If you would like to contribute to the relief efforts, please visit the aid-relief page at Hindu.org to find out how you can help.

Here is Bodhinatha at the retreat in Malaysia, the story of which continues below.

News from Sri Lanka

A small orphanage on the Eastern coast of Sri Lanka has been closely connected with the monastery since it was founded in 1995. They were right in the center of the worst and most deadly tsunami to hit the shores of Lanka.

They young boys there are more missionaries and Siva bhaktars than orphans. They taught Saivism to all in the community, held festivals, fed the poor and the homeless sadhus. They read from Gurudeva’s trilogy each day, and sang Yogaswami’s Natchintanai morning and night. They were very much in love with Gurudeva’s teachings and he was always supportive of their efforts, admiring their attitude of not only taking care of themselves, but reaching out to others, actually helping those who had more than they. Just recently Hindu Heritage Endowment bought them a tractor, which they plan to rent out in order to become more self-sufficient.

Initial news was not good. We were told two days back that their village had been swept away, with no known survivors, and we despaired of ever hearing from them again. But today one of our TAKA CyberCadets sent us a hopeful message posted on the web, basically a report from the military leaders assessing damage and trying to help survivors. This is the short but possibly heartening report:

“Seventy five boys in an orphanage in Thirukovil escaped the Tsunami by running inland as soon as they saw it coming. A few boys there who did not escape were killed in the orphanage when it was hit by the wave”, Commander Ram said.

Thirukovil is the main village near the orphanage. We now believe our boys may have escaped, their swift, young feet taking most of them inland to higher ground just in time. Still, it is all a bit uncertain and it could have been another orphanage. Please add your prayers to ours that our young ones survived the tsunami.

We held a special tour day today, to accommodate the many holiday guests. The magazines and guide books that have us listed are drawing quite a crowd.

Among them are Hindu families.

Today the family of Prasad, Vimala, Sindhu and Teja Ravipati visited for the first time from Michigan, USA, after hearing about us from friends.

They are from the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh originally.

They enjoyed “discovering” the ball in lion’s mouth and trying their hand at stone chipping.

They also chatted with Shanmugam Sthapati a bit while the other shilpis worked on a portion of the sunshade roof.

The tedious work of fitting the “sun shade” (edge of the temple roof) onto the edge of the chinna gopuram, continues.

December 23rd… Day Two of the Malaysia retreat:

Morning view of the Teluk Batik Beach.

View of the Resort we stayed in.

Bodhinatha told the monks today: “The hills behind the retreat were filled with trees. We had lots of fresh prana flowing from the ocean and the forest behind us.”

He said: “The resort environment was excellent. Unlike some hotels where evening rock music begins early, here, it was very quiet, and the class hall was perfect.”

The topic of discussion for the first session was Yamas & Niyamas..

Some of the beautiful Artwork done by Sarkuna Sockanathan as a part of fund raising activity.

Next session was the teachers workshop..Teachers got into groups to brainstorm on how to deliver Yamas & Niyamas to their students effectively.

Caught in Action!! Yoginathaswami & Yogi Japendranatha enjoy the local fruits delight during the break. It was Yogi’s first taste of the famous amazing durian fruit. The Malaysians were delighted that he was instantly “hooked” on it as is everyone else in the country.

Focus on the next workshop was on the newcomers…Among the topics discussed was Lord Ganesha and his role in the physical world…

Ice Breaking Games at the beach – Each participant was asked to blow the balloon and give the balloon to the respective participant (names were wri
tten on each balloon)..Dr. Arjunan is action!! We want to thank him for his generous support of the program and his youthful spirit!

Our happy Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami during a break. He’s giving a lot of talks and answering a lot of questions!

A few more workshops followed and then dinner was served. Youth leader Aravind Raj and Sivaneswaren having dinner with swami and yogi.

“My new friend!”, Vivek Kartigesu from Singapore and Thelvin Nair from Klang– the next generation…