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Powers of the Spine – Part 3

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives his weekly upadesha in Kadavul Temple at Kauai’s Hindu Monastery in Hawaii. It is part of a series of talks elaborating on the inspired teachings of Satguru Śivaya Subramuniyaswami as found in his book Merging With Śiva.

“Once in either current for a long time, it is difficult to flow awareness out of it. There are some people who are predominantly piṅgalā, aggressive in nature and strong in their human elements in that area. There are some people who are predominantly iḍā: human, physical and earthy, and full of feeling. And there are some who switch from one to the other. These are the more rounded and well-adjusted type of people, who can move awareness through the piṅgalā current and through the iḍā current and adjust the energies almost at will.”

Powers of the Spine – Part 2

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives his weekly upadesha in Kadavul Temple at Kauai’s Hindu Monastery in Hawaii. It is part of a series of talks elaborating on the inspired teachings of Satguru Śivaya Subramuniyaswami as found in his book Merging With Śiva.

“Once in either current for a long time, it is difficult to flow awareness out of it. There are some people who are predominantly piṅgalā, aggressive in nature and strong in their human elements in that area. There are some people who are predominantly iḍā: human, physical and earthy, and full of feeling. And there are some who switch from one to the other. These are the more rounded and well-adjusted type of people, who can move awareness through the piṅgalā current and through the iḍā current and adjust the energies almost at will.”

Sishya Rajen Manick on Taskforce

Longtime Saiva Siddhanta Church formal sishya, Rajen Manick from Mauritius, has arrived on Kauai for his first in-person visit to his Guru's home. He'll be staying with us for a few months to finally experience Kauai Aadheenam in depth and continue his service of translating the Master Course trilogy books into French. He also has extensive experience with conveying our teachings to seekers in Mauritius, so he will gather more resources and skills for that.

Skanda Sashti and Supplicant Pledge

We share here a few photos of the Skanda Sashti puja a few days ago (which was also livestreamed), and in the middle of the puja, while Karttikeya was decorated, Brahmachari Shankara Veylan took the six-month Supplicancy Pledge. Having already taken the vow of purity, he now takes on two more vows, the vow of Humility and the vow of Confidence. This pledge declares his intention towards a life of monasticism, as he now begins the final process, by which he will ready himself for the life of the Postulant. From the Sacred Pledge booklet:

"The supplicant's foremost objective is to strive for mastery of the charya marga, or path of service. This begins with the avoidance of wrongful actions and the overcoming of base instincts and emotions as he learns to transmute worldliness into the higher states of devotion and selflessness. At this stage on the path, the Saivite devotee is content not to strive for profound spiritual attainments but to work diligently with the faults and flaws that are stumbling blocks on the path, learning at the same time to depend not only on his own resources but on the limitless abilities of the Gods to resolve all difficulties and dissolve all obstacles. The Supplicancy is a time of profound worship of Lord Ganesha, Lord Murugan and Lord Siva and of deepening commitment and service to Saivite Hinduism and to the Church. It is also a time of study, challenge and inner change. The supplicant is encouraged to strive for the perfection of service and for the monastic ideals of humility, industry and responsibility, renouncing personal needs for the benefit of others. In this service, he should strive for transparency, that quality of anonymous virtue in which the premonastic lives in full harmony with others, remaining centered within and not standing out or disturbing the surroundings. It is this ancient tradition of unseen service and unperturbable stability that the supplicant seeks to emulate, realizing that serving in unheralded ways and renouncing the fruits of even good deeds averts the pitfalls of the spiritual ego and nurtures the state of unpretentiousness. By putting great energy into premonastic life and by serving tirelessly for the benefit not of himself but of others, the supplicant opens himself to the inflow of Lord Siva's grace."Aum Namah Sivaya.

San Marga Path Paving Progress

The path from rudraksha grove to Iraivan Temple is finally being paved so that pilgrims can walk safely. In between some rainouts and other responsibilities, our longtime earthworker Dennis Wong is making good progress with laying down rocks first, and then gravel on top. He is beginning with the most difficult section which stretches from the svayambhulingam (under white tent in photo), down the hill, through the rainbow eucalyptus grove, around a corner to the flight of steps leading up to Iraivan, and also a bit beyond that to a stream. After that, he will work backwards up the straight portion of San Marga path towards Muruga Hill and beyond.

After the rock and gravel is laid, the plastic grid will go down, which is then topped with soil and grass planted in it. It will look much prettier than a cement path, and also less expensive.

Sadhaka Vatshalanatha Performs Atmartha Puja

One of the requirements for a new monk is to learn and then perform the Saiva Atmartha Puja (home shrine puja) in front of Satguru and all the monks. Sadhaka Vatshalanatha recently did this at 5:30am in place of our normal puja for the monks. This accomplishment is a stepping stone towards him next learning the parartha puja (established temple puja), which he will eventually perform for Ganesha and Murugan Deities in Kadavul Temple.

Saiva Siddhanta Church Sishya Receives Mantra Diksha

On the auspicious full moon day of Guru Purnima, Gunamaya Sivananda from Tijuana, Mexico, received mantra diksha from Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami after several years of study and sadhanas. She now joins the fellowship of Dikshasishyas in Saiva Siddhanta Church. Mantra Diksha is formal blessings from Satguru for "Aum Namasivaya" to become the mantra used for performing daily japa-- chanting a mantra 108 times. A summary explanation from Dancing with Siva book-- Is Initiation Necessary to Perform Japa? LOKA 138 The most precious of all aivitemantras,Nama ivya is freely sung and chanted by one and all.Mantra dkshbestows the permission and power forjapa yoga.Without this initiation, its repetition bears lesser fruit. Aum. BHSHYA The Pachkshara Mantra is the word of God, the name and total essence of iva. But to chant Nama ivya and to be empowered to chant Nama ivya is likened to the difference between writing a check without money in the bank and writing a check with money in the bank. Nama ivya is the gateway toyoga. Initiation from an orthodoxguruis given after preparation, training and attaining a certain level of purity and dedication. Thegurubestows the authority to chant Nama ivya. After initiation, the devotee is obligated to intone it regularly as instructed. This forges theishya'spermanent bond with theguruand his spiritual lineage,sampradya,and fires the process of inner unfoldment. From the lips of my Satguruntha I learned Nama ivya, and it has been the central core of my life, strength and fulfillment of destiny. The secret of Nama ivya is to hear it from the right lips at the right time. Then, and only then, is it the most powerful mantra for you. Theiva Sahitaffirms, "Only the knowledge imparted by aguru,through his lips, is powerful and useful; otherwise it becomes fruitless, weak and very painful." Aum Nama ivya.

Completing Taskforce Visit

Earlier this month, Saiva Siddhanta Church longtime sishya, Sivajani Nagappan, had darshan with Satguru before completing his several-week taskforce stay and returning home to Malaysia, where the rest of his family will see Satguru shortly. Sivajnani was very helpful to the Aadheenam during the intense period of preparing for the final Iraivan Temple Mandala Pujas. He also enjoyed quiet "recharging" time sadhanas on the grounds.

Spiritual Initiation

A few days ago Ramai Santhirapala received her Samaya Diksha, hearing the sacred Panchakshara Mantra and special instructions for daily japa sadhana from the lips of the Satguru. In the Saiva Siddhanta tradition this moment of diksha is considered a crucial point in the long journey of the soul, when the Lord Siva's Power of Revealing Grace comes down to the devotee through the form of the Satguru, opening the door and the opportunity and means to liberation. Ramai has been working hard to prepare herself for this day and will take the blessings back to her Ganga Niliyam in London. Jai to our Beloved Gurudeva! Jai to our Light-filled Bodhinatha! Jai to our Grace-giving Mahalingeshvara!

From Gurudeva's Saiva Dharma Shastras:

Samaya diksha, also called mantra diksha, is the fundamental Saiva initiation, for through it the devotee is formally connected to a particular lineage by virtue of the preceptor's spiritual power and authority. The sutras of Living with Siva carefully prepare the novitiate for samaya diksha. All initiates instruct newcomers not just intellectually but more by example. Novitiates are instructed in how to transform themselves by themselves through daily puja, temple worship, attending festivals, tithing, vegetarianism, pilgrimage, scriptural reading, Gang sadhana and more. Samaya diksha is the blessing and empowering to enter the kriya pada and perform certain daily sadhanas, including chanting the Panchakshara Mantra, Aum Nama Sivaya, each day at least 108 times on a mala of rudraksha japa beads.


Nandi Pitham Is Consecrated

For those new to our story, years back, around 1984, we installed a 9-foot-long black granite Nandi in front of Kadavul Temple. Gurudeva loved the sculpture, but was disappointed in the rough unfinished stones they provided for the base. He called it "A pile of rocks." That sentence lived in our minds all these years and finally we set about to make it right. New cladding was designed in Chola empire style and carved in India and the silpis spent all of November and December and part of January installing and refining it. Here we present some historic photos along with a BEFORE and AFTER slider that tells its own story.

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

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