Haran's Namakarana Samskara
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Haran Kandadas, who was recently at the monastery helping with the media stuio construction, has just had his official Namakarana Samskara. His name changing ceremony, and his formal entrance into Hinduism.
Gurudeva speaks of the Namakarana:
"Anyone can declare himself a member of the Hindu religion, but for one to be accepted into the community, he must immerse himself in its traditions and lifestyle. This is the first step. Next he must practice Hinduism openly and thus prove his declaration in his own life and in the minds of others. A person seeking entrance to Hinduism must convince not only himself but his close friends and family that, in fact, he is a Hindu. Otherwise, it is just a secret "play pretend." Finally, he must change his name and use his Hindu name, first and last, in all circumstances and have it made legal so that it appears on his passport, driver's license and business letters. This is a clear sign to one and all that he has fully embraced the Hindu faith.
When a soul who has experienced the Hindu religion for many years in a small village in India or Sri Lanka suddenly finds himself incarnated, through desire, in the Western world in a family of no religion or in a Christian or a Jewish family that expects him to follow what is an alien faith to him, that soul intuitively seeks out and searches for the religion that is right for him. When he finds Hinduism, God and the Gods become dear to him, Lord Ganesha is a familiar friend. All layers of his mind are content, and wholeheartedly he declares himself a Hindu and later enters into the Hindu religion."
Recent Happenings
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Adi Srikantha is back for 3 months of task force. He's here to help the Ganapati Kulam in its continuing renovation work.
Orchids are blooming today, and the rain has brought forth hundreds of mushrooms.
Thanks to some major earthwork being done at the Kauai Airport, the monastery is receiving dozens of huge boulders. It's a gift since the workers knew we were looking for landscape rocks. All we have to do is pay for the delivery. What is a giant rock worth on our island? Years ago we went shopping for them and since there were precious few the prices were in the $1-5,000 range.
Puja in Honolulu
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A month back the monastery received a call, inviting Bodhinatha to attend and bless their 25th-Year Anniversary puja on April 21, today. With Bodhinatha in Texas, Sadasivanathaswami and Yoginathaswami flew to Oahu for the special event.
It is closing a circle, since it was in 1988 that Savitri Kumaran, then working as a nurse at a local hospital, first saw an article on the Haawaiian Healing Stone, and visited it. Seeing that it was so akin to a Sivalingam, she invited others to come and see, and soon it attracted Gurudeva's attention.
He saw it was being neglected and flew over to begin monthly pujas, and for a long time the monks did this each month until the local community was able to take it on. They have done it regularly since then under the name of LOTUS.
The specialty of this site is that it is a small 10-foot cube right on the sidewalk in a small community. Yoginatha did a great abhishekam and Sadasivanathaswami held a short satsang afterwards, answering the question,"What is the future of Hinduism in America?"
A wonderful meal followed in an elementary school cafeteria, with lots of animated conversation.
Weekly Tours Begin Again
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The gates are open again to our weekly public tour with the end of Sadhu Paksha. From every imaginable background they come to hear about the Great God Siva and His Iraivan Temple, Satgurus, and the dedicated life of our Monks.
Strange Shapes
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How quickly can you guess what kind of odd-looking plant life this is?
Midland Interfaith Event Video
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Milling a Mango Desk
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Today the swamis are milling a massive desk for the Media Studio. It is being milled a full five inches thick, but what is truly special is that it is the mango tree that was felled (regrettably) last month. So the tree will have a new destiny inside the building that it shaded for 54 years.
The wood is extraordinary, with a dramatic black and brown vein of heartwood surrounded by pink and beige tones, which have a curly texture throughout. When finished this will be a gem.
Twitter Update: Bodhinatha wishes everyone Happy Ram Navami from t…
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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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