2025 Kauai Aadheenam Founder’s Puja
Jai Gurudeva!
Join us at 3:30pm (Kauai time) for the final event of Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami’s annual founders puja (mahasamadhi puja).
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Gurudeva Mahasamadhi, Day Three
We began the day with a short puja at Gurudeva’s samadhi shrine. Later in the morning, Satguru gave a presentation on the Klesha section of the Yoga Sutras to assembled pilgrims and gifted a copy of our new Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras book to each household.
This is the 24th anniversary of Gurudeva’s samadhi, so it carries the 12-year-Jupiter-cycle significance. Sivasri Kumar Gurukkal arrived yesterday and will perform the mahasamadhi pujas tomorrow. He is accompanied by a special guest priest on his first visit, Sivasri Rajashanmugam Gurukkal who serves at the Palani Hills Murugan temple in Tamil Nadu and is visiting California to participate in the Shiva-Murugan Temple’s first Skanda Shashthi celebration in their new premises.
Fifty-four small kumbhas are being prepared today to accompany the main kumbha. A couple of sevakas are here from Malaysia and USA to help out. They are cutting many banana leaves into small strips that serve as mats for the kumbhas to rest on.
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Mauritius October Ganesha Homa
Lord Panchamukha Ganapati, known by nearly all Mauritians as simply “The Big Ganesha”
Arrival at the Spiritual Park on the morning of the homa
Parading to the main mandapam
Vel lights the camphor arati
The homa is then lit
Kulapatis tend the flame while Swami burns the prayers
Next, a silent meditation with all present
Paramacharya gives an upadesha
Rajen translates to creol
An award from the Mauritian Department of Health
Final offerings
Pancha Arati. Jai!
Some wonderful bhajans to end the event
Our deep gratitude to everyone in Mauritius for the increadible stay! Aum.
Jai Ganesha!
On October 5th, the final day of Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami’s and Sannyasin TIllainathaswami’s journey in Mauritius, the two had a wonderful time attending the monthly Ganesha Homa at the Spiritual Park. The day happened to coincide with a massive event at Ganga Talao, the island’s sacred hilltop lake, so only the staunchest Ganesha bhaktars were in attendance. This reduced the morning’s usual crowd of several thousand. When our swamis arrived they were greeted and garlanded at the entrance to the park, then paraded to the feet of Lord Panchamukha Ganapati. An arati was performed by Vel Mahalingam, the homa was kindled, and thousands of paper prayers were added to the flames. Following the homa was a silent meditation and then a talk by Paramacharya about the joys of Hinduism. An award was also presented to the Spiritual Park by the country’s Minister of Health, for the massive success of the blood donations that take place just outside the park during most monthly Ganesha homa days. Next was a final arati, followed by bhajans, and a loving farewell to our traveling monastics. Aum.
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Youth Workshop in Mauritius; and New Monk Announcement
The youth gather at the end of the morning to take an all tribes photo.
Tillainathaswami speaks on the nature of consciousness.
The tribes made 8 circles for their discussions.
Each tribe’s spokes person gave a report on their shared conclusions.
Our new monk from Mauritius, Arinien, with his father, Ananda, waiting at the Murugan Temple for the arrival of the swamis.
Arinien signs his Aspirant Agreement in a family shrine room, affirming his decision to follow the Saivite monastic life
On October 4, in the island nation of Mauritius, some forty under-25 seekers gathered at the Spiritual Park for a two-hour workshop that joyfully spilled into overtime. Sadasivanathaswami spoke on the nature of real spirituality, sharing the story of a fraudulent magician who, during the 1982 Innersearch pilgrimage in India, pretended to possess mystical powers—an act that aroused Gurudeva’s ire. Paramacharya then outlined Gurudeva’s practical tools for overcoming all kinds of fear. Tillainathaswami followed with mystical teachings on the nature of the mind and a guided meditation that everyone deeply enjoyed.
The real excitement came after the tea break, when the group was divided into eight “tribes” of five and asked to sit in informal circles to discuss two topics:
- The place of AI in Hindu spirituality—including Zoom pūjās, digital gurus, and online Hindu studies; and
- How can we help our elders perform their duties better?
Brave themes indeed, which the youth tackled with intelligence and enthusiasm. Each group then appointed a spokesperson to report back on their tribe’s conclusions. It was a wonderful morning—filled with friendship, lively discussion, and new bonds formed with the swamis from Kauai.
One of the participants, Arinien Mootoocurpen, shared with the traveling monks his decision to come to Kauai to become a monk. He has the full blessings of his parents, who raised him in our fellowship from birth and had long hoped this day would come. He signed his Aspirant Agreement in the home shrine of Mougam Pareatumbe and his wife Amutha, in the presence of his parents. Arinien, is presently on pilgrimage in South India with his family while the monks prepare his U.S. visa application. As you might imagine, the monastery is joyfully celebrating this happy turn of events. There are photos of him at the end of the slideshow.
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Darshan, Grace of the Guru, Part Five
Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives his weekly upadesha in Kadavul Temple at Kauai’s Hindu Monastery in Hawaii. It is part of a series of talks elaborating on the inspired teachings of Satguru Śivaya Subramuniyaswami as found in his book Merging With Śiva.
“Once someone said of my guru, Yogaswami, “You have to make yourself like a fool to go in front of that man. He will speak as a madman of God to you. But if you go to him in an ordinary state of consciousness, he will say, ‘I’m just like you. Go away. I have nothing to say. Nothing comes from the inside. Go away!’ ” You have to be an intellectual fool to be in front of the satguru. If you hear ordinary things from the guru, look closely at yourself. He is your closest mirror. He is only biding his time with you until the extraordinary ones come along to utilize his depths. Most gurus enjoy an exquisite inner life that is so refined and interesting, it keeps them very well occupied. “
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Mayil Kovil Visit
Beginning the evening ascent up to the hillside temple
A view of the temple (in the background behind the hall) just before dusk
Shishaya wait at the base of the steps to warmly greet our swamis
Greeting Shivacharya at the top
The view of the town from the temple at night is quite lovely
Paramacharya is seated to give an upadesha to everyone
The temple’s hereditary manager introduces the monks
Aum Saravanabhavaya Namah
Vel Muruga!
Recently while in Mauritius, Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami and Sannyasin Tillainathaswami traveled to Quatre Bornes for an evening event at the Mayil Kovil there, which resides upon the nearby Corps-de-Garde hillside. Arriving in the evening, our swamis led the march up the nearly 300 steps stairway to the temple. Several hundred people were in attendance. After being greeted by the resident Shivacharya, the group circumambulated the temple and then stepped inside for worship at the main shrines, concluding with an arati to Lord Murugan. Paramacharya was then asked to give an upadesha to everyone. He discussed many of the joys and strengths of Hinduism, as well as provided advice for handling the encroachment from other religions, while including some stories about the advice that Gurudeva had given many years ago to crowds in Sri Lanka. Aum.