Yesterday the vinyl wall murals destined for the Media Studio bath arrived from Chicago. We selected a delightful work of art by our S. Rajam, a coconut grove in which a villager is drawing water (bath, get it?) from a kineru, a village well. If you have never seen one of these in action, the man walks back and forth on a beam made from a coconut tree. As he steps forward, the bucket drops into the water, and as he steps back, the bucket rises to be emptied.

You can see in the slideshow this art transformed into waterproof vinyl which will adorn three of the walls, with a giant mirror on the basin side, so one will feel surrounded by coconut trees, which, by the way are just a few feet away outside the Media Studio!

Now we can plan for the installation, after leaving it for a few days to acclimate to our Hawaiian humidity.

Recently the monastery had a public tour day. Every few weeks, these tours are offered as a chance for people from all walks of life to see the monastery, its sacred gardens and of course, Iraivan Temple. The tours are led by some of our local island members, who all do a wonderful job and to whom we are very thankful. The tour groups have grown over the years, to the point where our guests have to book a space months in advance. Gurudeva was very careful about keeping the monastery a monastery, and not allowing it to become another "attraction" on the tourist-saturated destination of Kauai. Thankfully, more and more, we are seeing that the visitors that come on these tours are generally very kind, respectful people, who often tell us of the profound effect that their visit has had on their lives. This group loved Iraivan Temple and the bright sunny day on which they visited. The rudraksha trees and other rare plants were also well enjoyed.

Today, Arumuganathaswami and Natyam Rajanatha made a short trip to visit the site of the Island's new biomass plant which is under construction outside of Lihue. The plant is the work of Green Energy Team, a company that has cultivated several parcels of land next to the monastery's own Himalayan Acres where we are growing hardwood and specimen trees. Green Energy is growing fields of eucalyptus trees which are meant to fuel the plant. Green Energy stated: "When finished in 2014, it will supply 11 percent of the island's annual energy needs. The plant will have a capacity of 6.7 megawatts and be fueled by biomass from several sources, including short-rotation trees grown on about 2,000 acres and the use of cleared invasive tree species."

For one day every phase, the Siddhidata Kulam spends their time in the Monastery's gardens. They've worked out a wonderfully thorough system, by which they plan ahead and keep track of all the garden beds, making what could be a very difficult job, much easier and efficient. Though the rain on this garden day made for a soaked morning for the monks, the plants sure loved it. The Garden provides all of the monastery's vegetables, all organic and all picked fresh, just hours before they are cooked.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-8IYtyVKHQ (Note: Video is black for the first few seconds while the moderator is speaking, then the picture appears) On February 19, 2014, one Hindu, one Jew and three Christians sat together to answer questions submitted by the moderator and the local community before an audience of mixed faiths at First Baptist Church in Midland, Texas. This was the fourth such interfaith panel held in the Permian Basin. The five speakers this year were (left to right on the stage): Rabbi Holly Levin Cohn of Temple Beth El, Odessa, Texas Msgr. Larry Droll, Pastor, St. Ann's Catholic Church, Midland, Texas Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami of Kauai's Hindu Monastery, Hawaii Rt. Rev. Sam B. Hulsey, Bishop (Retd.), Episcopal Diocese of Northwest Texas Dr. Randel Everett, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Midland, Texas The following questions were asked of the five speakers, which each addressed with three minutes of prepared remarks: 1. Do you actively seek new members? How do you deal with inquirers seeking information to consider membership? 2. How does your faith influence your views on gay marriage, and more broadly on homosexuality in general. 3. What does your faith tradition have to say to those of us who do not believe in a Supernatural World, one with Gods, Spirits, Ghosts, and Demons? 4. Throughout the year there are many public events such as awards, banquets, board meeting for the numerous non-profit organizations and regular meetings held by Government bodies. And they are often opened with a prayer which honors or beseeches Jesus Christ. How do you feel about this, given that often-times members of non-Christian faiths are present? 5. Non-Christian children are frequently told by their peers that they are going to go to hell. Knowing that such comments can create fear and insecurity in young minds, how would you address this topic with your congregation?

Recently, the monastery has received more large boulders for the ongoing temple landscaping project. The Boulders all come from Kauai's one-and-only quarry on the south-west side of the island. Each boulder is so large that only one at a time can be trucked up to the monastery. The flatbed truck had to be specially fitted with a steel plate for the boulder to sit on. Pradeep, our excavator operator who has been helping with the deliveries, uses his large machine to roll the stones off the truck and into place. The plan is to use the boulders to create a ridge on the north side of the temple to mimic Mount Waialeale's majesty. Some of the boulders will also be interspersed among the garden's plants, making for fun experience as pilgrims are dwarfed by their massive presence.

Our 2014 Mauritius Innersearch travel-study program has fewer and fewer available seats by the end of each day. If you have been planning to sign up, now is a good time to do so. Click here to visit the online application page. For those who aren't familiar with our Innersearch travel study program click here to visit our information page.

In the first two pictures we have SSC sishyas Sambandan and Thanaletchmi Umamaheswaran enjoying the last few days of their pilgrimage before returning home to Singapore.