We have another excellent series of photos from Toronto. Here is Bodhinatha arriving for the special function in honor of Siva Yogaswami… more pictures below.

Today we welcomed our newest monastic candidate, Paul Hardman. Paul is from Maryland and is 21 years old, but his soul seems far older.

He began today by joining the Ganapati Kulam, working on our video/audio workstation.

Paul is helping the archiving of Gurudeva’s lifetime of work, logging in videos from the past.

Shanmuganathaswami and Sadhaka Jothinatha are brainstorming this morning.

Swami is making plans for our administrative future and finding new efficiencies.

Sadhaka is working with many Hindus around the country to present Hinduism to visitors to dozens of Hindu festivals that occur each year in different cities.

And past our gnarley Banyan.

Our photographer discovers a 6″ by 6″ board once used to hold up a limb, now almost completely engulfed with the tree. One day it will disappear.

Palaniswami took Paul to the Iraivan Temple site, climbed up the ladder to the roof only to find another photographer there on the scene.

The silpis are there.

They are working on making some roof lines straight by using a system of water leveling.

Then we took Paul to the garden.

The garden team was planting and putting up some protective mesh to guard young seedlings, and also weeding with a torch, one way we have found to avoid chemicals in our growing. You can see a short video of this below.

[Small video survey: the video above of the temple is an Mpeg4 file. The one above of the garden is a .mov file. If you can see both of these, excellent. if you can view one but not the other, please send a note to studyhall@hindu.org explaining which one you can see and which one you cannot see. Thanks]

Bodhinatha arrived home this afternoon after a whirlwind weekend trip to Toronto and back.

All the monks gather to greet him at the entrance.

Yoginathaswami happy to be home.

Silpi helper Kumar came to greet Bodhinatha.

Paul Hardman from Maryland has come for a few months task force. An Himalayan Academy student, he is interested in monastic life.

Welcome to Kauai, Paul!

Dharmalingam Siddhan traveled from Pennsylvania to Toronto to be with Bodhinatha. He sends photos of the events…

Picture of the Shrine set up for Gurudeva and Yogaswami.

Another picture of the shrine for Gurudeva and Yogaswami

Picture of Bodhinatha during the ceremony.

A picture of the stage area where the dancers performed before Bodhinatha

A picture of Bodhinatha on the stage during the celebration

A picture of the temple sponsor thanking Sannyasin Yoginathaswami and Satguru Bodhinatha for traveling from Kauai to the celebrations.

Bodhinatha performing the arati during the celebration.

Another picture of Bodhinatha performing the arati during the celebration.

A close up picture of Bodhinatha performing the arati during the celebration

Here is Dharmalingam having darshan with Satguru Bodhinatha in Toronto

Here is a picture that his daughter Dhara made as a gift to Bodhinatha. it reads “Will you help us find our way over the Tall Mountain?

Another meeting this time with the ever helpful Thiru Satkunendran.

Meanwhile in Malaysia the Sri Lankan community there also held a big special puja in remembrance of Satguru Siva Yogaswami. Ravi sends photos and captions…

Here is a picture of our Kulamathas , church families and devotees at Yogaswami’s special, pooja
function at Sri Kandaswamy Kovil, Scots Road , Kuala Lumpur. This event was organised by Malaysian Ceylon Saivites Association. Pooja was held in remembrance of Jnanaguru Yogaswami (Satguru to our beloved Gurudeva).

With a huge picture of Saint Yogaswami on stage center, Prof. Dr. Thilakavathy, an excellent academician , prominent well know educator in Malaysia gave the opening welcoming speech for Yogaswami’s special remembrance pooja (Mahasamadhi Day). Managed to have a short interview with her and her sister after the event.

She fondly remembers her days during childhood of Yogaswami. Her sister also gave a prominent account of how they would run quickly out from their home when Yogaswami comes to their home on a horse pulled carriage!! Her father would instruct them to fall on His feet on the road..they would fall on His feet and `tagged along’ the `red soil ‘ on their clothing! Shows how revered He was even in those days…

..devotees following the event attentively..

A wonderful sales booth were erected …at entrance of temple’s hall

..the `women power behind’ this actitivity.. `Akka’ – Gowri and Selvavathy minding the sales booth….

Gowri `akka’ with a special package for sales……..

..wonderful natchinthanai songs were performed by our church youngsters..a delight to see them singing…

Senior Kulapathi, Kuppusamy gave a wonderful narration of the the content of Yogaswami’s book.

Back at the sales booth… very busy.

..beautiful..fantastic are the words…I bought one with `Endless Love’ framed of all our Satguru..

..wonderful sales booth…its `soul catching’ displays……

Some innovative ideas in creating Iraivan Temple fund raisers…..

Hmmm!!..interesting…what shall I ask mother to buy for me..?

…quite a sales today for Gowri akka today!

Gurudeva’s books , HT, children’s books were also up for sales…

…lovely displays..Anyone out there wants them..? Order now with Gowri `akka’…!!!!

A sweet elderly lady poses with Gowri.

It was a marvelous and joyful event for all.

Report from Bodhinatha on events today in Toronto:

“In the morning I met with one of the Master Course student here who is very deep into the study of Gurudeva’s teachings.

Then off we went to the Varasiddhi Vinayagar Temple for morning ceremonies. It is a traditional Ganesha temple with no extraneous deities and has a strong shakti. We enjoyed attending most of the morning puja. I gave my talk on home worship which was translated into Tamil.

We handed out study books to all the children and then vibhuti to the adults. After lunch we called the Golden Gate Mission in Northern California at 2 PM and then had a tour of the temple’s new property across the street.

They are planning to build a traditional temple, the land is huge and the building on it is now functioning as a school for Saivism and Tamil. We went into each classroom and had photos with the students.

In the evening we had darshan meetings with various devotees, follow by an early dinner. We will be off to the airport tomorrow at 5AM and home late in the afternoon.

See you tomorrow

Om Namasivaya,
Bodhinatha

A day of sunshine on a tropical island. Our Iraivan Temple there in the lush greenery.

Today a local man who knew Gurudeva came by. He is John Sotelo and he works with teens on our island. He’s holding a folder with all the bumper stickers the monastery designed and printed for our island, and which he is using in his program with kids.

John has 16 students, ages 11 to 14, and runs a program that works to keep them away from drugs and addictions of all kinds.

John asked the monastery to make color copies of some of the materials for the teens, which we were honored to help with.

Then out to the temple site.

Where the work of past months stands to amaze and uplift all who visit.

Granite detailing shines in the sun.

That’s Karupiah with the straw hat, using a coconut husk brush to take the dust off the stone he is detailing.

One chip at a time.

Sometimes the positions are difficult, and they must hold their hands and arms aloft for hours at a time.

Pandian stands on the roof where major work is underway today.

Here’s an interesting insight into the skill of our artisans, an observation made by Deva Rajan during his recent visit to Kauai:

“While up on the top of the temple doing the gold-leaf patchwork, the silpis came up to watch and visit. There were 5 or 6 of them. An amazing thing happened. I offered a leaf of gold for one of them to apply. He did it perfectly. Then each of the others came up and on their own turn, applied a leaf of gold, again perfectly and flawlessly. Observing their intense concentration, dexterity and innate artistic talents, I realized in a new way what specially skilled artisans these men are. The wind was blowing, they had only watched for 5 or 10 minutes, yet caught on to it immediately and with a high degree of skill. Wow!”

Chelliah has spent 14 years working on Iraivan!

He’s proud of his work and his life, and shows us the joint between two roofing stone he is working on.

Rajendra smiles for us.

He is also working on the roof.

Manikandan, too.

And Pandian.

A bright bromeliad reaches for the sky this morning.

In remembrance of Siva Yogaswami, whose presence lives on in our hearts, we bring you some images today or artwork from the coming edition of the book on our Parampara.

Bodhinatha arrived in Toronto very late after some delays in Chicago, getting in a 1 AM… today.

After a nights rest, he met with some devotees in the morning and then when for the main event was at the Richmond Hill temple 3:30 – 8:00 pm . First half hour was a standard welcome in the temple starting with Ganesha shrine and parading the visiting holy man.

Then they went to the hall for the Tribute to Yogaswami event. Bodhinatha gave a talk and passed out vibhuti at the end. Yoginathaswami did a padapuja for Yogaswami and was the Master of Ceremonies throughout in English and Tamil. About 500 devotees came at the peak. Different youth groups along with their teachers sang Natchintanai and one youth group danced. Bodhinatha says it was the best Natchintanai singing from youth he has ever heard.

The teaching programs by our members in Mauritius are “top notch.” Kulapati Rajen Manick share news of recent events.

The Bodhinatha Master Course (MC) students Gathering for the month of March took place at the residence of the Nathoo at Floréal (central region of Mauritius) which is known for its cold climate and very posh residential areas. It was the time for every enrolled student to get back to the teachings of the Guru and better understand divine concepts in the Trilogy.

A few participants who came earlier are welcomed by Vandana Nathoo while our Himalayan Academy facilitator was getting the teaching materials ready.

Some 22 participants were present and those who could not attend had genuine reasons. We welcomed everyone and asked them to briefly introduce themselves.

Bhavish and Poobarl�ne.

The following concepts as taught by Gurudeva was stressed with practical examples during the gathering:

– the light of understanding
– the instinctive mind: lower emotions, doubt and disappointment
– the third eye
– emotional maturity
– love
– understanding
– making allowances
– face yourself
– yoga break

Pritiviraj Orgoo and his wife from Terre Rouge. They have both enrolled since last year to study with Bodhinatha.

The ladies enjoying a short break.

Manisha is our youngest newly enrolled student. She has attended all the MC seminars so far…

It’s time for some coffee and sweets.

Noone could miss this beautiful Ganesha…

Roshan the host of the day goes around serving everyone…

The ladies are enjoying their coffee break.

This gathering is a nice opportunity for everyone to meet and get to know each other better.

Time for a yoga break. The participants used every bit of space available…even on the balcony.

….Stretch out, preferably on the floor, take a deep breath, and command your body and your mind to relax, to release, to let go of all thoughts and tensions of the moment…..

…..Don’t bother trying to make your mind blank, but simply visualize yourself floating, relaxed on a cloud buoyed up in space, as it were, apart from all the problems and tensions of the Earth….

….Your eyes closed, your hands are relaxed on your side, and as you inhale, gently lift the stomach muscles so that the lower part of the lungs fill with air before the upper part of the chest does…

After a 3 hour gathering with teaching and leaning and a nice coffee break, the group breaks off for home. It is almost 4.30 PM. The next Bodhinatha’s MC student Gathering will be held on April 22 in the Flacq region.

Roshan and Vandana Nathoo and their lovely baby son, Tarun, deserve our humble thanks for having so lovingly hosted our participants at their residence.

Bodhinatha is in transit as we write today and will arrive in Toronto later this evening. He had meetings with our members in California on a stop over there and the went to Chicago…

Sadhu Paksha continues…

A blessed day at Kauai’s Hindu Monastery. The Great Sage of Lanka, Yogaswami (1872-1964) was honored in the early morning hours. This is his shrine in the Guru Peedam.

Today is Ashlesha nakshatra, the day each month when we give special remembrance to Yogaswami. His gold-leafed metal murthi was flower bedecked.

Yogaswami’s light filled the room and all the monastics enjoyed the darshan of the day.

Special prasadam prepared and offered to Yogaswami.

Who can fathom the greatness of such a soul, who knew no difference between Siva and himself?

The mottled shadow of the trees dances over the lily pond in Chola Garden.

Sadhaka Nilakantha of the Siddhidata Kulam.

Saravananathaswami

Inside a nook up close to Lord Nataraja is a small murthi not usually seen by the public.This is “Hari-Hara”

The image represents God as half Shiva and half Vishnu.

News From Sri Lanka
Sri Subramuniya Kottam
Vijayadasami Celebrations

Some may be wondering about the timing of our photos from Jaffna. Here is how it works… Events occur there and photos are eventually mailed to the US. Rishi Thondunatha is scanning these and then sending them here. This may lead to a few months delay between event and the time we actually show the photos. This batch is from last year, for ten days in November the Sri Subramuniya Kottam celebrated Navaratri and Vijayadasami.

The Kottam children made the “kolu” where they beautifully decorated a stage with many images of God and Gods.

They did the pujas and sang bhajans each evening. On the last day, known as Vijayadasami, the students performed dance, singing and gave speeches on stage.

The students parents and devotees were present especially on the last day.

After the cultural show each of the students received gifts from the Sri Subramuniya Kottam.

Returning to Earth, today we took delivery of some new implements for our tractor.

The delivery truck had to back in, not an easy task.

Front-end loader with grapplers to hold materials, such as rocks when we are taking them out of the fields to plant trees or crops.

Also, a shredder, which is a term used by farmers to describe a kind of powerful lawn-mower.

This one’s a Rhino. One of the best-built. It should last 20 years.

The shredder will be used to keep our fields clear of weeds and adventitious trees.

It is well-known that the monastery grows most of its food, has cows for milk and cheese and ghee and yogurt. But less know that we are preparing groves of trees for future generations of monks, and returning land that was once in sugarcane into forests.

It is Sun One again of our second phase of Sadhu Paksha. Bodhinatha is off for a five day trip to Toronto with Sannyasin Yoginathaswami. Here he presents his passport as part of our long-standing mandatory last minute check for “all documents on board?” before departure.

A short video of the departure follows.

It’s Sadhu Paksha at the monastery, and the morning routine is quite different.

Monks rise early and individually find a place for their early sadhanas, a cave or tree, a stream or waterfall.

Among the temple gardens lie many opportunities.

One monk took a journey to Muruga Hill, passing the special observation glasses that allow many visitors to see Iraivan from a distance.

Along the trails.

Past the Guru Peedam where we normally meditate before dawn.

A bromeliad greets us.

Then out past Iraivan Temple.

Down the Straight Path to God, San Marga.

And finally to the base of Muruga Hill.

It is covered with bamboo, since Lord Muruga loves bamboos.

And on top is a 12-foot Shakti Vel.

It’s made of black granite and sits in a low lava rock shrine.

Here one can sit in bliss, at the feet of the Lord of Yoga.

Someone has tied a sacred cloth around the shaft.

The blade represents three things: Muruga’s three shaktis, love, action and wisdom.

Bamboo nearby provides shade for the pilgrims.

And other plants offer beauty. A golden sansevera.

From atop the hill, you can see the pastures where our cows graze each day.

Looking the other way, toward Iraivan, you see the forests.

By 7am our meditations and japa yoga and such are done and we gather in the temple. Today we said good bye to Bodhinatha and Yoginathaswami, who are traveling to Toronto today.

Bodhinatha blesses each one for the day.

At 11:30 we went off to say aloha to them both. You can watch the video and see Paramacharya Ceyonswami offering naivediam to the bali peedam and see Bodhinatha depart for the airport as the monks wish him well on this short journey. Just four nights.

A Peppermint anthurium shows its Siva-Shakti colors.

The sun is shining again today. Here is a short video of the bali peetham arati which is the last rite of the daily morning nitya siva puja.

Then later in the morning monks gather to see Bodhianatha off to Toronto.

Have a wonderful trip! See you all again in five days.

Meanwhile dropping into the Banyan Mandapam on the way back to the monastery we are looking at newly renovated displays prepared by Sadhaka Dandapani. He has been putting in time on retreats to prepare beautiful wooden frames for laminated posters. It is a much needed upgrade for this area which hosts 100’s of visitors each week who pass through.

Many of you have downloaded the new Hinduism Today Digital Edition. Of course, the magazine content has been developed by our team here with the help of many around the world and the prototype for remote client architecture as well. But the “under the hood” programming that makes this modern-day remote internet “iTunes For Your Hinduism Today PDFs” application work was done by a brilliant young man in Niteroi Brasil who was have been working with for over a year… his name is Andre Alves Garzia. To thank him for all his excellent and hard work we did a remote catering job, by having gourmet vegetarian Indian dinner sent to his home from the Natraj Restaurant in Rio DeJaniero. Here is Andre at the dinner table.

Though Andre is not a Hindu, Brasil is a very multi-cultural place and he is learning more about Hinduism as he works with the monks on IT projects.

Long ago Lord Ganesha came to him somehow, before we even met him and Andre keeps Ganesha by his bed.

On the left if Guilda Antao, who is an Indian lady from Goa who went to Brasil years ago and started the Natraj restaurant. When she got a phone call all the way from Hawaii requesting a meal be send to the Garzia family she was amazed! She personally took responsibility to deliver the meal with one of her helpers, driving 1.5 hours from Rio to Niteroi, which is a small town across the bay. Here she is at the stove with her assistant Lucia in the stripped green shirt, Andre’s mother in the orange dress and another Lucia on the right who helps the Garzia household.

It looks like a gourmet meal from Natraj restaurant.

This is Andre’s mother Alves, with a copy of “Monks Cookbook” in her hands and his father Clovis who just had a birthday two days ago but was away on business in another part of Brasil on duty for the National Brasilian Oil Company. He came home this evening, just in time for a this surprise dinner. Happy birthday Clovis!

It’s an interesting fulfillment of Gurudeva’s vision of “hands across the world,” and a magical coincidence that food from Natraj, was delivered to a home where Lord Ganesha lives and served by an Indian Amma from Goa in honor of a young man far away who is helping with Hinduism Today. How magical is that?

Thanks to Andre for the excellent job on the Digital Edition of Hinduism Today, and to his mother and father for raising such a fine young man and letting him help us!

Bodhinatha’s Toronto Events

You, your family and friends are lovingly invited to attend Satguru Siva Yogaswamigal’s Mahasamadhi Aaradanai on Saturday, April 8th 2006. Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, Guru Mahasannidhanam of Kauai Aadheenam and spiritual successor to Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, will preside over this sacred event in tribute to Satguru Siva Yogaswami, mystical giant and protector of Saiva Dharma, in celebration of this great sage’s 42nd mahasamadhi anniversary.

Satguru Siva Yogaswamigal’s Mahasamadhi Aaradanai
Date: Saturday, April 8th, 2006
Time: 4:00pm to 8:00pm
Venue: Richmond Hill Ganesh Temple
10865 Bayview Avenue
Richmond Hill
Ontario, CANADA

On this evening, Bodhinatha will share inspiring words about Satguru Yogaswami’s life and teachings. Accompanying Bodhinatha is Sannyasin Yoginathaswami, who will conduct a pada puja to Satguru Yogaswami’s tiruvadi. There will also be singing of Natchintanai and cultural perfomances. The event is dedicated to preserving and promoting the life and teachings of Satguru Yogaswami to the next generation.

For more information on the above event, you may contact:
Siva 416-335-5458; Jayanthi 905-842-0982 or Thiru 416-756-4380

Bodhinatha will also be at the

Sri Varasiththy Vinayagar Hindu Temple of Toronto
Sunday, April 9th from 9:45am to 12:00pm
3025 Kennedy Road Unit 10
Scarborough, ON M1V 1S3
Bodhinatha gives a talk titled “Worship in the Home”

We received notice this week of a special gift being prepared for Iraivan Temple. It is a wooden chariot, just 5.5 feet tall and intricately carved. This marvelous chariot, Ther in Tamil, has been commissioned by Koviloorswami who visited us last year.

Koviloorswami Swami heads up a 200-year-old monastery in Tamil Nadu that is a leader in art and craft.

Swami is working hard to develop educational programs for the various traditional temple arts: Agamic puja, temple music, temple chariot carving and building, temple decoration and several other traditional art and craft form integral to temple culture.

The chariot is in its final stages of preparation. One day we can all pull it around Iraivan during festivals.

Natarajnathaswami is working on a major feature story for the next issue of Hinduism Today: Sivalaya Deepam at Tiruvannamalai.

Saravananathaswami, every busy with communications for Bodhinatha.

There is a great project underway, sponsored by Pathmarajah in Malaysia, to have a simple summary of Saiva Siddhanta and Gurudeva’s life on line in 180 languages. He wants an authentic, but brief, view of our path to be available to nearly everyone on Earth. Visit: http://www.siddha.com.my/

Rev. Bieber and his wife Jane, from Nova Scotia, came to visit. They are friends of a father of one of the monks. After a tour of the temple he came to learn more about the monks publication and community service activities. Arumugaswami shares the progress on the children’s courses, in several languages.

Rev. Bieber spent 30 years doing ministry in the inner city of Detroit. All his years of giving to others has made him a bright, shining soulful being. Though retired he is still active in many ways, continuing to serve as best he can.

Palaniswami speaks to this Indian family that has dropped by…

This phase we received the Tamil version, 12 pages long, which is now being typed in India. We include Vaidehi Ganesan’s text and thank you, Vaidehi, for this contribution to an important project.

If anyone has language skills and would like to help, you can e-mail Palaniswami at palani@hindu.org for details.

Languages completed include:

English
Hindi
Sanskrit
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Marathi
Japanese
Korean
Spanish
Portuguese
Arabic
Balinese
Bahasa Malay

Gurudeva’s portrait in the Cedar Room. He watches over all our meetings there.

With his dear Yogaswami nearby.

Many have asked about our rain of late. It’s a bit intimidating, and we are glad to occasionally see the sun peek through.

That’s our mountain in the mist. Mount Waialeale received 93.18 inches for the month of March, which broke the 1950 record by about a foot.

The Wailua River continues to impress us with its power. Perhaps the most impressive record is Lihue (7 miles from the monastery as the crow flies); the 35.84 inches of rain broke the old March record by 21.30 inches, and the monthly total was only about four inches less than the average yearly rainfall. That’s right–nearly a year’s worth of rain has fallen in one month.

The sun’s recent reappearance has brought us the ever remarkable light shows over Mount Waialeale which we share with you to close our phase.

But first, a little light moment from the last innersearch — an unusual video taken in New Zealand at the Sheep World. It shows our Innersearchers feeding the lambs and a small piglet from baby bottles.

Yogaswami sang:

O Guru Gem! Guide of my life,
Reveal the goodly way and make me thine.
Transform my stony heart with thy grace
And tune my eternal self to realize Thee.
Heal my ills with tonics effective
And let me bask in thy radiant Presence,
Seeing Thee in all and all in Thee.
Grant Thou the boon of constant remembrance.

–Natchintanai. 73.

Welcome to the digital edition of Kauai’s Hindu Monastery on the Garden Island.

Today everything is digital. Bodhinatha’s Sun 1 talks are being archived on DVDs this morning, to preserve them and make them more available on the web. That’s our video workstation, which has been running about 12 hours a day this last month, capturing Gurudeva’s old videos too.

Even our printed magazine is digital. And welcomes you again. Here we see a series of screen shots of the magazine on a 22″ Apple Display. Every word, every image, every layout is faithfully rendered on your computer, searchable and sharable. This page provide special navigation buttons to access many Hindu resources.

Yesterday we released the digital Hinduism Today application and today we are basking in the glow of a difficult project completed as planned.

As an ancient Greek soldier once said:

The conditions of conquest are always easy. We have but to toil awhile, endure awhile, believe always, and never turn back.

Marcus Annaeus Seneca

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow knew a thing or two about accomplishment, writing:

The heights of great men reached and kept,
Were not obtained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept
Were toiling upward in the night.

Thomas Jefferson knew of the struggles of success:

I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.

George Bernard Shaw was bold about it:

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.

Speak of making your circumstances, the Patel family visited two days back, from San Diego. Their twin sons presented a new publication they are producing, called South Asian Journal. Palaniswami is holding it up here, and Poovan is holding Hinduism Today, while his brother Palak looks on.

There was great conversation about Hindu issues and on how our Hinduism Today team can support and strengthen this new magazine, full of dharma’s take on real-life issues and meant for a college-age audience. They even have plans to spread to all the UC campuses once the enterprise gets strong enough. The world needs more young Hindus like these bright young men. Oh, yes, Amy Patel, not a family member, is part of the team, too, not pictured.

Work is going on with the carving of Iraivan. So we share the sculptor’s sketch of the small Nandi bull that will be kneeling before Siva in his own pavilion. If you look closely, you can see he has an earring in his left ear. It is part of the same stone from which he is carved, and is loose and can be twirled! Now that’s craftsmanship.

Who is Nandi, you ask?

Nandi means “the joyful.” He is a white bull with a black tail, the vahana, or mount, of Lord Siva, symbol of the powerful instinctive force tamed by Him. Nandi is regarded as the perfect devotee, the soul of man, kneeling humbly before God Siva, ever concentrated on Him. The ideal and goal of the Siva bhakta is to behold Siva in all.

Announcement: Hinduism Today Magazine Launches Free Digital Edition

In April of 2005, Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami talked about his vision for taking Gurudeva’s work forward into the digital revolution, beginning with a Digital Edition of Hinduism Today. Today, April 1st, 2006, we can say “Yes, we did it!”

It seemed like an “impossible dream” but our Ganapati Kulam and collaborators Kulapati Sadhunathan Nadesan and Andre Alverez Garzia in Brazil are pleased to release Version 1.0 of the Hinduism Today Digital Edition.

The entire April/May/June, 2006, issue is available in full-color PDF format via a free subscription. Click on “source,” follow the directions and download a simple internet interface program (which we call Brazil) to manage your subscription. Think of it like “iTunes” for your Hinduism Today digital edition library.

Here is our publications team. Of course, it’s also the support and help from all our writers, photographers, journalists, IT collaborators, readers and advertisers that make up the final product which is our global magazine. We send you all a big “Mikka Nandri,” “Mahalo” and “Thank you” on this historic day. For the first time, people in every nation of the world, no matter their geography or financial status, can access the full, graphically-rich magazine online. And share it with all their friends. And it’s absolutely free!

When you subscribe, you get a small simple application that is “internet savvy.” With the click of a few buttons, you’ll be able to download to your computer and view in Acrobat program the digital duplicate of the color print edition, but with added “rich media” features. That means if you click any web address URL in the magazine, your browser will launch and take you right there. Then there are the really kewl features. On page 10, you can click the “play” button and hear Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami read his Publisher’s Desk piece, “The World Is an Ashram.” On page 23, you can click and watch a marvelous movie on Delhi’s new Akshardham temple. This issues’s Insight Section has detailed instructions on a home puja to Lord Ganesha. With rich media, we’re able to make available via page I-5 an authoritative recitation of the Sanskrit chanting for the entire puja. And, of course, you get the spectacular photographs and graphics that have always made Hinduism Today one of the best religious magazines in the world.

As with the print edition, our idea is to uplift and inform Hindus around the world. The digital edition will reach those unable to subscribe to the print edition. If you want to help, you can share this link with all who would be interested in receiving Hinduism’s only global spiritual magazine. We especially hope to engage the computer-savvy youth in this way. So, spread the word. Go now to subscribe to the Hinduism Today Digital Edition

Today the Ganapati Kulam went for a meeting to review the publications goals for the next three years. Hundreds of projects were reviewed, scheduled, refined. We have a bright future ahead for carrying Gurudeva’s teachings forward to the next generation and beyond!

Sadhaka Adninatha is one of the senior monks of Kauai’s Hindu monastery and a strong senior sadhaka of the order. His is a steady, strong, inner presence…

He also has a great sense of humor. Sadhaka is also doing some “pioneering” work in the cultivation of trees on our Himalayan Acres property. He and the other members of the kulam were thrilled to see the sun shining today.

Today Bodhinatha received the gift that was given to him on Innersearch. A new intel Mac Book Pro.

Bodhinatha is working with a high-end program called Keynote for making all his presentations and educational resources. But his present Mac is a bit sluggish for the giant files he is producing, and this one will give him new abilities and efficiencies. “Thanks” to all who gave to give this gift.

The full story below

Siva above us
Siva below us
Siva to the left of us
Siva to the right of us
Siva in front of us
Siva behind us
Siva outside us
Siva within us

Siva in the cats outside the publications building.

Siva in the mountain,
and Siva in His Hawaiian home, there behind the orange flagpole

And, yes, Siva in the MacBook Pro. What? You ask.

Well, the story goes like this. On the Australia-New Zealand Innersearch in January, all of the Innersearchers secretely got together to find a gift for Bodhinatha, in thanks for all his hard work on the Innersearch program.

They chose the newest Macintosh laptop, and it arrived today.

It’s the MacBook Pro, Apple’s fastest and sweetest computer. Yogi Japendranatha opened up the box today.

And inside the box, he found a box.

And inside that more things and boxes.

Then finally the computer. It’s Apple’s first Intel-chip Mac, and the world is more than a bit enthused about it, and its speed.

Blessed by Siva.

That little black dot is the built-in camera for video conferencing.

Yogi set up to transfer Bodhinatha’s system and files to the new Mac.

There are the new and the old, side-by-side, millions of bytes flowing through the FireWire (like intraSiva trafficking), with Iraivan in the distance.

Once the transfer was done, we took a walk to deliver it to Bodhinatha’s office.

On the way stopping at an amazing orchid which smells just like coconuts.

Then into the Mahogany Room, the Satguru’s office.

We found Bodhinatha working away on his upcoming travels to Canada.

Greetings, Bodhinatha, we have a surprise for you!

Yogi Japendranatha presented the Innersearchers’ gift, which Bodhinatha was SO happy to see.

Yogi mentioned it was not from us but from all who traveled with Bodhinatha earlier this year.

It comes with a special traveling case.

A few minutes later a call came. Our crane operator is coming, so Dandapani and Palaniswami grabbed their cameras and trekked to the Iraivan site to capture the events of this important day.

Out the building and onto the paths.

Someone left a small offering.

Off to Iraivan in the rain they went.

As they arrived, stones were being lifted into place.

About twenty stones went up this morning despite inclement weather. Inclement. . . what an understatement! We learn today that Mount Waialeale, in our front yard, has received the world-record rain for March, over 91 inches ina single month! We got less, but were wet all month just the same.

Above Yoginathaswami guides the process with the Silpis all in their bright yellow raincoats placing the stones for tomorrow’s fitting process.

On the ground the noble Siddhidatta Kulam team worked with operator Larry Conklin.

They lash the stones and balance the weight so the stones arrive up above flat and ready to drop in place, gently that is.

The placement of the straps is critical and our team has learned the art.

We also took some video shots of the tone lifting today. You can watch the process by clicking on our movie of the day below.

This is the first of six crocodile stones to be lifted. The rainwater from the top of the temple will be channeled out of the mouths of the crocodiles into large granite pots below.

Larry told us this morning “Someone else cancelled because of rain, but you don’t mind working in the rain, so I will be there.”

No our team doesn’t mind at all!