Vasuki Sivagnanavel brought her parents for a first visit from London. They are from Jaffna, Sri Lanka originally. Another couple joined our walk through the grounds.

Click to Play

In Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami's most recent upadesha, He discusses not letting down on our sadhana. Success comes with consistency of conduct. Improve and control our mind and behavior standards twenty-four hours a day. Monistic Theism, our tradition, is a dual approach. Worshiping God on the outside; claiming and realizing God on the inside. Going deep within to find That which does not change. The path of Saivism: "Bhakti-raja-siddha yoga leading to oneness." Aum Namah Sivaya

Click here to see the full unedited transcript.

We are happy to release yet another golden gem from Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami's audio archives. This incredible upadesha from 1962 is from the inner sky of the Vedic Rishis, but presented by Gurudeva in a language that the public can understand. He explains the illusion of the mind, karma, meditation, dharma, and Self-Realization from the Advaita perspective. He urges listeners to follow the laws of religion, discover and fulfill their duties. The talk contains guidance for mothers and an especially compelling section on how to listen to and understand the language of the soul. Excerpts from the transcript:

"The mind is only an illusion ever creating itself carried forth by its own creations. It is but a dream and we find reality in the mind only from the depths of our memory as we project our fears worries and doubts, hopes and aspirations into the future. Only from the depths of the memory and what you have already projected mentally into the future...The two states of consciousness that we have here, the past and the future if you meditate upon that you can bring yourself into a deeper knowing and actual experience of the eternity of the now. There are many subtle things that take place as you practice yoga and as you fulfil your life in fulfilling your duty and become consciously conscious of exactly where you are in space or where you are in evolution. That is your first realization in being consciously conscious or consciously aware...." Click here to listen along with the full transcript

The monastery is never short of devotees from all over the world. Some wonderful souls have been captured visiting recently.

We continue with the discovery and release of gems from the Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami audio and video archives. Here is another short but potent message for all spiritual aspirants.

Click: Protect Your Mind by Turning Within

Today we are reminded of one of the great poets of Saiva Siddhanta, Thayumanivar. His love of Siva, so beautifully expressed, is honored today in Tamil Nadu where schoolchildren memorize ALL 1,454 of his poems, an amazing feat. We give but one today, and a quick Wikipedia background of this great soul and saint.


With love as the consecrating waters for Thy worship,
With life as the outstretched oblation,
With prana as the flaming incense and light--
Thus have I dedicated my worship,
Not for once, but as constant performance.

Thayumanavar or Tayumanavar,  (1705–1742), is one of the spiritual giants and a Tamil philosopher from Tamil Nadu, India. Thayumanavar articulated the Saiva Siddhanta philosophy. He wrote several Tamil hymns of which 1454 are available. His first three songs were sung 250 years ago at the Congress of Religions in Trichinopoly. His poems follow his own mystical experience, but they also outline the philosophy of South Indian Saivism, and the Tirumandiram by Saint Tirumular in its highest form, one that is at once devotional and nondual, one that sees God as both immanent and transcendent. Thayumanavar's key teaching is to discipline the mind, control desires and meditate peacefully. He went on to say that "it is easy to control an elephant, catch hold of the tiger's tail, grab the snake and dance, dictate the angels, transmigrate into another body, walk on water or sit on the sea; but it is more difficult to control the mind and remain quiet".

A favorite phrase of our Gurudeva was "mountain top consciousness," by which he meant a view of life or any detail of life seen from a higher-than-normal perspective. Such views tend to be enormously informative as we work to comprehend the day-to-day details of life and its experiences. It frees us from the narrow confines of understanding and brings to play the subsuperconscious, often giving us a deeper appreciation of things, always liberating us from smallness.

So, today we offer a photographer's take on seeing things in a new, and wider perspective. As you look through these amazing aerial images, imagine seeing your own problems from Siva's lofty perspective.