Bodhinatha has darshan with a family who are devotees of Yogi Ramaiah, from Arizona.

A bright sunny day with majestic Mt. Waialeale outlined against a clear blue sky. Five families arrived for the wonderful morning puja and a tour of the very sacred Iraivan Temple.

Venkata, Sunitha and Preethi Balagani from Gilroy, CA; Radha Krishna and Giriga Balagani from Mt. Prospect, IL; Shailesh, Bhavana, Sangeeta and Anisha Sampat from San Jose, CA. (Shalesh noted that he last visited this temple in March 2002). Shankar Buddiga from Fresno; and Eswar Narayanan with Nandini Krishnamurthy and Akshara Eswar from San Francisco.

It’s the world’s most popular orchid, our local breeder tells us. Today the Chocolate Orchid is in full bloom, amazing visitors with its powerful fragrance that is just so chocolatety.

Roads and paths are an important part of any facility, and the monastery is no different. Roads allow us access to the land, give us the ability to landscape, maintain, build. But roads deteriorate, and the one Gurudeva had built in 1975 was getting a little worn out.

So the Siddhidatta Kulam brought in our long-time friend and professional heavy equipment operator, Dennis Wong.

Dennis worked all day to repave the back entrance. He told us the story of his boss, Jeff, who wears a Namasivaya bracelet all the time that he got from Dennis. Jeff loaned his loader and roller free for the day, to help the monastery.

Dennis added tons of fill.

Then carefully leveled it.

He’s a master at this.

His son, Charlie, who grew up next the the monastery, mans the roller.

How wonderful, to have a solid, flat road again, without the pot holes. Thanks, Dennis. Thanks, Jeff!

Summer is definitely here and the air is dry and clear. Waialeale looks magnificent in this close up.

This is Olga Urminski (right), an incredibly talented professional of art restoration on Kauai.

She came with her brother Paul, who also understands a lot about art and sculpture, and his wife Gabriella.

Originally from Slovakia, she was commissioned by Carole and Marty Kahn to restore our main painting of Satguru Yogaswami. The original is a work of legendary painter Indra Sharma, and had been affected by our all-too-alive Kauai weather.

She did a marvelous work, and the painting now looks bright and alive again. Congratulations, Olga! Thank you, Carole and Marty!

Later we took them out to see San Marga. On the way we find a magnificent Golden Shower tree in full bloom.

and the ever awesome lotus pond.

Olga was delighted to be able to show her relatives such a beautiful site.

Her brother and sister-in-law said, in Slovakian, the place “felt like a fairytale, there are so many things here you will never see anywhere else in the whole world.”

Our neighbours, Greg Smith (far back) his wife Stepanie, 16-month-old daughter Sienna, Stephanie’s sister Cassandra and her friend John are all here from Arkansas. They live right next store to the monastery. Their home base is on the mainland but Greg is spending more and more time here at his place on Kauai and collaborating with the monks on putting his land to good agricultural use.

Today Sivakatirswami takes them to the temple. On the pillars we find many symbols and shum murals. Gurudeva envisioned that these could be explained to guests and they would get an interesting education in Hindu thought and philosophy. Swami is explaining the Shum murals of Anef, Nashumef, Nalif Mamsani.

You can read about it in the Twelve Meditations Booklet available at our store..

Sienna is all ears.

“An�f means to find that place inside yourself that is absolutely quiet. Anif is an area in which we are deep enough within that all of the forces of the mind can be seen, and we are, like the hummingbird, totally quiet. We look out from that place and see the forces equalizing themselves.”

“The very best time to meditate is as soon as you wake up in the morning; find anif. As soon as you go to bed at night, find anif. Then deliberately put the body into a state of sleep, which is putting awareness deep within the mind, which is into a state of meditation. How do you do that? Lay the body down, palms up, heels not touching, and go into the power of the spine. Feel the power of the spine, just like you do when you sit in meditation. You’ll feel your body relax. Concentrate the mind, concentrate awareness, right at the back of the neck, and the first thing you will know, it’s morning.”

The portrait in the middle is Nashumif:

“Nashumif is the perspective we hold while looking at the energy fields in and through things–looking at the inside of a tree, seeing how the energy comes up through the tree and finally causes a leaf to form. Nashumif is a state that you are in when you can see the ebb and flow of the eighteen predominant forces working within the mind consciousness. These forces are always trying to equalize themselves. Some are static, some are spinning, some are active, some are lifting others up. And this makes form as we see it in its various dimensions. We experience Nashumif in the pull of forces between people who are close to us, and in the forces of nature, the full moon, the moon that’s waning, the noonday sun.”

Swami says that nashumif is not a difficult state of awareness to find. Things are falling, spinning, breaking apart, flowing on, all moving to find stillness in the end. Just observe the forces of nature, in a childlike way.

Sienna says, “I have no problem with that.”

Nalif is the holding of the inner vibration from one meditation to another. For instance, if you perform anif in the morning just as you awaken, it sets a vibration which you feel all through the day; and we strengthen that vibration when performing anif just before we go to sleep at night. This holding of the inner memory, so to speak, or inner vibration, from one anif period to another is called Nalif. It is a challenge in itself, holding the inner awareness until our next meditation, all through the day, holding that inner thread so that we remain two-thirds within and only one-third in external consciousness.

The Pillaiyar Kulam reported on their work today. Shanmuganathaswami told us about major upgrades to our main in house database software called 4D which has completely revamped their database into an SQL based structure and they have also upgraded their server. So he’s been deep into the upgrade which affects all our information management from Panchangam calculations to Hinduism Today subscribers, Himalayan Academy student body and more.

He is also actively involved Hindu Heritage Endowment. Some new endowments are in the works and we will tell you about them when they are finalized, but this always takes time on his part to set up new funds in HHE.

Muruganathswami is the backbone of the publications transactions area, keeping all the sales and distribution moving along, it’s a big job.

Sadhaka Jothinatha is working hard on Hinduism Today ad sales. With the economy down, people are less enthusiastic about spending money and Hinduism Today is feeling the crunch. So we will need to work harder on promotion, which is his forte.

Yogi Jivanandanatha has been focused on meeting the latest PCI “Payment Card Industry” compliance standards, programming out systems to make sure that everyone’s credit card numbers are safe and secure and meet the latest stringent banking standards.

Yesterday’s guests… it was very peaceful day which brought four families on pilgrimage to the Aadheenam. After a beautiful puja in the Kadavul Siva Temple, everyone enjoyed a walking tour through the gardens to the Iraivan Temple.

Left to right – Brad, Hema and Paras Werner from Arizona; Dr. Savita and Mahesh Luthra and Navender and Suvira Virmani from San Jose, CA. Also Shirish and Neeta Dayal, and children and Ajit and Punita Patel with their children, all from Southern California. Three families have visited on previous occasions dating back to 1991.

Nature’s Marvelous Giant Mushrooms.

Recently we watched an amazing educational television show on “fungi.” Did you know that mushrooms and related species are one of planet earth’s most important species? They are also full of magical nutritional and sometimes, as we know, fatal properties. Some nutrients bring longevity. Others bring an immediate end to all your prarabdha karma. Not a good idea!

At any rate, we have been trying to grow the beneficial varieties and perhaps the nature devas heard us and decided to show off, because these giant mushrooms were recently found on the property hiding away. We don’t know if they are edible or not and we won’t be doing any live testing!

Saravananathaswami and Sadhaka Dandapani gave their kulam report today. Swami is working on the logistics of Bodhinatha’s up and coming trip to Singapore and Malaysia. There is planning to be done for the conferences be held by the Hindu Center in Singapore as well as the 3rd seminar on What is Hinduism topics.

Sadhaka Dandapani has been work on the wrap of up the last innersearch by create a wonderful photo album souvenir for all the innersearchers and he will soon be unveiling in a new super series of slideshows from that great trip that you can all. He has also been working on the visitor pages of our web site to provide better info and navigation for pilgrims.

Outside there has been rumbling and shaking of the earth all morning and early afternoon as Dennis Wong and his son Charlie have been working on the back road into the monastery that has sorely needed to be upgraded. The giant roller/compactor can be felt all the way into the temple! Some pics tomorrow.

Our lovely lotus pond at work…

And we take this opportunity to bring another excerpt from the ancient romantic drama called “The Ankle Bracelet” which opens a window on the advance culture of South India as far back as 300 ce. This is from the Chapter Five:

Indiravilavureduttakadai
Indra’s Festival

“The Sun appeared, peering over the eastern hills. He tore off the mantle of night, spread his warm and friendly rays over the pale Earth…

“The sunshine lighted up the open terraces, the harbor docks, the towers with their loopholes like the eyes of deer. In various quarters of the city the homes of wealthy Greeks were seen. Near the harbor seamen from far-off lands appeared at home. In the streets hawkers were selling unguents, bath powders, cooling oils, flowers, perfume, incense. Weavers brought their fine silks and all kinds of fabrics made of wool or cotton. There were special streets for merchants of coral, sandalwood, myrrh, jewelry, faultless pearls, pure gold, and precious gems.

“In another quarter lived grain merchants, their stocks piled up in mounds. Washermen, bakers, vintners, fishermen, and dealers in salt crowded the shops, where they bought betel nuts, perfume, sheep, oil, meat, and bronzes. One could see coppersmiths, carpenters, goldsmiths, tailors, shoemakers, and clever craftsmen making toys out of cork or rags; and musicians, expert in each branch of the art, who demonstrated their mastery in the seven-tone scale on the flute and the harp. Workmen displayed their skills in hundreds of small crafts. Each trade had its own street in the workers’ quarter of the city.

“At the center of the city were the wide royal street, the street of temple cars, the bazaar, and the main street, where rich merchants had their mansions with high towers. There was a street for priests, one for doctors, one for astrologers, one for peasants. In a wide passage lived the craftsmen who pierce gems and pearls for the jewelers. Nearby were those who make trinkets out of polished nacre and sea shells. In another quarter lived the coachmen, bards, dancers, astronomers, clowns, actresses, florists, betel-sellers, servants, oboe players, drummers, jugglers, and acrobats.

“In wide fields near the town were encamped horsemen and their swift mounts, war elephants, chariot drivers, soldiers fearful to look upon. Near these were palaces of knights and princes. Between the quarters of the workers and the nobles lay an open square, large as a battlefield where two great armies might have met. There, under rows of trees, the sheds of a market were set up. The haggling of buyers and sellers could be heard there all day long.

“On the first day of Spring, when the full moon is in Virgo, offerings of rice, cakes of sesame and brown sugar, meat, paddy, flowers, and incense were brought by young maidens, splendidly dressed, to the altar of the local guardian deva, who, at the bidding of Indra, king of heaven, had settled in the town to drive away all perils that might threaten Muchukunda, its ever-victorious monarch. Hands on their hips, these virgins gyrated madly as if possessed… As they went away from the altar, the dancers cried: “May the king and his vast empire never know famine, disease or dissension. May we be blessed with wealth — and when the season comes, with rains.”

“The people made merry on Indra’s chosen day. Great rituals were performed in the temples of the Unborn Shiva, of Murugan the beauteous god of Youth, of nacrewhite Valiyon, brother of Krishna, of the dark Vishnu, called Nediyon, and of Indra himself, with his strings of pearls and his victorious parasol. A festive crowd invaded the precincts of the temple, where Vedic rituals once revealed by the god Brahma were faultlessly performed. The four orders of the gods, the eighteen hosts of paradise, and other celestial spirits were honored and worshiped. Temples of the Jains and their charitable institutions could be seen in the city. In public squares, priests were recounting stories from the scriptures of the ancient Puranas.”

A very auspicious day at Kauai Aadheenam to begin our new phase. This morning Chidambaram Sendan and Shaila Pushpa Sendan both received the Vidyarambha samskara, the official beginning of their education.

They were all smiles as Bodhinatha handed them the plate of rice upon which to draw the letter A.

It was an historic day for another reason: the last roof beam of the Iraivan temple was raised up. It never happened before and will never happen again.

The beam is to span two pillars with the jalakom lattice window in between.

Up it goes!

The beam moves into place

Larry Conklin, the ever cool headed, strictly “do it safely!” crane owner and operator

Our silpis stand on the last beam…

Your TAKA writer today took a break from his desk and climbed up to the top. The silpis were discussing the intricacies of jointing the newly place beam. Other roof stones are sitting on top of the roof stones already placed. They will move into their stations later

The location: South East corner of Iraivan.

The stones were pre-fitted on the ground.

but final adjustments are inevitable. Everything must be perfectly plumb, perfectly aligned.

Down on the ground the crew takes the opportunity to use the crane to move crates that were offloaded from containers on the Nandi mandapam area.

Managing all the stones and incoming crates is a logistical challenge.

On Larrie’s weight meter, some of these crates holding floor stones weigh in at over 6.5 tons!

Yoginathswami was amazed on hearing this figure. “I don’t even know how I dragged them out of the containers! But I don’t want to push our fork lift, it could be dangerous, so we will let Larry do the job today.”

Loading crates on the bed of the crane truck.

Ready to move out.

Around to the north end of the temple where all the work is basically over.

Crates are placed back on the foundation, safely out of the way for now.

It was a great day at Iraivan!

Dawn is a magical time all over the world. Praised by Sages in the Vedas, and daily watched in ever renewed wonderment by everyone who takes the time to just stop and watch the sunrise. Here we are, at dawn on Iraivan Day during the retreat. Yogi Jivananandanatha got up early to go out and catch the temple in the special light of the day.

Gurudeva once said: “You have realized many things. Just stop and realize what you have realized. Many people are so busy, that they don’t even take time to stop and watch the sunrise.”

Here is Bodhinatha in Baltimore at the installation of the Murugan Deity there.

At home the Ganapati Kulam gave their report today. Many projects are in the works. Paramacharya Palaniswami has been working on creating a quarterly video for Hinduism Today. Acharya Kumarswami is working on a new version of the book “Loving Ganesha” Arumugaswami is deep into the study and research of Indian History. Sivakatirswami has been working on his Hinduism Today pages and a variety of web projects. Senthilnathaswami is focused on the upgrade of our video production tools and the new Hinduism Today web site design. And Sadhaka Satyanatha is working on a marvelous article for Hinduism Today on Navaratri and also scanning and organizing the digital files of the pillar artwork. These are justs tips of the iceburg of things each one is doing.

~~~~~~~~~~~
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, Friday, June 27th.

These illustrations are taken from the symbols on the pillars of Iraivan. We have commissioned Vimala Manivelu in Chennai to produce color versions, which have been scanned. We bring you some of these today and more in the future. The images speak for themselves. To accompany them, we bring you some text from a book that Arumugaswami has discovered called “Garden of Madurai” which has scenes from the 3rd century CE. It details a remarkably prosperous and advanced civilization that flourish in South India at that time.

Gardeb of Madurai, comprising 425 verses.

“The poet enters the city by its great gate, the posts of which are carved with images of the Goddess Lakshmi, and which is covered with ghee, poured in offering upon it to bring safety and prosperity to the city it guards. It is a day of festival, and the city is bright with flags, some, presented by the king to recognize their brave deeds, flying over the homes of captains, and others waving over the shops. The streets are broad rivers of people, folk of every race, buying and selling in the market-place or singing to the music of wandering minstrels.”

A drum beats, and a royal procession passes down the street, with elephants leading to the sound of conchs. A willful beast breaks his chain, and tosses like a ship in an angry sea until he is again brought to order. Chariots follow, with prancing horses and fierce-looking footmen. Meanwhile stall-keepers ply their trades, selling sweet cakes, garlands of flowers, scented powder and betel leaf. Old women go from house to house, selling flower bouquets and trinkets to the womenfolk.

Noblemen drive through the streets in their chariots, their gold-sheathed swords flashing, wearing brightly-dyed garments and wreaths of flowers. From balconies and turrets the many jewels of the perfumed women who watch the festival flash in the sunlight.

The people flock to the temples to worship to the sound of music, laying their flowers before the images and honoring the holy sages. Craftsmen work in their shops–men making bangles of conch shell, goldsmiths, c1oth-dealers, coppersmiths, flower-sellers, vendors of sandalwood, painters and weavers. Food shops busily sell their wares–greens, jak fruit, mangos, sugar candy, cooked rice and chunks of cooked meat.

In the evening the city entertainers please their patrons with dancing and singing to the sound of the lute, so that the streets are filled with music. Respectable women make evening visits to the temples with their children and friends, carrying lighted lamps all offerings. They dance in the temple courts, which are clamorous with their singing and chatter. At last the city sleeps–all but the goblins and ghosts who haunt the dark, and the bold housebreakers, armed with rope ladders, swords and chisels, to break through the house walls. But the watchmen are vigilant, and the city passes the night in peace.
Morning comes with the sound of brahman priests intoning their sacred verses. The wandering bards renew their singing, and the shopkeepers busy themselves opening their booths. All over the city is heard the sound of opening doors. Women sweep the faded flowers of the festival from their courtyards. Thus the busy everyday life of the city is resumed.

Photos from the recent Baltimore events.

As we write, Bodhinatha and Sadhaka Nilakantha are flying over the Pacific, and will arrive later this evening on Kauai. Sadhaka sends us a few iPhone shots from the arrival at the Baltimore temple yesterday. And Bodhinatha has some interesting observations.

June 22nd, Sunday

Om Sivaya, everyone,

Jai Ganapati.

This morning was the installation of the Murugan Deity in a side shrine at the Hindu Temple of Greater Baltimore. About 250 devotees present, four priests doing the ceremony. Group very attentive to my talk on Insights into Hindu Temple Worship. At the temple for about seven hours.

One of the priests is Ganesha Gurukkal helping out for the four days of ceremonies. He is now at Siva Vishnu Temple in Wash DC. Previously at Rose Hill Temple in Mauritius. He reminded me of my last visit to the Rose Hill temple and that he served us dinner in his home. Hinduism is certainly developing a global priesthood!

Om Namasivaya,
Bodhinatha

Members of the Sendan family pose in front of Lord Ganesha’s shrine outside the Kadavul Siva Temple following the puja.

On the left are Aran and Valli Sendan. Center is Shaila, Vasuki Sendan’s daughter. On the right is Mira Sendan with her two sons, Chidambaram, and little Adiyan who received a special archana in celebration of his second birthday.

Adiyan and Mira, mother and son, in front of Lord Muruga. Adiyan is proudly wearing a silver pendant of Lord Muruga from Tiruchendur gifted to him by his grandmother, Valli Sendan, in honor of this special occasion.

Beautiful flowering trees and plants abound throughout the Aadheenam gardens this time of the year!

On the left is Rekha Sharma and Rajesh Narayan (originally from Delhi) now living in Texas and Honolulu.

On the right is Indupuru Kota Reddy and his wife Indira Reddy (originally from Andhra Pradesh) now residing in San Jose, Calif. Indupuru Reddy originally met Gurudeva in 1980 at the opening of the Houston Temple.

Touching the feet of the Lord.

When Palaniswami was in India, he met with the family that heads one of India’s more successful web businesses, Exotic India. He arranged for them to provide the art produced by Himalayan Academy over the years to their clients, thus spreading the visual dharma around the world.

Yesterday, they sent the first pieces. What you are looking at here, the photo with a caption, is the original art painted by Manivelu. Above is a copy.

Here is the copy of a Siva-Sakti.

And here is the original.

This painting of Dakshinamurthi, like the two above, was painstakenly replicated by an artist in India. Amazing how closely they can duplicate a work of art. These are painted on cotton in watercolors.

Virtually any art in the Himalayan Academy collection can be ordered from ExoticIndia.com

The lotus is sacred in Hinduism, in part as a symbol of man’s spiritual growth. In the Vedas it is written:

The Self resides within the lotus of the heart. Knowing this, consecrated to the Self, the sage enters daily that holy sanctuary. Absorbed in the Self, the sage is freed from identity with the body and lives in blissful consciousness. Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad 8.33-4

This 1000-petaled lotus is blooming at the monastery for the first time, an amazing creation covered by eager bees in the early hours of the day.

Bodhinatha is still in Baltimore and will be home tomorrow. At the Aadheenam, it is a quiet day.

The Pillaiyar Kulam shared news at lunch today. Shanmuganathswami is working on new presentations for the Hindu Heritage Endowment to help clarify the various “components” that go into maintaining endowments. This will help new potential donors and finance managers get a proper picture of whether they will do better to create their own endowment or if it maybe wiser to create a fund in the Hindu Heritage Endowment. HHE already has most of the necessary components that other newly created endowments have to pay for: accountants, managers, planned giving specialist consultants and more, all of which is automatically included for anyone who creates a fund in Hindu Heritage Endowment.

Yesterday was a tour day. Shama who hosted some guests writes:

“It beautiful day for Tour Day which brought visitors from all over the world. Here are some local Kauains who belong to a multi-religious group called the Kauai Contemplative Outreach Group which center on prayer and meditation. Their group leader is Liedeke Bulder (third from right in the back). They have visited here on several occasions in the past and find the Aadheenam “the most spiritual sanctuary they have ever visited.”

Malaysian devotees have taken on the goal to do the fund raising for the floor of the Iraivan temple. Check out their blog at:

http://www.iraivantile.blogspot.com/

This is at Siva Kesavan’s home in Baltimore. The Siva Puranam was sung devoutly while performing the pada puja. Then the children sang some devarams. Bodhinatha gave a short prasnotara satsang, answering many questions on karma and the Hindu Gods.

Another great day yesterday: the last jalakom (stone lattice “window”) was installed. Here we are on the east side of the temple near the entrance on the side of the Rajagopuram mandapam.

This is an extremely delicate operation. One wrong move and the large panel will crack.

This particular piece of stone was taken from a different quarry and had an unusual mixture of crystal and granite making it a bit more fragile than usual.

We even had a call from India from Chidambaram Sthapati from the work site to tell us: “Be really careful with this stone!”

Everyone is holding their breath all the way through the operation. This is actually the second one carved for this corner of the temple because the first one cracked in two as it was being lifted in Bangalore.

By the end of the day the installation was successful. Once the roof beam goes on top, it will be declared “Good for 1,500 years!”

Bodhinatha left for Baltimore yesterday. A temple there is installing a Murugan Deity and ask for him to be present for the event. He is traveling with Sadhaka Nilakantha. We don’t have any news yet. Meanwhile we have some interesting pictures and videos today. In this photo, Bodhinatha is presiding at the homa which was done in the lodge at the recent Himalayan Academy retreat center. One of the participants film the event and we have posted it to YouTube below.

Yesterday the monastery received an urgent call from India, informing us that, without permission, a film company has used Gurudeva in a Telegu language movie and put a large ad, shown here, in the local newspaper. Jiva said devotees of Gurudeva want to sue the film makers, but we urged restraint, and asked them first to find out just how Gurudeva got into the movie. It could be rather harmless. If someone can translate this poster, please send the English version to Palaniswami here: palani@hindu.org

This is a view of the ceiling of Iraivan Temple. Notice there are seven stones making up the square, and that there is a lotus carved in the middle. There are 23 of these 10-foot-square panels in Iraivan.

A week ago, 68 roofing stones were lifted to the roof area.

They were placed on the supporting beams, all lined up.

The silpis then began the assembly of the stones. One team stands above, using the steel bars to move the stones into place.

A second team is below, seated on a giant platform that gives them easy access to the roof above their heads.

One by one the beams are fitted.

It takes 4-5 times to get a tight fit. The top team places them together, and any gaps are marked.

Then they are pulled apart and the bottom team makes the needed adjustments, chipping away at the surface.

Here we see two carvers reaching up rom below to chip away the bumps that are preventing a tight fit.

It’s awkward work, and tiring as the body is required to work in strange postures for days at a time.

Here we see the ends of two roof stones.

They do not need to be finished here, as this part will be embedded fully in concrete later.

Notice the fit at the bottom, and how the two stones only touch at that edge and have plenty of space between them above. This is the secret of the fitting skill, to only work on that tiny place where the two rocks come together.

Master Course students in Mauritius met at the Spiritual Park this month for their monthly study sessions.

Among the activities of the day was aTalk from Satguru Bodhinatha on Confusions in Hinduism. Here is an extract of the Talk which is related to Bodhinatha’s visit to Canada…

Another session was a keynote presentation on Hinduism Mystical Sciences.

One such presentation was an introduction on the science of Ayurveda..

Later the MC students were out for a guided meditation…

Being in nature….

Roshan and Vandana…

Everyone is going deep inside…

A newly enrolled student.

Students inside the Dharmasala building for classes. Plans are to readjust this spot to provide more space for classes due to increasing number of students now attending these monthly sessions.

Another event this month was the Namakarana samskara of the child of our arulsishya couple Adisankara at St. Pierre. His relatives and Church members were present at the ceremony…

Adisankara and his family…

Writing the name of the baby girl on a tray of unbroken rice is an important part of the ceremony…

Kulapati Mardemootoo giving a talk…

Here she is …. Hi!

A happy couple…

The priest chanting the final mantras…

It is the last day of our phase and we are heading into a three-day full moon retreat. Seven of the monks will be heading off for two nights “roughing” it for a 3-day camp out at the “end of the Earth.” The magnificent beach and nature preserve called “Polehale” at the very west end of Kauai.

The Ganapati Kulam reported on their activities this phase. A lot of energy is moving toward video production. Paramacharya Palaniswami is working on setting up training for his team, getting the tool set together and expert consultation for video work. The Hinduism Today team is working on the next issue of Hinduism Today. Sannyasin Arumugaswami is forging ahead with the second Hindu History lesson covering the period between 300 and 1100 CE. The first one was a big hit and the second one will build on the global reputation of the first piece. Work continues on the new Hinduism Today web site and many other media and publications projects on the side.

Bharat Patel returned to Kauai today for his annual pilgrimage with his family. He said that this was his twelfth visit to the Aadheenam. He also brought three close friends, whom he has known for 47 years, Sandip, Dharmendra, and Ashok and their families. A happy group, all Patels from Chicago and Iowa.

It was a most auspicious day yesterday. Cristina Berisso after many years of dedicated study made her formal entrance into Saivite Hinduism.

At a highly auspicious Namakarana Samskara held at the Siddhi Vinayaga Temple and Cultural Center in Sacramento, Cristina received her new name:

Sarasvati Kumara

Jai Ganesha! Let us all welcome Sarasvati Kumara into our hearts and Hindu Family!

It was a magical day:

Head Priest Pundit Dixit arranged it all, with a priest who had just arrived from India the same day.

Pundit Dixit loves Gurudeva’s work, has visited the Bangalore carving site several times, and always asks when Iraivan Kumbhabeshekam will be as he plans to come for a week to help out as a seva. He was a priest in the Livermore Temple when he first came to the US.

Coincidentally, there was a Sivalingam abhishekam going on at the same time as Saraswati’s samskara.

Iraja Sivadas writes:

“There was a wonderful namakarana for Cristina Berisso in Sacramento.

“Her new name is Sarasvati Kumara.

“Sarasvati, her two daughters, the Katir family, Nilani and myself attended.

“It was a beautiful and powerful cermony.”

Participants felt Gurudeva himself joined the event from the inner planes to bless Sarasvati:

“Gurudeva attended about half way through the homa. (Three people pinpointed the same time).”

Sarasvati was born in Argentina, became a nuclear physicist. Later got her doctorate in Nuclear Physics from Oxford University. She later started teaching at Shasta Community College in California and today is actively involved in developing online teaching programs. She met Gurudeva many years ago and he gave her blessings to translate his Trilogy into Spanish. She has thus not only completed her Master Course study with Himalayan Academy but has processed every single word and sentence of the text books through both her English and Spanish brains! Gurudeva once said that you should know the theological and philosophical teachings in every language that you know. See her work at:

http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/spanish/