The biggest donor to Iraivan is? Guess what? The Rudraksha Tree! Each month the Wailua Mission prepares the rudraksha beads grown on San Marga for sale. The proceeds from the Mini-Mela go to the Iraivan temple. We just had "Rudraksha Day" on July 27th.

Several days ago a catamaran ride was sponsored for some of our monks and for our taskforcers. The afternoon catamaran tours depart midday from the west side of our island and make their way north, up and around the Napali Coast--the beautiful northern cliffside of our island. You might recognize these cliffs from Hollywood films such as Jurassic Park or Pirates of the Caribbean. These are some of the most quickly eroding geological formations of this scale and can be seen to drastically change in just one lifetime. Upon reaching the top of the island the catamaran turns around and raises its sail for the ride back, making for a relaxed dinner cruise before sunset.

Did you know that the word "catamaran" comes from the Tamil language. It is originally "kaṭṭumaram." Kattu means "to tie" and maram means "tree," describing a vessel made with wooden outriggers.

Our monks enjoy a blessing from a Hawaiian Aumakua, an ancestral guardian.

To the Hawaiians the owl is a protector and guide, held as sacred. This sentiment is encapsulated in the saying "A no lani, a no honua" meaning "Belonging to heaven and earth."

Today was Ashram Sadhana day, a day where all the monks come together to clean and tidy up the Aadheenam. A few monks did some fence repair for our cows pasture, and the whole herd came over to say hello.

Today the monastery enjoyed a visit from Leimomi Mo'okini Lum. She is the soon-to-be 93 year old, Hawaiian Priestess who originally presented Gurudeva with the Kuloulou Staff. The staff still sits to the right of the Guru Pitam, opposite to Satguru's Silver Danda. She is currently doing wonderful work to restore and utilize a large Heiau—an ancient Hawaiian Temple—on the big island. You'll note that Leimomi is currently in a wheel chair, but it's not because she's too old to walk, it's because she hurt her ankle while hiking! We have much to learn from this bright soul.

"Kulou" means to "bow the head," for the Kuloulou Staff is considered one of the most sacred Hawaiian symbols. Today Leimomi replaced the special Hawaiian cloth which covers the staffs spherical top. While here she also enjoyed a tour of Iraivan Temple and a visit to the Media Studio to "talk story" with the monks there.

"Running water will run faster if you remove an obstruction here and there. You need not do much more." Siva Yogaswami

After a six days phase the monks will head into their two day retreat. Here, the sun sets over Kauai's Mount Waialeale, the Wailua River and Iraivan Temple. Aum Namah Sivaya

Over the retreat the monks of the Siddhidatta Kulam attended a class on banana propagation, along with 40 other local growers. It was quite an informative seminar, covering professional details of propagation along with providing information on dealing with bunchy-top, a local virus that causes a lower yield from banana plants. During the class, everyone got to try out some hands-on propagation and there will be a follow up class in a few months to see how our bananas are growing.

Aum Namah Sivaya

The monastery has enjoyed a busy phase, as we ready for the arrival of pilgrims for our 2018 Mahasamadhi celebrations. Also this phase, the Hinduism Today team has been hard at work finalizing the next issue of the magazine. After our retreat Mahasamadhi phase begins with a early morning homa and days of classes and events for pilgrims. See you agian soon!

"As long as there is searching, Parasiva has not been found, for searching is two, while It is one." Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

On Friday, September 28, Sadasivanathaswami and Arumuganathaswami flew off to Honolulu. They were invited by the Governor to attend and bless the signing of a Sister-State Agreement between Goa in India and Hawaii in the USA. The agreement will promote trade, tourism, information technology; and exchange of health and wellness, agriculture, culinary art, education and cultural programs between private sector organizations and universities of both states.

It was an important event, insofar as it was Hawaii's first official connection at the highest level with India. A delegation of three flew to Hawaii from Goa for the signing. The swamis were able to do other significant things before and after the mid-morning signing, mostly relating to the monastery's agricultural endeavors and our mission to save a $250,000,000 irrigation system that island farmers depend on, including us.

The slideshow tells the tale. Aum Namasivaya!

Two Kauai painters are putting out a new book on heiaus, churches, Hongwonjis and our monastery. These two works appear in the new book.