httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5wZN7IjCNk

For those dedicated shishya who couldn’t be at Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami’s 72nd Jayanti on October 15th, here is a full recording of the guru padapuja in it’s entirety.

In the afternoon, following the Jayanti padapuja, the monks set up a surprise gift for Bodhinatha: a 45-minute helicopter ride. Without letting Bodhinatha know what was happening, Sadasivanathaswami led him to the Umbrella Ganesha were everyone held a surprise parade, leading him all the way down San Marga to the cow pasture by the rudraksha forest. There, a helicpter dropped from the sky to fly him away. With room for five others, Sivanathaswami, Brahmanathaswami, Mayuranatha, Dayanatha and Sivarathna all boarded the flight with Bodhinatha.

Lord Siva said: How can My subtle perfection, which is one, omnipresent, attributeless, indifferent, undecaying, unattached like space, unbeginning and unending, be an object of worship for the dualistic mind? Hence it is that I, as the Supreme Guru, have entered into the bodies of human satgurus. Kularnava Tantra

On the 15th we celebrated Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami's 72nd Jatanti with an elaborate gurupuja. The monks and devotees packed into the guru peedam for the event. Bodhinatha entered, sat down and went deep within for the entirety of the puja. The moment he was still, the room filled with a powerful energy. In traditional style, milk, curd, vibhuti, honey and other substances were poured over the guru's feet by our two Natyam. Devotees brought offerings of gifts, cakes and more which were placed at Bodhinatha's feet.

From Living With Siva:
Hindu temples sustain Hinduism around the world. Scriptures keep us always reminded of the path we are on and the path we are supposed to be on, but only from the satguru can you get the spirit, the sakti, the sustaining spirit, to make it all come to life in you, to make the temple meaningful and to complement the scriptures with your own sight, your own third-eye sight. Otherwise, it's just words. Nathas are not on the path of words. The Rishi wandered down from the Himalayas to Bangalore. What did he say? Nobody knows. Whom did he talk to? Nobody knows. Did he influence crowds of people? Perhaps, but he only had to influence one individual, Kadaitswami, to speak out to the world. Kadaitswami caught the spirit of the Rishi, who had caught the spirit of the previous rishi, the previous rishi and all the ones that preceded him. It is that spirit of sampradaya that makes the traditional teachings meaningful, that gives you the power to discriminate between what is real within those teachings and what is superfluous or just plain nonsense, that gives you the power to blend Siddhanta with Vedanta, Vedas with Agamas. ¶The irreversible spirit of the guru carries through all of the sishyas. It is basically the only gift a guru can give--that sustaining spirit. He doesn't have to give knowledge, because that has already been written down. He doesn't have to build temples, because there are more than enough temples for everyone. The rare and precious gift that he can convey is the inner spirit of his religious heritage. That is his unique gift to the world. Nathas do not follow the way of words. Kadaitswami spoke to a lot of people. Who knows what he said? They didn't have tape recorders in those days, and doubtless he never wrote anything down, but the spirit carried through him to Chellappaguru, who didn't say an awful lot. He wasn't following the way of words either. He spoke only divine essences of the philosophy. He didn't write 3,000 verses like Rishi Tirumular did. Nor did he give lectures to crowds like Kadaitswami did. His spirit was passed on to Satguru Siva Yogaswami, who passed his spirit on to a lot of devotees. He passed his spirit on to lots of devotees, including me. If I had not journeyed to the northern part of Sri Lanka and gone to Siva temples, worshiped there and received initiation from Yogaswami, would I have returned to America and built a Siva temple or helped found over fifty other Hindu temples scattered around the world? No. Would we have a monastic community? No. Would we have an international Saiva Siddhanta Church? No. Would we have a Himalayan Academy? No. Would we have a Hindu Heritage Endowment? No. Would we have a HINDUISM TODAY magazine? No. Would we have family missions all over the world? No. Would we be sitting here right now? No. Only because of the existence of one satguru in this venerable line of gurus, I caught the spirit; and through this spirit the words manifest, the activities manifest, the devotees maintain that straight path, the disciplines bear fruit, the inner sight comes, and after it comes, it stays. Without satgurus, we would only have temples and scriptures. Without satgurus, we wouldn't have the spirit, and people would stop going to temples and stop reading the scriptures.

Jai Guru Parampara!
Jai Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami!
Aum Namah Sivaya!

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFaop-FtTxU

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami reads his editorial from the Oct/Nov/Dec 2014 edition of Hinduism Today magazine. "Exploring how following Hindu principles develops the refined character needed to move from anger and fear to lofty states of mind"

Today Bodhinatha and Shanmuganathaswami returned from India and their long journey. Whenever Bodhinatha is gone for more than nine days, he is welcomed home with a short padapuja in front of Kadavul Temple. The monks happily greeted their returning Satguru, and following the padapuja, everyone entered the temple for arati to Ganesha, Muruga and Lord Nataraja. Jai Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami!

As in the vicinity of fire, butter gets melted, so in the proximity of the holy
Sivaguru all bad karmas dissolve. As lighted fire burns up all fuel, wet or dry,
so the glance of the Sivaguru burns up in a moment the karmas of the
sishya. As the heap of cotton blown up by a great storm scatters in all the ten
directions, so the heap of negative karmas is blown away by the compassion of
the Sivaguru. As darkness is destroyed at the very sight of the lamp, so is
ignorance destroyed at the sight of the holy Sivaguru.
I tell you now that there can be no Liberation without diksha, initiation. Nor
can there be initiation without a preceptor. Hence the dharma, the sakti and the
tradition come down the line of masters, called parampara.
Without a Satguru all philosophy, knowledge and mantras are fruitless. Him alone
the Gods praise who is the Satguru, keeping active what is handed down to him by
tradition. Kularnava Tantra, chapter 3

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami is a Hindu Sannyasin monk and religious leader. He is the head of Kauai's Hindu Monastery and Publisher of Hinduism Today magazine. In 1960 he began studying Vedanta and Meditation. In March 1972, he received Sannyas Diksha in Alaveddy, Sri Lanka by Gurudeva Sri Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. He travels extensively teaching Hinduism and consecrating major Hindu Temples around the world.

Please attend this historic event, another milestone in the growth of the Temple.

The Murugan Temple of North America will be holding it's annual Nallur Festival 2014 on August 8-9. Join the devotees and be with Satguru Bodhinathaswami who will be there for the festivities. Murugan Temple of North America, 6300 Princess Garden Parkway, Lanham, MD 20706, (301)–552–4889 www.murugantemple.org

Bodhinatha, Sannyasin Shanmuganathswami and Sannyasin Siddhanathaswami depart today for California for a two week mission that will take them also to Pennsylvania, New York and Chicago There will be the annual Aloha luncheon event along with seminars and satsangs with devotees. Many events are open to the general Hindu public, but you must register in advance. http://Click here to go to our travels page for details.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NHLSIQCkto Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami reads his editorial from the Jan/Feb/Mar 2014 edition of Hinduism Today magazine. "An abbreviated daily regimen designed for those who find that today’s busy life allows little or no time for introspection"