Here is Bodhinatha at the Hindu temple outside of Memphis. He arrives home late this afternoon and the monks are throwing a birthday party for him during dinner tonight, and we will get to hear all the tales of his journey.

Meanwhile at the Aadheenam we had beautiful day. Here we are walking to the temple site for one of the most joyous events we have each year.

It is Ayudhya puja day and the silpis did a marvelous job decorating the temple and conducting the ceremonies. We have a 92 picture slideshow (click here) which takes us through the initial puja at the blacksmith forge to the shrine of Sarasvati, with all the tools to be blessed followed by a formal stone cutting, blessing the forklift and prasadam and many joyous faces.

Palaniswami brings us some more images from the conference in Dallas in another slide show here. Here he is by an old-fashioned paddle-wheel river boat in Sacramento….

Nearby Arumugaswami stands beside a famous Sacramento River drawbridge.

While we being a new phase at home, Bodhinatha is spending his last day in Memphis, visiting a temple there. Here are some photos of his morning walk by the Mississippi River.

He says, “The city feels a lot like San Franscisco.”

The Siddhidata Kulam put in a major effort last phase and during Siddhidata day on the retreat to set up a complete second story platform-scaffolding over Iraivan.

Rather than a small scaffold which they have to keep moving around, now the team can work across the entire roof

It provides a little sense of how Iraivan will be later when the actual roof stones are in place, cool, shady and quiet.

Tops of pillars waiting for their potugai stones. We look forward to an exciting stone lift about two weeks from now.

Meanwhile back at the Aadheenam, our youngest kitty, Pandiyan, is deep in snore-madhi. He does his hard work at night and then contemplates the nature of the universe during the day. He’s an Abyssinian, named after Abyssinia, today’s Ethiopia, but genetic evidence points to an Indian origin. See http://www.cfainc.org/breeds/profiles/abyssinian.html.

Palaniswami and Arumugaswami were taken to dinner by the sishya in Sacramento. They made a slideshow of their visit to the local Ganesha temple which you can see by clicking here

Meanwhile, these members are all working hard on
the October 27th Iraivan Fund raising Autumn Bazaar in California… Don’t miss it.. …fabulous booths and entertainment including Nafeesa Mahmood performing Odissi dance at 5 PM the very popular music group Nada Brahm which will be performing at 3 PM

Long time supporters and friends from San Antonio, Texas,
Dr. Narasimha Rao Pemmaraju and his wife. She felt Gurudeva’s presence profoundly today, saying, “He is still with us, you know.”

~~~~~~~~~~~
END OF PHASE
Today is the last day of our phase.
This edition of TAKA will remain posted
over our coming two-day retreat,
until Dasami Tithi, Sun One, Saturday, October 20th.

The photo here is of Bodhinatha in India in 2004, but actutally today Bodhinatha is in Memphis, Tennessee. He sent a brief report that the team had a technical day learning about AJAX etc. So he spent time working on projects privately while Shanmuganathaswami and Yogi Jivanandanatha attended the “nerd” sessions.

We are also linking today to his talk from this past Sun One. Don’t miss it.

Meanwhile Palaniswami and Arumugaswami are back home, safe and sound. Here is another slide show installment from the Dallas conference.

At home we have a pilgrim, Balbir Singh from Malaysia with us for a few days.

A friend of Bala Sivaceyon, lives in KL area. He has wanted to come here for a long time. An employee for Exxon, he attended some training programs in Houston, Texas and has taken the opportunity to stop at the Aadheenam on the way home.

He is a devout Hindu, and has been putting his time here to good use in solitude, worship and meditation.

Recently, Arumugaswami and Yogi Jivananadanatha were invited to bless the farm of Jerry Ornellas. The monastery has worked closely with Jerry over a number of years now to see to the preservation of the extensive irrigation system in our area developed by the sugar company in the 1920s and 30s.

Jerry had gotten grants from the federal NRCS agency to upgrade the irrigation system in his fruit orchard, where longan is the prime fruit. He wants the blessings of all the devas on his new initiatives.

Here he helps prepare for the puja.

Yogi performs the arati…

Jerry breaking a coconut as part of the blessing.

Walking around, blessing the orchard.

On the morning of the 14th October all the Mauritius sishyas including both our Church members and students, met at the Ganesha Mandapam to celebrate Guru Jayanthi, our Beloved Satguru Bodhinatha’s birthday. It was both a highly charged spiritual event and an opportunity for the local island sishyas to meet and spend some good time together as a Siva sambandam (family).

After the chanting of Bodhinatha’s ashtottra or 108 holy names of the Guru, everyone stood up for the arati. The spiritual vibration was very high at that moment in the Ganesha Mandapam.

The Holy sandals of the Guru …..

Then we all went into a guided Shum Meditation ….

The event started with a silent pada puja to the Holy Tiruvadi. Bodhinatha’s peetham was beautifully decorated with gold painted foliage for the occasion.

…… to feel the darshan of the Guru in the quiet atmosphere of the Ganesha Mandapam.

A rare quiet divine moment together…..

Kulapati Parmesh Pallanee was leading the Shum Meditation…

Then Kulapati Siven Koothan read the message sent by Satguru Bodhinatha for the occasion.

The Guru’s message emphasized on affirmations. Here is an extract:

We all know the importance of affirmations to success, but are we doing them daily. Affirmations are a wonderful tool, but unless we use the tool we do not receive the benefits from it. ”

From Bodhinatha’s Message:

“The following is an Affirmation which is to be recited once each day by the whole family. It was created in 2001 by Gurudeva who felt that families would benefit by having their own affirmation in the same way the monastery does from repeating its affirmation which is done by the mathavasis each morning. The updated version is:

“We, the [insert family name here] family, beseech the grace of Panchamukha Ganapati to manifest His five shaktis of peace and harmony within our home and to joyfully fulfill the spiritual, social, economic, cultural and educational goals of grihastha life as outlined in Gurudeva’s 365 Nandinatha Sutras. We dedicate ourselves, individually and together, to our daily worship, sadhana and Master Course study, and vow to work closely with Bodhinatha in every aspect of our lives. Knowing that bonding is essential, we hold daily family meetings and Monday home evenings to cooperatively solve problems and create a loving, uplifting atmosphere in which each member develops discipline, responsibility and the spirit of divine service. We remain close-knit and cultivate unity by talking together about the experiences of our day and extending our affection and harmony to all other families of our Church. We take time for training, and we value mistakes as opportunities to learn. To us, the guest is truly God, welcomed and honored with heartfelt hospitality. Through our thoughtfulness, care and compassion, we allow an abundance of gold to accumulate within our home. We tithe our income monthly and tithe our time weekly in the service of our noble Saiva Siddhanta Church. We are filled and thrilled with the Cosmic Energy of God Siva, creatively alive and in tune with the universe.”

After the reading of Bodhinatha’s message two other activities followed. One was a documentary kind of keynote presentation on Satguru Bodhinatha on the screen projector and the other was a very relaxed fun game on the Guru in which all those who attended participated.

Then Kulapati and Kulamata Siven Koothan cut the Guru’s cake while everyone chanted Happy Birthday to Bodhinatha.

At the end of the ceremony Kulapati SK Moorghen thanked everyone for their support in organizing this event….

Time for the final arati….

The Guru Mantra is chanted with full heart….

Followed by prostration to the Holy Tiruvadi….

Our youth taking care of offering arati and pada puja items to all devotees….

A new photograph was released on that day. Here is Kulapati Kulagan happily holding his personal copy. All those present was gifted a photo of Bodhinatha to bring home on that day…

Sishyas wishing to receive a copy of Bodhinatha’s message can send their request to: spark@hindu.org

Our food station catering for our loving group of sishyas. The menu sponsored by one of Bodhinatha’s MC student family was very delicious….

Some of our sishyas enjoying the meal….

Happy Jayanthi to Bodhinatha! Today is his birthday and celebrations have been going on in various parts of the world…

Here is one testimony from Mauritius:

Aum Sivaya Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami,

Jai Ganapati!

We had a wonderful Guru Jayanthi celebration as scheduled at the Spiritual Park yesterday. Below are a few highlights.

1. Everything started on time. Bhajans, then silent pada puja and 108 Bodhinatha’s names slowly chanted by all present.

2. Kul. Parmesh Pallanee guided the Shum Meditation. We used the simple introductory Shum format.

3. Then we had a keynote presentation, with texts, photos, music, vedic chants and videos on Bodhinatha. We used only the Church written materials obtained on our Church website and Saivite Trilogy for the texts. The response was very positive as such a presentation on Bodhinatha took everyone by surprise. We have never had a detailed documentary on the Guru before in Mauritius.

4. Kul. Siven Kootha read the message Satguru Bodhinatha sent for the occasion. He gave a clear explanation. Sishyas have asked that we send them copies of the affirmation therein.

5. We have a wonderful fun win-win game mostly on informations provided earlier on the keynote. The response was very encouraging. Everyone’s attention was suddenly focussed on this Guru item. There was much laughter and everyone participated to questions asked. Even the little children and women responded beyond our expectations. We gave all those present a photo of Bodhinatha as a gift. Kulapati Kulagan was very enthusiastic to help me animate this item.

6. Then Kulapati and Kulamata Koothan cut Bodhinatha’s Birthday cake. It was a moment of real joy with all sishyas singing and wishing happy birthday. Then Kul. SK Moorghen tgave the vote of thanks.

7. After the final arati and prostration to the Tiruvadi, we had a nice lunch together in the shade of the mango grove. It was not the same vibration as the massive food serving on Sunday Homas, but more of a relaxed family kind of Sivasamdandan feeling prevailing. Our group consisted mainly of members and MC students.

On the whole, it was a unique ceremony and we thank Bodhinatha for all the Blessings and support. We are working on the TAKA photos and shall be sending them by tomorrow.

Happy Guru Jayanthi Bodhinatha! Aum.

Rajen.

Sabharathnam Sivachariya leaves tonite and yesterday had darshan with Bodhinatha. He is doing a marvelous job translating scriptures and is great devotee of Lord Nataraja.

He has been meeting daily with Paramacharya Ceyonswami in the mornings.

Swami says, “Sivacharya is a such wealth of knowledge and he has left a few of his diamonds with us for safekeeping. His understanding of the Agamas and other Saiva scripture is on a much deeper level than most. And he experienced many revelations during his month stay with us regarding the profundity of Gurudeva’s Realization and what Gurudeva has established here for many generations to come.”

Sabharathnam has been translating a number of important works that Bodhinatha has selected.

Sabharathnam is very impressed with the Shum language that Gurudeva revealed. Here Bodhinatha presents him with a certificate honoring his important work.

Bodhinatha give him a shawl…

Our Wailua Mission members took him for sight-seeing in the local Wailua river area.

He had an interest in the old Hawaiian temple sites.

Standing at the site of an ancient Hawaiian temple.

And at the site of the first temple by the sea, of the chain of temples going up the Wailua River.

We have really been blessed to have this great soul with us for a month and look forward to years of fruitful collaboration in the work of carrying forward our scriptures into the “future of futures” as Gurudeva would say.

Saint Tirumular… today we carry forward the ancient wisdom that was in his head to coming generations.

Bodhinatha departs this evening for a four-day Fourth Dimension “4D” conference with Shanmuganathaswami and Yogi Jivanandanatha.

No, that’s not on conference on the 4th dimension of the mind (smile) “4D” is the primary software used by Saiva Siddhanta Church for all its information management that is not on the web. Their goal will be to learn about some amazing new changes and upgrades, web integration and to keep in touch with the developer community. Bodhinatha will also be visiting a near-by Hindu temple.

Sabharathanam Sivachariya’s stay at the Aadheenam is drawing to a close. For one month he has been working on translations and meeting with the monks, sharing his vast knowledge of the Saiva Agamas.

He feels very strongly that “Lord Siva has come to earth through Gurudeva to re-awaken and re-inspire and carry forward the tradition of the Saiva Agamas. I firmly believe this. Every single page of his books is a perfect reflection of the ancient scriptures in a modern form.”

In many questions and answer discussions with the monks he share much of his knowledge on the esoterics of various levels of existence, “tattvas” and temple worship. One of his teachers was a Dikshitar from Chidambaram and Sabharathnam is reservoir of knowledge on the worship of Lord Nataraja.

Paramacharya Palaniswami and Sannyasin Arumugaswami completed their mission in Dallas and are now in Sacramento.

Palaniswamisent us this slide show today with an overview of the Dallas conference.

Last night’s aadheenam sunset over Mount Waialeale.

At home all is still and quiet. Palaniswami and Arumugaswami are in Dallas, Texas. Tomorrow Bodhinatha, Shanmuganathaswami and Yogi Jivanandanatha fly off to Memphis.

Satguru Speaks fans will note that Bodhinatha’s inspired talk from October 3rd has been posted.

We bring you today another installment from the mission in California. Here is Bodhinatha giving his presentation on What is Hinduism at the donor appreciation event in Palo Alto

Devotees have set up a table of rudraksha malas for sale that were made in Kauai.

Sunday, Oct 7th: Our donor reception event in Palo Alto was held at the beautiful conference hall at Trader Vic’s. Ganesha welcomes all who attend.

Getting ready for the big event. Easvan Param hangs a giant marigold garland.

Adi Alahan puts together a display of Iraivan posters.

Easan Katir (right) poses with Mihir Meghani, our guest speaker for the day, and president of the Hindu American Foundation.

A wonderful team worked hard to help create a special event.

Beautiful displays that tell about Kauai’s Hindu Monastery.

Young Bela Param.

Guests start to arrive.

Warren Nelson and his son, Indran.

Dr. Thomas Yarema, who used to live on Kauai, shares a moment with Sadhaka Dandapani.

Sashi & Gayathri Subramaniam and their daughter, Maitreyi, were among our guests.

Bodhinatha and Sadhaka Dandapani go over a few things before the program begins.

The conference room is filled with fine old and new artifacts.

A special thanks to Kailash Dhakshinamurthi for taking these series of wonderful photos.

Mihir Meghani is our guest speaker and speaks on the various projects that the Hindu American Foundation is working on and the support the monastery has given them over the years.

Bodhinatha honors him with a shawl for his tireless service to Hinduism.

Sadhaka Dandapani is our MC for the afternoon.

Bodhinatha speaks on “What Is Hinduism?”

A birthday cake was brought in to celebrate his upcoming birthday.

GS Satya and his wife attend our event every year and enjoy spending time with Bodhinatha.

At home all is still and quiet. Palaniswami and Arumugaswami are in Dallas, Texas. Tomorrow Bodhinatha, Shanmuganathaswami and Yogi Jivanandanatha fly off to Memphis.

Satguru Speaks fans will note that Bodhinatha’s inspired talk from October 3rd has been posted.

We bring you today another installment from the mission in California. Here is Bodhinatha giving his presentation on What is Hinduism at the donor appreciation event in Palo Alto

Devotees have set up a table of rudraksha malas for sale that were made in Kauai.

Sunday, Oct 7th: Our donor reception event in Palo Alto was held at the beautiful conference hall at Trader Vic’s. Ganesha welcomes all who attend.

Getting ready for the big event. Easvan Param hangs a giant marigold garland.

Adi Alahan puts together a display of Iraivan posters.

Easan Katir (right) poses with Mihir Meghani, our guest speaker for the day, and president of the Hindu American Foundation.

A wonderful team worked hard to help create a special event.

Beautiful displays that tell about Kauai’s Hindu Monastery.

Young Bela Param.

Guests start to arrive.

Warren Nelson and his son, Indran.

Dr. Thomas Yarema, who used to live on Kauai, shares a moment with Sadhaka Dandapani.

Sashi & Gayathri Subramaniam and their daughter, Maitreyi, were among our guests.

Bodhinatha and Sadhaka Dandapani go over a few things before the program begins.

The conference room is filled with fine old and new artifacts.

A special thanks to Kailash Dhakshinamurthi for taking these series of wonderful photos.

Mihir Meghani is our guest speaker and speaks on the various projects that the Hindu American Foundation is working on and the support the monastery has given them over the years.

Bodhinatha honors him with a shawl for his tireless service to Hinduism.

Sadhaka Dandapani is our MC for the afternoon.

Bodhinatha speaks on “What Is Hinduism?”

A birthday cake was brought in to celebrate his upcoming birthday.

GS Satya and his wife attend our event every year and enjoy spending time with Bodhinatha.

We are back after a two day retreat. We will continue with the retrospective series of Bodhinatha’s mission and birthday in California.

Back at the Aadheenam, it was our weekly tour day today.

Visitors admire the amazing carving of Iraivan. Many Americans have never seen anything like this in their lives.

Immediately after our donor reception event in Newport Beach Bodhinatha flew to Oakland. There he was taken to a surprise birthday party held in his honor.

All the devotees eagerly awaited his arrival.

Surprise!

Satya Palani and Chandran Param.

Easan Katir is our magician for the night.

The old rabbit out of the hat trick!

A card trick for Bodhinatha.

Arrival of the birthday cake with its countless candles.

Deep breath……..

…here we go…..

Almost did it!

One more time!

Congratulations Bodhinatha!

A beautifully made birthday card by the devotees.

Sunday, 7th Oct: The next morning Rolf Schreiber took Bodhinatha and Sadhaka Dandapani on a tour of Google’s headquarters.

The impressive visitor’s lobby.

All the roofs of the parking lots and buildings have solar panels on them providing them with electricity to almost run all of Googles buildings.

It is quiet at the Aadheenam. Work progresses steadily on all fronts.

For TAKA for the next few days we will share photos and the story that Sadhaka Dandapani has brought home with him from the trip to California.

Bodhinatha full of laughter at our satsang in San Diego.

~~~~~~~~~~~
END OF PHASE
Today is the last day of our phase.
This edition of TAKA will remain posted
over our coming two-day retreat,
until Dvitiya Tithi, Sun One, Friday, October 12th.

On Saturday Oct 6th we held our annual donor reception event in Southern California and this year it was held in Newport Beach. Arun and Archana Dongre. Archana has written many articles for Hinduism Today.

Shelah and David Young.

Bodhinatha gives a talk on chakras, enduring happiness and a few other topics.

Dr. Shan Sunder and his wife, Thilaka came down from Lancaster.

Dr. Narayanan Rao and his wife Sarojini came from Illinois and was our guest speaker for the day.

Dushyant Balasubramaniam and his mother.

Rosa Jaramillo (far left) is a Master Course student who came with her family from Mexico.

Ashley Baumann, Sadhaka Tejadeva’s sister, and Dwayne.

Gurudas Pai (right) and his brother. Gurudas visited us here in Kauai a few years ago.

Gerard Linsmeier who was on the 2004 Indian Odyssey with Bodhinatha.

Phani Peesapathi (middle) and her family join us every year for this event.

Alka Doshi (2nd from left), her daughter, Amrita, and her parents were also present. Alka has been very inspired to help raise funds for our Hanuman statue project and has single handedly raised more than $15,000. Thank you Alka for your wonderful inspiring support.

The event was held at the Harbourside Grand Ballroom with a view of the beautiful bay behind it.

Dasan Mahadevan and Toshadeva Guhan.

A wonderfully healthy lunch for all who came.

Usha Katir and Sheela Rahavendran, two of our sevaks in southern California who worked tirelessly to plan Bodhinatha’s visit.

Shakti Mahadevan and Shailesh Trivedi created a most beautifully decorated ballroom. Thank you to you both for setting the stage for a wonderful event.

A giant birthday cake to celebrate Bodhinatha’s upcoming birthday.

Bodhinatha sampling the first piece.

Rosa Jaramillo and family meet with Bodhinatha. Guests got to share their thoughts and inspirations with Bodhinatha after the event.

Guests line up to meet with Bodhinatha.

Shan and Thilaka Sunder with their relatives pose with Bodhinatha.

Shailesh Trivedi and his sister, Shivali, pose for a photo with Sadhaka Dandapani.