Last evening we had the final rites of Skanda Shashti in a rare late-in-the-day homa and puja dedicated to Lord Muruga and his Vel.

The solid silver Vel presides….

Bhupendra and Devyani Shah’s 3rd day of pilgrimage at Kauai Aadheenam ended in grand style sitting up front at the homa with Bodhinatha celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary.

Bodhinatha also presented them with a shawl.

Despite their age they recently completed a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and now came to the Mount Kailash of the Pacific.

And after the grand puja to Muruga, Devyani said to one of the monks: “I have never felt so close to Siva!”

Bodhinatha puts a shawl for Suresh Mohan who is celebrating his 60th birthday and is here with his wife, Sulo and their son, Deepak, daughter-in-law Pavithra and granddaughter Preethi.

The abhishekam commences and Ceyonswami keeps the fire going…

All eyes are on Lord Muruga….

The abhishekam is a wondrous mystically uplifting event that has to be experienced to be known.

Milk, sandalwood, coconut water, panchamritam and many other offerings were made.

After the puja…

“The fourteen chakras have been described as a pole one must climb. The pole is heavily greased with ghee. It’s a slippery pole. Therefore, the helping hand of our loving Ganesha, who reaches down from the muladhara, is needed to lift up the aspirant. It’s the helping hand of Lord Murugan that reaches down from the anahata chakra, grabbing and lifting the devotee up. It is the helping hand of Siva that reaches down from the ajna chakra and lifts one up. One cannot do it alone. Total surrender to the Gods is the only way. Karma yoga, bhakti yoga, japa yoga is the way to attract their attention. The guru keeps the path in view, but he does not walk it for you.” –Gurudeva

“Murugan, Lord Of Yoga And Harmony”

— Dancing with Siva

“….Mahadeva Karttikeya, Son of Siva-Shakti, whose vel of grace dissolves the bondages of ignorance.”

Satsang and prasadam afterwards…

A joyful serenity and fulfillment in the air…

And a moment to talk with fellow devotees who you may never have met before…

On to today’s events…

There is a slack key guitar conference taking place on Kauai and as part of their day long broadcast over the radio to the entire nation the organizers have decided to share some of Kauai’s many wonderful cultures.

So, here is Judith interviewing Bodhinatha for the program. We will have a copy of the interview soon and have in on TAKA for you all to hear.

Suresh Mohan and family performing an abhishekam to the Narmada lingam earlier in the day.

Suresh’s son, Deepak Mohan, collecting the water from the lingam.

He said this is their first time here but certainly not their last.

The lady on the right wrote before arriving with her husband and guru..

” My name is Radhika Ambatipudi. My Husband and I had the opportunity to visit the beautiful Kauai Hindu Temple in Dec 2001. This time, our Guruji Sri. N.V. Raghuramji, my husband Prabhu Ambatipudi and myself are visiting Kauai in November.”

“Raghuramji is the international coordinator of Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Kendra, Bangalore. Since 1978, he has been continuously taking yoga classes, conducting spiritual retreats and yoga therapy classes for various ailments. He has traveled several countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, England, USA, Indonesia, Malaysia, Srilanka, Japan, Turkey etc. In all these countries he has conducted several yoga classes. He has given several discourses on various Hindu philosophy topics such as the Upanishads, Bhagvad Geeta, Bhakti yoga, Raja Yoga, Jnana yoga, Karma Yoga.”

“His discourses are wonderful because he relates all these beautiful concepts to our day to day life. He has always shows us how to practice spirituality in our day to day lives. Above all, Raghuramji is a very simple and wonderful person and it is always a very pleasant experience to be with him.”

A good long meeting with Arumugaswami on the issues of the day as seen from th
e eyes of Hinduism Today.

It’s the last day of the phase and we had a huge group of over 50 people for the weekly tour.

From left: Sarah, Rahim, Rebecca & Kevin were part of our tour day group this morning. Sarah and Rahim are visiting from the mainland while Rebecca and Kevin live on the island. All four were very impressed by our all stone Iraivan temple.

Kevin is a scuba diver guide and here he is trying his hand at carving a stone. Shanmugam Sthapati had requested him to carve an elephant!

See you all next phase…

Aum Namasivaya!

Anand, his wife Srividya and their son Abhinav have been here for over a week on pilgrimage and had darshan today with Bodhinatha.

It’s 4:30 PM in the afternoon and we will be making this TAKA short as the tithi changed to Shashti earlier today and we are holding the main homa and Muruga Abhishekam this afternoon starting at 5 PM instead of early tomorrow morning to allow all our pilgrims to be at the puja. Many of them leave early tomorrow morning.

The Malaysian contingent continues the rounds of the Kulams. Sannyasin Saravananathaswami shows them the Ekadanta Kulam offices and explains what he and Sadhaka Dandapani (who is behind the camera) do in their service to God, Gods and Guru.

Barathy takes a look through the Mini-mela Gift Shop. Kulamata Isani Alahan really helps out a lot with sales at that shop and helping with inventory. Thank you soooo much Isani!

Yesterday afternoon… Tandu Sivanathanan and Jothi Sendan decorate in front of the Muruga shrine with an incredible array of tropical flowers and plants harvest from the Aadheenam grounds.

The Siddhidata Kulam doing one of the regular maintenance tasks: cleaning the roofs. With our weather in Hawaii, and all the falling organic matter, things grow rapidly on the roof. Gurudeva once said, “You will need to get a deforestation permit first before you clean the roof.” 😉

This is the small falls of the Wailua Ganga going into the pond just below the monastery.
That’s all for today… more pictures tomorrow.

Bodhinatha has a final darshan with the Malaysian ladies who will be returning home early Wednesday morning. They are carrying forward Gurudeva’s teachings to the next generation in a very strong way. The young adults of Malaysia really have set a high standard for dedication to the mission work!

Lord Muruga after the puja this morning…

The temple is scintillating with that high, light blue kundalini actinic force….

Jai Muruga!

Potriyan at work in the Ekadanta Kulam. He’s also helping out in the temple, which is great because the 9 AM puja is very busy these days.

This wonderful family from New Jersey were among our many visitors these last few days. They were here yesterday and returned again today to attend the morning Siva puja. And they will be back tomorrow to attend the last day of Skanda Shashti celebrations.

Suresh Mohan and his wife Sulo are here with their son, Deepak, daughter-in-law Pavithra and granddaughter Preethi. Also in the photos are Suresh’s brothers and wives, Sujatha & Balasubramaniam and Ashok & Gomathi.

It is Suresh’s 60th birthday today (far left). Happy Birthday from all the monks here at Kauai Aadheenam to you Suresh. We are so happy that you brought your whole family to Lord Siva’s island home to celebrate this special occasion.

Sulo Mohan made this wonderful sweet rice dish for all the monks. Thank you very much for thinking of us.

Bhupendra and Devyani Shah are here on pilgrimage as well. They had in July pilgrimaged to Mount Kailas so now they said they decided to visit the Kailas of the west. It is their 45th wedding anniversary tomorrow. They were here yesterday as well for the morning puja.

Today they toured Iraivan temple and our grounds. Bhupendra also just turned 70 and is a professor in Maryland.

Here they are lovingly offering stream water to the Narmada Lingam. They are lifetime subscribers to Hinduism Today and have been reading it for almost 20 years. Such a great fulfillment to be here at last.

Dr. Kulothungan, a cardiologist, originally from Sri Lanka, and now living in Maryland, is here for a couple of days to participate in the Skanda Shashti celebrations. He recently helped with the extremely successful Iraivan Fund Raising that took place at the Landham Murugan Temple in Maryland in April of 2003, and is another lifetime subscriber to Hinduism Today. Thank you for your support of Gurudeva’s vision to manifest a pilgrimage place in the West.

Our guests are awestruck by the peace and beauty they find here.

Our Malaysia contingent comes over for a long and information-filled tour of the publications facilities. They are Bharati, sister Kavidah, and friend Nalakini. Paramacharya Palaniswami introduces them to all our activities, our archiving of Gurudeva’s lifetime of work, our magazine production plans for the future and the new publications that Bodhinatha is inspiring us to undertake. They are enthralled with all the projects underway in our world of publications. They then met with all the members of the Ganapati Kulam, and were regaled with tales of great tasks underway.

Sannyasin Natarajnathaswami shares with them his work.

Iraivan is looking great these days. With roof beams spanning from the sanctum to the pillars, we are really beginning to see the temple take shape as never before.

More work on roof beams yet to go up. The plan now is to make sure that any adjustments are finished on the ground and our team will even do some trial fitting on the foundation itself of pieces that will be going up high.

These giant beams are extremely heavy, nearly four tons, and impossible to reposition once raised to roof level, which is another reason Sthapati is now having his team finish and fit pieces at ground level first.

Chinnu, on the right, with his ever bright smile…

Guests offer give the silpis their pranams… “You mean to say that just seven men have assembled all this?” Yes, they are doing it all, with a little help from a crane.

Pieces of the “sun shade” which is the outer extension of the roof, laid out for fitting. When installed, these stones will add a
special grace to the temple not yet seen.

We were blessed finally with a break in the rains and just in time for our Maha Samadhi observances and Skanda Shasti… our devotees had sunshine throughout. But, there will always be the little shower… and this large area has yet to dry up… As the Hawaiian t-shirts say: “No rain, no rainbows!”

More news from religious societies abroad. We have this report from Toronto, Canada, today:

Rajamohan writes:

“We have observed Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami Maha Samadhi Day on November 6th, 2004, at our Toronto Centre located at “Sangamam Hall.” …

“We have moved from Sri Shakti Durga Temple to Sangamam Hall to accommodate more devotees, since September 2004.

“Henceforth, our monthly aayiliya observances will be held at this location.”

“A large number of swami’s devotees participated on this occasion to pay homage to Gurudeva.” …

“There was also a 45 minute broadcast over the Canadian Tamil Broadcasting Corporation (CTBC) on November 10,2004, to commemorate the occasion of Gurudeva’s Great Departure and to honor his contributions to Hinduism.”

“The Tamil paper Uthayan, published in Canada, also carried an article on Gurudeva….”Enclosed are some photographs for your records.”

Om Namasivaya,

Sincere devotee,
Rajamohan

All around the globe Gurudeva’s contribution to the human race is being honored. Thank you all, for the messages and the blessed gift of your love of our dear Gurudeva.

The third day of Skanda Shashti, some of the monks are fasting, others are on a purely sattvic diet of fruit, yogurt and nuts, some of the pilgrims shaved their heads and also did walking prostrations covering the full length of San Marga. Each morning there are powerful abhishekams to Lord Muruga.

Austerity is in the air and there is a sharp focus on the spiritual path of transformation that always comes to the forefront during Skanda Shashti.

Srinivasan (left) and his brother, Rajesh, brought their mother on a vacation pilgrimage to Kauai. It was their first visit to the island and our aadheenam after having heard about it from their cousin. When asked why they chose Kauai they said “Well, the temple is here, so we brought our Amma to show her the temple and to see the beautiful island.”

Amma is visiting her sons from Chennai and was most impressed to see a traditional temple like she sees in her homeland. With bhadra pillars installed now in front of the sanctum, the temple looks awesome.

Reports are arriving from temple societies in various countries where Gurudeva’s Maha Samadhi was observed. Here we are in Norway.

“The Guru Pooja of Gurudeva was celebrated on a very grand scale at the Norway Jeya Thurkkai Amman Alayam.”

Regards,

Devotee,

Ajay Wimalanathan, Norway

Other reports are coming from Toronto and Houston, Texas… from those who were deeply benefitted by Gurudeva’s life and work.

If you are looking in and your temple or society had held Maha Samadhi observances for Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, please do send us a note, some photos and captions from the event, and your location. You can send them to studyhall@hindu.org

Bodhinatha giving out vibhuti after his talk on Lord Murugan this morning in the temple.

Approaching Muruga hill…. Another magnificent day on Kauai… Lord Murugan is on our minds… some of the monks are fasting and some of the devotees have shaven their heads…

“The lancelike vel wielded by Lord Karttikeya, or Skanda, embodies discrimination and spiritual insight. Its blade is wide, long and keen, just as our knowledge must be broad, deep and penetrating. Aum Namah Sivaya.” — Gurudeva

Saravananathaswami performs the homa today.

Yogi Japendranatha writing prayers….

“All devas are under one of the Gods. When you write prayers to Lord Ganesha, some of His devas go to work in finding a solution for you. It is the same for Lord Murugan.” — Gurudeva

Kumar Katir has returned for a short break from basic training in the army. He is going into the field of heavy equipment operations and will soon be deployed in Germany.

Bodhinatha burns today’s prayers.

“Siva’s followers all believe in the Mahadeva Karttikeya, Son of Siva-Shakti, whose vel of grace dissolves the bondages of ignorance. The yogi, locked in lotus, venerates Murugan. Thus restrained, his mind becomes calm. Aum.”

Bodhinatha gave shared excerpts from his talks on Lord Murugan that he has been giving at temples while traveling.

Sivakatirswami videos Bodhinatha each Sun One

A number of pilgrims have remained after the Maha Samadhi week to continue their sadhana through Skanda Shashti. It is a very power, religious time of year for us all.

Gurudeva Mahasamadhi celebration took place on Wednesday, November 10, in the evening at the Ganesha Mandapam. At this time of the day there were no visitors present at the Park. The place looked quiet and uplifting for another spiritual encounter with the Satguru. After the chanting of Natchintanai by shishyas, the ceremony started with a silent pada puja to the Holy Sandals of the Gurudeva.

Brahmachari Vel Mahalingum assisted by Sivarathna Manick performed the ceremony while everyone silently enjoyed the darshan of the Guru.

It is always a special moment of spiritual joy for everyone during these Guru puja days…

The weather too, was ideal for the ceremony. It was not too hot despite the island now being in the heart of summer. Our ladies have their attention focused on the Tiruvadi.

Shishyas have come from all parts of Mauritius to attend the ceremony.

Everyone joined in the chanting of the 108 names of Gurudeva…

The Tiruvadi is beautifully decorated with flowers. A strong refined vibration could be felt around.

The peak moment of the ceremony was when everyone stood up for the final arathi to the Tiruvadi.

The darshan of the Guru could be felt….

After the arathi devotees rushed lovingly forward to pass their hands over the sacred flame…and receive other pure items used during the pada puja…

In the meantime other devotees are prostrating before Gurudeva’s Tiruvadi

It’s a wonderful moment for the shishyas to worship together with their thoughts on Gurudeva.

Kulapati Siven Koothan read a message from Bodhinatha on this special occasion. Shishyas listened carefully to the important points raised by Satguru Bodhinatha.

After the ceremony e
veryone sat on mats to traditionally enjoy a meal which consisted of chapatis, curries and green mango pickles. The children are chanting the food mantra before partaking the meal.

Everyone is happy to be in the Mandapam…specially these boys.

Bodhinatha meets with Janahan Balasingham who flew over from California yesterday, just to perform today’s Mahasamadhi Pada puja. After the puja he has darshan with Bodhinatha.

Early this morning devotees arrive for the finale puja…

Gurudeva’s shrine is magnificently decorated.

The temple is packed.

Janahan explains at length the order and meaning of this morning’s rituals. The purification and protection right for the priests, the invocation of the parampara into the kumbha pot, the abhishekam to the pada puja, the chanting of Gurudeva’s names, first in English and then in Sanskrit and the final abhishekam.

Three of our young monks follow along with him. As he focuses on the kumbha, one is focused on the paduka, another on the small Sivalingam and another on Gurudeva’s murthi, performing the same kriyas.

Final arati…

He then carries the kumbha around the temple and each one touches it and adds their prana to the water inside.

Bodhinatha performs the final abhishekam.

Blessing the devotees with water from the Kumbha.

During the puja Janahan asked for the whole group to participate in certain mantras.

Especially touching was his innovation of himself first chanting the English version of Gurudeva’s Namavalli, and then the whole congregation chanting together the Sanskrit. This way the consciousness of everyone was following the meaning of the chanting and this gives the mantras great power.

Leaving the temple we see this lovely kolam prepared yesterday by the ladies.

The sun is up and what a beautiful morning it was… it was hard to keep our feet on the ground or think of any mundane task as we were all lifted into the Sivaloka by the morning puja.

Everyone comes in for a final Darshan with Bodhinatha as the last official event of the Mahasamadhi observances. Here is Nitya Nadesan and his wife Becky. Nitya is a stalwart supporter of Gurudeva’s work since early days and ever ready to serve. He has been coming up to the monastery during mornings while on Kauai, doing humble service with the Siddhidata Kulam, taking a break from his high-stakes real-estate business in Seattle. Nitya is responsible to put the quarterly issue of Hinduism Today on the internet, which he has been doing for years without fail. Thank you Nitya! He was also blessed to be one of the last sishya to have a personal conversation with Gurudeva before Mahasamadhi.

Chellappa Deva and Banudevi from Scottsdale, Arizona. Chellappa and Banu have been anchors for Gurudeva’s presence in Arizona which finally manifested as the new Ganesha temple.

Bodhinatha with Saraswathy Sivanathan from Malaysia.

A young man now living and studying in Malaysia came to visit. He has his master’s in computer engineering and is working in Honolulu in the field of “remote sensing” …. no, that is not the psychic art of seeing things in distant places… it is the scientific of analysis of digital imagery of earth, taken by satellites.

Stepping back to yesterday…. The devotees had lunch together with Bodhinatha at the Panda Gardens Chinese restaurant.

It is a good time to have discussions with the Satguru, sans all the formalities, a tradition that Gurudeva started in early years.

It is also an excellent way to have fellowship with others and using a restaurant means no one has any chores to do!

Meanwhile today… Happy Deepavali! We gave our cooks the day off and Nitya Nadesan graciously sponsored a Thai meal for the monks.

As usual it is full of vegetables and the occasional flaming chili pepper!

So many dishes… but all quite light… the day was filled with the love and gratitude we feel for all that our Gurudeva has given us… It is something that we cannot really convey on the internet..
. but, you might try this recommendation from priest Janahan:

“You should close your eyes and visualize that the Guru’s Feet are on top of your head (with toes to the back of your head). You send up all your prana, love and gratitude. Then visualize, from his feet a flood of light or water, cleansing and filling your whole being, then, if you can concentrate deeply enough, visualize the Feet of Yogaswami on top of Gurudeva’s head, and the feet of Chellappaswami on top of Yogaswami’s head… if you can achieve this visualization perfectly, it is said there is no doubt, that by the grace of the Guru, you will enter into samadhi.”

Bodhinatha meditating in the Guru peedam before his morning class as the devotees gathered

Yesterday afternoon Shanmugam Sthapati gave a discourse on his experience and insights on the Iraivan temple project and took questions from the group.

He had previously drafted his ideas in Tamil.

Manickam from Vancouver translates…

He declared that he would be with Iraivan for the duration of the temples construction… until the very end “for my whole life.”

This morning our devotees arrive early on the path of San Marga just at dawn…

The walk toward the Swayambhu lingam, singing bhajans to Muruga at the top of Muruga Hill.

Arriving at the San Marga Lingam site.

At the path of the Saivite Saints.

A visit to the river.

It was a beautiful morning…

A mystical quiet windless cool clear morning…

Guided meditation as the sun breaks over the eastern tree tops.

Saravananathaswami guides the group today.

It is always a deeply serene atmosphere at the San Marga lingam, unlike the fiery shakti at the Kadavul temple… here one is filled with the peace of Satchitananda.

Meanwhile the monks are simultaneously conducting morning arati for Gurudeva in Kadavul temple.

We are changing Gurudeva’s picture daily….

“I will be with you 24 hours a day,” he said… and it is certainly true….

Later in the morning the group adjourns for a class by Bodhinatha.

This is the last teaching session for the week…

Afternoon is a fun time of cleaning and decorating the temple. A polishing dip of the 108 Tandava poses will brighten the temple.

Tandu Sivanathan is a master at these decorations.

Tomorrow morning it the finale puja which will be performed by Janahan who just arrived from California as we write….

Yogaswami sang:

“He is the Sat-Guru, who is Self-luminous. He is beyond the plane of objective consciousness.”

“It is the Guru’s grace, his infinite grace, his ineffable, perennial fount of grace, that alone can endow man with a deep insight into the soul of things.”

“He illumines everyone to see by the light of grace radiating within each being. His rays also lighten the universe which is constructed of the five elemental powers. Who can see if he Luminous One wills it not?”

The monks join pilgrims for breakfast and informal chat. Here, Sivakatirswami shows all those involved in youth education a copy of the beautiful Dancing with Siva Youth Course, which, though it has been on line for some time, not many know about.

Amma Sarasvati Sivanathan, mother of Potriyan who is with us on task force and domestic engineer extraordinaire. For many years she hosted the swamis’ visits to Malaysia at the Sivanathan home in the middle of KL. It was always a wonderful place for mission satsangs.

Brahmachari Rajadeva chats with Nitya Sivam and Jnanideva Cevvel from Edmonton, Canada.

This is Mr. Sockanathan, father of four all of whom have followed Gurudeva’s teachings. We have known his children since they were little ones. He is to be commended for his continuous support of their religious and spiritual studies. Many parents today try to prevent their children from getting “distracted” from the academic studies and actually forbid them to be involved in religious activities. But he has taken a different path and the fine character of his children shows what a good job and decision he made!

Our Malaysia contingent: Brahmacharini Barathy Sockanathan, one of the four who started studying Gurudeva’s teachings years ago. Today she is a school teacher in Malaysia.

Kavidah Sockanathan, Barathy’s sister, eldest daughter in the Sockanathan family, now married.

Annapoorani Ganesan a friend of the Sockanathans

Nallakini Niranjana, a friend of the Sockanathan sisters who was introduced to Gurudeva by them.

Our Malaysian pilgrims.

Morning class today is with Paramacharya Palaniswami who recounts the first meeting of Yogaswami with Chellappaswami, and then his own first meeting with Gurudeva.

Next, we recorded on video the testimonials of some of the group on their first meetings with Gurudeva. It was so uplifting to hear these stories.

Many of them met him first through his teachings and visions, and only met him physically later… just the same way that Gurudeva first saw Yogaswami in Nallur and then only met him later.

Vadais prepared for a full rice and curry feast we served today to all the pilgrims.

Bodhinatha at Guru Purnima last June…

~~~~~~~~
TAKA Factoid:

Q: How can I bookmark TAKA to always go to today’s page?
A: As many of you may have noticed, if you bookmark TAKA in your browser, you will book mark this specific day. For example, if you book mark today and use the book mark later you will return to November 7th. But, there is a solution! 😉

Enter the following in the URL box at the top of your browser “http://www.gurudeva.org/taka/” but, *do not* hit enter or return… Before you hit Enter or Return, drag this URL into your favorites. Now, this book mark will always take you to today’s, current page. The key is that the URL should end with “…/taka/” and have nothing more after that. If you know how, you can also edit any TAKA book mark and delete this last part: “past/2004/November/November_07_2004/.” “http://www.himalayanacademy.com/taka/” will also work.

The second day of Gurudeva’s Maha Samadhi Observances began with a homa.

Yogi Japendranatha is our homa priest today. We have a small group of devotees here from Canada, the mainland USA and Malaysia.

Bodhinatha give a wonderful talk today… his conclusion:

“In summary, our Maha Samadhi Observance will of course honor Gurudeva’s major achievements during his lifetime. But even more importantly it will focus on the ways that Gurudeva continues to live on. In our talk this morning we mentioned three:

First: that Gurudeva continues to live on by his influence from the inner planes.

Second: that his influence continues to live in the lives of all who continue to put into practice his teachings.

And third: that Gurudeva’s influence continues to live as the core mission activities he began influence the lives of thousands worldwide.

A final thought. Often I am asked by pilgrims about Gurudeva, many of whom mention that they feel his presence strongly. The comment I like to make is: “It always feels like Gurudeva is in the next room. “

Om Namasivaya — Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami

Everyone comes forward for vibhuti after the homa.

Potriyan Sivanathan moved from the Ganapati Kulam today into the Ekadanta Kulam, for his morning duties. Here he is helping Saravananathaswami sort out Master Course student worksheets. He is also helping out with TAKA photography during his stay and took all the following photographs.

We were blessed with sunshine today. It was as if the devas knew that an important lift of stones was going to happen and they took all the rain away.

We haven’t seen the clear top of Waialeale like this for several months!

Paramacharya Palaniswami begins a special project of video interviews of devotees who tell how Gurudeva influenced their lives. Here we have Mr. and Mrs. Senthivel. Mrs. Senthivel says that the one time Gurudeva talked to her completely transformed her there after.

Devotees were invited to watch the stone lift from a distance.

Here we are out at the temple site under the Rudraksha trees on the west side of the temple.

Today was a big life of six giant roof beams.

Tandu Sivanathan from Kauai and Toshadeva Guhan from California

The silpis have been working on the ends and surfaces of these beams for many weeks in preparation for the lift.

These beams form cross pieces from the main sanctum out to the pillars and from one pillar to the next.

Later on, another layer of stones will span these beams to completely cover the temple in one solid roof.

Another one coming in…

Our lead men, Shanmugam Sthapati and Sannyasin Yoginathaswami

The work moves steadily but slowly. These huge beams need to be perfectly in place and now, with the help of the crane, is the time for adjustments.

Moving stones around on the foundation …

Larry Conklin watches, happy to see his crane put to such a high-minded use.

Don’t hesitate to call him for your lifting needs. He is considered a top operator on Kauai.

It was a spectacular morning at Iraivan.

Final adjustments….

One more step forward for Iraivan.

Yogaswami wrote:

Greater than life itself is good conduct. Those who conduct themselves with rectitude possess everything that is worthwhile. Non-killing, non-stealing, non-vituperation, non-covetness, truthfulness and humility–these are useful assets for virtuous living.

In whatever pursuits you are engaged, you should train yourself to work with zeal, keenness and delight. Such a discipline will lead you to acquire steadfastness of the mind. It is then that the mind develops the power of one pointedness, which in turn will lead you to enjoy an abundance of anma-sakti. Thenceforth everything will be bright, and you will not be disturbed by the agitations caused by seeing the difference in objects, as friends and foes, light and darkness.

“Everything originates in me; everything finds permanancy in me; in me everything revolves in dissolution.”–So must we become suffused with such pure thoughts. Further, we must frequently meditate as follows: “Nothing do I lack; everyone loves me and I too love all.”–Meditating thus, one should endeavor to live up to this ideal. If one can practice spiritual sadhana in this way, the capacity to know everything and the power to do anything will develop spontaneously.

–Natchintanai. 369.

Gurudeva annual Mahasamadhi observances began today with a simple morning chanting of Sri Rudram and arati at Gurudeva’s shrine.

“Life of our life art Thou–
Our father and mother art Thou–
Thou art our Guru; most ancient is thy Wisdom.”

Natchintanai. 120

The morning class for our pilgrims was a reading of the Saivite Shastras by Acharya Kumarswami.

On other fronts:

Artwork for the black and white Russian edition of Merging with Siva was prepared for shipment to the Ukraine and later printing in Moscow.

Young Potriyan who is serving on Task Force from Sabah, Malaysia is doing very well, and send his love back home to his father while he and his mother are staying here for a month. Aloha, Ramesh!