Now that the new metal building is finished on the outside, including gutters and drain pipes to move rainwater away from the building, the Siddhidata Kulam is adjusting the surroundings. The ground is now sloped away on three sides, with a slightly lower pathway cut to channel water further away. Narrow concrete pipes already in our possession were laid next to each other to form a wide culvert for diverting a large amount of water out into the nearby orchard. The road over this culvert is the main route for coming to and from the new building. A round catchment tank is being installed as another source of rainwater storage for emergency use, and we also just purchased a used, large, stainless steel tanker as another source of backup water. A mound of dirt and mulch is established around the south side of the building to grow plants for a visual barrier.

Today is the first full day of our new season, the Jivana Ritau. Early this morning, Satguru, monastics and members gathered in Kadavul Temple for a homa. Following an upadesha from Satguru, they then proceeded out the the aadheenam's flagpole to fly the dvaja for the new season. Excerpts from Saiva Dharma Shastras about the this time of year: "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. During Jivana Ritau, the rainy season, from mid-August to mid-December, Living with Siva: Hinduism's Contemporary Culture is the primary text. The key word of this season is work. The colors are rust, copper-maroon and all shades of red rust for earthy preservation, copper-maroon for fulfillment and red for physical energy. The Aadheenam's flag pole flies the rust-colored dhvaja, symbolizing environmental care. Copper-maroon and all shades of red adorn our smaller flags. This is the season of honoring and showing appreciation for those in the vanaprastha ashrama, life's elder advisor stage. The focus is on preserving what has been created, manifesting goals and fulfilling plans made in the past. Inwardly the emphasis is on direct cognition and caring for the practical details of the external world. Practicality is a word much used this season."

Namaskaram Everyone!

Recently, we have upgraded the monitor and sound system that Satguru uses for his presentations in the Guru Pitam. Upon unboxing the new equipment we realized the existing stand was slightly too small to house the new monitor. Fortunately, Mayuresh is here for several weeks on taskforce, working in the woodshop. He has been working on the screen's stand by adding a larger top as well as a small drawer to hold the microphone and sound equipment. He was happy to work on this project because it serves as a opportunity to improve his carpentry skills. Mayuresh remarks "The monastery wood shop has every tool you could ever need for a project!"

Aum Namah Sivaya

Each month during the auspicious timing of the Krittika nakshatra, Pravinkumar performs a homa in Iraivan Temple. Satguru attends each time and he notes that the temple has become noticeably more powerful each time. Following the event devotees enjoyed the reverberations of the temple's not-so-subtle vibration (and also enjoyed the coconut rice!). Aum.

Kauai Aadheenam was honored by a rare visit from one of the leading Lingayat Saiva Gurus in the world. Jagadguru Dr. Shivamurthy Shivacharya Mahaswamiji from Sirigere in Karnataka State, India, was accompanied by devotees from Chicago. He has been the head of the Taralabalu Monastery since 1979. He is also the President of the Taralabalu Education Society which has over 170 educational institutions in Karnataka, and teached 50,000 students. Swami is also a Sanskrit expert and translator into English of 22,000 of the vacanas of the main progenitors of the tradition, including Basavana, the founder of Lingayat Saivism, whose poems to Siva have and continue to inspire millions.

Swami met Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami in the Guru Pitham, took a tour of Iraivan Temple, met with the Ganapati Kulam and went out on a garden tour.

Jai Gurdeva!

Recently our monks celebrated the monthly Chitra nakshatra with the usual padapuja to Gurudeva's shrine in Kadavul Temple. This month, Sannyasin Tillainathaswami and Nirvani Tejadevanatha performed the ceremony.

"Peace is the natural state of the mind. It is there, inside, to be discovered in meditation, maintained through self-control, and then radiated out to others." - Gurudeva

Construction finally wrapped up on what is affectionally known as the "Way Back Room," which is attached to the previously constructed "Back Room," which itself is attached to the longstanding Pillaiyar Kulam administrative desk space rooms. A few days ago they help a simple puja to sanctify the new spaces, wrapping up about six years of extending the original building to add storage rooms for holding most of our publications and Minimela inventory. Next they will begin moving items in here and reorganizing all the rooms to make everything categorized properly and easily accessible.

Gurudeva gave us the Shum word nimu to describe "a devotee, a peaceful person." Nimu is also an African Grey parrot, recently gifted to the monastery and welcomed by all the monks. This is perhaps the smartest parrot of them all, the one that speaks meaningfully and contextually. Check out this YouTube video to see how smart they are: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yGOgs_UlEc

Our Nimu is just 3-4 months old, still a fledgling, a baby (he hatched around the same time Iraivan Temple was consecrated). He lives in the Media Studio, and will soon have a larger aviary as well. He attends all of the morning meetings of the Ganapati Kulam and we find him an adorable member of the team.

Three days ago, he said his first word: "Nimu!" However, You can imagine our worry when just a few hours later, he was on Tillainathaswami's shoulder taking his regular walk between our buildings when he was startled by an electric vehicle. Nimu has trimmed flight feathers (a law for large birds in Hawaii), but off he flew! Right, he was not supposed to fly; he was a baby who has never flown, and his flight feathers wouldn't fully regrow for another year, but fly he did. Off he went hundreds of feet into the wilderness. A 10-monk search team (complete with a drone) failed to find him, and we thought him lost. It is extremely rare for a baby bird unfamiliar with an area to be able to navigate well enough to return, or even survive at all.

The next day, after prayers in the temple and a special outreach to Detaza (the deva who can find anything), a small miracle occurred when a clumsy-looking, chubby bird was seen passing overhead. Upon calling his name, he would squeak back. We did this over and over until we found him, up some 100 feet in a tree. Since he doesn't really know how to fly yet, he doesn't know how to descend. All he could do is go from tree to tree, trying to get a little lower each time. After lots of coaxing, he gained the courage to fly to a lower tree, a palm tree, another lower tree, another palm tree, and then finally dropped into Tillainathaswami's arms (see video of this moment).

Traumatized by a night alone in the rain and darkness, and tremendously hungry, he gulped down his grain/seed slurry, getting half of it inside and half of it on his feathered body. So a warm shower ensued, and lots of "welcome back" with a little party for the monks to celebrate his return. This morning, Nimu was back at the morning meeting, seeming to appreciate it more than ever. We certainly appreciated him more than ever.

The moment Nimu makes it back after a day of being lost:

We have a small flock of nene geese now hanging out on our Aadheenam property in various places. Short description from wikipedia-- The nene, also known as the nēnē or the Hawaiian goose, is a species of bird endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The nene is exclusively found in the wild on the islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Molokai, and Hawaii. In 1957, it was designated as the official state bird of the state of Hawaii.

One of the requirements for a new monk is to learn and then perform the Saiva Atmartha Puja (home shrine puja) in front of Satguru and all the monks. Sadhaka Vatshalanatha recently did this at 5:30am in place of our normal puja for the monks. This accomplishment is a stepping stone towards him next learning the parartha puja (established temple puja), which he will eventually perform for Ganesha and Murugan Deities in Kadavul Temple.