Here is Bodhinatha at one of his darshan meetings with members of the Hindu community in Australia…..

This is Sri Manickavasagar. He is a masterful singer. Yogaswami requested to sing for him for an hour. Yogaswami then told him “You melted my heart”.

Our story continues picking from transit day Jan 24th (Melbourne):

Bodhinatha ready to leave Melbourne for Sydney and would like to share with TAKA viewers a piece of advice from the guru.

A special thanks to Sashinath Velupillay for driving us to our events.

Sydney: One event tonight and that is a TV interview for Bodhinatha by Sigaram TV. Our hotel room turns into a TV studio.

lights, camera …action!

Mathini Wigneswaran is our interviewer and she has prepared some very challenging questions for Bodhinatha.

Bodhinatha presents Chandran and Mathini with a gift of Gurudeva’s Trilogy for all their help in coordinating the events here.

January 25th (Sydney): Lynda Morris from the Sydney Morning Herald, the largest newspaper in New South Wales, came to interview Bodhinatha this morning.

Then early in the afternoon Kerry Stuart from ABC (Australian Broadcasting Coorporation) National Radio dropped by to interview Bodhinatha for a documentary they are doing on Hinduism in Australia. The show will broadcast in early April.

This was followed by meetings with devotees. First is Mr. Pasupathy and family. He gifted Bodhinatha the original photo of Yogaswami that he took many, many years ago. What a gift! He took 2 of the 5 photos of Yogaswami that exist today. Thank you for capturing our precious paramaguru on film for the generations ahead.

Nageswari Nadarajah, our star Iraivan temple builder, who was full of joy to see Bodhinatha.

After the meetings Bodhinatha headed off to the Sri Shiva Mandir in Minto.

He gave a talk titled Siva is the God of LOve.

The temple is beautiful and outstandingly clean. Gurudeva had visited this temple when it was still under construction.

Jan 26th (Australia Day): It’s Australia Day Down Under. On the 26th of each January Australia celebrates itself throughout the nation. There are special events, fireworks, fun outings for the family and such. The nation also honors its citizens and local heros, acknowledging those who served well and accomplished things to make the country proud.

One of the highest forms of this honoring is the OAM or Medal of the Order of Australia. We ourselves were proud to be here in the country on this day, because our very own Dr. Nageswaran Nagaratnam was one of the recipients of the medal! He got it for a lifetime of work in his medical field, geriatrics or the medicine of the elderly. But also the medal was for his continuing mentoring of others in the field, bringing young doctors into deeper understandings, and for his selfless sharing of his vast experience in the field.

Others who receive the medal today (the front page of the Herald called them “a marvelously motley mob”) were actress Nicole Kidman, a doctor who developed a vaccine for cancer, a nuclear physicist, a philanthropist and a general who lead soldiers in Iraq.

The most amazing thing is that Dr. Nagaratnam and his wife have been this countries greatest supporters of Iraivan temple, and were Bodhinatha’s loving hosts in Sydney, cooking and delivering traditional meals daily for the monks each day, driving us to all the temples, arranging interviews and meetings, and helping in so many ways. We would like to congratulate Dr. Nagaratnam, and offer him and his wife our own Australian Newcomers Medal for their loving care of Bodhinatha during his visits to Sydney.

A sample of the colourful and absolutely delicious meals that they have been bringing for Bodhinatha daily.

The Nagaratnams then took Bodhinatha to the Sydney Murugan temple.

In temple’s cultural hall Bodhinatha conducted a 3-hour seminar on the key practices of Hinduism.

About 150 attended the seminar

Chandran and Mathini Wigneswaran ever present at all the events to help with all the little details.

Bodhinatha meets with Francesco and his partner who flew down all the way from Brisbane to see Bodhinatha.

After a 45 minute break Bodhinatha was taken on a scenic 1 hour drive south of Sydney to the Sri Shiva Vishnu temple.

This is the first Hindu temple built in the Sydney region.

A warm welcome….

Worshipping at the Ganesha shrine

The temple has many statues along its inner wall.

Sri Venkateshwara

Bodhinatha gave a talk on the role of Hinduism in the modern day world.

Another TV interview, this time with a community TV station.

This is a group of people associated with psychic channeler, Geoffrey Hoppe who comes to Kauai each year for a spiritual travel program and brings everyone to Kauai. Happy beautiful souls…

Geoffrey and Linda Benyo Hoppe, leaders of the “Crimson Circle” based on the teachings of “Tobias” channeled through Geoffrey Hoppe.