The monastery recently acquired this wood-fired oven. It's made entirely of stainless steel so it wont rust in our humid weather. Living in a jungle, we are not without vast amounts of extra wood, so this oven is a perfect use for some of it. Not for much though, as it is extremely efficient. You just light a small fire inside, let it heat up, then push the coals to the back and it's ready to cook. As many know, on retreat nights the monks break from their usual diet to enjoy other cuisines. This last retreat the monks used it to make pizzas, with a perfect smoky flavor that cant be beat.

On Tuesday, August 18th, Yelena Okhman came to the Media Studio to begin a massive undertaking, the translation of the Guru Chronicles into the Russian language. Together she and Sadasivanathaswami worked out a plan forward (this will take years) and then Yelena translated the cover as a ceremonial beginning of the project.

Gurudeva's books are popular in Russia and have been widely distributed in the Russian language. Some aver that Saivism is the original and most ancient religion of Russia. To have the stories of our Nandinatha lineage available to 155 million Russian-language speakers is golden. Jai Gurudeva!