Yesterday the monks performed a pada puja for our beloved Gurudeva. His presence is always strong in our hearts. Thank you Gurudeva for the life-changing blessings which you bring to countless people everyday.

O Gurudeva!
How good it is to see you again
in this your new form
Magical are the chosen hands that crafted
holy, pure
how blessed to hold you close!
Patiently you allowed
all the twists and turns
flames and burns
beatings many too!
Now you call us loud and clear
It is your vibrant voice we hear -

"Rise, rise, rise!
Come on over
to where Heaven meets Earth!
O! What I would do
for you to glimpse
so beauteous a place
for you to taste
true love, joy and grace!

I can see, though,
from the smile on your face
the song in your heart
the wet eye, the warm flower
how ready you are
to journey on
explore, uncover, realign
to what is true, what is real!

Come, come ... I wait
I am here for you
always was, always will be
just do your one bit and
I will do mine
maybe, even nine score and nine!
Resolve, rise, reclaim your right
the time now is for action
and soon will come a time
when you too can stand
seemingly frozen in metal or stone
when all you came to do this time around
is complete, perfect and whole!

Rise, rise, rise!
Come on over
to where Heaven meets Earth
where I stand quietly in wait
at Iraivan's Glorious Feet!"

Infinite love and eternal gratitude

Aum Namah Sivaya!

A Siva Bhaktar

On the day of Mahasivaratri, Gurudeva's bronze was unveiled at the monastery. A short puja was performed by Natyam Nandinatha after an introduction by Sadasivanathaswami. Gurudeva was then uncovered with the help of Holly Young, the wax sculptor and the statue's creator. Three guests were then honored. Martin Mosko whom is helping with the Iriavan landscaping, Ava Waits who is a sister to one of the monks, visiting the Monastery for the first time, and then Holly.

On March 1st the Monastery celebrated Gurudeva with a chitra puja. It was a lovely way to start the day. Many memebers attended, feeling Gurudeva's rose-like energy permeate the temple. Jai Gurudeva!

"There are only two things you can really depend on: one is the changeableness of life, and the other is the unchanging Self within you."
-Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

Today is Founder's Day, marking 38 years since that historic morning when Siva came in a vision to Gurudeva, a hallowed moment that was the birth of Iraivan Temple. Today, interestingly enough, is also Sivaanbu Day celebrated all over America (and even in India we are told). Yes, Valentine's Day. It is the day set aside for people to openly express their love for a tiny part of Sivaness, and look forward to the day when that love will grow, expand and be felt for every creature, every atom in the cosmos. Happy Sivaanbu Day, everyone!

Here is how Gurudeva described that sacred morning:

"San Marga was established as a result of a three-fold vision that came to me early one morning in 1975. I saw Lord Siva walking in the meadow near the Wailua River. Then His face was looking into mine. Then He was seated upon a great stone. Astonished, I was seated on His left side. Upon reentering earthly consciousness, I felt certain the great stone was somewhere on our land and set about to find it. Guided from within by my satguru, I hired a bulldozer and instructed the driver to follow me as I walked to the north edge of the property that was then a tangle of buffalo grass and wild guava. I hacked my way through the jungle southward as the dozer cut a path behind me. After almost half a mile, I sat down to rest near a small tree. Though there was no wind, suddenly the tree's leaves shimmered as if in the excitement of communication. I asked the tree, "What is your message?" In reply, my attention was directed to a spot just to the right of where I was sitting. When I pulled back the tall grass, there was a large rock, the self-created Linga on which Lord Siva had sat. The bulldozer's trail now led exactly to the sacred stone, surrounded by five smaller boulders. San Marga, the straight or pure path to God, had been created. All this happened February 15, 1975. Worship of the sacred stone with water and flowers was commenced immediately through daily puja rites, and a master plan was unfolded from the devonic worlds."

A SPECIAL GIFT FOR YOU
We created a special PDF file this morning so you could see the nine astonishing vision paintings done by our Kerala artist, Suresh Mutthukulam, art which depicts the three visions above and Gurudeva's subsequent unfolding of Iraivan's destiny. Here you can also learn of the timeline for the temple's history. Download here It is a large PDF so we suggest you right/control-click and "Save Link As" to be sure the file is saved to your hard drive.