Aum Namah Sivaya

“You are me only when you are not you.”

Today we celebrate the monthly occurrence of the Ardra Nakshatra, a star sacred to Lord Siva. During each Ardra, our monks perform a grand abhishekam to Lord Nataraja in Kadavul Temple. Today is a great day for deeper mediations and more profound worship. Aum.

A long-awaited manifestation is taking place in Siva's Sacred Gardens. It is the brainchild of Tandu Sivanathan, a bonsai sensei who has cared for, nurtured, shaped and otherwise raised dozens of bonsais at his Kauai homestead. He has recently, with the help of Deva Seyon, brought twelve of his master works to the monastery. Together they placed display stands at each of the Satguru murtis, then hand-picked which guru should be honored with which style of bonsai. Now Tandu comes to the monastery every other day to water them all, since their super-shallow root system is hyper sensitive to drying out. Come with us on a tour of this marvelous addition to an already marvelous sanctuary.

Inspired the the beauty of the bonsai, Kartik Suresh wrote this short song (he's a bass player).

Bonzais of San Marga by Kartik Suresh, January 26, 2022

With Iraivan Temple just feet away, stand individual Bonzai for each Guru today. As each guru along San Marga’s path, each Bonzai’s shape colors their individual message. 

Whether lush with leaves, or a long branch as one, Siva’s grace is seen and expressed in rain, wind and sun.

Such as Sanatana Dharma, Bonzais have seen millennia, and as Santana Dharma, need meticulous care and discipline to wash away karma.

Jai Ganapathi, Jai Gurudeva, with these Bonzai at your feet, may Siva’s message and dance be shared with the world to see.

Click to play!

Aum Namah Sivaya

Several days ago, during the lunar retreat, several of our monks headed down the hill to Kealia Beach just north of Kapaa, for a beautiful stroll along the oceanside walkway. Arriving just in time to see the sunrise begin, our monks capture a few lovely photos of our island's natural radiance. Aum.

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives his weekly upadesha in Kadavul Temple at Kauai's Hindu Monastery in Hawaii. It is part of a series of talks elaborating on the inspired teachings of Sivaya Subramuniyaswami as found in his book Merging With Siva. Here, Satguru discusses "Love is the Sum of the Law," a talk given in 1960.

A short video showcasing the new concrete path to Iraivan Temple.

Today we share the second chapter in the tale of the trail, the making of the 10-foot-side and 650-foot-long concrete roadway leading to Iraivan Temple. The crew is amazingly hard-working, arriving before 6am and leaving after 5:30pm, and all day dealing with heavy concrete. The last photo is our favorite, relaxing at the end of five days effort. Our drone pilot captured a few overview shots toward the end of the slideshow. This roadway will transform the experience of driving and walking to Iraivan Temple, just as the very land on which our beloved Gurudeva stepped is guiding and transforming lives all over the world. Jai Gurudeva!

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives his weekly upadesha in Kadavul Temple at Kauai's Hindu Monastery in Hawaii. It is part of a series of talks elaborating on the inspired teachings of Sivaya Subramuniyaswami as found in his book Merging With Siva. Here, Satguru discusses "The Self God," a talk given in 1959.

We recently installed two new items at the front entrance area. First is a electronic push button lock on the entrance gate. There's a lock on both sides so it can be opened from either side. A neat feature is that the electronics are powered simply from turning the door handle.

Second is large signboard with six panels which consolidates various messages in one place, and includes QR codes for this blog and more.

Jai Ganesha!

Yesterday, the first portion of an improved royal path to Iraivan Temple was poured in concrete. This path stretches from the area around the Silpi Pavilion, up the Corypha palm-lined hill and ends where it intersects one of our roadways at the top. When done, it will be 650 feet long and ten feet wide. A Royal Road we are tentatively naming Siva Saalai (சிவ சாலை in Tamil) Siva’s Road. Many pilgrims may remember this hill and the challenges it has historically presented during heavy rains. Our hope is that this path will now serve as an mud and erosion free avenue for monks, pilgrims and work vehicles.

Over the this last week, concrete-expert Jim Fain and his 12-man team worked to prep the roadway. First they scraped and flattened it and then prepared the forms and the wire mesh for the concrete pour. Yesterday the trucks and pumps arrived, bring in a total of 88 yards of concrete, ten trucks in all. For perspective, a single yard weighs about 3,700 lbs. As it was pumped into the forms, Jim and his team continuously worked it and shaped it. They started their work day at 6:00am and finished at 5:30pm. Just imagine yourself raking rocks for a whole day, and you'll have a sense of the endurance that this type of work requires. So today, in appreciation, the monastery brought them lunch: pizza, Hawaiian potato salad, regular salad and local juice drinks. After all, Yogaswami told Gurudeva he would "build palaces and feed thousands!"