Bodhinatha yesterday recorded more presentations for use in the coming Gurudeva Maha Samadhi observances.

It was Sun Four today. The Siddhidata Kulam gave their phase report of all the many things they are doing. Of course the major activities, Iraivan Temple, growing food and all kinds of maintenance.

Sadhaka Nilakantha is our “Anna Purna Gardens” manager and keeps a steady supply of food coming in.

This is a super, 44-pound Mauritius pumpkins… He’s saying “Can you take the picture… pleeeeeze! This is heavy!”

In preparation for annual Gurudeva Mahasamadhi, Sivanadiyar Satya is editing Gurudeva’s autobiographical video that was given during the Alaska Innersearch, taking the various classes and putting them all into one video.

It is quite a challenge, mainly because the audio recording that came with the video needs a lot of work.

We will put this on DVD and send out to all the sishya.

A local artist who was commissioned to do a piece of our new booklet “Kauai’s Hindu Monastery” has brought her finished work today.

It is done in two pieces, a background and foreground, to be digitally placed on top of each other.

Sannyasin Natarajnathaswami will scan these. The foreground has a pure white background.

Meanwhile we take the artist and her friend for a tour of the TI collection.

Her choice of one specimen to take home for her garden.

Back at the Ganapati Kulam… the art work is now “melded” together in the computer.

Robert Brown here at work. Today he is working with Yogi Japendranatha, selecting quotes for use in the “Quotes and Quips” page of the next issue of Hinduism Today.

Kulapati Adi Alahan and Kulamata Asha Alahan met with Bodhinatha today. They will be returning to California soon having come to Kauai to be with their children and grand children. Three generations dedicated to the Kailasa Parampara….

Adi is a skilled builder and is here helping to install supports for the new wooden carvings on the sides of the doors of Kadavul.

These will be mounted here with new lights above….

We have some big news from the Pillaiyar Kulam. Sadhaka Jivanandanatha, after working for “many moons” with the help of a cyber sevak, Venkat Dhurjati, who lives in Tennessee, has complete their new shop site.

Click here to check out the new design of MiniMela.com

For the internet techies among our audience, we have moved from MIVA technology to the open source Zen Cart, and are very happy with the results.

Again, special thanks to Venkat for all his selfless service in helping us put together this new site.

New Aspirant Dharmaraj has been assigned full time to the Pillaiyar Kulam. He’s being trained by Sannyasin Shanmuganathaswami.

He sends a big “hug” back home to his mother.

The Pillaiyar Kulam also got a giant new color copier.

It’s huge and does everything you can imagine.

Robert Brown is serving in the Ganapati Kulam this phase. Yesterday and today he has been working on getting all the metadata updated for a new interface to the cybertalks audio library on the web.

Teja is serving in the Siddhidata Kulam. Here he is helping Sadhaka Nilakantha in the garden.

OK, for green beans, we don’t transplant seedlings, we can go straight in with seed….

Lifetime subscriber Pundit Rohit Deocharan came with his wife today from Bronx, New York. Having read Hinduism Today since 1995, he has always longed to come and visit. It was a dream come true he said. Punditji is one of 200 Guyanese Pundits in the New York area, serving 200,000 Hindus. Now there’s a story to tell! Watch for it in Hinduism Today.

Iraivan looks magnificent in the distance, as over 120 souls are about to arrive.

Our tour days are getting “famous” .. stone chipping demonstrations are always interesting.

Silpi Chellaiah drew this design on the floor in just about 20 seconds, fascinating everyone on the tour.

The 9 am group: we count about 65 in the photo.

Peter Weed from North Carolina tests his skill as a stone carver. His wife enjoyed the tour so much last week that she came back with him, attended the puja, and bought Lemurian Scrolls. Thank you for coming!

“Wow, there is a stone ball inside his mouth!:

The 11am tour: 53 people in this photo and we know there were about another 10-20 people who came not shown here. So, today’s total visitors were approaching 140 or so!

Satsang at the Wailua mission recently brought together everyone for a big “Rudraksha Party”

With the Alahans and Sendan families here from the mainland it was a big group.

Really magnificent Rudraksha malas made with seeds freshly harvested from the sacred trees of San Marga.

Iraivan temple made a move today, with our crane operator here for a few morning hours lifting 14 roofing stones into place for the stone masons to work on in the days ahead. Also, 30 visitors came, headed by horticulturalist Marty Fernandez. They are all volunteers working at a very special local botanical garden and sculptural park called Na Aina Kai, which has a close and long-term relationship with the monastery.

Satya gave them a grand tour, and then Palaniswami joined for 90 minutes to guide them on what he called “the tour that no one goes on,” a special walking excursion of the unheralded paths and veggie garden where the monks grown their own food, and ending with a gift to each of them from the Giving Garden. Satya noted they all looked like children when taking their gifts from Siva’s Tropical Glen of Abundant Abundance.

Saravanathaswami gave his report at lunch today from the Ekadanta Kulam. He put up a small promotional video for Innersearch on our web site which you all saw yesterday. If not, go to http://www.gurudeva.org/innersearch/

He is also working on materials for the two receptions being held in California in San Diego and San Francisco in October. Swami is busily hosting and getting our three young men all settled and adjusted at the monastery. So many new things for them to learn and experience.

In the publications realm, two important items are in the works. One is a new small booklet called “All About Kauai’s Hindu Monastery” which will fit in your purse or coat pocket. Its a “Super FAQ” telling all about the Aadheenam. The image above was taken for that book today.

And, the glorious “What is Hinduism?” book, 416 pages of insight sections from Hinduism Today, is nearly complete. The pblications team is editing the introduction of the book with Bodhinatha today, and in the next 3-4 days.

We begin a five day phase with our morning homa.

Yogi Japendranatha is today’s homa priest.

Task forcer Robert Brown enjoys the inner vibration.

And Teja Falzone

Thambynathan Dharmaraj

Bodhinatha gave a wonderful talk today on faith, coming later… keep your eye on the side bar for new updates.

The annual Ayudhya puja was celebrated today at Iraivan. The silpis have everything decorated.

Our new Kawasaki Mules are standing by to be blessed.

The all-important forklift for moving Iraivan’s stones.

Bodhinatha arrives, after the homa….

Silpis await him at the patrai (blacksmith forge)

The silpi’s ever-useful forge, which tempers steel, cooks the pongal rice, boils tea water, or, in this case, provides hot charcoal to burn incense.

The forge fire ablaze…

Next we move over to Iraivan for the main puja.

Below you will enjoy the video of today’s events. (click to play as the first frame is nothing but clear white light!)

Gurudeva presides… tools arrayed on the altar as Bodhinatha does an arati.

Next, the chipping of the stone.

Giving dakshina to the silpis

Our new team of young men enjoying one of their first festivals.

Interest is building up rapidly for our next Innersearch travel-study program, Asia Odyssey 2008. Several people have applied already.

Here is the arresting photo of Angkor Wat that you may have seen in our communications, the first stop of our journey. This main temple and many others located there are from the time of India’s greatest expansion. We found this enticing description on the web:

“The temples of Angkor, built by the Khmer civilization between 802 and 1220 AD, are one of humankind’s most astonishing and enduring architectural achievements. From Angkor the Khmer kings ruled over a vast domain that reached from Vietnam to China to the Bay of Bengal. The structures one sees at Angkor today, more than 100 stone temples in all, are the surviving remains of a grand religious, social and administrative metropolis…”

On the short video below, Bodhinatha answers two questions, one about innersearch programs in general and the other about Asia Odyssey 2008 in particular.

Our upcoming Innersearch travel-study program, Asian Odyssey, 2008, continues to unfold under Bodhinatha’s guidance. Angkor Wat, Kerala, classes by Bodhinatha on meditation, the great Gods in their ancient homes… Many have already expressed interest in coming along. It will be well worth the effort. All basic details of the program are contained in the Innersearch 2008 brochure now available for the asking, and its contents are available online at our innersearch web site (click here)

Here, Bodhinatha is reviewing with Sadhaka Jothinatha the Innersearch application form–now also available at the same site, or upon request. innersearch@hindu.org

~~~~~~~~~~~
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, Sunday, October 1st

Our two new task forcers at Muruga Hill.

A visit to Deepti, our new calf.

We are honored and blessed to have three new men that have come to the feet of the Satguru to serve and learn about monastic life. Today they meet with Bodhinatha having arrived yesterday, all on the same plane.

And… another new Bodhinatha talk has been posted….

This is Dharmaraj. He came on Task Force over a year-ago and then returned home to live under Aspirant Vows, in the world, but not of it. The world of maya tested him and he stayed true to his original commitment and has now come back to Kauai Aadheenam to pursue monastic life. Dharmaraj will be serving in the Pillaiyar Kulam under his Talaivar Sannyasin Shanmuganathaswami. He is an ever bright and positive spirit.

Coming with him, to serve on Task Force to find out about monastic life, on the left is 18-year-old Teja Falzone, from Norton, Massachusetts. Teja has been studying Gurudeva’s teaching for many years.

On the right is 19-year-old Robert Brown from Warwick, Rhode Island. He also has been reading the teachings for sometime. A contemplative soul, with an email address of “Jnanayoga@….” which tells you something of his aspirations.

Teja…

Robert

Saravananathaswami took them on a tour this morning. Here we are at Iraivan temple.

Sun four today at the Aadheenam. The Siddhidata Kulam shared news of their activities. Careful preparations and measurements are being taken on the ground for about 14 roof stones for Iraivan Temple to be raised up soon. Planning continues for the installation of two new modern septic tanks for our buildings in the front area of the Aadheenam.

A new audio from Bodhinatha is linked on the right today…

It was a tour day today… Here is the 9 AM group.

And our 11 PM tour group. Many marvel at the temple. One man noted that it is rare in the world of construction that time is allowed to do the best work.

A few days following the grand celebration of Ganesha Charturthi at the Spiritual Park, devotees flowed back to the Park to attend the September Ganesha Homa

At 10.30 AM the Homa starts after an arati to Lord Ganapati.

The Church members are leading the bhajans…

Devotees seated on the left of the Deity.

The sacred fire is allowing many prayers to reach the inner worlds.

Devotees outside the Mandapam are attentive to the reading and explanation of one of the Talks of Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami.

Kulapati SK Moorghen announcing a special ceremony at the Spiritual Park for school students taking their end of year exams…

After the ceremony a group counts the money from the Hundi offered to the deity on that day. We thank our many supporters of the Park. Contributions received help the maintenance and realizations of new projects.

Food is now served at the far end of the property. This leaves the Mandapam serene and quiet for some time for those who want to personally worship Pancha Ganapati.

At one of the food serving stations….

A few regular Ganesha Homa devotees enjoying the meal…

Feeling really good listening to the sea breeze blowing through the filaos trees …. That’s the magic of the Park!

In the meantime worship continues at the small Pancha Ganapati shrine.

It is a quiet day at the Aadheenam, as the world of visitors is all back to school and work. So, no photos from the Aadheenam today….

Here is Bodhinatha in New Zealand. We post this as a way to encourge you to start thinking about joining him on the next Innersearch to Malaysia, Cambodia and India. The itinerary is set, check it out here at the Innersearch site area.

The beautiful art of S. Rajam. a piece that appears in Dancing with Siva.

Siva Yogaswami graces a student who brings a school report to swami for blessings.

Naveen and Anita Bawa visited today from South San Francisco area with their daughter Caroline. They really appreciate the special atmosphere at Kauai Aadheenam and were impressed with Bodhinatha’s presence.

It was their 21st wedding anniversary today, so Bodhinatha blessed them with a shawl.

Jiva Rajasankara, our carving coordinator in Bangalore, tells us he will soon be visiting the site that is carving three large works for Iraivan.

One is this massive Hanuman. Above is the plaster model which guides the carvers, and here is the actual stone as seen three months back. That’s Kanmani, Jiva’s wife, in the sari.

Hanuman is the great devotee, the defender of the faith, the strongest Sivabhaktar.

The stone is 12 feet high. Thatched roofs keep the Indian sun from baking the carvers.

In the same area another team is carving our bull elephant.

This again is a plaster model.

He holds a globe on his head, designed by Gurudeva.

And he is walking up the entry steps to Iraivan, perhaps to offer the world as a gift to Lord Siva.

Halekote Kumara with daughters Varuni and Shashi, and son-in-law Arun and his parents, visited from San Antonio, Texas. They have come off and on through the years. They spent quite some time late this morning with Bodhinatha, asking good questions like about western allopathy versus Ayurveda, how someone progresses into our monastic order, whether we have enough funds coming in for Iraivan Temple, and more.

A visit to the publications building.

Iraivan…

Pankaj and Jigna Sangani arrived later in the morning from Maryland. They were married on Kauai seven years ago and returned for another visit after hearing about our beautiful Hindu Temple.

It was Sun One today and homa begins as usual early in the morning with the worship of Lord Ganesha

It was a particular auspicious day for one-year old Veylan Sendan. Here he is with his father, Jothi, watching the homa fire.

For his 1st year birthday, he had his Chudakarana Samskara: first head-shaving, and a blessing from Bodhinatha.

Bodhinatha gave an impromptu inspired talk on his “Three Grades”… In response to a young lady who said she always got grade A in school and wanted to know how she was doing in her spiritual life, he had responded “You are improving…” When it became apparent that she didn’t understand the answer, he went on, “Either you are improving, staying where you are, or going backwards… those are the three grades in spiritual life.”

A bhuta stone marked for further decorative carving….