Today at Kauai Aadheenam

Spiritual Training, Part Two

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(Part One was included in the previous week’s upadesha.)

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 Satguru Śivaya Subramuniyaswami as found in his book Merging With Śiva.

“Upon hearing of these soul-searching procedures (known as vrātyastoma), most will bow out without a word and seek less demanding groups, thus proving their insincerity. These time-proven methods prevent detractors from returning to further disrupt the group from the inside more effectively than they could from the outside. If the seeker is qualified to be readmitted after completing his prāyaśchitta, he must begin at the beginning study level and be given no special privileges, positions or recognition in respect for his prior association. The protection of the fellowship is of utmost importance for the benefit of each devotee, and for the continuing spiritual unfoldment of the guru or swāmī himself. One should not be so naive to think that disgruntled former devotees would not seek reentrance for the purpose of disrupting the organization, or be sent on a mission from an adversarial group to rejoin in order to disrupt. All this and more has happened to gurus and swāmīs since the turn of the century.“

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Gurudeva Mahasamadhi, Day Three

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    • We began the day with a short puja at Gurudeva’s samadhi shrine. Later in the morning, Satguru gave a presentation on the Klesha section of the Yoga Sutras to assembled pilgrims and gifted a copy of our new Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras book to each household.

    This is the 24th anniversary of Gurudeva’s samadhi, so it carries the 12-year-Jupiter-cycle significance. Sivasri Kumar Gurukkal arrived yesterday and will perform the mahasamadhi pujas tomorrow. He is accompanied by a special guest priest on his first visit, Sivasri Rajashanmugam Gurukkal who serves at the Palani Hills Murugan temple in Tamil Nadu and is visiting California to participate in the Shiva-Murugan Temple’s first Skanda Shashthi celebration in their new premises.

    Fifty-four small kumbhas are being prepared today to accompany the main kumbha. A couple of sevakas are here from Malaysia and USA to help out. They are cutting many banana leaves into small strips that serve as mats for the kumbhas to rest on.

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    Mauritius October Ganesha Homa

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  • Lord Panchamukha Ganapati, known by nearly all Mauritians as simply “The Big Ganesha”
  • Arrival at the Spiritual Park on the morning of the homa
  • Parading to the main mandapam
  • Vel lights the camphor arati
  • The homa is then lit
  • Kulapatis tend the flame while Swami burns the prayers
  • Next, a silent meditation with all present
  • Paramacharya gives an upadesha
  • Rajen translates to creol
  • An award from the Mauritian Department of Health
  • Final offerings
  • Pancha Arati. Jai!
  • Some wonderful bhajans to end the event
  • Our deep gratitude to everyone in Mauritius for the increadible stay! Aum.

    • Jai Ganesha!

    On October 5th, the final day of Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami’s and Sannyasin TIllainathaswami’s journey in Mauritius, the two had a wonderful time attending the monthly Ganesha Homa at the Spiritual Park. The day happened to coincide with a massive event at Ganga Talao, the island’s sacred hilltop lake, so only the staunchest Ganesha bhaktars were in attendance. This reduced the morning’s usual crowd of several thousand. When our swamis arrived they were greeted and garlanded at the entrance to the park, then paraded to the feet of Lord Panchamukha Ganapati. An arati was performed by Vel Mahalingam, the homa was kindled, and thousands of paper prayers were added to the flames. Following the homa was a silent meditation and then a talk by Paramacharya about the joys of Hinduism. An award was also presented to the Spiritual Park by the country’s Minister of Health, for the massive success of the blood donations that take place just outside the park during most monthly Ganesha homa days. Next was a final arati, followed by bhajans, and a loving farewell to our traveling monastics. Aum.

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    Youth Workshop in Mauritius; and New Monk Announcement

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  • The youth gather at the end of the morning to take an all tribes photo.
  • Tillainathaswami speaks on the nature of consciousness.
  • The tribes made 8 circles for their discussions.
  • Each tribe’s spokes person gave a report on their shared conclusions.
  • Our new monk from Mauritius, Arinien, with his father, Ananda, waiting at the Murugan Temple for the arrival of the swamis.
  • Arinien signs his Aspirant Agreement in a family shrine room, affirming his decision to follow the Saivite monastic life

    • On October 4, in the island nation of Mauritius, some forty under-25 seekers gathered at the Spiritual Park for a two-hour workshop that joyfully spilled into overtime. Sadasivanathaswami spoke on the nature of real spirituality, sharing the story of a fraudulent magician who, during the 1982 Innersearch pilgrimage in India, pretended to possess mystical powers—an act that aroused Gurudeva’s ire. Paramacharya then outlined Gurudeva’s practical tools for overcoming all kinds of fear. Tillainathaswami followed with mystical teachings on the nature of the mind and a guided meditation that everyone deeply enjoyed.

    The real excitement came after the tea break, when the group was divided into eight “tribes” of five and asked to sit in informal circles to discuss two topics:

    1. The place of AI in Hindu spirituality—including Zoom pūjās, digital gurus, and online Hindu studies; and
    2. How can we help our elders perform their duties better?

    Brave themes indeed, which the youth tackled with intelligence and enthusiasm. Each group then appointed a spokesperson to report back on their tribe’s conclusions. It was a wonderful morning—filled with friendship, lively discussion, and new bonds formed with the swamis from Kauai.

    One of the participants, Arinien Mootoocurpen, shared with the traveling monks his decision to come to Kauai to become a monk. He has the full blessings of his parents, who raised him in our fellowship from birth and had long hoped this day would come. He signed his Aspirant Agreement in the home shrine of Mougam Pareatumbe and his wife Amutha, in the presence of his parents. Arinien, is presently on pilgrimage in South India with his family while the monks prepare his U.S. visa application. As you might imagine, the monastery is joyfully celebrating this happy turn of events. There are photos of him at the end of the slideshow.

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    Darshan, Grace of the Guru, Part Five

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    (This also contains a lesson from Chapter 45, Spiritual Training.)

    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 Satguru Śivaya Subramuniyaswami as found in his book Merging With Śiva.

    “Once someone said of my guru, Yogaswami, “You have to make yourself like a fool to go in front of that man. He will speak as a madman of God to you. But if you go to him in an ordinary state of consciousness, he will say, ‘I’m just like you. Go away. I have nothing to say. Nothing comes from the inside. Go away!’ ” You have to be an intellectual fool to be in front of the satguru. If you hear ordinary things from the guru, look closely at yourself. He is your closest mirror. He is only biding his time with you until the extraordinary ones come along to utilize his depths. Most gurus enjoy an exquisite inner life that is so refined and interesting, it keeps them very well occupied. “

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