Today at Kauai Aadheenam

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.

“It is necessary for spiritual unfoldment on the path to enlightenment to live among others, be loyal, faithful, not promiscuous, to settle down and establish a cooperative routine of community life. Living among others—even having roommates who think, believe and have adopted the same spiritual, religious disciplines—grants the burden of good conduct, prompt resolution of problems and an abidance of sharing, giving and caring during the trials and happinesses that naturally arise in living with others.“

Jai Gurudeva!

Jai Gurudeva!

Today marks Gurudeva’s 98th jayanthi, meaning he would’ve been 98 years old today. To celebrate this auspicious event, in Alaveddy, Sri Lanka, devotees of our parampara performed a special puja for Gurudeva at the recently completed Paramparai Mandapam. They also recited the Thiruvasagam—one of the most sacred hymns for God Siva. This work was beautifully written by the Tamil Saint, Manickavasagar, as is full of spirituality and devotion. It contains 51 compositions and constitutes the eighth volume of the Tirumurai. It explains the connection of the soul to God Siva and how we should surrender ourselves to the feet of Lord Nataraja with purity and devotion, thus attaining moksha through His grace and divine power. Tiruvasagam holds within it core understandings of Saivism which few-other devotional songs provides. Below are words from our beloved Rishi Thondunathan about the event:

Today, we celebrated Gurudeva’s Jayanthi with the recitation of the entire Thiruvasagam hymns. The event began at 5:30 AM and concluded with a special puja at noon, followed by lunch for all attendees. Thanks to the Alaveddy Saivite Youth Organization for coordinating this meaningful event.

Love, Thondunathan 

Aum!

Jai Gurudeva!

We have this screen above Gurudeva’s samadhi shrine in Kadavul Temple which changes the image every hour or so. Gradually gathering the best vertical close-up photos of Gurudeva through the years, we recently added another batch and now rotate through 45 images. Here they are in this gallery.

Jai Ganesha!

We’re pleased to announce access to our Devotional Songs Library, now available on our website at himalayanacademy.com/audio-songs. After many years we’ve accumulated a collection of music of varying recorded quality, much of it sung by devotees, including Natchintanai, Tirumurai and many more. This has been a continued request since our website update. Migrating data correctly form our old website is a slight challenge with the many different ways the data was formatted, so we’re happy to finally be able to release this initial access. Aum!

Enjoy!

Dancers on a garden tour with Sadasivanathaswami

Jai Ganesha!

On the last Amavasya, dancers from the talented Shri Krupa dance school (based out of San Jose, CA) visited Iraivan Temple to perform a special offering. The group of six dancers came together to express their devotion to Lord Mahalingeshvara through the classical art form of Bharatanatyam. Each dancer performed with expressiveness and great dedication to their art, showing their love and respect for the divine.

As many know, Bharatanatyam is a dance form that combines rhythm, expression and emotion, enabling dancers to tell stories and connect with their audience. On the same day, a large tour group visited the temple. Each pilgrim entered the temple, not only to receive Mahalingeshvara’s blessings but also to witness the unexpected and marvelous performance. The dancers’ devotion to their art captivated everyone present, making it a memorable and spiritual experience for all.

Quote of the day

Today we reached the $80,000 goal of our annual Digital Dharma Drive! It was not at all certain we would meet the goal, but in the last few hours before tonight’s transition to 2025, a few generous donors recognized our plight and gave abundantly. We are grateful for this amazing support. It means we can proceed with our highest ambitions in the year ahead, producing a third edition of Lemurian Scrolls, a new edition of Patanjali’s famed Yoga Sutras (fully illustrated by our Kerala artist), a new edition of Saint Tayumanavar’s 1,454 devotional poems to Siva, website enhancements and more. Mahalo nui loa, as the Hawaiian say.