Today is Founder's Day, marking 38 years since that historic morning when Siva came in a vision to Gurudeva, a hallowed moment that was the birth of Iraivan Temple. Today, interestingly enough, is also Sivaanbu Day celebrated all over America (and even in India we are told). Yes, Valentine's Day. It is the day set aside for people to openly express their love for a tiny part of Sivaness, and look forward to the day when that love will grow, expand and be felt for every creature, every atom in the cosmos. Happy Sivaanbu Day, everyone!

Here is how Gurudeva described that sacred morning:

"San Marga was established as a result of a three-fold vision that came to me early one morning in 1975. I saw Lord Siva walking in the meadow near the Wailua River. Then His face was looking into mine. Then He was seated upon a great stone. Astonished, I was seated on His left side. Upon reentering earthly consciousness, I felt certain the great stone was somewhere on our land and set about to find it. Guided from within by my satguru, I hired a bulldozer and instructed the driver to follow me as I walked to the north edge of the property that was then a tangle of buffalo grass and wild guava. I hacked my way through the jungle southward as the dozer cut a path behind me. After almost half a mile, I sat down to rest near a small tree. Though there was no wind, suddenly the tree's leaves shimmered as if in the excitement of communication. I asked the tree, "What is your message?" In reply, my attention was directed to a spot just to the right of where I was sitting. When I pulled back the tall grass, there was a large rock, the self-created Linga on which Lord Siva had sat. The bulldozer's trail now led exactly to the sacred stone, surrounded by five smaller boulders. San Marga, the straight or pure path to God, had been created. All this happened February 15, 1975. Worship of the sacred stone with water and flowers was commenced immediately through daily puja rites, and a master plan was unfolded from the devonic worlds."

A SPECIAL GIFT FOR YOU
We created a special PDF file this morning so you could see the nine astonishing vision paintings done by our Kerala artist, Suresh Mutthukulam, art which depicts the three visions above and Gurudeva's subsequent unfolding of Iraivan's destiny. Here you can also learn of the timeline for the temple's history. Download here It is a large PDF so we suggest you right/control-click and "Save Link As" to be sure the file is saved to your hard drive.

"You are perfect this very moment. You are all that you will ever be. If you don't see it that way, then you live in a difficult state of affairs, striving toward perfection and being imperfect along the way." -Gurudeva.

This morning the monastery celebrated Gurudeva's 150th monthly chitra puja since his grand departure. His presence was felt even a few days before the puja. Thank you Gurudeva, your blessing's have changed countless lives and continue do so.

Jai to Our Beloved Gurudeva!

Photos from the foundry in Colorado. The life-size bronze masterpiece is finished and on its way to Kauai! And, yes, the rudraksha beads are bronze, not real!

Today we received a sweet endorsement of The Guru Chronicles which we thought all would enjoy.

Thank you all for the wonderfully written Guru Chronicles. I confess, I started by reading the last chapters first! The photographs were a delight. I feel so privileged to have known and studied with such a special Being of Light. Reading about the early years of Gurudeva's work in America was so enlightening.
I met Gurudeva in 1972. I now realize that the foundation he was building went far deeper than I realized at the time. How fortunate I feel to have been in the right place at the right time-to meet him in Hawaii and be a small part of the unfolding of his mission.
The stories about the line of gurus were familiar to me, as we had studied them in the form of "Soldiers Within" (I think it was called) in the 80s. The way they are presented in the Guru Chronicles brings them to life. As I was reading, I felt transported back to those magical times.
I am awed by the writing, art, photos and loving attention to details in the Guru Chronicles. I appreciate the many hours (years) of research and effort that went into producing this wonderful book. 

To all the monks, thank you, again.  

Savitri Kumaran
 Kapaa, Hawaii
January 2013

The monastery celebrated an auspicious chitra puja to Gurudeva this month, as it fell on the same same as his jayanti.

How beautiful can Beauty be?
how bright can Brightness be?
how joyous can Joy be?
how still can Stillness be?
and how blessed can Blessing be?

How great can Greatness be?
how content can Contentment be?
how observant can Observance be?
how restful can Rest be?
and how focussed can Focus be?

How honorable can Honor be?
how happy can Happiness be?
how attentive can Attention be?
how warm can Warmth be?
and how loving can Love be?

How vast can Vastness be?
how respectful can Respect be?
how graceful can Grace be?
and how wise can Wisdom be?

How can you be all this and more
so much, much more
You who are perfect, complete, whole
take me places i'd never dare go
Show me sights i'd be scared to explore
Sounds vaguely familiar clearly flow
their colors bathed in a golden white glow
You light up my life like none before
You hold me in warm embrace
and shower me with your grace
Your very name fills and thrills
and a fleeting, yet vivid, memory suffices
to bring you back to your rightful place
as the light in my eyes
and the smile on my face!

Infinite love and eternal gratitude

Aum Namah Sivaya!

Here are just a few uncommon photographs of Gurudeva found in our archives.

Click Here
link to photos of SSC Malaysia Mission observing 11th anniversary of Gurudeva's Mahasamadhi

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Click Here
for another slideshow of SSC Malaysia Mission observing 11th anniversary of Gurudeva's Mahasamadhi

It's Thanksgiving Day, and we are feeling the Fullness of Everything, within and without. Gurudeva placed great stress on being thankful, feeling it a necessary spiritual milestone to reach. Here he speaks of how gratitude can help us better our karmas when things seem rough.

Gurudeva taught us:

We are essentially pure souls temporarily living in a physical body. We can and should use our God-given gift of free will encased in love to make a difference in the world today, even if it is in a small way. All of us making the same difference together do so in a big way. Íishyas should be grateful to their gurus, husbands to their wives, wives to their husbands, parents to their children, children to their parents, students to their teachers and teachers to their students. It's far more effective to praise others and appreciate what we have than to find fault and complain about what we don't have!


Gratitude and appreciation are the key virtues for a better life. They are the spell that is cast to dissolve hatred, hurt and sadness, the medicine which heals subjective states of mind, restoring self-respect, confidence and security. Shall we review them one at a time and consider a practice, a sâ dhana, for each?

First, gratitude. It is a feeling within the heart that we cannot suppress for long when overcome with abundant memories of all the good that has come into our lives. Most often, people remember the bad happenings, perhaps because they make the deepest impressions in the subconscious and are not expected. Good happenings are expected and therefore tend to be overlooked.

The sâdhana here is to take out paper and pen and list all the good that has come into your life during the past five years. The list will grow as memory is stimulated. Should it not be possible to think of even one good thing, then write the affirmation several times, "I am a spiritual being of light maturing in the ocean of experience." Soon a good memory will come up, followed by more. Feelings of loving appreciation will begin to flow toward those who participated in the good times. Forgiveness then wells up for the bad times. Amazingly, on the day I was writing down these thoughts about gratitude, a Kauai islander handed me a paper on which was written the following wisdom from the Catholic mystic, Meister Eckhart: "If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough."

Now let's look at appreciation, turning our thanks toward the people in our lives. The sâdhana of appreciation is to approach those you are grateful to and tell them, to their face, while looking deep into their eyes, how much you esteem and value them. Be specific. Find details to share so they know this is not a shallow compliment. Explain what each one has done to inspire this loving confrontation and convince each in turn that you are sincere. The look of a full smiling face, eyes shining and heart full of love, perhaps followed by a big hug, is convincing enough in itself. Words of appreciation are words people do not often hear. These loving confrontations do not happen nearly often enough among friends and relatives in today's world.

Loving appreciation is a life-changing force just waiting to be used. Express appreciation to community leaders, business associates, spiritual mentors, family members and friends as often as you can. Loving appreciation is a magic formula that works both ways. When we commend another, we are automatically uplifted.