In our newly restructured 14-day spiritual adventure Down Under Bodhinatha will share with us insights into Hinduism’s uniqueness, an in-depth look at karma and suggestions for refining our conduct to intensify our spiritual progress. It truly is a rare opportunity to be in the presence of a satguru so closely.

Photo shows Bodhinatha being blessed by the temple elephant at the Kamatchi temple in Kanchipuram during the Indian Odyssey Innersearch in January 2004.

Here’s the untold tale….

As many of you know, Himalayan Academy’s next Innersearch travel-study program was planned as a cruise from Australia to New Zealand in January of 2006. But at the beginning of May, Princess Cruise Lines, whom we were signed up with, called and informed us that they were invoking some small print in the contract and taking half of our reserved cabins back. We were forced to cancel our cruise program.

(Our journey begins in Sydney, pictured above, where we will invoke the blessings of Lord Muruga when we visit His Aussie abode before heading to the outback for some special time with Bodhinatha)

Keeping Gurudeva’s sweet teaching in mind of taking something negative and turning it into something positive, Bodhinatha masterfully recrafted our itinerary creating a more exotic, adventurous and spiritual journey. We will still be Innersearching in Australia and New Zealand but will be traversing these great southern lands this time by planes, trains and prairie schooners (known to city-dwellers as busses). Happily, the journey will be 2-days longer and will engage us far more with the local peoples, geography and culture than the ocean-based cruise would have. We will get to see the countryside and meet the people, take in the sights, sounds and smells from the Aussie outback (perhaps even meet this fellow on the left) to the heights of the mighty Kiwi alps–all along enjoying Bodhinatha’s sweet presence and teachings.

We would love to have you with us on this journey. Read all about it here at our Innersearch web site The 2006 Innersearch begins in Sydney on January 6th and ends in Auckland, New Zealand on January 19th. That’s only 7-months away (215 days!), so sign up soon.

From Australia we fly to Queenstown, New Zealand, via Christchurch. Then we take the legendary two-hour drive to Te Anau, our home for the next four nights, located in the heart of the mighty Southern Alps. Here, we will take a scenic drive to Milford Sound and then cruise the spectacular fiords of New Zealand’s south island, spend more precious time in classes with Bodhinatha and a few other things we can’t tell you about or we’d spoil the surprise.

Every day will be an opportunity to explore with a living satguru, through meditations, discourses and informal sharing, the day-to-day practicalities of living a dynamic Hindu life in a modern world. In towns and remote forests, on boats and a train, we will share two weeks of spiritual exploration together.

(Innersearchers being guided in meditation by Bodhinatha in Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 2004 Indian Odyssey)

Our journey ends here, in New Zealand’s most vibrant city. We will connect with the Hindu community of Auckland and visit Muruga’s temple which Gurudeva helped get started. Just as we began with Murugan’s darshan in Sydney, we end with His shakti in Auckland.

A joyous group from 16 countries sit on the steps of the famed Brihadishwarar temple in Thanjavur, South India, posing for the now famous Innersearch group photo.

Master Course student, Sarasvati Kumara with her daughter Pamela on their last day of their pilgrimage having darshan with Bodhinatha before leaving back for California.

Earlier in the morning at the Narmada lingam.

Aum Namasivaya…

A visit to Muruga Hill…

A few moments at the Wailua River.

End of phase day tour guests with Sadhaka Dandapani…

Himalayan Academy Programs are moving along in various countries… here is a report from Mauritius.

With the approval and Blessings of Satguru Bodhinatha, the Himalayan Academy Committee of the Spiritual Park of Mauritius is organized a mountain climbing for the enrolled Master Course students…

Le Pouce Mountain is one of the highest mountains in the island of Mauritius. ‘Le Pouce’ is a French word meaning thumb as the top part of this mountain looks like a thumb. The idea to have a seminar on the mountain came from Gurudeva’s teaching about the ‘mountaintop perspective’ in GD Trilogy. Some 40 Master Course participants climbed Le Pouce Mountain on Sunday 15th May on a cold windy morning.

A last important briefing and prayer to Lord Ganesha before the climb….The plan during the climbing was to get through the concepts of the four ‘padas’ as explained in Bodhinatha’s Talk “The Spiritual Practices of Saiva Siddhanta” in which Bodhinatha explains that Nalupadasaivam literally means Saivism of four stages and is an alternate name for Saiva Siddhanta.

The four padas are progressive in that in accomplishing each the soul prepares itself for the next. Nalupada Saivam, Saivism’s four stages, are what each human soul must pass through in many births to attain its final goal of moksha.

A little rest for everyone….

The group stopped at a four different places from the base to the top to go over each one of the padas in a practical manner.

It was real experience to make an adventurous climb with spiritual goals in mind.

The climb resumes. Here is Selvina…

Master Course students (from left) Poonam, Gooramah and Selvi listening to the wind blowing over..

Just about to climb the summit. The group is happy having climbed so far. Someone waves an orange flag with a beautiful Ganesha drawn on it. The summit is a now a few meters away. This spot is ideal for lunch and another practical teaching session.

Here is the summit…

The first group gets ready to go up…

The most challenging climb…getting up the peak. Kulapati Kulagan (second from right) giving a helping hand…

Our youngest climber Sivarathna, tucked in the huge boulders

The mountain top experience. The wind is blowing almost 100 km hour here. A group of students on the top of Le Pouce…space is limited here. Most of them are at their first experience in Mountain climbing…

The group seated for a guided meditation… Prior to this the MC students they were asked to look and concentrate on the quiet ocean below fading into the distant horizon. They were asked to visualize themselves on a small boat being tossed over the mighty waves and to think of all the emotions that this would bring up. Then They were asked to look again at the ocean below from the the mountain top and feel that everything is perfect as Gurudeva explains. Then they were asked to look at the houses, buildings, busy roads etc… to differentiate how their attitudes and feelings change when looking at the same thing from a bottom perspective and then from a mountaintop perspective….

Kulamata Premila Manick (right) with a group of students now getting ready to go down the slopes.

Here is Ariadasi Canagasaby happy having been on Le Pouce Mountain.

The finale installment of the Mother’s Day celebrations in Malaysia.

Childrens’ amazing performances uplifted everyone with joy and laughter.

All the husband show their love and appreciation for their wives… our mothers.

The grand finale of the day was the cake cutting ceremony. All ammas were requested to surround the cake table for the cake cutting ceremony. The mother s day theme song was played again, and all ammas joyfully cut the cake. Just as the cake cutting ceremony took place, mysterious bits of colorful crepe papers snowed down from the ceiling, thanks to Kulapati Dhasan. Everyone cheered and applauded loudly, and laughter filled the halls of Kulapati s home.

Then came the grand feast of the day! Since it was mothers  day, a special grand menu was prepared by all ammas (Unfortunately, we couldn’t relieve them off this duty!). Everyone tucked into a delicious meal of bhasmati ghee rice, delicious kurma, cucumber raita, stir-friend mix vegetables, tofu sambal, and spicy mealmakers. Of course, the guests of honor aka ammas, were served first, the waiters being appas and the children.

Yet, the day didn’t end just yet. With all the joy wafting through the air, one thing led to another, and before we knew it, the hall was transformed into a dance floor and everyone got on their feet for a dash of bhangra. There could never have been a better way to bring the curtains down on this marvelous day.

As I headed back home, the feeling of contentment filled my heart. It was, indeed,
another event that reached into the hearts of everyone present. And to all fathers in the church, worry no more. I heard from a little bird out there that the saga of father s day, is already taking its toll.