Sun One of another phase, begins with a homa.

The temple is full of pilgrims this morning.

The Ganapati Kulam is working hard on the July issue of Hinduism Today. We have about 72 hours left to complete this new edition.

This family from Toronto came today. Mr. Nikhilananthan and his wife Jayanthi and sons Janarthan and Krishna. Originally from Sri Lanka, Tiru Nikhilananthan went the Africa, then UK in the 60s, later married and moved to Toronto. Jayanthi is the niece of Ma Navaratnam, long-time devotee of Siva Yogaswami who wrote several books about him. They had met Bodhinatha at the recent Yogaswami memorial celebrations in Toronto.

Paramacharya Palaniswami told them some adventures with Ma Navaratnam in Sri Lanka in the 70s and then shared with them all the work our monastic order is doing to preserve and carry forward the teachings of Yogaswami.

Then off to San Marga… first, Iraivan. Speaking of the Aadheenam and temple, Jayanthi said, “I never knew Yogaswami left all this behind for us.”

Worshipping the Narmada Lingam.

Meanwhile Kasi Ramanathan, his wife and their parents also enjoyed a trip to San Marga and then to the river.

Our server is going off line in a few minutes, so we will let these photos speak for themselves.

The Swayambhu Lingam is next.

Muruga Hill

Then a trip go Bali Hai falls and the Wailua River.

Shashikant and Kumud Sane visited this morning from Minnesota in the northern USA. Their community’s under-construction temple was vandalized on April 5, and most of the granite murtis destroyed in the process. The temple had been slated to have it’s kumbhabhishekam very soon. It was devastating to the community, however they pulled together and started the recovery process immediately. Mr. and Mrs. Sane had come here to share the news with Bodhinatha in person.

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END OF PHASE
Today is the last day of our short four-day phase.
This edition of TAKA will remain posted
over our coming two-day retreat,
until Dvitya Tithi, Sun One, Friday, April 28th.

Both are very devout and spiritual souls. Kumud was delighted to see an article in progress for the next edition on the famed “wari” pilgrimage to Pandharpur in Maharastra. She herself was a “warakari” (pilgrim) who performed this arduous vrata years ago.

Let see how this is done.

Kasi and Vidya Ramanathan (left) also visited today with both sets of parents from Anne Arbor, Michigan and Chicago area.

They have nearly all been here before at some time or another, but the first time as a whole group, and also the first time since Kasi and Vidya got married last August.

Kasi had visited us three years ago alone on pilgrimage. He was quite taken with the spiritual vibration of Kauai Aadheenam and enrolled in the formal Master Course Correspondence Study, which he followed diligently for a year.

They are all very happy to be here and Bodhinatha presented Kasi and Vidya with a special shawl as a wedding blessing. That asked him for advice for newlyweds and he conveyed Gurudeva’s main advice that all disagreements, which naturally will arise in the course of married life, be resolved before going to bed by talking it through calmly and quietly, seeking to understand each other’s points of view and come to an agreement.

The families have good question and answer session with Bodhinatha.

We completed work on our new parking area out at the front of the monastery and tried out a phase end tour for the public today. A new plan to try to space out the big crowds was implemented: one tour begins at 9 AM and the next one at 11 AM. The intended goal being that parking space will open up for the second group after the first group departs. We catch a glimpse today of the people arriving.

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After several weeks of a break, Sadhaka Dandapani is back on duty.
These tours had a dual purpose, the second being to train Brahmachari Satya Subramaniam in how our visitor excursions are held. Satya will learn and in the months ahead begin taking on this fun responsibility each week.

Our silpis demonstrating the stone chipping process.

Dr. Sunder and Thilaka came for their last day before returning home to California.

“Who doth know the luminosity of His Grace,
That spreads its radiance everywhere?
Who can fathom the grandeur of His gracious Feet?”

–Tirumantram. 1798

After many months of planning, a couple of new Kawasaki utility trucks arrived yesterday, to be blessed in the traditional way.

Yoginathaswami engineered the purchase and is so happy to have these wonderful tools for the construction and grounds work, which he oversees. You can hear the purr of the diesel engine in our clip below.

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Gurudeva too enjoyed driving around with our small vehicles to survey the property and progress.

White flowers reach for the tropical sun.

Our special visitors brought lots of garlands to Lord Ganesha today!

Devotees worshipping and meditating during the morning Siva Puja.

Yogaswami once sent some of his devotees off on a journey to UK to take his teachings beyond the shores of Sri Lanka.

That one initiative has been replicated 100,000 times and more since then, as the traditional Saiva culture of Sri Lanka has been carried around the world in the hearts and minds of every devote Sri Lankan who is now living in lands far away from home.

This pilgrimage party has come to Kauai to bless the marriage of Luxman Sunder and Sharmila Rajan. The Rajan family are from Florida. Luxman and Sharmila met on their own, but as it turned out both families are from Jaffna, Sri Lanka and are now brought together by this union.

Bodhinatha shares his thoughts with the group.

He blessed the couple with a shawl.

Next it is off for a tour of Iraivan Temple.

The newly weds. Congratulations to Luxman and Sharmila — take care of each other!

Dr. Sunder behind the camera, testing our wide angle lens.

With the main sanctum adjacent gopurams complete and more roof stones going up, Iraivan is offering more enclosed spaces.

The couple brings together two families.

Mr. Deva Rajan his wife and their daughters Sharmila and Sadhana with their new son-in-law.

Dr. Sunder, his wife Thilaka their two sons Dushyanthan (far right) and Luxman and their new daughter-in-law.

One big family.

Dushyanthan Sunder tests one of our new utility vehicles. We upgraded to Kawasaki “mules.”

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Today’s video is of the chisel forging process, a never ending task for our silpis.

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Then off to the publications offices. Arumugaswami shares his work on managing Hinduism Today and Hindu Press International.

Meanwhile Bodhinatha continues to have darshan with guests. Avnish Agnihotri and his wife Anjali Khard are from Union City, Bay Area, California. They had intelligent questions. In response the challenge of finding peace of mind in the busy modern world, Bodhinatha shared some basic meditation techniques with the young couple who are serious about their inner life.

Here is Ashok Chowgule from Goa. Ashok is one of the vice-presidents of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of India and has been in contact with Hinduism Today via e-mail for many years. He spent the morning with the monks and met with Bodhinatha for an hour. He is an articulate spokesman for Hindu issues, and is especially interested in the California textbook controversy. Many years ago, he was one of the early adopters of e-mail and the Internet as tools for promoting the Hindu cause. He enjoyed a tour of the grounds, meeting with Bodhinatha and lunch with the monks before heading on to Maui island for a conference.

Today’s homa begins.

Dr. Sunder from Lancaster here with his family and some friends.

It was a powerful ceremony today… it felt as if “Siva came…”

Monks focused on the ceremonies.

Later the Sunder family went for a walk. First, let’s check out the bells on the Umbrella Ganesha

Then a walk to Iraivan

Dr. Sunder’s son, Anthan

Sadhaka Dandapani shares stories with our guests.

A stop by the Bali Hai falls.

This is a magnificent painting by S. Rajam that we have recently received.

If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
In happy moments, praise Siva.
In difficult moments, approach Siva.
In quiet moments, worship Siva.
In painful moments, trust Siva.
In inward moments, meditate on Siva.
In every moment, thank Siva.
In this moment, see Siva.
In your deepest moments, be Siva.

This past retreat was the silpi outing. They went all the way up to Waimea Canyon.

Sun Five today, the last day of this phase. The Ganapati Kulam reported on their work. They are very focused on the closing of the next issue of Hinduism Today and many other side projects: work on the future “What is Hinduism” book; setting up our new web server; researching video codecs, polishing web pages, digitizing old video tapes, and more.

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 Dvitya Tithi, Sun One, Saturday, April 22nd.

Today’s big news is another stone lift at Iraivan.

It’s always exciting when our crane arrives at the temple site, seen there as a blue beam behind the flag of dharma.

They are working on the West side of the temple, lifting stones that will for a parapet above the “naga” course, which represents the kundali.

Two teams are required for each lift, one above to receive and place the stones as they arrive and..

A second team on the ground to prepare them, strap on the slings and keep the flow going.

Today Satya, our newest monastic candidate from Brazil, is training in the arcane arts of stone lifting.
Watch the team in action in our video today.

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The teams all wear hard hats as it is a construction zone.

Elsewhere, Sadhaka Dandapani and Yogi Japendranatha are at work in the publications building.

Sadhaka is designing the printed materials for the next Indian Odyssey, our 2008 Innersearch. Lots of creative design and logistic details are coming together under his careful eye.

Nearby Yogi is working on Hinduism Today,

Specifically on the two-page “Quotes & Quips” feature which he engineers each issue, along with other pages.

Yogi loves the page, as it is full of wisdom, humor, insights and great wisdom quotes from good souls.

Inside the Aadheenam we have a room adjacent to the Kitchen. It is a dining area that Gurudeva himself dubbed as “Java Cafe.” Acharya Kumarswami has been working on this area for several years. One of the feature Gurudeva wanted to see was a fish aquarium. We have had a salt water aquarium in the past. It was a bit of a challenge to maintain, so now Paramacharya Ceyonswami has spearheaded

Sadhaka Jothinatha sends us these pictures today from St. Charles near Chicago. He and his team of sevaks in different locations do marvelous outreach work through booths at events.

Here are Kailash Dhaksinamurthi and Ashish Suresh Chitnis, manning the booth at the Heritage of India Festival.

They always have a good time meeting lots of wonderful people and sharing Gurudeva’s work.

We have a complete display of all our literature, which is avidly read by many.

A bright Hindu elder poses for our camera.

Those who are interested sign our request form with their name and address.

Later the Pillaiyar Kulam sends them a free packet of literature and a sample copy of Hinduism Today.

At the booth they walk away with our WWW flyer, which has all the web contacts. Later they receive their packet of booklets in the mail: Ten Questions, Home Shrine, Hindu Parenting and more.

This is turning out to be a marvelous and very effective outreach program. In fact, last year we printed 80,000 copies of Ten Questions and we sold almost all of them through our web store already. Plans to reprint 100,000 more are underway. Now *that* is what we call Hindu Outreach! Congratulations to Sadhaka Jothinatha and all the diligent sevaks who have been managing these booths.

Check out the available offerings yourself. These make great gifts and class handouts.

Sun Four today. The Siddhidata Kulam gave a thorough report on the many things they are doing.

As ever, work continues at the temple site, setting up the scaffolding for the silpis. Preparations have been underway for another stone lift tomorrow.

The kulam is also managing a re-roofing project and tree trimming project at the front of our property (see pictures below.)

Another project in motion is to re-vamp our ancient cesspool system and today a professional came to assist with planning an upgraded.

Satya Subramaniam has been serving this month in the Siddhidata Kulam and has learned the intricacies of food picking–where to find all the fruit, making sure it is ripe. He cited how impressed he was “I’m really impressed with how organized the Siddhidata Kulam is… and they have to be, they have dozens of projects and a million tools and things are coming up to be handled daily.”

Today our young aspirant from Maryland, Paul Hardman, is working on the Ganapati Kulam publishing team, helping the swamis edit an article on Indian music. Paul is a musician so his knowledge proved immensely useful for this task. You can see how happy he is to put his skills to work for the monastery.

At the entrance to the monastery lots of activity today.

Our neighbor, Bobby Soares, has a team reroofing the Information Center.

The terrific rains in March revealed several leaks, so we waited til the sun was shining and called Bobby.

Taking off the old shingles is the first step. There is a short movie below which also shows the nearby bush clearing project that is underway at the same time.

Nearby an extraordinary Day Lily blooms for the first time this year. The flowers are huge, about a foot across.

The tree-trimming team at work.

They are removing some shrugs and trees so additional parking can be provided for our visitors. Lots of noise.

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A few days ago our Kauai Wailua Mission threw a New Year’s party for our silpi team. It was a heart-warming event and day’s later our silpis are still talking about it.

Isani Alahan sends some pictures and captions.

Irene Scott “Oma” mother of Kulapati Deva Seyon… waiting for the festivities to begin.

The church ladies waiting for the silpis to arrive.

The silpis serving themselves from the buffet style meal.

Exploring the back yard.

Cold Stone Ice cream cake. Yum!

Durvasa and Deva cut the cake

Admiring the carvings of South Indian Temples.

Receiving a small gift from the church members.

The Silpis.

The monks want to thank our members for their marvelous surprise and attention poured to the find men who are building Iraivan!

Today is Ashram Sadhana Day for this month. All the monks are out cleaning. Here is Bodhinatha with one of our feline companions, named “Shanti.”

At lunch the Pillaiyar kulam shared their news and activities. We are happy to announce that the books that Sister Chudikadevi had been warehousing for us in Malaysia have finally been retrieved. Shanmuganathaswami related some of his work in painstaking care of our Hinduism Today subscribers, Muruganathswami told of his work in accounting and travel coordination for future trips this year. He deals with our travel agencies, plane and hotel reservations. Sadhaka Jothinatha shared news of event promotions on the mainland and the release of a film on Iraivan that was done in Bangalore and will be distributed by Aashta TV in several nations. Sadhaka Jivanandanatha told about his work in setting up the web store on our new web server in San Franscisco…

Here is a movie of our Tamil New Year flag raising, followed by pictures from our members in India and Sri Lanka.

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Adi Shankara and his wife are from Mauritius. They are studying music at Kalashetra on a grant from the Mahatma Gandhi Institute in Mauritius.

Adi sends captions:

Without forgetting our precious Natchintanai book.

Satguru Siva Yogaswami

Adi Sankara, Anne Gunalen and Parvathi.

Anne and Akka Gunalen and Parvathi participating

Pooja room at Adi’s place

Premila(eldest) and Danialaksmi singing Natchintanai

Sri Lanka: Sri Subramuniya Kottam’s School Children’s Outing

Children love outings. In Jaffna however, children rarely get a chance to go on outings. So the Sri Subramuniya Kottam occasionally sponsors free outings for the children who come to study at the Kottam. The last outing for the children was organized in December last year during their school holidays. The children left the Kottam in the afternoon accompanied by two parents, two kottam teachers and Kulamata Sivaloosani Kanagaratnam. Their first stop was the Jaffna Sivathondan Nilayam where they sang Natchintanai and listened to a discourse by the late Sri Selladuraiswami (Selladuraiswami, one of Sage Yogaswami’s swami initiates attained Maha Samadhi on April, 12 . 2006). Then they went to Nallur Kandaswami temple for worship before going to a playground to play for a couple of hours. The outing ended with a stop to an ice cream shop.

Sun Two at the Aadheenam. Our Ekadanta Kulam gave their news. As always they are ever busy working on advance travel plans for Bodhinatha.

We bring you today yet another series of photos from our retreat… a “repeat” of yesterday’s TAKA” from a different angle.

Over the retreat some of the young monks and aspirants went on an excursion, which included a local nursery where the managers filled the monastery truck with free plants as a “thank you” to the monks.

Also during the retreat, we held Gurudeva’s Pada Puja on Chittra nakshatra. Yogi Japendranatha performed the puja, with Sadhaka Tejadeva helping him. You can watch a movie which has the monks chanting Rudram and parts of the Pada Puja as well. It’s a longer-than-usual movie.

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Afterwards the silpis gathered by the temple pool for a New Years Day portrait.

Then all went out for the raising of the flag to mark the change of seasons.

All get together to help.

Kulapati Deva Seyon talks with Ceyonswami

The flag of the moksha ritau is down and the orange one of nartana ritau ready to go up.

Bodhinatha watches the flag move into place.

Then Bodhinatha invited everyone to join him in the Orchid Mandapam,

He surprised the silpis with a small gift to celebrate the new year and to congratulate them on work well done.

They were all smiles.

Not as exciting, but a truck arrived that afternoon.

It brought a load of rocks.

They will become part of a new Arid Garden being designed near Rishi Valley.

Thanks, Andy.

Our Golden Gate Mission members recently held a fund raiser concert in California for Iraivan Temple. Our members have decorated the foyer of the auditorium with a huge display of Iraivan and the Aadheenam.

Kulapati Easvan Param back stage

A giant Ganesha batik graces the stage.

Members having a quick snack. Everyone did a lot of work getting ready for the event.

The artists all performed as a gift to the temple.

A shrine on stage.

Chandran Param, master of the sound and light show console.

Kartikeya Katir back stage.

Master of Ceremonies Easan Katir.

Well… truth be told the “real” master of ceremonies was his wife Kulamata Sundari Katir who has been working hard for many moons to manifest this event. Thanks to Sundari and her whole team!

Artists receiving a gift at the end.

It was a great success, attended by about 500 people. After expenses, $5,000.00 was raised for the temple and it was a major publicity event for Iraivan on top of the funds raised. Congratulations to the whole mission for making this happen!

It is Sun One of a new phase and the beginning of the Nartana Ritau, the Season of Dancing with Siva.

Happy New Year To All! The sun has moved into the constellation Aries, marking the beginning of another annual circle. The name of this year is “Vyaya,” “The Year of Wealth.”

Over the retreat Tamil New year’s day was also the day of Chitra puja, so we honored Gurudeva and a raised the flag of Hinduism for the new season.

We start out pictures from noon on April 13th, New Year’s Day. First, the Chitra puja in Kadavul.

Ou silpis dressed in new shirts.

After the puja, everyone gathers to go out to change the flag for the season… “Where is everyone?”…

Down comes the coral pink flag of the Moksha Ritau.

Our Siddhidata Kulam is responsible for the flag. Sadhaka Adinatha assists here.

Jai Nartana Ritau! As per our TAKA tradition we share with you Gurudeva guidance for the new season from the Saiva Dharma Shastras:

“Beginning with Hindu New Year in mid-April, three seasons of the year divide our activities into three great needs of humankind–the learning of scripture in the first season, Nartana Ritau; the living of culture in the second season, Jivana Ritau; and the meditating on Siva in the third season, Moksha Ritau. Thus we are constantly reminded that our life is Siva’s life and our path to Him is through study, sadhana and realization. In ritau one, we teach the philosophy; in ritau two, we teach the culture; and in ritau three, we teach meditation.

114 The First Season: Nartana Ritau

Nartana Ritau, the season of Dancing with Siva, begins on Hindu New Year. This is the period of creation, the warm season, from mid-April through mid-August. The teaching is Dancing with Siva: Hinduism’s Contemporary Catechism, Sivena Saha Nartanam. This foundational text is featured in all mission satsangas. The key word of this season is planning. The colors are orange, yellow-gold and all shades of green–orange for renunciation, yellow-gold for action, and green for regeneration. High above, the main Hindu flag flies the color orange, heralding the Nartana Ritau throughout this season, symbolizing sadhana and self-control. The other colors adorn smaller flags.

“This is the season of giving special attention to those in the grihastha ashrama. It is a time of awakening, renewal, review. The emphasis is on seeing ahead, planning for future years. It is a time of planning retreats and other activities for youths and adults for the entire year. During this time of looking forward, the Church’s six-year plan is updated by the Guru Mahasannidhanam and stewards and another year added. The Saiva Dharma Shastras are studied; and any needed additions in supplementary manuals, representing new growth, are made. The practical focus is completion of unfinished projects. Secular holidays to observe among the families include Mother’s Day in May, Father’s Day in June and Grandparent’s Day in August.”

In the monastery the monks begin their annual 31-day ayurvedic herbal cleansing. Intensive cleaning of monastery buildings and grounds takes place. The special dietary adjustments for the season come into effect and new menus are established. New clothing is issued and old garments mended. This season of harvest and new growth is also the time to review and reestablish picking and planting routines for the gardens. It is a time for ordering seeds and plants for the year, of planting trees, fragrant vines and the annual crop. Review is made for scheduling the care of all nine realms of the Aadheenam’s 457 acres. Kadavul temple and the Guru Temple are cleaned and renewed during this season, and the adjacent grounds receive special, abundant attention. Karma yogis are invited to help in this and other areas with planting and weeding, digging, fertilizing, fence repair and more.”

[photo: bodhinatha present gifts to the silpis]

“115 The Sadhanas of the First Season

The daily sadhana is the Sivachaitanya Panchatantra: experiencing nada, jyoti, prana, shakti and darshana. In Sanskrit, it is a time of learning new shlokas and mantras. In the family community, prashnottara satsanga is held for one and all to attend. Families plan for their annual pilgrimage. Shrine rooms are renewed and redecorated for the year, and the clothing of all is renewed in the Hindu style of the current fashion. It is a time of doing things for others, religious outreach. In the missions, Nartana Ritau is the time of bringing in new students and Church members. It is a time of hatha yoga and philosophical teaching.

116 Festivals and Realms of the First Season

The main festival of Nartana Ritau, and of the entire year, is Guru Purnima. The mathavasis hold special conclave on Vaikasi Vishakham, the full moon day of May. The three Aadheenam realms of the season are: 1) Rishi Valley–with its secluded Guru Hut and parampara shrines on the banks of Rishi Valley’s Saravanabhava Lake; 2) Wailua Farm, with its pastures, orchards and gardens; and 3) Kadavul Koyil, with its Guru Temple, entry gardens, Banyan Pavilion, Tiruneri path, sacred tank and its Puakenikeni and Mango Mandapams.

399 Nartana Ritau Bhajana Satsanga

Nartana Satsanga is held from mid-April through mid-August. Whenever a satsanga gathers, a chakravala is created. Nartana Ritau is the time of year when those in the grihastha ashrama are honored, and we can optionally bring garlands to express our love and support of kulapatis and kulamatas in this ashrama of life. All pay close attention to their testimony on raising children, dealing with family problems, keeping harmony in the home and fulfilling the duties of grihastha dharma. Informal meetings and discussion groups are encouraged to find ways to strengthen the many families in the community and to plan the schooling of children in the 64 kalas and the first seven books of The Master Course for the coming year.

Ladies of the Wailua Mission near Ceyonswami

“Glossary — Nartana Ritau: The first season, of Dancing with Siva, beginning on the Hindu New Year. This is the period of creation, the warm season, from mid-April through mid-August. The primary teaching text is Dancing with Siva: Hinduism’s Contemporary Catechism, Sivena Saha Nartanam.”

Happy New Year!

Coming up to today… early morning, Sun One, monks sitting quietly as the homa begins. Satya Subramaniam from Brasil, silently absorbing the shakti within.

Nitya Nadesan is on the island for a time. He has been doing great service through the years, making sure the HTML version of Hinduism Today goes online, without fail. Here he prepares to offer a written prayerfor the homa fire.

Sadhaka Jivanandanatha is our homa priest today.

Listening to Bodhinatha’s Sun One talk…

Sri Sellathurai Swami, president of Sivathondan Nilayam, Jaffna, Sri Lanka (a society established by our Paramaguru Siva Yogaswami) attained Mahasamadhi on 12th April at 2:00 pm (Sri Lanka Time) on “Pankuni Utharam day”.

He had told all Yogaswami’s devotees three months ago that he would discard his body after the 42nd Maha Samadhi celebrations of Satguru Yogaswami which took place on April 7th. He was 92 years old.

The body was kept at the adjoining building (on the right hand side of the Sivathondan Nilayam in Jaffna). All devotees in Jaffna, from Chengaladdi and Colombo paid their respects to Swami here.

On April 13th (Thursday), Sri Lanka time around 12:00 p.m, the body was transferred to Sivathondan Nilayam, ground floor (Purana Mandapam) and “Abishekam” was performed to the body along with pujas.

Later body was carried from Sivathondan Nilayam to the crematorium with the blowing of conch shells, ringing of bells and with the chanting of “Sivapuranam”. About 800-900 devotees participated in the funeral ceremony.

This great soul performed his duty to Satguru Yogaswami with full devotion for fifty (50) years. (1956-2006) and has now returned to his guru’s feet!

After the return of Sri Santhaswamy (“Lord Salisbury Swami”) to UK, Sellathurai Swami lived in Sivathondan Nilayam, Chengaladdi (photo shows the building) too for many years and performed Sivathondu.

This photo shows Satguru Yogaswami’s tiruvadi in Sivathondan Nilayam, Chengaladdi.