At last, with the blessings of Gurudeva, we had our Iraivan Temple Donor Appreciation Reception in Anaheim, California. Here is Usha Katir, our gracious coordinator and chief decorator, standing beside Ganesha’s and Gurudeva’s shrine at the event.

Sannyasin Senthilnathaswami was the emcee and presented lots of news and photos about what the monastery has accomplished over the past year, with a special emphasis on the progress of the San Marga Iraivan Temple project.

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gave a 45-minute teaching presentation on the yamas and niyamas, good conduct, the goals of life, how to apply basic Hindu principles to our lives in practice, and on moksha. Everyone laughed when he noted that he has a proven way to put an audience to sleep: talk at length about moksha. Most people think that moksha is just for monks. Monks do focus on only two of the four goals of life, dharma (righteousness) and moksha (liberation from the cycle of rebirth), skipping artha (wealth) and kama (pleasure). So, for a talk to a group of family people, Bodhinatha promised to focus on the path leading toward moksha rather than moksha itself. This path of applying Hindu dharmic principles to our everyday lives is a virtuous and rewarding path for everyone.

Shakti Mahadevan and Sheela Rahavendran

Dasan Mahadevan and Senthilnathaswami

Jeff Weiske, a former (and perhaps soon returning) Kauaian

Chandra & Partab Ramsingghani and Tushar & Alka Doshi

Ritesh Varma

Devotees Ram and Nancy from the Vedanta Society

Everyone was invited to visit with Bodhinatha after the presentations.

Usha and Diksha Katir receive blessings from Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami.

Ravi Rahavendran and daughter Aarthi, and Diksha and Usha Katir

Sathya, Mahalakshmi and Prashanthi Manoharan offering us some good humor

Nalini Ganapati with her fiancee, Prasanna Kodapadi, who just arrived from Bangalore.

Jai Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami