Monks in Mauritius, Nov 19-20
The day before yesterday, the two traveling swamis spent the whole morning at the Spiritual Park taking a tour and talking with Selna (our staff member that manages the Minimela). One of the goals was to locate a suitable spot for a new building to conduct classes. It was extremely productive and critical for making small changes that are critical for the smooth running of the entire property. The Spiritual Park is well maintained and starting to look really beautiful and feels so peaceful just walking around. In the evening we went to the Goodlands temple for a short puja and talk upstairs in their hall. There were about 400 people there! Only on major festivals do they get that many people, according to the president. The talk was well received and translated into Creole. We got home quite late as all 400 people came up for blessings and vibhuti from Bodhinatha.
Yesterday was a full day. In the morning we had a special initiation home at the Spiritual Park just for members. I think there was 14 vishesha diskshas! That has to be a record. There was also Arulshisya vows taken and a bramacharya vrata taken.
Next was a seminar for Master Course teachers. About 20 highly motivated teachers trained by Rajen Manik met with Bodhinatha and asked questions about how best to teach Gurudeva's books.
Soon we will be off to a mini youth retreat for the day (just for members), with lots of fun and a wonderful opportunity for the youth to meet with Bodhinatha personally, and also chat informally with the swamis.
All in all, many happy faces all around. Here some photos of our activities of the 19th and 20th where we held a children youth fun activity at Domaine Lagrave. We conducted a treasure hunt and took everyone's photos to use to update date the Saiva Siddhanta Church web site.
--Siddhanathaswami