Recent Guests
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Praveen, wife Sarala and sons Neel and Shiv made their first visit to Kauai from San Jose, California. Praveen's brother's family visited us last year.
Mystical Mist
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Recently we've been experiencing a thick, misty haze in our early mornings. It's actually smoke drifting to us from volcanic activity on our sister island of Hawaii.
February 2014 News Video
Twitter Update: Kauai's Hindu Monastery News Update http://t.co/AI…
An Invitation to the 2014 Mauritius Innersearch
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There are only a few seats left for the 2014 Innersearch. If you are interested click here to visit our Innersearch information page for more details.
Since 1967 our Innersearch Travel-Study Programs have been among the most joyous of our sharings together. Travel does that: opens mind and heart, sprouts new friendships, lifts the spirit so we can soar within without the usual obstructions, excuses and distractions.
you are invited to join Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami and his monks for an Innersearch Travel-Study Program, July 2-14, 2014, on the resplendent island of Mauritius, near the southern tip of Africa in the Indian Ocean. How beautiful is this island? After he visited the remote island nation in 1896, about half again the size of Kauai, Mark Twain quoted an islander as saying: "Mauritius was made first and then heaven; and heaven was copied after Mauritius."
This will be our first Innersearch program to Mauritius, one of precious few in the world that has a majority Hindu population, home to hundreds of Saiva Siddhanta Church members and Himalayan Academy students, as well as our Saiva Dharmashala and Spiritual Park, the only Saiva Siddhanta Church center outside of Kauai.
Innersearches happen only every few years. So it is a rare opportunity to spend time (not just a few hours but days and weeks) with the monks of Kauai Aadheenam while attending classes with Satguru Bodhinatha. You can look forward to life-long friendships with others on the path.
Gurudeva understood the importance of getting away from our day to day routines and that going on Innersearch is a transformative experience and a chance for spiritual change in our lives:
"What is your goal in this life? Is your goal to sit and wallow in the emotions? Is it to memorize a lot of things that different people have said so you can quote from them? Or is your goal in life to find first your Infinite Being within yourself? If you could only once gain just a glimmer of your true Being--the spiritual Being flowing through the mind which you always thought was you. Instead, you have things that you have to do that you haven't done, things that you will do, and things that you will not do, things that you haven't made up your mind to do as yet and things you thought you would like to do but decided you wouldn't do. All of this is going on as a process within yourself, and it keeps you nicely confused.
"Life in the technological age is a life of constant work, constant activity, all of the time. So, we tend to set religion aside just when we need it the most. We have to rely on our religion to keep a balance in our life. It is a proven fact that religious people can cope with stress and strain better than nonreligious people. The answer to stress is not to take a pill to be able to relax. The answer is not to give up the temple, not to give up the culture, not to give up the scriptures which put everything into perspective, not to give up the art of meditation and the practices of yoga. Spiritual things you must understand with your heart, with your feeling. Feeling and thinking, working together, give you that deep understanding that you need to cognize the wisdom of the spirit.
"The Hindu does not have the feeling of having to take a vacation to 'get away from it all.' We don't lead a life of mental confusions, religious contradictions and the frustrations that result from modern hurried living. We lead a moderate life, a religious life. In living a moderate life, we then look at our pilgrimage as a special moment, a cherished time of setting ordinary concerns aside and giving full stage to our religious longings. It is a time to take problems and prayers to our personal God."
Click here to visit our Innersearch information page for more details
Recent Visitors day at Kauai Aadheenam
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When Gurudeva established Kauai's Hindu Monastery in 1970, visitors to the Aadheenam were rare. Selecting the most isolated land mass on earth for the training and spiritual unfoldment of His monks, the monastery remained a remote destination for most, surrounded by pineapple fields and agricultural land. At that time on Kauai, development and growth was discouraged by the planning department. They had witnessed first hand wholesale development on Oahu and Maui and the local Kauaiian residents didn't want any part of it. Kauai was known, as it is today, as the Garden Island and Kauaiian's wanted to keep the pristine beauty of the island in tact. Slowly as growing families needed more job opportunities beyond the sugar companies, small shops and a couple of hotels the door was open every so gradually to allow controlled development.
Kauai is still beautiful beyond compare and the vision of the early planners has become the number one attraction on Kauai. Hundreds of square miles of tropical forests, mountains, rivers, streams and canyons. From the air the "human footprint" still looks very small. With more hotels, came more visitors. Visitors who do their shopping on the other islands are looking for something else when they come here, and many find their way to Kauai Aadheenam.
I wonder if the monks ever guessed in those early years that they would be discovered and that coming to Kauai's Hindu Monastery would require a parking reservation, staffed with a guard and guides to enjoy a tour of the monastery grounds and building sites. Yet, this also happened gradually and in a very controlled way. Gurudeva would keep the inner vibration of the monastery in tact, by keeping a very tight schedule of once per week for the guided tour and putting it in writing.
Well we can well imagine that the monks will be somewhat relieved when the entrance to Iraivan is established in the future along the far West acreage of the property and the monastery proper will be back to being cloistered 7 days a week, for now their generosity and openness to visiting guests is remarkable.
So what sublime vibration is it that calls to people from every walk of life and religious background to forgo a day at the beach, a zip line excursion or just sitting by the pool and relaxing with a miatai? - What is it that calls them to venture four miles up the historic Kuamoo Road and try and find the tiny entrance to the monastery? Many are not really sure when they arrive, but by the time they leave they know they have had a rare and special experience.
Twitter Update: RT @HinduismToday: Excellent article about the rec…
Mahalepu Cliffside
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Over the last retreat, several of the monks journeyed to the south side of the Kauai for a beautiful hike along the Mahalepu cliffs. The cliffs are made of countless layers of compacted sand and lava rock. They are slowly being eroded by the powerful ocean waves, creating unique and stunning formations along the cliffside. This part of the coast is also incredibly windy, with constant gusts that make it hard to hear anything else apart from the clapping of the salty waves.
"From the top of the mountain looking down, you see the natural role of a raging ocean and the steep cliffs below--they are beautiful. From the bottom of the mountain, the ocean can appear ominous and the cliffs treacherous. The fact remains that deep inside you is perfection. So, you see, you have a choice. You can remain in the valley, live in fear of the stormy ocean of life and death, or you can scale the nearby mountain and see from the top how it is from that perspective. Either way, you and everyone in the world are all right in the now." Gurudeva
Gurudeva Padapuja
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This morning was Chitra nakshatra, the time to honor Gurudeva with our monthly Abhiskekam to his paduka in Kadavul Temple. Worshiping Gurudeva's holy feet, we draw forth his blessings from the inner planes in which he resides. Gurudeva's rose-like energy filled the temple this morning, as milk, vibhuthi, honey and other essences were poured over his feet in loving silence. Fittingly Gurudeva's Murti was surrounded by bouquets of fragrant roses. Sadhaka Mayurantha and Sadhaka Jayanatha performed the Abhishekam.
"I have faith in human integrity, in that unfailing 'still small voice of the soul' which each who listens for can hear. We are essentially pure souls temporarily living in a physical body. We can and should use our God-given gift of free will encased in love to make a difference in the world today, even if it is in a small way. All of us making the same difference together do so in a big way." Gurudeva
Twitter Update: Chaturthi blessings. Aum Gam Ganapataye Namah. htt…
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From Our Gurus' Teachings
Archives are now available through 2001. Light colored days have no posts. 1998-2001 coming later.
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