people love him.

On Sunday we departed on a two-day journey up north to Perak state. On the way Swami gave his talk at a Maha Mariamman temple in Batang Berjuntai. Then we proceeded onward to Sitiawan. Here we are at the Sri Manjung Meenatchi Sockalingeswarar temple. This once-a-shack shrine is growing into a quite popular temple.

More than 100 attended the Sunday night talk here.

Mr. Lingam (left) is the brains and power behind the temple’s recent advancement. The retired Navy officer is a trustee of the temple from only 18 months ago. In that short time, he has overseen the restructuring of the finances and rising of the temple out of debt, setting up of a consistent schedule of ceremonies and founding of classes for both adults and children.

Here is the temple’s chariot, jury-rigged on top of a retired military gun cart.

Mr. Lingam also expanded the temple compound, building a new main shrine for the Sivalingam. He is now working on plans for a completely Agamic temple structure to be built in the same format as the great Meenakshi-Sundareswarar temple in Madurai, India. Every morning a small group of close devotees gets together in the temple for a puja and chanting of an affirmation. The affirmation is building the vibration for the fund-raising and building of the new temple.

Yoginathaswami and Senthilnathaswami stand with the temple’s priest. He is 21 years old and was trained by Pichai Gurukkal at Pillaiyarpatti in Tamil Nadu. He is so dedicated and sweet, an unusually content priest. He reflects Pichai Gurukkal’s successful teaching style so well.

(left to right) Balu Devado and Appasamy Kuppusamy, our companions on our trip up north; Senthilnathaswami; the temple priest; Yoginathaswami; veterinarian Dr. Murugaya, the temple’s vice president

As part of a whirlwind tour of five homes in Sitiawan, we visited Shanta Devi Muniandy’s home. Here we are out front with her auntie, mother, sister and niece, good friend Vinod, and our travel companions.