Towards the end of the recent Singapore/Malaysia ladies sadhana retreat here on Kauai, Satguru gave a presentation on progressive levels of personal spiritual practice. Here is a summary of the contents-- Satguru's presentation is drawn from Gurudeva's teachings on daily practice and is entitled "Six Levels of Practice". In this presentation, Satguru explores each of the six practices, namely (1) Making Dharma Your Own; (2) Pancha Nitya Karmas which is comprised of worship, observing holy days, pilgrimage, virtuous living and rites of passage]; (3) ten-minute spiritual workout; (4) sadhana and daily vigil; (5) extending daily vigil to an hour; (6) vigil in sannyasa ashrama.

A local kumu (hula teacher) and island spiritual leader, Puna Dawson, brought six Brazilian tribals to Kauai for a shared spiritual adventure. Since she knew Gurudeva so well, she asked if the tribals could visit the monastery, and we could not say no.

Some of you will remember that Gurudeva was flown to Rio de Janiero in 1997 for a Conference on Human Survival. There he briefly met some tribals (see photos in the slideshow).

These profoundly Earth-connected men and women were a delight to be with, asking many unusually deep questions about Siva and the inner worlds. They were moved by the simplicity of the monks' guhas, admiring the austerity and naturalness of life in our own little jungle. It was easy to feel a bond with them. They walked through the Sacred Gardens, heard Pravinkumar chant in Sanskrit in front of Mahalingesvara, ate fresh oranges from our trees and more.

They are from a tribe called the Yawanawa, known for their rich cultural heritage and deep spiritual connection with the Amazon rainforest. They practice traditional rituals, preserve their ancestral knowledge, and actively engage in environmental conservation efforts to protect their sacred lands from deforestation and external threats.

After finishing in India, our team visited Malaysia for a couple days to have satsang with Saiva Siddhanta Church sishyas and informal Kauai Aadheenam devotees, and visit a few temples including the famous Batu Caves. Yogi Dayanatha mentioned that a lot of tourists come to Batu Caves after 9am, so they were glad to have visited earlier in the morning. Then, on the way home to Kauai, they made another short stop in Singapore to meet a few families and visit a huge indoor tropical garden.

The recent consecration events at the monastery in March and May have reminded us of the remarkable Adi Saiva community of priests who performed our Mahalingesvara installation with such discipline and purity and who are responsible for most of the Siva temples in nations around the world. Iraivan's opening brought sweet memories of Gurudeva's closeness with this community. From day one he cultivated the relationship with them. One day, in 1995, there was a massive gathering of Sivacharyars in Mumbai, and he was invited to be among them (see the historic photo above.) For many years we have been collaborating with this noble community to protect, preserve and promote the Saiva dharma, as Gurudeva would say.

We asked ChatGPT to tell us a little about this lineage of priests, and here is his answer:

The term "Adi Saiva Sivacharyars" refers to a specific group of priests and scholars who belong to the Saiva Siddhanta tradition of Hinduism. Saiva Siddhanta is a Saivite sect that follows the teachings of Saint Tirumular and the Nayanars, the ancient Tamil poet-saints who composed devotional hymns in praise of Lord Siva.

The Sivacharyars are considered the traditional custodians and interpreters of the holy Agamas and the Saiva Siddhanta philosophy and rituals. They are responsible for preserving and propagating the religious and cultural heritage of the Saiva Siddhanta tradition. These Sivacharyars are highly respected within the Tamil Nadu region of South India, where the Saiva Siddhanta tradition has its roots.

The Adi Saiva Sivacharyars perform various duties and rituals in Siva temples, including conducting pujas (ritual worship), administering sacraments, and providing spiritual guidance to the devotees. They are well-versed in the scriptures and hold deep knowledge of the Saiva Siddhanta philosophy, theology, and rituals.

Today we celebrated the Chitra nakshatra with an early morning padapuja for Gurudeva. The monastics and local devotees gathered in Kadavul Temple for the silent puja performed by Yogi Dayanatha and Yogi Haranandinatha.

"Love is the source of understanding. You know intellectually that within you resides the potential, expressed or not, for all human emotion, thought and action. Yet, you no doubt meet or observe people occasionally whose life and actions are repellent or unacceptable to you. The absence of love has created a vacuum of understanding. For the meditating person, there should not be a single human being whose actions, habits, opinions or conduct lies beyond your ability to love and understand." Gurudeva

The Womens' Kauai Retreatants are having tours of the monastery between their times of sadhana, worship, cooking for the monks, meeting with Bodhinatha and island exploring. Yesterday they came for a two-hour presentation by the Ganapati Kulam, held in the Media Studio. They heard about web designs and enhancements from Tillainathaswami, festival videos we are making for America's school system by Acharya Arumuganathaswami, the new Gantha Shala (Bell Tower) under construction by Acharya Kumarnathaswami, and some art and book projects by Sadasivanathaswami. It's a joyous group to be with. They are from Malaysia, Singapore and the US.

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives his weekly upadesha in Kadavul Temple. It is part of a series of talks elaborating on the inspired teachings of Śivaya Subramuniyaswami as found in his book Merging With Śiva.

"It is a principle on the path that until we are rather advanced we do not really know whether we have reprogrammed the subconscious mind or not, or if the reprogramming has been done correctly. However, we do know when we create something with our hands whether it is done correctly and carefully. We also know when it is finished, for we can see it on the physical plane. Taking a physical substance into our hands, using it carefully and systematically, and disciplining ourselves to finish that which we have begun is a powerful process. By doing this, we overcome habit patterns of carelessness and of not being able to pay attention to details. We also overcome the habit of becoming distracted. So, choose a hobby or a craft. It should be something that you do with your hands that changes the form of physical objects, such as taking clay and out of it making a beautiful vase or using yarn to weave a lovely tapestry."

The next stop in Bengaluru was Kailash Ashram, home of the late Sivaratnapuriswami (Trichyswamigal) and now headed by his successor, Sri la Sri Jayendrapuriswamigal. This ashram was largely responsible for clearing the path to set up the Iraivan Temple carving site in Bengaluru. Our late Gurudeva and architect Ganapati Sthapati ceremoniously chipped the first Iraivan Temple stone there in 1990.
Yogi Dayanatha reports--
"Jayendrapuriswami brought us around the property. He brought us to the Pyramid of Health which will be fully functioning in two months. They have dental already going on. The free clinic is happening, yoga sessions and meditation sessions are already happening. Eye care and some Ayurvedic treatment is underway.

"Then he brought us to see another building housing a homeopathic clinic, with most facilities already running. Two to three hundred people are already going to this place. Then he brought us to the gardens which had big coconut tree groove, mango trees, curry leaves and Naga lingam poo trees. We had some fresh cut coconut to drink and we walked across the road to go to another piece of land that had tons of eggplant, okra, chili peppers, pumpkins and more. It was really beautiful to look at. After lunch he took us to the gaushala where he showed how they use the cow dung to make methane gas for cooking. It was very fascinating. Its doing so well they are actually selling it."

After a short stop at Master Course trilogy student Madan Ganesh's family home, the team visited a granite temple being carved and assembled by Senthil and Thurai Rajasankara's company for the Sri Adichunchanagiri Mutt branch in Bengaluru. The former head of the Mutt, the late Sri la Sri Balagangadharanathaswami, had temporarily donated land in the city for the Iraivan Temple carving worksite.

Afterwards, they visited the Rajasankara joint family home and company carving site.

Finally, they visited a company called Live Green which is developing plant-only additive products to replace all animal-derived additives used in various food products.

And so ends the India portion of their trip

One of the priests who performed the Iraivan Temple pranapratishtha in March is Vivek Sivam, who then stayed on to perform the 41 days of Mandala Pujas afterwards. Now our monks have visited him at his family temple in Coimbatore, called Kurunthamalai Kulandhai Velaayuthaswami. It's on top of a small hill. Yogi Dayanatha reported:

"It has a similar feeling to Iraivan Temple, green all around and very quiet (when there is no construction). Lots of monkeys running around that temple. They were very playful but didn't bother us much. Coimbatore was cooler than other areas and it was very windy. They just had their kumbhabhishekam and are doing their mandala puja. We sat for the puja and chanted Sri Rudram with Vivek. Muruga had a beautiful Alankaram. After the puja Vivek took us to his house. We met his parents and his wife. They fed us breakfast. First home cooked meal since we started our India trip. They were so happy that we came. They made lunch for us as well to take on the road."

Then, on the seven-hour ride to Bengaluru, our travelers passed through the very scenic region of Ooty including a tiger reserve. Yogi Dayanatha reported: "You can see wild elephants, deers, peacocks and other animals except for tigers, as they only come out during the night most of the time. It was quite a drive through the reserve and the forests. Tons of pines, teak, blue gum and other trees. Ooty was very cool. You open the window, its like someone forgot to turn the A/C off."

Arriving in Bengaluru, the first stop was to visit the Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Art of Living Foundation) Veda-Agama Pathashala where Sundaramoorthy Sivacharya is the principal. He was one of the head priests at our Iraivan Temple pranapratishtha. Yogi Dayanatha reported:

"It was quite a welcoming party. We had small group of padashala boys chanting, short puja for Ganesha and then we entered the padashala. There, the boys were sitting chanting the "vyoma vyapine..." abhishekam mantra beautifully. We met Shanmuga Sivachariya's son. After that Sudaramoorthy Sivachariya give a short speech and honored Swami. Then different classes of boys were chanting different mantras. From the seniors to juniors.

"After that they took us on a tour around the property, their gaushala, research rooms, class rooms and farms—which had tons of okra and pumpkins. They have lots of people walking around, and many of seminars taking place."

Four trucks pulled into the Rudraksha Forest parking area early on Friday morning, unannounced but most welcome. They were delivering 30,000 square feet of a black, hexagonal-grid made of a high-density polyethylene. These are strong-durable structures sometimes used for overflow parking at Super Bowls and large events, but also for paths and roads that want to look natural, but be able to support carts and trucks.

It's all part of the path-building we shared a few days back on TAKA. The arrival of so much material reminded us of the scale of the project which will take months to complete.