Bodhinatha and Shanmuganathaswami arrived safely in Bethesda, Maryland, last night and spent their first full day today on their mission. The purpose of this first stop over was to have personal meetings with devotees in the Bethesda, Washington D.C area.

The day was filled with darshan meetings with devotees and students.

We step back into the world of Lord Murugan… on the first day of our three-day retreat we celebrated Vaikasi Vishakam Muruga Abhishekam in Kadavul.

We share Gurudeva’s teachings on the the Great God of Light:

“Siva’s followers all believe in the Mahadeva Karttikeya, Son of Siva-Shakti, whose vel of grace dissolves the bondages of ignorance. The yogi, locked in lotus, venerates Murugan. Thus restrained, his mind becomes calm. Aum.”

“A great aid to the accomplishment of this is to invoke Lord Siva daily. Then the higher chakras open within your psychic body. Peace of mind comes unbidden, and bliss flows forth from your aura for all to feel. Regular puja invoking the assistance of Lord Murugan will also greatly aid in a premature banishing of connections with the external world and in severing the tubular connections with inhabitants in it. When Lord Murugan is reached through your puja, He will also give wisdom and the divine understanding of the transmutation process. ”

Lord Karttikeya, Murugan, first guru and Pleiadean master of kundalini yoga, was born of God Siva’s mind. His dynamic power awakens spiritual cognition to propel souls onward in their evolution to Siva’s feet. Aum.

Lord Karttikeya flies through the mind’s vast substance from planet to planet. He could well be called the Emancipator, ever available to the call of those in distress. Lord Karttikeya, God of will, direct cognition and the purest, child-like divine love, propels us onward on the righteous way through religion, His Father’s law. Majestically seated on the manipura chakra, this scarlet-hued God blesses mankind and strengthens our will when we lift to the inner sky through sadhana and yoga. The yoga pada begins with the worship of Him. The yogi, locked in meditation, venerates Karttikeya, Skanda, as his mind becomes as calm as Saravana, the lake of Divine Essence. The kundalini force within everyone is held and controlled by this powerful God, first among renunciates, dear to all sannyasins. Revered as Murugan in the South, He is commander in chief of the great devonic army, a fine, dynamic soldier of the within, a fearless defender of righteousness. He is Divinity emulated in form. The Vedas say, “To such a one who has his stains wiped away, the venerable Sanatkumara shows the further shore of darkness. Him they call Skanda.” Aum Namah Sivaya.

The gold leafing of the Tandava statues in Kadavul continues… Today we had 12 people working on this project!

Our Sun One homa today…

Paramacharya Palaniswami presides and burns the prayers.

Bhani and Rema Karthigesu took the vegetarian vrata today.

Aum Sivaya, Svaha!

Our pilgrim family comes to visit the team in publications.

Iraivan has been very active… the crane came early this morning for a lift of more small stones for the North Chinna Gopuram.

A classic Kauai day, 10 minute showers followed by bright sun…

A look up at the beams of the roof of the Gopuram.

The amazing scaffold built by our Siddhidata monks…

is strong enough to allow 8 men and work on stones together…

Small stones were brought up today.