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Bodhinatha In Malaysia

Bodhinatha reports that they had a wonderful Satsang with all the member last night (Friday in Malaysia)

“Evening satsang at Gunasegaran Chitravellu’s home–pada puja plus lengthy ceremonies for youth becoming Arul Sishya and taking brahmacharya vrata plus Brahmacharini Gowri receiving Vishesha Diksha. Good crowd inside the home and on the porch.”

Iraivan Entrance Unveiled

With the scaffolding removed we now have a magnificent view of the Iraivan temple South entrance and Raja Gopuram.

Views of Iraivan Temple

Here is a video showing views of the progress of the San Marga Iraivan Temple at Kauai’s Hindu Monastery in Hawaii, May-August 2009. Includes recent gilding and roof waterproofing work.
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht350ZbqMlY

Pictures from Recent Tour Days

The first stop after entering the inner gate to the monastery, guests view a vast expanse overlooking the North fork of the Wailua River. The pond and waterfall below are called Nani Ka’ua, which means beautiful rain. Behind this majestic scene stands the five million year old Mount Wai’ale’ale which means “rippling water” or “overflowing water”. Here they get a real sense of the divine peace or sannidhya that pervades Kauai Aadheenam.

“Subtlest of the subtle, greatest of the great, the atman is hidden in the cave of the heart of all beings.”

This happy family of nine is from Washingtion State.

We regret not getting the names of this beautiful family who lives close to the Aadheenam. This is the first time they brought their son to see Iraivan temple. They will soon be traveling to Japan to visit her parents and stopped to talk with Tandu about helping him with the bonsai in Rishi Valley.

This is adventurous Sarasvati from Canada, who decided she must come to Kauai Aadheenam even though it meant travelling all alone. She told us that many people stepped forward along the way to help her. Sarasvati is a long time reader of Hinduism Today which has taught her on so many levels the richness of her religion.

Kulamata Amala Seyon takes the opportunity to talk to our guests about rudrakshas and the beautiful rudraksha malas, and jewelry that are available in the new mini mela.

After walking the grounds in the blazing Hawaiian sun, the trees offer a resting place.

Absorbing the energy of the sacred Rudraksha trees.

Herb Garden

Sadhaka Nilakantha working in the new herb garden, just a few yards from our kitchen. Talk about fresh food!

It has dozens of herbs, from lavender to basis, parsley to catnip, fennel to oregano…

And the famous Echinacea. Echinacea, also known as coneflower, is a wild flower that grows naturally in meadows and moist low-lands throughout the mid-west. While Echinacea is most commonly known for it medicinal effects, it is also a common garden plant with beautiful purple flowers. While alreay popular as a medicinal herb, the true potential of Echinacea has yet to be fully explored by the medical industry. There are three varieties of Echinacea: Echinacea purpurea, Echinacea pallida, and Echinacea angustifolia. All three varieties are used to boost the immune system and fight infections, but only the purpurea and pallida varieties have been shown to be effective. Echinacea is thought to serve as a stimulant to the body's immune system by activating white blood cells, whereby making it more difficult for foreign bodies to infect cells. Echinacea is one of the most popular herbal remedies for respiratory infections and has been studied extensively for cancer and AIDS patients.

Visions and Bonsais

We recently had some visitors from Canada. Our long time good friend and officiating priest at many of our ceremonies Kandaswamy Gurukkal and two other priests, Bhanu Prakash, Surja Prakash. Here they discuss the on-going work to preserve and bring forward our Saiva Agamas.

Each year around this time we design and produce something that captures Gurudeva's amazing life and teachings. Past years it was a calendar, or a DVD, a Spiritual Toolbox or Power of Affirmation. This year we are creating a 100-page booklet that shares 14 of the major visions in Gurudeva's life. Here he is seen in Jalani caves in Sri Lanka, where a python slithered across his lap during a deep meditation. Below in his own words are excerpts from this booklet.

"It was in Denver, the mile-high city in the Rocky Mountains, that the commentaries (to Cognizantability) were written, seven years after the aphorisms were revealed. My external mind was learning to fully accept superconscious knowing, and the deeper inner mind was actively making itself the knower of the known. Oddly enough, one day the inner said to the outer mind to number each aphorism, which are now Sections One and Two of Cognizantability, and place them all face down on the floor. I obediently did this."

"Then, one after another, the commentaries were revealed, three words at a time with a significant pause between. The superconscious would dictate word by word to the conscious mind to be written down."

"Amazingly, it proceeded to dictate the commentary to number seven, then number fourteen, and so on. When all were done, the natural impulse urged me to turn over the aphorisms that were still face down on the floor with a number on the back to see if the commentary matched the aphorism. It did! They all did! Truly, I became a more dedicated believer in the jnana marga, the aftermath of experiencing the beyond of the beyond of the beyond, which we call Parasiva, the fulfillment of the yoga marga."

"As the years passed by, one after another, this procedure of bringing unrehearsed wisdom through from the higher mind to the external became a natural part of my daily life, "one of the tools of the trade,'' I have often said. These psychic powers sometimes take years to develop. But under the right circumstances those carried over from a previous incarnation come immediately, of course, and are as much available as the ability to speak, listen and feel."

Bonsai! It literally means "tree in a tray" and the Egyptians were cultivating trees in containers as far back as 4000bce.

In our still-being-landscaped Rishi Valley, not far from Iraivan Temple, five new bonsai plants have been established. There they are, on the posts.

They are of different species, and have been displayed in the traditional Japanese manner near the new Lotus Pond.

Some are pines, some banyans and one is, more on that in a moment…

First, meet the Bonsai Sensei, Tandu Sivanathan.

Tandu has been a student of the ancient art for many years, and was inspired to bring some of his creations to the monastery, as permanent residents.

Near the Rishi Valley Falls,

he has placed them, including this 300-year-old Buttonwood. Imagine, for three centuries one person and then another has been nurturing, shaping and caring for this little marvel.

Elsewhere in the garden grows this rare and distinctive Philodendron gigantea variegata.

And two of the largest palms in the world.

Archives are now available through 2001. Light colored days have no posts. 1998-2001 coming later.

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