Having seventy acres of land and tropical growth and not being consumed by its vigorous growth requires upkeep. the monks can do a lot of the maintenance, but for the biggest projects it is safer to bring in professionals with the right equipment. For about eight days JP Tree Services came to trim and clear. First they worked at the Pillaiyar Kulam, trimming back large limbs high up that were growing into the high electric lines—a potential danger. They also removed a banyan tree from the parking lot.

Then they moved on to buck up a fallen weed tree (a big one), take out a Rudraksha that was too close to the road, and then trimmed dead fronds from our giant Talipot Palms. Thanks to Jessie and his hard-working team of tree experts. Siva's Sacred Playgrounds never looked better!

They also cleared this other palm, Corypha utan

Jai Gurudeva!

As a nice end to their previous lunar phase, our monks enjoyed the aadheenam's monthly pada puja to Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. Sannyasin Tillainathaswami and Yogi Harandinatha performed the early-morning abhishekam in Kadavul Temple.

"Undisciplined people are generally people whom nobody can tell what to do. They won't listen. They can't tell themselves what to do, and nobody else is going to tell them either!" Gurudeva

Aum Namah Sivaya, The Aadheenam recently received photos of our soon-to-be shipped red granite tiles for the top of Iraivan Temple's foundation. This is the last major construction project for the completion of the temple. These tiles are being sourced from a major worldwide supplier of red granite in China, and it's here that we found a specific red granite that the monks thought had an ideal look and finish. The team readying the shipment has completed the packing of two shipping containers and are working quickly to fill the third. A total of 2558 tiles will soon be shipped to us, the vast majority are Iraivan Temple with some extra for the flooring of the future, yet-to-be revealed Svayambhu Lingam Mandapam. Jai Ganesha!

Aum.

With Chinnu having returned to India, our monks now have the opportunity to do more cooking. Currently, different monks rotate through meal prep every other day, providing a good amount of variety in styles and culinary creativity. We of course have large amounts of fresh vegetables coming in daily from our gardens and green houses, lending a high standard to the term "farm to table." With all this we're able to enjoy mouth-watering curries, rices, dals and other edible creations. Here, you can explore a few of the day's dishes. Aum.

There have been the forms of Siva that have walked through the Aadheenam's gates of late. From 9:00am to noon, one will find a vast variety of worshipful, intrigued and smiling faces as guests, new and old, explore the area around areas around our entrance, our gift shop and around Kadavul Temple. We've had many Hindu pilgrims arrive to give their family's a more religious holiday season, as well as many others who have come to the island for a short vacation from life on the mainland and elsewhere.

"Hospitality flows from Siva's followers like sweet music from a vina. Guests are treated as Gods. Friends, relatives, acquaintances, even strangers, are humbled by the overwhelming, ever-willing attention received." - Gurudeva

Click through the slideshow to read a few of our many guests' google maps reviews from the last few months.

Aum Namah Sivaya

We've just entered into a new season, the Moksha Ritau. We began the day with a Homa and then paraded out to the flagpole to fly the new colors for the season.

Here are reminders from Gurudeva, from his Saiva Dharma Shastras, detailing the significance and sadhanas of this inner season.

112 Introduction
Beginning with Hindu New Year in mid-April, three seasons of the year divide our activities into three great needs of humankind--the learning of scripture in the first season, Nartana Ritau; the living of culture in the second season, Jivana Ritau; and the meditating on Siva in the third season, Moksha Ritau. Thus we are constantly reminded that our life is Siva's life and our path to Him is through study, sadhana and realization. In ritau one, we teach the philosophy; in ritau two, we teach the culture; and in ritau three, we teach meditation.

120 The Third Season: Moksha Ritau
The third period of the year, Moksha Ritau, the cool season, is from mid-December to mid-April. It is the season of dissolution. The key word is resolution. Merging with Siva: Hinduism's Contemporary Metaphysics is the focus of study and intense investigation. The colors of this season are coral-pink, silver and all shades of blue and purple--coral for the Self within, silver and blue for illumination, and purple for enlightened wisdom. High above flies the coral flag, signaling Parasiva, Absolute Reality, beyond time, form and space. Moksha Ritau is a time of appreciation, of gratitude for all that life has given, and a time of honoring elders, those in the sannyasa stage of life. Moksha Ritau is excellent for philosophical discussions, voicing one's understanding of the path through an enlightened intellect. In finance, it is the time for yearly accounting and reconciliation. On a mundane level it is a time of clearing attics, basements, garages, sheds, warehouses, workshops and desks, getting rid of unneeded things, of pruning trees, of streamlining life on the physical plane--of reengineering.

Aum Sivaya,

Today our monks end their lunar phase and enter into two days of retreat. They are currently in the middle of observing two weeks of Sadhu Paksha. This is our time between seasonal changes when our monks switch up their morning sadhana routine. Many of them walk the ground and meditate among the natural beauty into our sacred natural spaces which this slideshow depicts. Aum Namah Sivaya.

Earlier this year we began construction on a prototype for a kind of beehive known as a horizontal or "topbar" hive. While it's new for us, this is actually a classic style of hive that has long been common throughout much of Eastern Europe and Serbia. Today, it is becoming more popular throughout the world for its ease of use, especially for the non-commercial beekeeper.

Unlike the common Langstroth hive, where heavy bee boxes are stacked to form space for bees, the horizontal hive is a stationary long box. Here, the bees are encouraged to build their comb across more than up, much like they might do in a horizontal log. The top bars are laid down across the space for the bees to build on. There is a follower board so that one can control exactly how much space the bees have at any given time. Too much space and they have trouble regulating the temperature for the their brood, and aren't as able to defend themselves against other insects (like hive beetles) which have the potential to collapse their whole operation.

On one end is the entrance, which the bees build their brood nest near. As they build down the length of the box, further from the nest, they begin to build the further comb purely for honey storage. So all you have to do to harvest some is open up one end of their hive and remove the furthest bar. Aum.

Click through the slideshow to see the process.

A short video by Velika Nataraj detailing how Kauai Aadheenam's rudrakshas are cleaned and processed. They can then be used to make the malas and jewelry that are sold at the Aadheenam's Mini Mela shop

Aum Namah Sivaya
Today is the 6th and final day in our monks' week. So, as we head into two days of retreat, we'd like to share this morning's view of Iraivan Temple, the Wailua River and Mount Waialeale.

"Nothing is lost, nothing is gained. How can we talk of gain or loss? The atma is one-it is all and everywhere. So how can there be loss and gain, coming and going, past and future?"- Yogaswami