Blog Archives
What Happened Today at the Monastery?
We start off a new phase with this great picture of Bodhinatha being blessed in India.
Saravananathaswami performed the Sun 1 Homa today.
Om Sivaya, Svaha!
Writing prayers….
Kulapati Durvasa Alahan and Brahmachari Rajadeva Alahan…
Bodhinatha gave number 1 of 12 talks he is preparing for Mauritius to be delivered to the gathering there at the monthly homa and also to be printed in a local journal. The focus is on things you can actually do in your life. Today’s guidance: Practice the ahimsa of speech: speaking only that which is true, kind, helpful or necessary. This does not mean you have to give up talking with others, but give up harmful joking, teasing, gossip and backbiting. If you are ever unsure… just check what you have said against the four guidelines Gurudeva us… was it kind? helpful? necessary? true?
Sadhaka Adinatha listening intently.
The Maha Spatika Lingam….
Kumbha
Aloma Wehi, left, with Gary & Marian Shimabukuro.
Gary Shimabukuro, president of Laulima Pacific, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to combatting drug use, visited the Aadheenam today. He is an international drug treatment and prevention consultant who gives talks to schools, businesses and government agencies. He toured the grounds with his wife and Aloma Wehi of New Zealand, and spoke with the monks about the monastery’s modest efforts to help the county with the problem of use of illegal drugs. Gary said that children as young as 9 years old were using hard drugs like crystal methamphetamine, and that a substantial portion of the abuse was related to unstable family situations.
Checking in with our Siddhidata Kulam today… beautiful cabbages in the garden… surrounded by mulch… not a weed in sight.
The team recently work on a new frame to hold up the garden water tank..
Of the many kinds of squash and pumpkins available, the most successful has been the “Mauritius Pumpkin”… seeds were from Mauritius and they produce a giant pumpkin… the key feature of this variety is the tough shell that forms when they are very young, thus preventing the fruit flies from stinging the fruit, which is what happens to most other squashes we try…
Well, this is not really a construction update… but a retrospective on yesterday’s Ayudhya puja…which was held at the temple site…. we start our walk from the Ganesha mound ….
Arriving at the south end of the temple…
The silpis have the altar set up to Goddess Sarasvati and Gurudeva… and all their tools
Some decorations at the temple entrance
Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami arrives.
Paramacharya Palaniswami…
First we go to the patrai… the forge, to start the fire and make the first offering of the day.
Today is the day we bless all out tools and thank God for the blessing of the work and the tools we have for our work, which is our livelihood, our life.
Bodhinatha performs arati…
In India this is a very big day… also known as Vijaya Dasami, the tenth day after the 9 days of Navaratri… worship of the Goddess…
People will bless their taxis, their computers, their cars…
The silpis have all tools on the altar, chisels, hammers etc.
The monks have brought some of their tools as well.
The final rites are the ceremonial chi
pping of the stone by everyone present… Sthapati draws the line for the carving…
Our monks watch intently… Acharya Kumarswami
Bodhinatha makes the first chip on this stone…
then… chandanam and kumkum…
each of the monks in turn…
Then Sthapati does an arati to the main sanctum…
Then he does a puja to the whole group.
The puja concluded, the silpis come forward for blessings…
And give Bodhinatha prasadam from the puja.
Bodhinatha give each of then a new veshti and cash bonus.
Jai to the stone carvers of India!
Then the silpis take this opportunity to feed everyone…
Sweet rice and chick peas. An auspicious way to start the day!
Blog Archives
What Happened Today at the Monastery?
From our scriptures:
Beyond birth and death,
Reached by renunciate tapas
Is He, my Lord of resplendent glory!
Sing His praise! Pray incessantly!
The Heaven’s Lord shall
Show you Dharma’s Land.
Tirumantiram–Verse 1614
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, October 22nd
Sevugan and Meena Chetty visited us this morning on the recommendation of friends who had already visited. They live in New York near Albany. Sevugan’s original home in India is only ten miles from Karaikkudi, the area where are Iraivan Temple silpi stone craftsmen come from. He also knows Sri Sri Tiruchy Swamigal of Bangalore who gives blessings to our temple carving site there.
Today was the last day of our phase and tour day…
With our big Bhadra pillars up in front of the main sanctum visitors are very impressed. We bring out our donation box and visitors fill out an envelope and place it in this temporary hundi.
Many of these people would not normally think of going to India and would never otherwise experience such magnificent stone work.
Thursday is the annual Ayudhya Puja (ninth day of Navaratri) and the silpis are getting ready for their normal celebration.
These two potagai will soon be going up on top of…
…these bhadra pillars…
and speaking of amazing installations… we usually don’t report on “off shore” news other than from our missions, but this feels very close to home…
Lord Nataraja takes His place in CERN. CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research, the world’s largest particle physics center and the birthplace of the World Wide Web…
It seems only fitting that Lord Shiva should preside over CERN.
Check out these following (very big!) photos
Give generously to help the Iraivan Temple project… sponsor one of these pillars today! E-mail iraivan@hindu.org for more information
Bodhinatha’s California Mission, More Pictures
Professor N. Narayana Rao flew from Illinois to join Bodhinatha in California and he was kind enough to share more photos and captions from those days…. It is always interesting to see things through a different eye…
Vijaya Sankara washing Bodhinatha’s feet before he enters their home.
Bodhinatha being given the welcoming arati as he entered the home.
Devotees waiting to do namaskaram to Bodhinatha’s feet
Sadhaka Dandapani with Bodhinatha
Sarojini Rao bowing to Bodhinatha
Sarojini Rao delivers envelope from a friend, Rajeswari, to Bodhinatha.
Bodhinatha with a garland of bills totaling $1,008 around his
neck. The garland, organized by Easan and Sundari Katir, was presented to Bodhinatha as a birthday gift. What began as an idea for a garland of $108 became $1,008!
Birthday cake being brought to Bodhinatha,
Moving on to the next day… the public reception in Sausalito….
Part of the audience at the Spinnaker Restaurant
Bodhinatha delivering his discourse
Birthday cake placed in front of Bodhinatha
Just before Bodhinatha blows the candles
Right after Bodhinatha blows the candles; and the smoke rises…
Birthday cake outside on the table with refreshments
Sarojini Rao with Savitri Palani
Hotranatha Ajaya and Deva Rajan. Narayana and Sarojini Rao found out that Hotranatha and his wife lived in Urbana. Small world!
Sadhaka Dandapani and Sarojini Rao, with the Satyas from San Jose. The Rao’s found out that they and the Satyas have a common friend in San Jose. Small world again!
Proud father Easan Katir with son Kartikeya, both of whom mastered the value of Pi to 14 decimal places with the aid of a mnemonic on Narayana Rao’s home page.
Deva and Gayatri Rajan with Sarojini Rao
Sarojini and Narayana Rao with Bodhinatha.
Blog Archives
What Happened Today at the Monastery?
It is a quiet day at the Aadheenam and no photos were taken of any events here. Of course things continue as usual. Our roof renovation is still underway, frequently shut down due rain, the contractor who is doing the job has to time his work with the sunshine. Weather is cooling down a bit.
Publications work of course continues… we only have two weeks left for the editorial work to be complete for the next issue of Hinduism Today. This issue includes another special reprint called “Hindu Primer” — an eight page pamphlet that extracts the resources currently in the back of of Dancing with Siva. Our Jnana Dana literature program that is providing these resources at cost is becoming more and more well known. Just today we received a query for 100 copies of Ten Questions from a Hindu Student Council group in Texas… as we are receiving these queries regularly through the week.
Yesterday Yoginathaswami and the silpis raised up the top stone of the second bhadra pillar in front of the main sanctum of Iraivan.
Work continues in the on-going process of consolidating all our web content on our new server we call “Siddhi” … and a couple of notes in this regard:
Please report any broken links or oddities you may experience while browsing our web sites. If you have a “problem”, please also take a screen shot and send it with some details on your system, browser version, screen size etc. Send the details to studyhall@hindu.org
www.gurudeva.org will soon be switched to point to the IP address of the server location and you will end up at:
http://www.himalayanacademy.com/
home page. Then you click on the “Daily News” link. To make a book mark for TAKA… just book mark today’s page and then edit that bookmark to look like this:
http://www.himalayanacademy.com/taka/
with no file at the end after the last “/” slash… and that will always take you to the current page immediately.
Blog Archives
What Happened Today at the Monastery?
Testimonies are coming in from people who joined Bodhinatha in California.
Here’s an excerpt from a young Indian man who spent time with Bodhinatha:
“Wish you a very Happy Birthday & many more Happy returns of the day. Thanks for coming over here last weekend. All of us here had an amazingly great time last weekend. I would say that I had a wonderful weekend with you and church members. Also by talking with the Church members more I was able to get closer to them which I had not done last time. I’m amazed at the devotion of the Church Members and how Gurudeva has brought them up like that. To be really honest It would be an understatement if I say “I envy the Guru who has such devotees.” I could almost believe I was in Devaloka for the last weekend. Thanks to you Guruji for continuing what Gurudeva started. I shall do my best to stand by and support all your endeavors.”
A jovial group of senior citizens from various Hawaiian islands are attending a conference here on Kauai.
Their group is focused on lifetime learning and education. Part of their program was to come and visit our monastery so about 70 of them turned up this morning for a tour of our grounds and the temple.
The temple from the northwest corner
Our silpis are working on the bases of some bhadra pillars on the north side grounds.
We have been planting more and more hibiscus over the past few years.. the results are starting to show.
Today the Pillaiyar Kulam gave a report on their activities. It’s not something that you can photograph easily but is really very interesting.
Shanmuganathaswami tells us that he recently emailed 3,900 brochures on Yoga’s Forgotten Foundations to US libraries.
Dancing Siva sales are still strong and Barnes and Nobles just ordered 60 more copies.
Blog Archives
What Happened Today at the Monastery?
We bring you a few photos from yesterday, Bodhinatha’s jayanti. The monks cooked a special meal and all sat together for dinner.
First we passed out emails from devotees around the world wishing Bodhinatha a happy birthday and then we read these aloud. Thank you everyone for all the love and devotion you have sent to our beloved satguru!
Next Bodhinatha cut the ribbon on the new TAKA design which was released yesterday and which you are all viewing now.
By the way, if you see anything unusual on your screen, please take a screen shot and e-mail it with a note to studyhall@hindu.org
Everyone appreciated the beautiful new designs…
Don’t forget to also check out
http://www.himalayanacademy.com/ for more of the new look on our main web site…
Time for gifts. This is a special unit for hot beverages that is for Bodhinatha’s personal use in his office.
Everyone enjoys the gift giving.
New, surprise!
A new iPod, for Bodhinatha to listen to Sanskrit chanting and Hindu music while traveling. We also got him Griffin Technologies iTalk microphone which plugs into the iPod and turns it into a recorder.
Now, for a chocolate cake, made right here, with the numbers “62”
Happy Jayanti!
Bodhinatha at the quarterly Kauai Aloha Endowment meeting of the board of advisors today.
We also experienced one of the most remarkable torrential downpours yesterday.
For about five hours it rained so heavily that we were flooded on all sides. In the middle of the storm as it passed overhead, thunder shook our buildings.
Our team goes to check on the silpis to see how they are faring after the rain subsided.
Some areas of the land were complete submerged.
The temple gets a good abhishekam from the devas.
Water has filled in the open sand areas which are eventually to be under the floor. It is a good opportunity to test our drainage systems.
Looks like all systems are go as water pours out of the pipe that has been put on the foundation to channel water out from under the floor of the temple.
At the Aadheenam we have a small river running through the courtyard where we normally have lunch together. I guess we’ll be having lunch in another room today.
The silpis keep working under their tents. Fortunately the Aadheenam is high above the Wailua River and well protected from any serious flooding damages. There is mostly a lot of childlike excitement at seeing so much water running everywhere. All is well.
Blog Archives
What Happened Today at the Monastery?
Happy Satguru Jayanti! Today is Bodhinatha’s birthday and he is receiving emails from all around the world…
This phase began with the morning homa in Kadavul Temple conducted by Saravananathaswami.
By now you may be wondering, “Wow! What happened to TAKA?” Since TAKA’s inception on August 16, 1998, the page has undergone a number of changes and one make-over. This year, as a special birthday gift to Bodhinatha, the mathavasis decided that we wanted to completely redesign the page from the ground up. We were inspired with the beautiful design of a web page done by Dave Shea, one of the web’s best designers, and we asked his permission to adapt it for TAKA. He told us he couldn’t think of a better use for his design. So, we went to work for a few weeks, adapting it to our special needs and graphics and here it is, inaugurated on the happy occasion of Bodhinatha’s 62nd birthday, a gift to him and to all cyber cadets, as Gurudeva loved to say. We hope you like it.
Our main goal was to simplify everything and dedicate this main column to photos and captions, focusing in completely on what’s happening here at Kauai Aadheenam as well as with Bodhinatha’s travels, our various missions around the world, the Iraivan Temple carving site in India, etc. When the transcript of one of Gurudeva’s or Bodhinatha’s talks is being posted here, it will appear at the bottom as usual. All the links to other areas you are accustomed to seeing throughout TAKA have been reorganized and now appear in the sidebar at the right. We invite you to take a look and see what’s there today. Try out some of the buttons and see where they go.
We especially invite you to check out the video button, which will give you a short movie on Iraivan temple which the monks produced recently for Bodhinatha’s travels. It shows the crane lifting the gold-leafed capstone into place on August 4th, and it has some nice insights by Gurudeva.
You will also find a new way to access TAKA archives. Instead of navigating through several windows, you can now just fill in the day, month and year you are searching for. Much faster that way. If you are looking for a recent page, say yesterday, you can just select the day of the month, which is now always displayed along with the days we posted new TAKAs. If you watch closely in the days ahead, there will be small, subtle changes that appear in the design.
When we post an audio inspired talk from Bodhinatha, the description and links to listen to it will be on the right side among the various buttons and resources, so look for talks there instead of in the main window as you are accustomed to. You might occasionally find some other surprises waiting for you there, so keep a close eye on it from day to day!
Today Bodhinatha shared with all the Kauai members the details of his weekend in California.
This fantastic array of tropical flowers, all from the monastery gardens, was prepared for Bodhinatha’s birthday. What a gorgeous design…
Speaking of designs… For the web-code-savvy among you, check out the site links to Home, Temples, Publications, Hindu Basics and About Us. These along with TAKA are completely based on CSS and use no tables for page layout.
Eventually we hope to have all pages be completely CSS coded to stay on the cutting edge of web information delivery. For the web nerds among us, a DOM without any presentational markup is almost as beautiful as this arrangement. 😉
Stepping back to our retreat… Chitra pada puja, the monthly observance of worship of Gurudeva’s sandals on the occasion of the nakshatra of his mahasamadhi, was held in the evening of the first day. The large photo of Gurudeva was changed for the month.
Our photographer takes a closer look at the inside of Kadavul Temple. Here we are at the feet of Lord Nataraja who is not to be photographed. This is the inner sanctum of the temple with the small crystal Sivalingam that is worshiped daily at 9 am.
Saravananathaswami worshiping at Siva’s feet.
Someone has offered a beautiful garland for the crystal.
Inside the Muruga sanctum a smaller statue of Lord Dandapani is being blessed and will eventually be installed in the east side niche shrine on the outside of Kadavul Temple to replace the one that is there now.
Iraivan Temple Construction Progress
We went to Iraivan early yesterday to catch the newly installed bhadra pillars in the morning sun…
The third, top portion of the east bhadra pillar was installed last phase. Yoginathaswami and Shanmugam Sthapati have found a way to use our fork lift to raise these up, and Swami now has greater precision over the placement than with the crane. We save a lot of expense also!
The temple now carries a very strong force, much like you feel when you go to India, as more and more pieces take their place.
Jai Iraivan!
Big River, Mendocino, Ganesha Visarjana, September 12, 2004
Kulapati Janaka Param and Kulamata Bhavani live “out of town” up in the beautiful area of Mendocino, on the beautiful Northern California coast. Hindus are few and far between in the area, but Lord Ganesha’s Visarjana is sure to bring them tog
ether. Janaka writes:
Here are the happy children after making their clay Ganeshas for the Big River, Mendocino, Ganesha Visarjana.
From left to right: Sarina, age 6; Meghana, age 7; Shivani, age 12; Annika, age 4; Dilan, age 7
Here they are shown clearly with some of the model murthis. Very well made, nice looking Ganeshas.
Janaka Param performing the pre immersion puja at Big River beach, Mendocino, California, September 12, 2004.
The parade begins! On the right is Kavita Kao, mother of Anikka and Meghana.
Kavita, Victoria, Meghana, Annika, Ranjan Patel, Bhavani and I in the background.
Now you can see Sarmista Patel.
Some photographer we never saw before is charmed by the festival. Now you can see Victoria (in purple).
Close to the water s edge. Taj and his friend in the background.
Ganapathy Bappa Moriya!
Entry into the ocean.
Janaka and unknown photographer. Just after this photo a large wave reclaimed Ganesha to merge with the ocean, symbolic of Ganesha s merger into the Ocean of Consciousness.
Resting after saying farewell to Ganesha.
Walking back from the immersion. This is such a beautiful location for the Visarjana.
By the puja site.
Blog Archives
Do you know that the ability to live right now, in the instant, is a spiritual power, reflecting the awakening of the soul and requiring a subconscious control of the mind?
Gurudeva
Bodhinatha arrived home today… we were not quite sure exactly the time of his arrival and he slipped quietly into the temple with only 6 monks around him… the rest came in silently afterwards and when he turned around he was surprised to see the whole monastery had manifested!
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Click for most recent TAKA page with an Iraivan Temple progress update. |
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50 people participated in our “official” tour of the week this morning.
~~~~~~~~~
END OF PHASE
Today is the last day of our phase
This edition of TAKA will remain posted
Over our coming two-day retreat,
Until Dvitya Tithi, Sun One, Friday, October 15th
Which is Bodhinatha’s birthday!
Around ten of them are intermediate (primary) and high school (secondary) students from Kula School, a small independent school on the north shore of Kauai.
They have been studying Indian history recently, so they decided to have a field trip to our monastery and temple to bring their studies to life.
They all enjoyed visiting the temple grounds, chipping some granite stone themselves, and hugging rudraksha trees to release their worries.
Then shortly after lunch Bodhinatha arrived home from San Francisco.
We gave him a garland of fresh flowers grown right here on the Aadheenam.
Coming up Tiruneri path to Kadavul temple
Sannyasin Natarajnathaswami was on temple vigil duty between 12 noon and 3 pm, so, he performed the greeting aratis…
Bodhinatha shared his perspective on the events of yesterday… pictures of which follow… it is good to have our Satguru back.
Yesterday morning Bodhinatha was at the Ganesha temple in San Jose for the mantra diksha of 3 sishyas. A wonderful and powerful homa was conducted by the two priests.
The 3 sishyas watch closely the ceremony waiting to be initiated.
Panshula Ganesan who came all the way from Chicago received his mantra diksha this morning.
Venita Katir meditates deeply before receiving her mantra from Bodhinatha.
Bodhinatha whispers into Hotranatha Ajaya’s ear, in this age old tradition, the sacred mantra.
Bodhinatha poses with the priest of the temple just before he departs.
Later that afternoon Bodhinatha had a reception event at the Spinnakker Banquet Room in Sausalito. Sri Ananth Sivachariar, priest of the Siva Murugan temple of Concord, presents Bodhinatha with a shawl and a tray of fruits chanting a wonderful prayer.
About 100 people attended the afternoon’s event.
Dr. Narayana Rao from Urbana, Illinois, gave a personal testimony about his relationship with the aadheenam and Bodhinatha. He and his wife, Sarojini, enjoyed spending the weekend with Bodhinatha.
A special thank you to all our guests for attending the event. We enjoyed meeting you all again and spending some time with you.
Bodhinatha shared with everyone the progress that has been taking place at the aadheenam, editorials that he has been working on and also trips that he has made this year.
A photo shot from outside the banquet room shows the reflection of the beautiful bay and the glorious weather on that afternoon. Everybody enjoyed the view and watching the sunset during the event.
At the conclusion of the event we presented Bodhinatha with a birthday cake and everybody joined in and sang happy birthday to him.
Sadhaka Dandapani speaks with Bill, Barbara and Keith Bachmann who are the parents and brother of Paramacharya Ceyonswami.
No Audio Today
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And click here for an Index to All Past CyberTalks. Study Gurudeva’s teachings. Visit the Master Course site! |
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MORE UPLIFTING THINGS |
Color Trilogy Complete! We are happy to announce that the new edition of the enormously popular Dancing with Siva is now available in hard back with all new color artwork. It’s truly an amazing and beautiful work, with more art than any of the collection. This completes the fulfillment of the vision that Gurudeva had of his Master Course Trilogy being produced in full color. In addition, Bodhinatha is taking pro-active steps to bring Gurudeva’s teachings out in a new forms that can be broadly disseminated in the mass mind. With this in mind we, are also pleased to announce that the Dancing with Siva pocketbook is also available. Keep the three-pound book in your shrine room, and take the little one with you on the airplane or subway! How little? It’s just 3″ by 4.5″ — truly pocket-sized, and just over half an inch thick. Yet it is a full 375 pages, containing ALL of the 155 sutras. Available now at our online store. The complete Trilogy is being offered at a discount. |
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View the fabulous full-color PDF’s of the latest edition of Island Temple Magazine, and order copies if you don’t have one. | |
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1. SIGN OUR GUESTBOOK and receive a FREE GIFT |
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| 2. Newest Book: DANCING WITH SIVA — Pocketbook | ||
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3. Visiting KAUAI’S HINDU MONASTERY |
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4. Contribute to THANK YOU, GURUDEVA FUND |
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Blog Archives
“When harmony persists in the home, harmony permeates the community, and harmony permeates the country. When love and trust prevail in the family, love and trust extend to the local community, and the country becomes stronger and more secure.” — Gurudeva
Bodhinatha has had a wonderful three days in the San Franscisco – Oakland Bay Area of California. As we write these captions, the last event, a reception in Sausalito is nearly over… and Bodhinatha will retire shortly and fly home tomorrow.
We bring you some more highlights of his stay there.
TRAVEL NEWS!
Date: Monday, 11th October 2004 (Columbus Day public holiday)
Time: 4 – 6pm
Venue: The Spinnaker Banquet Room
The Spinnaker Restaurant
100 Spinnaker Dr
Sausalito, CA 94965
Tel: (415)-332-1500
For directions visit www.thespinnaker.com
Bodhinatha will present the fascinating progress that has been taking place on the hand-carved granite San Marga Iraivan Temple, the latest issues addressed by Hinduism Today and the many other activities that have been taking place at Kauai’s Hindu Monastery. At the end of the afternoon, there will be an opportunity for you to personally meet with Bodhinatha and share your questions, thoughts and inspirations with him. Your presence is indispensable, and we look forward to seeing you there. Please RSVP to Sadhaka Dandapani (808-822-3012, Ext 239; danda@hindu.org)
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Click for most recent TAKA page with an Iraivan Temple progress update. |
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Of course the most significant event of any such activity by the Satguru are the initiations. Venita Katir receives her Mantra Diksha this morning, Monday….
Bodhinatha blesses her….
And gives her a japa mala.
Venita’s mother, Sundari watches, happy to see her daughter take her next step in religious life.
Back Home at the Aadheenam
Today we were visited for a short time by the Naru Rukmini Gali family and Suresh Mani family. They weren’t traveling together, but disovered that they both live in Michigan! The Gali family said that Gurudeva actually visited their home many years ago when he was helping the Flint temple come up.
At the Aadheenam… the word is “renovation!” Roofs, paths, buildings are undergoing improvements…
Saiva Siddhanta Church
Golden Gate Mission
From a few days ago…
Saturday.. Day 1 included Satsang in the morning, pictures of which we showed yesterday and the various meetings in the afternoon…
Ravi & Sheela Rahavendran drove up from San Diego to spend part of the weekend with Bodhinatha. Their children Mayuresh and Aarti joined them as well. They enjoyed attending their first ever satsang yesterday morning and in the afternoon they had an opportunity to meet with Bodhinatha. Ravi is currently studying the Master Course Correspondence Study.
Hema Chandranatha and her son Choladeva also met with Bodhinatha in the afternoon. The ever upbeat Choladeva had some wonderful questions for Bodhinatha.
Later that evening Bodhinatha gathered with the Hindu Businessmen’s Association sharing with them how the teachings Hinduism can help one with their business and financial affairs.
Sunday was a day for a joyful occasion… A mini-innersearch and some fun with the Satguru… it begins with the ferry ride from Oakland across the bay to the famed tourist spot: Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.
This gentleman is a trustee of the temple in Atlanta where Bodhinatha recently presided over some ceremonites. He flew all the way across the country to be with him today.
Here’s Satya Palani (on the left) with Vijay Sankara. All smiles as our ferry from Oakland departs for Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. The beginning of the day’s excursion with Bodhinatha.
The ferry approaches the Golden Gate Bridge…
Little Chidambaram Sendan is having a happy time.
Deva Rajan (left) and Easan Katir share a joyful moment as the ferry
pulls into San Francisco city.
Panshula Ganesa is here all the way from Chicago…
Kulapati Aran Sendan with grandson, Chidambaram Sendan, followed by Rajkumar and Ananda Manickam, and Kulamata Valli Sendan, walking with Bodhinatha in San Francisco on the Golden Gate Mission excursion day.
This weekend is “Fleet Week” in San Francisco. So, Fisherman’s Wharf was host to old ships, Navy Vessels, parades and acrobatic displays by the Canadian and American air forces. Mira Sendan smiles for the camera.
Bodhinatha with Kulapati Vijay Shankara and a Tall Ship. This ship starred in the movie “Mutiny on the Bounty”.
Kulapati Janaka Param, Kulapati Deva Rajan, Easan and Gowri Shankara.
Gregg Lien family.
After walking around the wharf we boarded a small ship for a bay cruise. Easan and Gowrie Sankara were amongst those that joined us for the afternoon excursion.
Punita Ajaya and Bhavani Param.
Jothi and Deepa Param’s daughter, Sandhya Devi.
Kulapati Janaka Param, Gowri Shankara, Deepa Param and her sister.
And then, a spectacular air show high above..
The Canadian Snowbirds performing over the Bay
Everybody looks up as the planes fly by.
The Golden Gate Bridge
Canadian Snowbirds performed some amazing acrobatic moves.
Kulapati Aran Sendan, Kulamata Valli Sendan, with Chidambaram and his amma, Mira Sendan.
Group photo just before we all headed home. Nearly 40 people turned up to
spend the afternoon with Bodhinatha.
The Golden Gate Mission had a wonderful darshan from Satguru.
One of the participants noted:
“Being with Bodhinatha was …the same feeling I get sitting in front of the Siva sanctum in the temple. He is like the fathomless pool under a waterfall. When with him I chant my mantra because that is the only state I can function in.”
Stepping even further back in time we bring you shots from the very successful culture concert fundraiser put on by the Golden Gate mission two weeks ago… Music and dance and presentations on Iraivan were the evening fare.
Our members did a fabulous job with a top class professional program that they had worked on for months in advance.
Deva Rajan shows a video and talks to the audience about helping build Iraivan.
Jothi Param, trained at Kalakshetra, give a performance.
And of course, some fabulous dance performances…
A guest performer who was “recruited” for the occasion, Esha Bandyopadhyay, performs classical Odissi Dance.
Yatrika Ajaya
Venita Katir
Musicians for the evening:
Raja Sivamani, Veena; Srinivas Reddy, Sitar;
Prashant Subbarao, Mridangam; Ferhan Qureshi, Tabla seem to be enjoying themselves.
It was a successful event and raised over $10,500.00 for Iraivan, after all expenses….
Congratulations to our members in California for their wonderful work and to all the artists who contributed their time and talent that night!
No Audio Today
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And click here for an Index to All Past CyberTalks. Study Gurudeva’s teachings. Visit the Master Course site! |
| FULL INDEX OF 650+ CYBERTALKS
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Study Gurudeva’s teachings.
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MORE UPLIFTING THINGS |
Color Trilogy Complete! We are happy to announce that the new edition of the enormously popular Dancing with Siva is now available in hard back with all new color artwork. It’s truly an amazing and beautiful work, with more art than any of the collection. This completes the fulfillment of the vision that Gurudeva had of his Master Course Trilogy being produced in full color. In addition, Bodhinatha is taking pro-active steps to bring Gurudeva’s teachings out in a new forms that can be broadly disseminated in the mass mind. With this in mind we, are also pleased to announce that the Dancing with Siva pocketbook is also available. Keep the three-pound book in your shrine room, and take the little one with you on the airplane or subway! How little? It’s just 3″ by 4.5″ — truly pocket-sized, and just over half an inch thick. Yet it is a full 375 pages, containing ALL of the 155 sutras. Available now at our online store. The complete Trilogy is being offered at a discount. |
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View the fabulous full-color PDF’s of the latest edition of Island Temple Magazine, and order copies if you don’t have one. | |
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1. SIGN OUR GUESTBOOK and receive a FREE GIFT |
||
| 2. Newest Book: DANCING WITH SIVA — Pocketbook | ||
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3. Visiting KAUAI’S HINDU MONASTERY |
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4. Contribute to THANK YOU, GURUDEVA FUND |
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Blog Archives
What do we mean when we say there is no good and no bad, only experience? We mean that in the highest sense, there is no good and bad karma; there is self-created experience that presents opportunities for spiritual advancement.
Bodhinatha at the first event of his trip to San Francisco which was a
satsang at Vijay Sankara’s home.
TRAVEL NEWS!
Date: Monday, 11th October 2004 (Columbus Day public holiday)
Time: 4 – 6pm
Venue: The Spinnaker Banquet Room
The Spinnaker Restaurant
100 Spinnaker Dr
Sausalito, CA 94965
Tel: (415)-332-1500
For directions visit www.thespinnaker.com
Bodhinatha will present the fascinating progress that has been taking place on the hand-carved granite San Marga Iraivan Temple, the latest issues addressed by Hinduism Today and the many other activities that have been taking place at Kauai’s Hindu Monastery. At the end of the afternoon, there will be an opportunity for you to personally meet with Bodhinatha and share your questions, thoughts and inspirations with him. Your presence is indispensable, and we look forward to seeing you there. Please RSVP to Sadhaka Dandapani (808-822-3012, Ext 239; danda@hindu.org)
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Click for most recent TAKA page with an Iraivan Temple progress update. |
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Devotees from as far south as San Diego drove up to see him….
….and some even
flew in from Chicago and Colorado.
The morning’s padapuja was conducted by Vijay Sankara with Kartikeya Katir assisting him. A special thank you to Kartikeya who took most of these TAKA photos you are viewing
About 40 devotees were present to share in this wonderful and sacred ceremony.
Vijay performs the final arathi to Bodhinatha.
Bhavani Param, Venita Katir and Yatrika Ajaya sing an english version of one of the Natchintanai songs to Bodhinatha.
Bodhinatha gives a wonderful talk on the steps needed to be taken to become a sishya. These steps were outlined by Gurudeva many years ago. Bodhinatha also answered many questions that devotees had pre-written down and brought with them
Easan Katir holds a birthday cake for Bodhinatha as everybody sings for
him.
Nathan Sendan and Rajkumar Manickam with their children.
Bodhinatha leaving the satsang after a most uplifting morning.
Back Home at the Aadheenam Today
The Lewis family (find out more about them on the October 8th TAKA) returned this morning to perform their own simple abhishekam and puja to our Narmada Sivalingam on the path of the Saivite Saints near Iraivan Temple. The photos tell the story…
 The Remarkable Vision |
Iraivan Temple Progress Update |
Join this historic undertaking. Please contribute generously. Sponsor a stone today! |
| Gorgeous Gift Cards — Proceeds to Iraivan | ||
Other TAKA pages with recent Iraivan images.
 |
||
The two bhadra pillar center sections are now in place…
The top most sections of the pillars are yet to come.
They lend an awesome presence to the temple…
No Audio Today
|
And click here for an Index to All Past CyberTalks. Study Gurudeva’s teachings. Visit the Master Course site! |
|
MORE UPLIFTING THINGS |
Color Trilogy Complete! We are happy to announce that the new edition of the enormously popular Dancing with Siva is now available in hard back with all new color artwork. It’s truly an amazing and beautiful work, with more art than any of the collection. This completes the fulfillment of the vision that Gurudeva had of his Master Course Trilogy being produced in full color. In addition, Bodhinatha is taking pro-active steps to bring Gurudeva’s teachings out in a new forms that can be broadly disseminated in the mass mind. With this in mind we, are also pleased to announce that the Dancing with Siva pocketbook is also available. Keep the three-pound book in your shrine room, and take the little one with you on the airplane or subway! How little? It’s just 3″ by 4.5″ — truly pocket-sized, and just over half an inch thick. Yet it is a full 375 pages, containing ALL of the 155 sutras. Available now at our online store. The complete Trilogy is being offered at a discount. |
|
|
View the fabulous full-color PDF’s of the latest edition of Island Temple Magazine, and order copies if you don’t have one. | |
|
1. SIGN OUR GUESTBOOK and receive a FREE GIFT |
||
| 2. Newest Book: DANCING WITH SIVA — Pocketbook | ||
|
3. Visiting KAUAI’S HINDU MONASTERY |
||
|
4. Contribute to THANK YOU, GURUDEVA FUND |
||
Blog Archives
“When one has reached an advanced stage on the spiritual path, in order to go further, the law requires giving back what one has been given. Hearing oneself speak the divine teachings and being uplifted and fulfilled by filling up and uplifting others allows the budding adept to go through the next portal. Those who have no desire to counsel others, teach or pass on what they have learned are still in the learning stages themselves, traumatically dealing with one or more of the restraints and practices. The passing on of jnana, wisdom, through counseling, consoling, teaching Sanatana Dharma and the only one final conclusion, monistic Saiva Siddhanta, Advaita Ishvaravada, is a fulfillment and completion of the cycle of learning for every monastic. This does not mean that he mouths indiscriminately what he has been told and memorized, but rather that he uses his philosophical knowledge in a timely way according the immediate needs of the listener, for wisdom is the timely application of knowledge. ” –Gurudeva
It’s good to have our Bodhinatha back with us… but he will be off again shortly, this time to California…
TRAVEL NEWS! Bodhinatha’s next travel is October 8-12 in San Francisco Bay Area, California. See travel page for more information.
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Click for most recent TAKA page with an Iraivan Temple progress update. |
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Sadhaka Jivanandanatha perform the Sun One homa to begin a new phase. It was a windless cool morning, no fans required in the temple… so very quiet today…
Dozens of prayers burned….
Putrika Shaila Pushpa Sendan will be 2 years old in just a few days (October 5th). She has been coming to the Sun One homas nearly every week even before she was born. Here she holds her hands in anjali mudra while the arati is passed during the homa.
Bodhinatha summarized his talk in Mauritius where he spoke on the concept of Hindu Solidarity, which is a unity in diversity. He shared with us all how some have told him that it might be better for Hindu unity if all Hindus followed one sacred book, and had a unified philosophy. Bodhinatha highlighted the point that Hinduism’s diversity is a result of its tolerance, and this tolerance amidst diversity is a strength and not a weakness. He explained that, of course, there are issues common to all Hindus, regardless of their differences and on those common issues they could work together because of the tolerance inherent within Hinduism… that this was the “Hindu Solidarity” that Gurudeva envisioned — a unity in diversity.
The rising sun over Iraivan in the morning. Shanmugam Sthapati is hard at work after his trip to India and expects the first Badra pillar to go up in two weeks.
Saravananathaswami on the move… hosting guests this morning.
A few photos taken by one of our guests on tour day… Sadhaka Dandapani leads the tour day guests….
Sadhaka Jivananandanatha, our homa priest today.
Hari Krishna and his wife, Padma, had heard about us from their friends so they decided to pay us a visit. They attended the morning homa, then enjoyed a tour of Iraivan.
Here is a their daughter, Surabhi, standing next to one of Iraivan’s lion pillars.
Jim & Nancy Barnhart were among our visitors today. Supporters of Iraivan temple and subscribers to Hinduism Today, they said no trip to Hawaii is complete without a visit to the Aadheenam.
A view from the front of the monastery…
This visitor stands quietly before the image of Lord Siva as Veenadhara.. the Master of Music.
We just passed through a full moon retreat. It was quiet but very intense as the Sun, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus and Mars are all conjunct, in near perfect alignment and the moon was, of course, exactly opposite.
Retreats are a great time for the monks to get outside, away from their desks and do some hands on craft work or gardening.
Our very well appointed carpentry shop put together with the kind donations of a benefactor and built up by Acharya Kumarswami, can turn out some very beautiful things. Here are new doors for a recently renovated monastic facility.
Gurudeva wrote: “Add to your contemplative lifestyle a craft. Working with your hands in doing a craft as a hobby, taking physical substance and turning it into something different, new and beautiful–this kind of creativity is important in remolding the subconscious mind. It is also symbolic. You are actually remolding something on the physical plane and, by doing so, educating yourself in the process of changing the appearance of a physical structure, thus making it easier to change the more subtle mental and emotional structures within your own subconscious mind.”
 The Remarkable Vision |
Iraivan Temple Progress Update |
Join this historic undertaking. Please contribute generously. Sponsor a stone today! |
| Gorgeous Gift Cards — Proceeds to Iraivan | ||
| Other TAKA pages with recent Iraivan images.
|
||
From Bangalore, we have a series of photos from the visit of His Holiness, Jayendra Puri Swami, the ordained successor to H.H.Tiruchy Mahaswamigal of Sri Kailash Ashram, Bangalore visited our Iraivan worksite at Bangalore on 20th September 2004. Jiva Rajasankara washes his feet and Kanmani does the traditional arati….
Swami it a bright clear minded new spiritual leader…
Swamiji is having tea with some snacks at the residence of Jiva Rajasankara
Swamiji accompanied by the resident sthapati of Sri Rajarajeswari temple, Tiru Shattanatha sthapati(standing to the right with his hands folded at the back). Chidambaram sthapati is standing to the left. Swamiji is admiring the kodungai(sunshade) with a crocodile that has been carved which will bring the rainwater from the roof through the sunshade.
Swamiji viewing the nandis that had just arrived from Mamallapuram for the Vimanam.
Another view of the nandis, all lined up and ready to come over to Kauai in a week’s time.
Jiva showing the Iraivan temple painting to swamiji.
Swamiji looking at the Hasti ( entrance stones/steps to the main sanctum) There will be 5 steps leading to the sanctum and each stone will have the letters, NA,MA,SI,VA,YA carved in Tamil at the center.
[more photos tomorrow]
Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami
Visits Penang Malaysia
We few more photos are arriving from Penang where bodhinatha first landed on his recent mission to Malaysia.
The Chettiar temples, usually Murugan temples, in India and wherever they are found throughout South Asia, are always beautifully appointed and maintained. The Nattukotai Chettiar Sri Bala Thandayuthabani Temple, Waterfall Road, Penang is one such temple.
On Sept. 10, 2004, Bodhinatha presented a talk on Lord Murugan
Devika Eswaran performed 2 pieces of Bharathanatyam.
No Audio Today
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Take this opportunity for an adventure. Close your eyes and click to get a message picked at random from the vast audio archives of our Satgurus’ discourses |
And click here for an Index to All Past CyberTalks. Study Gurudeva’s teachings. Visit the Master Course site! |
|
MORE UPLIFTING THINGS |
Color Trilogy Complete! We are happy to announce that the new edition of the enormously popular Dancing with Siva is now available in hard back with all new color artwork. It’s truly an amazing and beautiful work, with more art than any of the collection. This completes the fulfillment of the vision that Gurudeva had of his Master Course Trilogy being produced in full color. In addition, Bodhinatha is taking pro-active steps to bring Gurudeva’s teachings out in a new forms that can be broadly disseminated in the mass mind. With this in mind we, are also pleased to announce that the Dancing with Siva pocketbook is also available. Keep the three-pound book in your shrine room, and take the little one with you on the airplane or subway! How little? It’s just 3″ by 4.5″ — truly pocket-sized, and just over half an inch thick. Yet it is a full 375 pages, containing ALL of the 155 sutras. Available now at our online store. The complete Trilogy is being offered at a discount. |
|
|
View the fabulous full-color PDF’s of the latest edition of Island Temple Magazine, and order copies if you don’t have one. | |
|
1. SIGN OUR GUESTBOOK and receive a FREE GIFT |
||
| 2. Newest Book: DANCING WITH SIVA — Pocketbook | ||
|
3. Visiting KAUAI’S HINDU MONASTERY |
||
|
4. Contribute to THANK YOU, GURUDEVA FUND |
||
From Our Gurus' Teachings
Archives are now available through 2001. Light colored days have no posts. 1998-2001 coming later.
