This morning we celebrated Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami with our monthly pada puja during the Chitra nakshatra. In Kadavul Temple Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami and his monks gathered with local members for an abhishekam. While the monks chanted Sri Rudram Sannyasin Tillainathaswami and Nirvani Tejadevanatha performed the puja, pouring pranic substances such as milk, honey and citrus over Gurudeva's black granite tiruvadi. Following a final arati, the event ended with each attendee prostrating before the shrine. Jai Gurunathan. Aum Namah Sivaya.

Aum Namah Sivaya

Several days ago Satguru returned from his recent trip to California with Sannyasins Shanmuganathaswami and Siddhanathaswami. With Satguru back, today we held the pledge renewal for Sivanadaiyar Shankara. He had to renew his 6-month supplicancy pledge since he has two more month before eligibility to take his formal vows as a Postulant Sadhaka. Aum.

Aum Namah Shivaya!

Today is Sun Five of our 5-day lunar phase (our Aloha Friday in local parlance). Our monk's now enter two days of retreat, working on different projects and enjoying some extra time for Sadhana and a little more rest. Here are some random photos from around the monastery as our week comes to a close. Aum.

Happy New Year of Krodhi!

Recently we bagen our new season and paraded out to our flagpole to raise the dvaja. This season also mark the beginning of the new year.

Here follows the passage from Saiva Dharma Shatras about how we should approach this new season:

Nartana Ritau, the season of Dancing with Siva, begins on Hindu New Year. This is the period of creation, the warm season, from mid-April through mid-August. The key word of this season is planning. The colors are orange, yellow-gold and all shades of green--orange for renunciation, yellow-gold for action, and green for regeneration. High above, the main Hindu flag flies the color orange, heralding the Nartana Ritau throughout this season, symbolizing sadhana and self-control. The other colors adorn smaller flags. This is the season of giving special attention to those in the grihastha ashrama. It is a time of awakening, renewal, review. The emphasis is on seeing ahead, planning for future years. It is a time of planning retreats and other activities for youths and adults for the entire year. During this time of looking forward, the Church's six-year plan is updated by the Guru Mahasannidhanam and stewards and another year added. The Saiva Dharma Shastras are studied; and any needed additions in supplementary manuals, representing new growth, are made.

The practical focus is completion of unfinished projects. Secular holidays to observe among the families include Mothers Day in May, Fathers Day in June and Grandparents Day in August. In the monastery intensive cleaning of buildings and grounds takes place. New clothing is issued and old garments mended.

This season of harvest and new growth is also the time to review and reestablish picking and planting routines for the gardens. It is a time for ordering seeds and plants for the year, of planting trees, fragrant vines and the annual crop. Review is made for scheduling the care of all realms of the Aadheenam. Kadavul temple and the Guru Temple are cleaned and renewed during this season, and the adjacent grounds receive special, abundant attention.

The daily sadhana is the Sivachaitanya Panchatantra: experiencing nada, jyoti, prana, shakti and darshana. In Sanskrit, it is a time of learning new shlokas and mantras. Shrine rooms are renewed and redecorated for the year, and the clothing of all is renewed in the Hindu style of the current fashion. It is a time of doing things for others, religious outreach. In the missions, Nartana Ritau is the time of bringing in new students and Church members. It is a time of hatha yoga and philosophical teaching.

The main festival of Nartana Ritau is Guru Purnima. The mathavasis hold special conclave on Vaikasi Vishakham, the full moon day of May.

On the day of sankalpam preparations for the April 12 Samvatsara Abhishekam (one year anniversary of the opening of Iraivan Temple) Siva showed His tangible presence by offering the island His own abishekam in the form of a massive rainstorm, a tropical downpour that brought 14 inches of rain to the monastery in 12 hours! We have rain guage records back decades, and even back to 2017 and 2010 we only once in 40 years of record keeping went beyond 10 inches in a day. So this was memorable. Then, showing the soft side of His grace, Siva flooded the island with sunshine on the following day, allowing for parades, pradakshina, marvelous dance and more in summer sun. There was, as you will see, some garden damage, but considering the scale of the storm, not that much. Interestingly, it reminded us of the Kadavul Temple kumbabhishekam day, 1984, when another impressive storm struck.

Jai Ganesha!
Today Kodiswara arrived on Kauai after many hours travel from Malaysia. He had spend a full 6 months here on our taskforce program in 2016, so he knows the monastery well. Despite the long flight, he was full of energy once at the Aadheenam again.

Kodishwara is already under the formal pledge of an aspirant and is here to pursue monastic life.

"In enjoyment, there is the fear of disease; in social position, the fear of losing face; in wealth, the fear of government; in honor, the fear of humiliation; in power, the fear of enemies; in beauty, the fear of old age; in scriptural erudition, the fear of opposing views; in virtue, the fear of temptation; in body, the fear of death. All the things of this world pertaining to man are attended with fear; renunciation alone stands for fearlessness." Vairagya Shatakam 31

A few days ago our "Aadheenam Protector-in-Training," Bhairava, celebrated his first birthday. Right now he's living in a small walled-off corner of the new Siddhidata Kulam machine shop building, but soon he'll move into a larger home right next to the building which has been dubbed Bhairava Mandapam.

Jai Ganesha!

Over the last few days we've seen the first major steps of the installation of the Redwood Granite Bell Tower that is being built near Iraivan Temple's Temple Builder's Pavilion. For over a year, this hand-carved masterpiece has been in the works as a side project of the Ganapati Kulam and under the oversight of Acharya Kumarnathaswami, who has done most of the woodworking himself.

For those that don't know, this tower hangs a granite bell that was carved on the same stone of Iraivan Temple. When struck with a wooden mallet, it produces a unique evanescence that only reverberating stone could make.

Om Namah Shivaya

We recently received another set of photos from Rajen, who is currently here from Mauritius. He's been exploring around the Aadheenam, taking photos here and there. Enjoy!

Aum Namasivaya!

Aditya Vinadhara, from Utah, arrived on the island last night for a 26-day stay. During his Taskforce time here, his considerable construction skills will be put to good use. He is teamed up with Acharya Kumarnathaswami to move the Stone Bell Tower forward. Today also marked the 297th Chittra Pada Puja for Gurudeva. The full report will be in a couple of days, but today we share a photo from Colorado of the puja done in a shishya's shrine room. Also, showing some recent visitor shots.