At the beginning of February Sannyasin Shanmuganathaswami and I continued our journey in Karnataka with a visit to Bengaluru where we had darshan sessions with members and devotees at the hotel and also a home visitation. Next we flew to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where events started with a visit to Dharma Shakti Ashram to attend puja. This was followed by a conference that was launching a two-days-a-month study of the Tirumantiram. My talk focused on showing how unique the Tirumantiram is in providing details on specific practices of Saiva Sididhanta. Our major Malaysia event, held on Sunday, February 2, was a book launch for the full color edition of Loving Ganesha. My keynote presentation focused on Gurudeva's teaching that Lord Ganesha is a real being you can easily contact through sincere prayer. This was followed by a short stop in Singapore where we held satsang and had an informal lunch with members and devotees. We returned to the Aadheenam just in time to celebrate Thai Pusam that evening. At the Aadheenam the major festival of the month was our Mahasivaratri celebration on February 20. The event created a strong connection with the Sivaloka which remained for days. February ended in hosting a retreat for a group of lady devotees from Edmonton, Canada. During their stay, they shared special satsangs and tours of Iraivan Temple and the Aadheenam. General contributions for February totaled $98,261, which is more than our minimum monthly goal of $70,000. Special project contributions totaled an additional $156. We are grateful to our global family of temple builders for your continued and generous support. Om Namasivaya,

   — Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami.

Click here to see Bodhinatha's extended travel schedule. Bookmark the link and return for updates.

Founder of Kauai’s Hindu Monastery, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, 1927–2001.

We must be aware that it is only reawakening consciousness into a natural state, and that there is nothing mystical, difficult or inward that has to occur to hold an awareness of the inner and outer simultaneously from one central point in the mind. It is only because one is not accustomed to thinking in this way that it may seem difficult. But little children are in this state much of the time, and it is natural to them. Each time you practice being the watcher, using the method just outlined, as soon as you begin to succeed, you will immediately receive the impact of realization of the extent of involvement in the external mind that had occurred between these periods of practice. You will find that the more you practice regularly, increasingly, more frequently, you will remember to continue "the witness" in the midst of daily life—while riding in conveyances, talking with people, shopping in crowded stores, even in the midst of a disagreement or at the pinnacle of a creative flow. "You," the watcher, will preside, and in presiding will carry that inner presence so necessary for a full and fruitful life.

Explore Gurudeva's Wisdom

• Study Gurudeva's Master Course, which is filled with philosophical, practical, soul-stirring information potent enough to inspire even a skeptic to change his ways of thinking about life and the ultimate goal of existence on this planet: HimalayanAcademy.com/study/mc/
• Read Gurudeva's books online at: https://www.himalayanacademy.com/looklisten/gurus-talks
• Listen to Gurudeva's inspired talks by visiting: https://himalayanacademy.com/talks/gurudeva
• Explore the teachings in the easy to use Sivasiva mobile app: https://himalayanacademy.com/apps/sivasiva

During Thai Pusam,

Lord Murugan is bathed in yogurt and offered the arati lamp in Kadavul Temple

Devotees press their palms together as the five-flamed lamp is raised during the Sivaratri homa

(top to bottom) A team of island masons form up the wide steps leading to God Siva. The following day concrete was poured and these forms were removed. Fast work; sheltered from sun and rain, the silpis patiently sculpt the granite steps for the temple entry; our newest sannyasin, Vishvanathaswami, is blessed by Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami following his vow-taking diksha.

Iraivan Temple Progress
All of the silpi craftsmen spent the month of February working on refining the detail carvings on the 64 granite stones that comprise the front steps. In February, after months of careful planning, the concrete foundation for those steps was poured. In mid-February a team of local concrete experts arrived at the temple site to construct, in just two days, a complex wooden form in which to pour an exactingly engineered concrete stairway. The actual pour occurred on the day of Mahasivaratri. In a few weeks' time, after the concrete cures sufficiently, the silpis will begin to place the ornate 6" thick stones on the rough concrete base to form the finished entry steps. In February the team from Innov8 Construction continued to stockpile moss rock which will be used to create a four-foot-tall lava rock plinth around the temple. Our master artisan, Umut Yegul, originally from Turkey, is established now as among the masterful stone workers in the Hawaiian islands. This project will take his team three to four months to complete.

Special Activities in February
On February 5th we celebrated 50 years of Kauai's Hindu Monastery. See the slideshow of the early days, construction of the monastery temple and placement of the Deities here: www.himalayanacademy.com/blog/taka/2020/02/06/celebrating-50-years-of-kauai-aadheenam. New monastic vows were given to two monks on Mahasivaratri. Yogi Adinatha received Sannyas Diksha from Satguru and is now Sannyasin Vishvanathaswami. Nirvani Haranandinatha received initiation as a Yogi Tapasvin and is now known as Yogi Haranandinatha. A spiritual retreat, organized by seven ladies from Edmonton, Canada occured during the week following Mahasivaratri. Staying in a large house nearby, they visited the monastery every morning, enjoying es with Satguru and the swamis. One of their main purposes was to perform personal sadhanas in our temples and surrounding gardens. Most were born and grew up in Sri Lanka, and immigrated to Canada after getting married.

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami's Talks
During Kauai Aadheenam's celebrations of Mahasivaratri, Satguru gave an inspired talk about the power of this important and mystical annual festival. Four more of Satguru's talks have been uploaded to the Look & Listen portion of our website: Darshan—seeing and being seen, discussing the mystical mechanics of darshan; Expanded Consciousness, discussing the meditative stages of expanding consciousness; Refining Our Experiences, discussing the evolution of consciousness as it ventures into more refined inner experiences; and The Four Yogas, discussing the four stages of evolution along the spiritual path.

A New Web App: Pillars of Iraivan Temple
One of Gurudeva's instructions for Iraivan Temple was that it be "a library in stone," depicting many important facets of our great tradition upon its 24 outer pillars. Each of these pillars is beautifully carved with stone images. We've compiled a full explanation of each one in an easily accessible web app on our website. You can access it at: www.himalayanacademy.com/pillars-of-iraivan/ The app works well on mobile phones, tablets or a desktop. We hope you'll enjoy exploring its rich content.

Publications and Other Activities
The publications team is working on articles for future issues of our Hinduism Today magazine. An in-depth article on ayurveda is in the works, along with a piece on the annual Chennai Music Festival and an article about pilgrimage to holy spots along the Ganges River from Haridwar to Varanasi. Music videos (by Aks & Lakshmi of Eclipse Nirvana) for use in history es in schools are in mid-production. There are 15 in all—three for each chapter of the five History of Hindu India lessons. This initiative is sponsored by the Uberoi Foundation.

Ladies' retreat: (right) Seven pilgrims from Edmonton, Canada, came to the island for a spiritual retreat, enjoying darshan with Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami and (here) meeting Paramacharya in the Media Studio;

A screen shot of a TAKA announcement about the new Pillars of Iraivan App

Hindu Heritage Endowment, Estate Planning

Matching Gifts:
Doubling Donations to Causes You Love

How can you turn $1,000 into $2,000 instantly? By using your company's matching fund charitable donation when you give to a Hindu Heritage Endowment Fund. Which companies? In addition to Microsoft, HPE, Oracle and Google, other companies which match donations are: ADP, Apple, Cargill, Ameriprise, Coca Cola, Honda, Samsung, Intel, SAP and AstraZeneca. Many of these companies allow donors to choose where their donation goes. If you're not aware of if and how your company does this, contact your HR department.

How to Make Your Matching Gift

An easy way to give is set up through the benevity.com SPARK program, which has processed $1 billion from 3 million donors. You can give in 17 languages and multiple currencies, important for companies with a global presence, such as Microsoft, HPE, Oracle and Google. Before you give to HHE, check your company's policy or with HR and see if they will double your donation through benevity.com, where HHE is a registered charity. Many companies also allow payroll giving, where a set amount is donated from each paycheck.

Do Your Share

In ancient times, the Maharajah, the king of a realm, supported temples, holy men and other good causes. In modern democracies, the people are king, so it's up to you. Please do your share!

We're Here to Help

If you're ready to make a gift, we're here to help answer any questions. The impact you can have is priceless. We can help you identify a gift to fit your goals. If you are considering naming Hindu Heritage Endowment in your will as you make or update your estate plan, please let us know so we can ensure that your gift is used as you intended. Strengthen your family’s future and continue your support of Hindu Heritage Endowment by downloading the toolkit pdf file at www.hheonline.org/tool-kit.shtml. Learn more about estate planning and planned giving at www.hheonline.org.

Help Finish Iraivan!

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Building Fund Donations

Thanks to Our February Temple Builders in 19 Countries

For the six months of September 2019 to February 2020, our minimum monthly goal was $420,000. Excluding contributions directed toward special projects, we received actual contributions of $526,528.03.

Your support is deeply appreciated!

Donate To Iraivan, Become a Temple Builder Today!

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Personal checks in certain currencies can be accepted by our bank (Euros, Pounds, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand dollars.)

Click here to see Bodhinatha's extended travel schedule.

Iraivan Temple is a punya tirtha, a sacred destination for devout pilgrims. The vision of Lord Siva on San Marga that Gurudeva was blessed with in 1975 is sustained and made manifest by the daily sadhanas of 17 resident monastics from five nations. Kadavul Hindu Temple and the many sacred areas of San Marga are available to Hindus for worship, meditation, japa and quiet reflection. It is best, if you are planning to come to visit us, to email us in advance to make sure the days of your visit coincide with our open times. And, if you want to have darshan with Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, to check if he is in residence and to make the necessary appointment. Please see our visitor information pages for more details.