Here is Bodhinatha at the recent quarterly Hindu Heritage Endowment meeting during our last retreat. Paramacharya Palaniswami brings us the photos and story.

But, before you start please enjoy this video of Bodhinatha’s last seminar to the pilgrims on the subject of “Awareness.”

Also, if you go back one day on TAKA we have issued an improved version of the Guru Puja, which has been color corrected to bring the images out of the shadows.

Once every three months, the stewards of Hindu Heritage Endowment meet to review the quarter, share progress and projects, give grants and plan for the future.

Gurudeva started the meetings in 1994 when he founded HHE to provide Hindu institutions of all lineages financial support. He designated a North Shore resort as our HHE meeting place and for 12 years we have met there, at the same tables.

This time Bodhinatha invited Easan Katir, Isani Alahan and Jutikadevi Sivaraja to join us. Rajkumar Manikkam is the fourth member of the team, but he was in Malaysia today.

All four of them are part of a new volunteer team which will help contact people for HHE. Here is Easan studying the booklet prepared by the Pillaiyar Kulam.

Isani dives bravely into all the numbers. There are 66 funds in HHE, and about $8 million in assets.

Jutikadevi was inspired by all the ways HHE is helping orphanages, schools for the mentally handicapped, elderly people’s homes, ashrams, temples and more.

Bodhinatha has developed a presentation format for the meetings, and each of the monks takes one section of the endowment’s complex workings and presents it to those who are visiting.

Sadhaka Jivanandanatha makes his presentation. He shared that HHE gave $61,000 in grants in the last three months.

It takes a full three hours to get through the agenda, without a break. Shanmuganathaswami spoke at length about our new consultant, Phil Murphy, who is an expert in planned giving and has worked for decades with the Catholic Church.

A few feet from our table, Bodhinatha stands with Hanalei Bay behind him.

He is happy that much of the work that he has been responsible for the past 12 years is being taken on by Shanmuganathaswami and his team.

Easan explained the subtle distinction between a Charitable Remainder Trust and a Charitable Lead Trust, which was new to some of us.

Isani has been helping in dozens of ways, small and large.

Jutikadevi is working on a new project with the Centers for Disease Control, and found the day’s look into the inner workings of Hindu Heritage Endowments helpful to her newest business initiatives.

Mahalo (Thank you) to these three, and to others who are helping HHE to grow in service to others.

We share here Gurudeva’s introduction to HHE and its spiritual purpose:

“Hindu thought and culture thread through almost every civilization on the planet, weaving a subtle tapestry of lofty philosophy and earthy, pragmatic wisdom. Whose life has not been touched? Some have been raised in India and enjoy memories of warm extended families and cool temples resounding with ancient mantras. Others find peace of mind in Hindu yoga practices. Many find solace in the concepts of karma, dharma and reincarnation, which express their own inner findings and beliefs.

“If you are one who has been touched by Hindu thought and culture, you may wish to further enrich your life by giving back to Sanatana Dharma in countries around the globe and helping preserve its rich heritage for future generations. Hindu Heritage Endowment (HHE) provides such an opportunity. A public charitable trust recognized by the United States government, HHE was created to maintain permanent endowments for Hindu projects and institutions worldwide. Its endowments benefit orphanages, children’s schools, ashrams and temples. They support priests and publish books; and they are designed to continue giving that financial support year after year, decade after decade, century after century.

“The staff at HHE is one-pointed in their dedication to seeing that qualified donations will be used effectively for the purposes intended. Each beneficiary must give a detailed yearly report on its income from HHE and a schedule of how the next year s funds will be spent before funds are issued. We take it as a sadhana to see that your gifts meet their purpose.

“Please place Hindu Heritage Endowment in your will, your year-end giving and/or your monthly budget. Whether you are inspired to give a few dollars to support orphanages or bequest millions in your will, write, give us a call or look us up on the Internet. Find out how to enrich your life by helping to preserve the treasures of a profound heritage for generations now living or as yet unborn.”

Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
HHE Founder
January 5, 1927-November 12, 2001

As many of you know, the Tsunami in Indonesia destroyed much of the coastal developments along the eastern seaboard of Sri Lanka. One of these was the Tirunavukkarasu Orphanage. The subsequent fund raising efforts we made were successful. We bring you picture of celebrations of Bodhinatha’s Jayanthi there.

Here work is progressing on the second story walls.