At the end of last phase, the Aadheenam celebrated the Chitra nakshatra with our monthly abhishekam to Gurudeva's Tiruvadi in Kadavul Temple. In the evening, monks and local church members gathered to honor Gurudeva and receive his blessings. Natyam Nandinatha and Sadhaka Jayanatha performed the abhishekam as other monks chanted Sri Rudram. Upon completion of the Rudram, the rest of the puja continued in silence. Gurudeva's love and blessing could be easily felt as the puja reached it's subtle hights. Jai Gurudeva! Aum Namah Sivaya.

"Look to the satgurus, who have themselves met and overcome the challenges that still lie ahead for you. Look to them and ask them to help you to look within yourself. Much of the mysticism which is the greatest wealth of Hinduism is locked within these masters, who in our tradition are known as the satgurus, the sages and the siddhas." Gurudeva

This morning, during the Chitra Nakshatra, the monastics held a padapuja in honor of Gurudeva. Nirvani Tejadevanatha and Natyam Rajanatha performed the abhishekam to Gurudeva's granite paduka paduka in Kadavul Temple, bathing them in prana-filled substances such as milk, yogurt, ghee and honey. Gurudeva maintains a strong presence within Kadavul and it is most easily felt during these pujas. Jai Gurudeva! Aum Namah Sivaya!

"The First World is the physical universe, the Second World is the subtle astral or mental plane of existence in which the devas, or angels, and spirits live, and the Third World is the spiritual sphere of the Mahadevas, the Deities, the Gods. Hinduism is the harmonious working together of these three worlds. Religion blossoms for the Hindu as he awakens to the existence of the Second and Third Worlds. These inner worlds naturally inspire in man responses of love and devotion and even awe." - Gurudeva

Today we celebrated the Chitra nakshatra with an early morning padapuja for Gurudeva. The monastics and local devotees gathered in Kadavul Temple for the silent puja performed by Nirvani Nilakanthanatha and Natyam Mayuranatha.

Yesterday we shared images of the sculpture who carved marvelous murthis for Gurudeva back in the 1970s and 80s. It was a time when Gurudeva was working hard to capture the traditional Hindu arts and especially the sacred sculptures.

We stumbled on the letter here in the same moment we found those photos of Neelamegham Sthapati, a letter that tells much of Gurudeva's intentions and vision for Hinduism in America. We share it today.


THE HINDU YOUTH OF AMERICA
ARE AT THE HOLY FEET OF MOTHER INDIA

Kauai Aadheenam
December 12, 1982

India has given the world all blessings and love through its
rishis, saints and sages in spreading the Sanatana Dharma throughout
the ages, thus sustaining mankind through its karma on the path to
mukti.

In this technological age when the intellect overshadows the heart,
Mother India has again come forward giving the world art, culture
and ways of worship to quiet the aching mind.

With the advent of Hinduism in America, through the opening of temples,
India's great architects, sculptors and priests loom high. We open
our arms to all these great ones who bring to our country the last
increment of the "Greatest Religion in the World." First the gurus,
rishis and swamis came; then the holy scriptures were published in English,
and now the sacred temples are coming up on our soil.

Ganapathy Sthapati has been chosen as the Sthapati of Kauai Aadheenam
for his flexibility, ingenuity, hereditary skills and ability to
converse, teach and lecture in English. Surely, his formidable
knowledge will help him to build many of the temples in the United
States, and we hope Canada and other countries. His zeal in the
preservation of the ancient culture and art forms and his ability
to adapt to modern building techniques and codes without
compromise makes him a useful instrument for our Great God Siva in
erecting the homes for the most important among the thirty-three
million Gods of our religion.

It is important that we all realize that the next ten years are the
most crucial time for these temples to come up and be stabilized with
a respected, educated, well-trained and well-paid priesthood, one
well-versed in the Vedas, conversant in Vedanta as well as Saiva
Siddhanta and able to clearly explain the methods of temple worship
in English. This need we bring to the feet of Mother India to help
her children who now live world-wide. Hindu priests can perform their
rites without a temple, but a temple without its priests exists only
as a monument.

Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
Guru Mahasannnidhanam of Kauai Aadheenam

This morning, during the chitra nakshatra, monastics and devotees gathered in Kadavul Temple for a padapuja at Gurudeva's shrine. Today was the 180th puja performed to honor his Great Departure, 4,919 days ago.

Sadhaka Jayanatha and Sadhaka Dayanatha performed the abhishekam to Gurudeva's holy sandals, while the monks chanted Sri Rudram and also dove within themselves and within Gurudeva's loving shakti.

Click below to listen to Gurudeva's words of wisdom.

Gurudeva tried to keep the monks on the leading edge of digital content development. In the early days of the web ( 1998) he recorded 117 chapters of Merging with Siva. We release these on TAKA every day and also had a podcast. Now we are bringing these back to life in our digital media library. Go to the complete talks index, click on Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, choose 1998 and scroll down to August 15 to see the whole list. Or go here for a catalog view.

Over the past few weeks the Ganapati Kulam has been working to improve our website's media content. Today we successfully installed 115 new photos of Gurudeva, some possibly never seen before. We hope you enjoy this look back in our history of Gurudeva. Photo descriptions coming soon...

Click Here to View New Photos of Gurudeva

Over the recent three day retreat the Aadheenam observed a padapuja to Gurudeva's trivadi during the Chitra nakshatra. At noon, monastics and local devotees gathered in Kadavul for the abhishekam, performed by Natyam Mayuranatha and Nirvani Nilakanthanatha.

Jai Gurudeva!

"If Hindus really understood how deep into their soul their religion penetrates, if they knew how superior it is to any other spiritual path on the Earth today, they would not abandon it so easily but cherish and foster it into its great potential. They would not remain silent when asked about their religion, but speak out boldly its great truths. They would not hesitate to stand strong for Hinduism." Gurudeva

Gurudeva discusses silence:

This morning the Aadheenam observed its monthly padapuja to Gurudeva, which takes place on the chitra nakshatra. Monks and devotees gathered in Kadavul Temple in the early morning and Natyam Rajanatha and Natyam Nandinatha performed the puja. Some of monks chanted Sri Rudram, while others dove within themselves and within the loving energy flowing forth from Gurudeva's shrine. As is the norm, once Sri Rudram ended the rest of the puja was done in silence, with nothing but the sound of the morning birds and the trickling waters of the abhishekam. Jai Gurudeva!

"If yoga is truly performed, we graduate with knowledge based on personal experience, not on what someone else has said. We then take our place among the jnanis--the wise ones who know, and who know what they know--to uplift others with understanding in sadhana and in yoga." Gurudeva