San Antonio, Texas, is home to some of the first Hindu families to have arrived in the US. Dr. Pemmaraju Narasimha Rao and his wife Rani migrated in 1958, when there was not another Hindu to be found for hundreds of miles in every direction. He was a prominent physician and professor in biomedical research, and she was a yoga instructor. They raised two sons and a daughter and generously cared for every other Hindu family that came to the area, a pattern that picked up pace in the 1970s. Meeting Swami Satchidananda and Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami numerous times in the 1970s and 80s, they received much encouragement to build a Hindu temple here. The Hindu Temple of San Antonio was founded by the Raos and several other families in the late 1980s. Gurudeva visited on several occasions, and Rani loves to tell stories about meeting him in the airport and mystical happenings that always seemed to take place around him. Bodhinatha has come to speak at the San Antonio temple several times in the last few years at the invitation of the group here.

The Monastery has bought a used backhoe from our neighbor, who is moving and sold it at a very good price. The Siddhidata Kulam performed a short puja for it, blessing it for its many long years of use. Being such a large machine, this backhoe is a huge boon.

While Bodhinatha is in Texas we are catching up on some images taken during recent tours.

As Satguru Bodhinatha works constantly and actively within the Hindu World, visitors from all walks of life have an opportunity for Darshan during the "open house" or weekly public tour. Many leave with an experience they will not soon forget. Many with books that will give them a deeper understanding and appreciation of the worlds most ancient faith.

Yesterday Sadasivanathaswami took the Param family, Sivanadiyar Jaya and Forrest Miller on an excursion to a local cycad collector. Greg Holzman owns the Pacific Cycad Nursery, and has spent the last 25 years collecting these ancient botanical creatures from all corners of the world.

It all came at an interesting time, just weeks after Martin Mosco, our garden designer, suggested we need cycads in Siva's Sacred Gardens. So, naturally we stumble on a man who has spent his life bringing them to the island.

We saw thousands. Small and giant. Greg is a passionate collector and made our wanderings through his greenhouses fascinating. We will return to select which of these gems is destined for the monastery.