Bodhinatha is in Denver today. Meanwhile at home the joyous satsang with His Holiness Jayendrapuri Swami, current head of Sri Kailash Ashrama was the big event of the day.

But first we take a look at our “Wall of Rain” where our three supplicants are now performing the sadhana of “Sitting by the Wall”. For thirty days they sit here for before breakfast and lunch and put in as many more hours as they can. The purpose of the tapas is to beg to be accepted into Kauai Aadheenam and take the first formal vows as monks to become Sadhaka.

Brahmachari’s Nandi, Tandava and Rajan are “begging entrance.” During this time they beg the devas to assist in adjusting their inner minds to become one with the inner mind of the monastery. They meditate on their sacred purpose in pursuing the spiritual path in our community.

Sri Jayendra Puri arrived last night and this morning he performed his normal 2 hour Sri Chakra puja before coming to the monastery later in the morning.

Here he is at the front of Kadavul Temple. He later said that he has lived in many ashrams and monasteries all over India and nothing compares to Kauai Aadheenam. He told the monks at lunch that two great Maha Purushas stand out over everyone: Gurudeva and his own Guru Trichyswami. Jayendrapuri swami has known us for many years and it was a life long dream today that was fulfilled for him to finally come to Kauai.

Swami observes the traditional practice of removing his shirt for arati.

And then he prostrates before Lord Siva Nataraja

He offers gifts at Gurudeva’s samadhi where he also placed the paduka of his guru Trichy swami that he worships as he travels.

Next a visit to Iraivan to see the temple and meet the silpies

A stop to see the lotus pond

Even before swami became the head of Kailash Ashrama after his Guru attained Maha Samadhi, Jayendrapuri was a tireless worker at Kailash Ashrama in Bangalore and our silpis know him well.

A rare moment inside the inner sanctum of Iraivan.

Now we are off to the Swayambhu Lingam where Gurudeva had his visions.

Rudraksha trees always delight our visitors from India

Dakshinamurti

Swami and his entourage returned to have lunch with the monks. He is traveling with another swami, one brahmachari in yellow another young man who is a hatha yoga expert, three priests, his own cook and a grihasta attendant, Dr. Sridhara.

After lunch, Paramacharya Palaniswami asked Jayendrapuri to give some words of wisdom to our three new premonastics, begging at the wall.

He gave a marvelous upadesha, reminding us all of the three great gifts that can only come by God’s grace: a human birth, longing for liberation and the proximity of a Maha Purusha, a realized soul. He explained that while most youth are, as described by scriptures, like “monkeys” whose minds are agitated, become more agitated, then become like people possessed by ghosts and finally, when they get money, are lost in the world, that for them to have the volition to come to Kauai Aadheenam was a rare and precious quality.

He explained that while sitting by the wall they should understand what they had to do, and that was to completely leave behind the identity they had before, and become beings who are entirely dedicated to liberation and service.

He described the freedom of liberation as not one of personal freedom, but complete freedom from desire and the “hankering” for things of the world.

His talk was a great inspiration to all the monks and blessing. He knows what he speaks of. Those who have lived at Kailash Ashram are always amazed. He said we are all blessed because we have known beings like Gurudeva and Trichyswami “who, out of compassion gave up everything for themselves to build a place like this for all of us.”

Group photos…

Next a stop inside Kadavul. At this very spot Gurudeva sat with Trichyswami next to the Maha Sphatika lingam and that photo hangs in Kailash Ashram. So everyone wanted to also be with the Crystal Lingam.

Yoginathaswami shows Swami the Jyotisha board which has all planets arranged according to their positions each day.

Bodhinatha sends these news briefs from his stay in Maryland and St. Louis. He will fly off to Denver tomorrow morning.

Om Sivaya, everyone,

Jai Ganapati.

We had in private homes a morning and an evening satsang in the greater Maryland area. Both groups showed interest in Gurudeva’s teachings. Shanmuganathaswami gave each family a paperback Dancing with Siva and each youth a pocketbook edition which was appreciated.

On Monday we flew from Wash DC to St Louis, Missouri. In the evening we had dinner nearby with a group of about 15. All except one had been to Kauai in the last few years! An eagerness to learn, may good questions.

Om Namasivaya,
Bodhinatha

The holy Iraivan Temple is taking shape on Kauai.

On their retreat day, the monks painted the foundation anew.

Saivite temples traditionally have red and white stripes. Red is for Shakti, Siva’s manifest energy, and white is His unmanifest purity.

Together they depict:

The form and the formless

The manifest and the unmanifest

The all-pervasive and the transcendental

Shakti and Siva

As we write Bodhinatha and Shanmuganathswami are in St. Louis. Today’s photos are from yesterdays events at the Nallur Festival Day (Saturday, 9 August 2008) at the Murugan Temple of North America (Maryland).

Being greeted at the door.

A big crowd in attendance.

Lord Murugan with Devayani and Valli

Parade Deity looking magnificent.

Vetri Vel Muruganukku!

On Thursday, July 24th, there was a gathering held at the Mr. and Mrs. Thavaratnam’s Home in Toronto, Canada.
All those in attendance received a Natchintanai Song Booklet. The booklet was prepared by the Monastics of Kauai Aadheenam to be used for this summer’s children’s camps in Toronto. Now with the help of this new Natchintanai Song Booklet, they can teach their grandchildren Natchintanai Songs in English.

Mrs. Meena Thavaratnam and Thiru Satkunendran with Rishi Thondunathan. Meena Thavaratnam’s Natchintanai audio recordings are posted on our web site. Thiru Satkunendran performs a lot of services for our mission in Toronto. He facilitated the recordings and uploading to Kauai Aadheenam. Click here to listen to Natchintanai by Mrs. Thavaratnam

Mr. and Mrs. Thavaratnam with Rishi Thondunathan

You can expect to see some new photos of Bodhinatha on TAKA in the days ahead. Sivakatirswami went through some 200,000 digital photos and made selections of Bodhinatha photos starting in our year 2000, digital photos archives. The Bodhinatha Darshan of the day not always be related to what is happening today, but is just one of 830 interesting image of our beloved Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami.

Meanwhile Bodhinatha made it to the annual Nallur Murugan festival at the Murugan Temple in Washington and writes:

“Om Sivaya, everyone,

Jai Ganapati.

A crowd of about 500, more than last year. This year two buses from New York came from Flushing Ganesha Temple which significantly increased the attendance. Lots of devotion was expressed in the carrying of kavadi, milk, elaborate pujas and the final chariot around the temple. My talk was when the curtain was closed and the Deity was being decorated.

Om Namasivaya,
Bodhinatha

Dr. Parasivam with Paramacharya Ceyonswami following the morning puja outside the Kadavul Siva Temple. Dr. Parasivam is originally from Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He then moved to the USA in 1989 where he taught Environmental Science in Atlanta, GA. He more recently moved to Oahu where he continues to teach to the present time.

Our Indian craftsmen take a day off: in Honolulu! These six master sculptors have been working month after month on Kauai. But they had never seen a real American city, never seen an 8-lane highway, never seen Waikiki or a battleship.

So to honor their dedication, Palaniswami and Yoginathaswami took them to Honolulu for an entire day, 5am to 7pm. After the 22-minute flight to Hawaii’s capital city, we went to Pearl Harbor, and took a bus to one of the great memorials in the State.

It was an unusual day, Ashtami. How unusual, you ask? This photo was taken a little after 8am on the 8th day of the 8th month of the 8th years of the third millennium, and yes, there were 8 of us on the tour!

This is Pearl Harbor, where the Japanese attacked the US on December 7 of 1945. We will be going aboard the gray battleship you see on the far left of this photo.

It’s the USS Missouri, and it holds some history. It was in the first Gulf War, Desert Storm, and on September 2, 1945 it was in Tokyo Harbor. On board were the generals of the armies of many nations, and the representatives of the Empire of Japan. The eight of us stood on the site where the treaty to end World War II was signed.

This is a 2,700 pound shell that the big guns can shoot 27 miles away. And those are the aluminum cases that hold the powder kegs. It takes six kegs to project the shell that far.

We explored the inside of the ship, the crew quarters, the weapons firing deck and more.

Those 16-inch guns are among the largest of their kind in the world. The silpis always wanted to board a ship. This was their first time.

Chelliah lifts (ok, not quite) part of the 1,100-foot-long anchor chain.

Rajendran takes the ship out for a spin.

Next, we’re off to the real work of the day: shopping. The silpis love to shop in America. On their days off on Kauai they only go to one place: Walmart, for hours and hours. To be at Ala Moana Shopping Center (the world’s largest when it was first built), is a step up in the shopping game. Walmart on steroids someone said.

They are shy to go into the stores, so we boldly march into Gucci, a high-end place if ever there was one. Manikandan loves watches, so we ask them to unlock the vault and let him try one on. He picks this. How much, he asks. “$4,500” comes the sales person’s response. He took it off and later said “I would have to work for two and a half years in India to earn enough for that watch.”

Then off to world-famous Waikiki Beach.

And more shopping.

The silpis are bargain hunters, born and bred. They find a place offering seven T-shirts for $20. Let the shopping begin!

They each get seven shirts for their families back home.

Nearby is a silver statue.

Which comes to life and shakes Chelliah’s hand!

A cowboy boots and hats store charms them.

As does this Swatch shop.

Vellaisamy does a little surfing before we head for the airport.

Pandy says good-bye to Honolulu.

And we all head home to our little island, 110 miles across the sea.

Aloha!

A photo of Bodhinatha’s departure yesterday.

He and Shanmuganathaswami arrived safely in Salt Lake City Utah where they were met by Aditya Vinadhara and are having discussions with the temple leaders in the community on setting up Hindu Heritage Endowments for the temple

Our monks gathered to see them off.

The rest of today TAKA brings you news form three different countries. It is a testimony to Gurudeva’s life and work to see these activities flourishing. They were all seeded by his vision to bring Hinduism and Saiva Siddhanta forward to the next generation and into the “future of futures,” in our hearts, homes and also in the big wide world.

The Sri Venkateshwara Youth Camp was held just recently. Kulapati Easan Katir writes: “This is our sixth year teaching here. We had 80 campers. It began with Bodhinatha’s suggestion and continues with his blessing.”

Here are three of the camp teachers. Kulapati Easan katir (left) , Srimati Uma Krishnamurthi and Kulapati Aran Veylan who has flown down from Edmonton, Canada.

Kartikeya Katir giving first class at the Sri Venkateshwara Youth Camp. He has attended for 6 years, and this year is a counselor as well. In the class he related the story of the Hindu History Lesson at the California Department of Education, and called students to action to talk with their teachers and spread the good news.

Early morning hatha yoga…

The lecture hall. Copies of “What is Hinduism” were given to all students.

A birthday party for Shipra, head counselor.

On July 22nd, there was a Special Bhajan and Prayer Meeting held at the Yee Hong Center for Geriatric care in Toronto, Canada.

Hindu residents of this Elderly Home attended the one-hour Bhajan and Prayer Meeting which was conducted by Rishi Thondunathan and the children from the Toronto Sai Illam.

The children (Thuvarakan, Yathavan, Vithusaan, Athithan, Sayesan, Chandru and Anjali) sang beautiful Bhajans which was greatly appreciated by all the residents.

Gurudeva envisioned having a full-fledged Hindu Elderly Home for the Sri Lankan Tamil community in Toronto. Bringing these residents together for this spiritual fellowship seemed like a promising first step toward manifesting one day a Saivite Tamil Elderly Home In Toronto.

Sadhu Paksha Day Four

Bodhinatha and Shanmuganathswami left today for a six city trip across the US.

This month’s Chitra puja was held at noon today.

We were all blessed with an extra strong boost of Gurudeva’s presence and shakti. One has to be here to know the sweet inner fragrance of love that flows from him from the inner worlds to all of us when this puja is performed.

Yesterday, Senthilnathaswami and Sadhaka Satyanatha shot Bodhinatha’s scenes for the July edition of the monastery monthly video.

Bodhinatha also read his Publisher’s Desk from the Hinduism Today October/November/December 2008 issue on camera, and gave an introduction for a new quarterly HHE video.

Shanmuganathaswami spoke on camera for the HHE video. Arumugaswami also spoke on camera briefly for a video presentation on the second Hindu history lesson the monastery is producing, covering Hindu India from 300 to 1100 ce. It was our biggest video shoot yet!

One of Gurudeva’s dreams was to have a full life-sized sculpture of the creators of the Iraivan temple. This was going be of Himself, Ganapati Stapathi with silpis. Today Palaniswami introduced the idea to a bronze artist whose work we have seen recently on Kauai. This is something that will take time to unfold in the months and years ahead.

The monks are on retreat, but still hard at work.

With the editorial work on the October issue of Hinduis Today complete, the team is moving on to other tasks.

Today Senthilnathaswami recorded the voice-over for the July edition of our monthly news video, which will be released in the coming days. The high-end equipment we are working with these days makes audio and video work a breeze!

Iraivan’s root continues. Another 28 stones were lifted today… the pictures tell the story.

Sadhu Paksha Day Two

We are on retreat….

Every day, Yogaswami performed a small arati to the paduka of his Guru Chellappaswami.

On Saturday, July 26th, Thiruvadi Nilayam of Toronto, Canada hosted
an all day Summer camp for the community’s youth. Forty-two children of all ages attended the camp which was conducted by Rishi Thondunathan.

Among the teaching materials utilized were “Nine Beliefs of Hinduism, A Hindu Primer” and “Ten Questions about Hinduism” provided by Himalayan Academy Publications.

Devotees singing Natchinthanai Songs.

The Summer Camp started in the morning and ended with
the Siva Yogaswami Thiruvadi Puja in the evening.

Sadhu Paksha Day One

We are on retreat…

S. Rajam’s depiction of Yogaswami slapping Gurudeva on the back as he left the ashram, saying, “This will be heard around the world!”

Sun Four, the end of a short phase. It was a beautiful day today with many guests and sincere pilgrims here to see Bodhinatha. Note the side bar update with Bodhinatha’s latest Sun One upadesha.

~~~~~~~~~~~
END OF PHASE
Today is the last day of our phase.
This edition of TAKA will remain posted
over our coming two-day retreat,
until Dvitya Tithi, Sun One, Saturday, August 2nd.

Sadhu Paksha Announcement The monks’ summer Sadhu Paksha begins next phase. There will be no public tours during time. See our visitor info page for more information.

The Wigneswaran family of four on pilgrimage from Sydney, Australia. The parents have been here before, it was the children’s first visit. They helped us a lot to coordinate temple visits during the 2006 Innersearch in Sydney.

The Wigneswaran’s worshipping Lord Siva at the Narmada Lingam.

Here is the extended family of Prof. Braham R. Agarwal who is visiting here from Florida. He is the Chairman of the Hindu University there and a long-time reader of Hinduism Today.

The group had a wonderful inspired talk with Bodhinatha

A lovely Hindu Tamil family from Anchorage, Alaska are here on a weeks pilgrimage. On the right is Puvanesvaran Pillai with his 16 year old twin girls, Prishanya and Priyanka, and their mother Thilagavathy, and the girl’s grandmother, Ambikayamma. They are all great friends of the “Dandapanis” in Alaska, who are longtime devotees of Gurudeva, and it was they who highly recommended that the Pillai family visit this temple.

A photo of a youthful Gurudeva which none of us has ever seen arrived magically, released from a private collection in Sri Lanka where it had been preserved since 1949.

Today Gurudeva is smiling in his world of light, for he gave such place of pride to the great path of the Saiva monk and urged families to train their young boys, at least one, to follow it.

Yesterday was the once-every-two-years vow taking for the yogis and sadhakas, guided midday by Bodhinatha.

The vows are given for two years at a time, and each signs his name in the Sacred Vows booklet.

But first, Bodhinatha has had silver earrings made for the six monks renewing their vows. They are larger than before. In India, the Nathas wear massive earrings. It is a signature of the tradition. Except for the Satguru, our earrings are not so prodigious. Palaniswami removes Yogi Jivanandanatha’s old earrings, and gently but firmly pushes to get the larger ones in. Yogi took it with a smile.

Yoginathaswami does the same for Sadhaka Adinatha.

Once the rings are in lace, pliers are used to bend the silver into its final position.

One by one, each of the monks receives the new earrings.

We recall a day in 1982 when the Guru Mahasannidhanam of Dharmapura Aadheenam in South India brought out a truly GIANT set of golden rings and asked Gurudeva to accept them as a gift. A great deal of pushing was required to create a new hole in the lobe, but Gurudeva stood the whole time in perfect poise.

Bodhinatha takes his spiritual seat in the Guru Peedam to oversee the formal vow-taking.

Acharya Kumarswami leads the recitation, guiding the monks through each vow one by one.

The six recite in unison their vows of humility, purity, obedience and confidence. Others sit behind to witness the pledges which are a solemn commitment to themselves, to the Satguru, to the community of seekers and to God and the Gods.

They read together:

THE SACRED VOW OF PURITY: KNOWN IN TAMIL AS TIRIKARANNASUTTI.

Purity is the pristine and natural state of the soul. It is not something which the sannyasin attains as much as that which he already is, and which becomes evident as the layers of adulterating experience and beclouding conceptions are dissipated. Purity is clarity and clearness in all dimensions of being–physical, mental and emotional. It is innocence as opposed to familiarity with the ways of the world. It is, for sannyasins, the observance of chastity, called brahmacharya. In Tamil purity is given its fullest expression in the term tirikarannasutti, which means “purity in mind, speech and body.” These three–also called thought, word and deed–convey the amplitude of the ideal of purity.

Purity does not consist in merely doing good and being good, though these are essential, nor is it an external appearance or show of such goodness. It is primarily an inner quality, equally present in the saint who outwardly reflects the purity of his attainment and in the sage who inwardly rests in that same purity though his attainment may not be apparent. Purity is not a manner of behavior, though it may be reflected in our behavior, and there is no merit in taking on the semblance of being pure when one is not yet pure.

SACRED VOW OF OBEDIENCE: KNOWN IN TAMIL AS TAALVU ENUM TANMAI.

Obedience is the state of willingness and cooperation in which the soul remains open and amenable to enlightened direction. For the sannyasin it is an unbroken pledge of trust in and surrender to the satguru, the Siva Yogaswami Guru Parampara and the mystic process of spiritual evolution. In the Tamil language this definition of obedience is expressed in the term taalvu enum tanmai, which denotes “the quality or state of humble submission.”

Obedience does not consist in blind submission and yielding to authority, nor in weakening our own will that it may be dominated by the will of another. Yet it is, in another sense, submission to a sacred purpose and the divine authority of the Second and Third Worlds. It is, for the sannyasin, an inner quality that allows him to remain consciously tractable and responsive. At those times when the instinctive nature looms strong and there arises a sense of “I” and “mine,” obedience is a surrendering of the ego to the soul or the instinctive nature to the spiritual nature. As long as the ego dominates the life of man, he will experience obedience as capitulation or subjection. As the soul unfolds and separateness is replaced by knowledge of the unity that pervades the universe, obedience is perceived as the union of minds and purpose, a state of harmony so complete that there can exist no distinction between him who gives and him who receives instruction or direction. True obedience is based on agreement, trust and knowledge, as opposed to passive servility, nonresistance or domination which

have ignorance and fear as their basis.

THE SACRED VOW OF HUMILITY: KNOWN IN TAMIL AS PANNIVU.

Humility is the state of profound maturity in which the soul, immersed in the depths of understanding and compassion, radiates the qualities of mildness, modesty, reverent obeisance and unpretentiousness. There is an analogy in the Saivite tradition that compares the unfolding soul to wheat. When young and growing, the stalks of wheat stand tall and proud, but when mature their heads bend low under the weight of the grains they yield. Similarly, man is self-assertive, arrogant and vain only in the early stages of his spiritual growth. As he matures and yields the harvest of divine knowledge, he too bends his head. In the Tamil language this absence of pride or self-assertion is known as pannivu. Pannivu also means “jewel.” In the Holy Kural it is said that “Humility and pleasant words are the jewels that adorn a man; there are none other.”

Humility does not consist in concealing our merits and virtues or in thinking ourselves as worse or more ordinary than we are. Nor is it a pretended meekness. Rather it lies in not exalting ourselves before others, for we perceive the grandeur of God Siva in every human being and reverently acknowledge Him there. Humility in this ideal is the awakened perception that “Siva is All.” It is the inner being predominating over the outer nature.

THE SACRED VOW OF CONFIDENCE: KNOWN IN TAMIL AS RAHASIYAM.

Confidence is the state of trust in which the sacred teachings and sensitive or personal matters are not divulged to others. Spiritual instructions must be protected and preserved by those to whom they are entrusted, never wantonly or indiscriminately revealed. When we confide in another, we do so with the assurance that sensitive and serious information will not be inappropriately disclosed. In the Tamil language confidence is known as rahasiyam, meaning “secret or mystery.”

Confidence as applied to these Holy Orders does not mean “certainty” or “a belief in one’s abilities” or “self-confidence.” Rather, it is a confiding, a trusting and a relying upon. It is the sharing of privileged teachings or information that should not be disclosed, but held in confidentiality. In its most simple form it is the keeping of a secret.

That done, each comes forward and prostrates to Bodhinatha to supplicate his blessings for the next two years in the monastery. Bodhinatha signs the vow books.

We quote a little from the vows which guide our Order’s spiritual progress.

Postulants are urged
to continue to uphold the spirit of the Sivanadiyar, or Slave of Lord Siva. Satguru Siva Yogaswami, Gurudeva’s guru, extols the Sivanadiyar in the following Natchintanai verse:

We are Sivanadiyar. We are Sivanadiyar.

We are Sivanadiyar. We are Sivanadiyar.

This is charya. This is kriya.

This is yoga. This is jnana.

This is mantra. This is tantra.

This is the great panacea!

The practice of yoga for all sadhakas is overseen by the satguru, individually according to their personal needs and unfoldment. The Church postulates the sadhana marga as followed by the Kailasa Parampara, a path that stresses sadhana and tapas above intellectual learning and practical application of the religion above mere recitation of its principles.

This is the path of spiritual change and awakening, of pragmatic demonstration of the philosophy. All postulants are on this sadhana marga.

These four vows are a
holy covenant by which the postulant pledges himself to the ideals they contain and promises to defend and preserve the doctrines and faith of Saivism and the polity of the Saiva Siddhanta Church. The monastic enters into this covenant and takes these vows between himself and the divine beings of all three worlds, binding and obligating himself in the fulfillment thereof to his satguru, his fellow monastics and indeed to all Saivites.

The monastic pledges that he will faithfully abide by these vows in good times and in bad. He knows that difficulties will come to himself and to all his brothers at one time or another and that these tests may be all the more challenging for those who have progressed the farthest, just as the mountain climber faces his greatest obstacles near the summit. He will not lose heart if impediments appear, but face even the most difficult passages through his karma with courage and determination. In difficult times he promises to read these Sacred Vows and to take refuge in their ideals.

I do hereby accept and promise to fulfill to the best of my ability the disciplines and directions, including the Individual Restrictions, Sadhanas and Tapas, contained in these Sacred Vows as my sadhana and my way of serving Saivite Hinduism and my satguru through Saiva Siddhanta Church. I further promise to abide by and fulfill the dictates of The Lord Subramaniam Shastras, and to live a life of reverence and selflessness, serving as a Sivanadiyar the Deity, Lord Siva, the Mahadevas of Saivite Hinduism, my own satguru and the Kailasa Parampara.

Saiva Siddhanta Church has established the Postulancy to offer its members the traditional life and disciplines of the Saiva sadhaka, the single man residing in a monastery and serving the Saivite faith.

Aum Namasivaya!

On Sunday, July 20th, there was a Special Guru Purnima Puja held at the Sangamam Banquet Hall in Toronto, Canada.

After the Thiruvadi Puja a small Natchintanai Song Booklet was distributed. The first copy was received by two children, Param and Sarasvatha Balaganesan.

The booklet was prepared by the Monks of Kauai Adheenam to be used for this summer’s children’s camps in Toronto. This booklet is 24 pages long and contains 13 popular songs (just the first verse of the very long ones).