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January, 2012
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Click here to read the 2011 Annual Building Fund Progress Report
The five day festival of Pancha Ganapati, from December 21 to 25, received some unusual promotion this year. It was mentioned in an episode of the television series "The Office" as well as on Oprah's website. It was celebrated at the monastery by creating a special Ganesha shrine that received arati each of the five days. Gurudeva encouraged his devotees to utilize these five days to make amends to family members for past misdeeds, insults, mental pain and injuries caused and suffered. Relatives and friends that live nearby are to be presented heartfelt gifts and offered apologies to clear up any ill will that may exist. And relatives and friends in far-off places are to be written to or called, forgiveness sought, apologies made and tensions released. We were also blessed with the customary large number of temple visitors in the last two weeks of December and the first week of January, many of whom met with me in the Guru Pitham. Many were long time subscribers to Hinduism Today who enjoyed talking as well to our editorial staff about the magazine and other publication projects. General contributions for December totalled $86,583.84. Special project contributions totaled an additional $1,908. We are grateful to our global family of temple builders for your continued and generous support. Om Namasivaya!
Change of Seasons and Winter Events at the Aadheenam
Iraivan Temple in the morning, as seen from the Rishi Valley. One of the special charms of this Agamic Siva shrine is its setting in a tropical forest.
In celebration of Krittika Dipam, lamps were kept lit late into the night around the 3-foot-tall crystal Sivalingam inside Kadavul Temple.
Top to bottom: The twelve swamis of our order gather near Nandi the bull for a portrait; Sadhaka Mayuranatha sat each day at the Wall of Rain for over six weeks, begging entrance into the monastery, as is our tradition before taking vows; the new flag is hoisted to mark the change of seasons; Sivakatirswami continues to hold bhajan classes with local members and young monks; the six members of the Ganapati Kulam at work, collaborating on photo options for the publications; a typical group of visitors on our tour day, posing in front of the 12-foot Dakshinamurti.
Iraivan Temple Progress
In Bangalore, the carving continues on the Nandi mandapam stones. Last month our worksite managers traveled to Tamil Nadu to examine the several works going on there, particularly the satguru statues. There will be eight of these black-granite marvels. Three are waiting to be shipped to Kauai and four more are nearing completion (well, not quite, they have to be shipped to Bengaluru for our team to bring the craftsmanship up to our standards.) A special "thank you" goes out to all those who contributed to the 2011 Digital Dharma Drive online. A total of $64,617 was contributed. The funds will be used by our team of swamis to convert more of our books to PDF, ePub and Kindle formats. Other digital goals include: making our website easy to use on devices with small screens, designing our first mobile app and upgrading the Hinduism Today website.
Pancha Ganapati & Other Events
At the end of December the monks celebrated Pancha Ganapati, five days of gift giving and worship of Ganesha, on December 21st to 25th. We encourage everyone to make this celebration a meaningful part of their lives during the end of year holiday time. See bit.ly/panchaganapati for more. The first two weeks of the month the monastery observed Sadhu Paksha, a triannual break in our regular early-morning sadhana routine during which the monks wander the property in the wee hours, meditating on their own on a sacred path or under a favorite tree. This period ended with raising the coral pink flag, marking the change of seasons to Moksha Ritau, the cooler season during which devotees focus on Merging with Siva and perform extra sadhana. During these days of December the monks celebrated Sivalaya Deepam in a quiet way with lights outside Kadavul Temple. Sivakatirswami is conducting a new weekly singing/chanting workshop on basic Tamil invocations, Vedic chants and Siva Yogaswami's Natchintanai. For several months now, the Siddhidatta Kulam has been renovating its future office space just outside Bodhinatha's office. This month the team covered the walls with new sheet rock, then applied stucco and white paint.
Guests
The monastery hosted hundreds of families during the year-end holidays, including a wedding party of 50 people from Canada. Bodhinatha gave some practical advice to the newlyweds: "Resolve all inharmonious conditions that might arise during the day before sleep at night." Simple advice but often not easy to follow!
Bodhinatha's Newest Teachings
A Keynote titled "Hinduism and Spiritual Unfoldment" has been created by Bodhinatha with the assistance of the publications team. Bodhinatha will present it during his travels this year. His Publisher's Desk in the Jan/Feb/Mar 2012 edition of Hinduism Today speaks to a related subject, "Improving Our Character." If we start at the beginning and work systematically, we can replace undesirable qualities with their opposites. Watch the video at bit.ly/improvecharacter. Several other recent talks are now available online:
"Forgiveness and Spiritual Growth During Pancha Ganapati" (January 2, 2012)
Video: http://bit.ly/pgspiritualgrowth
"See God by Guru's Grace" (November 12, 2011)
Audio:
http://bit.ly/seegodguru
Please watch the two-minute December 2011 news video at http://www.youtube.com/kauaiaadheenam.
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Left: Ramani and Prema Iyer from Adelaide, Australia, brought one of their children and family to visit Hawaii for the first time. They had a fun meeting with Bodhinatha who spoke with them on "What is the source of happiness?" Four of the eight statues of our guru parampara are in the final stages of carving in Mahabalipuram, clockwise from upper left: Nandinatha, Chellappaswami, Rishi from the Himalayas and Tirumular.
The Guru Chronicles
This is the worthy work of our Hinduism Today editorial team, an 832-page, fully illustrated biography of our guru parampara going back some 2,200 years and including the life of Gurudeva, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), and his guru, Yogaswami of Jaffna in Sri Lanka. Their stories, their day to day lifestyles, their magic and antics, their surprising conversations are all told here, giving you a glimpse of the life and teachings of that rare human breed, Homo enlightenis. You will feel enriched by the book's lofty perspectives and keen insights on life and the ultimate purpose of it all, who we are, where we're going, and how we'll get there. Hardcover, 832 pages, $59.95
The venerable Swamijis of Kauai Aadheenam have performed the foremost kind of Gurupuja this year by bringing out such a wonderful, powerful and nectarine book, which I consider to be the 13th Tirumurai. Dr. S.P. Sabharathnam Sivachariyar
The History of Hindu India
A book for kids, teenagers, parents and teachers, this history of today's Hindus, one-sixth of our human race, extends back beyond recorded history. In this book we pick up the threads of Hindu practice evident in the Indus-Sarasvati civilization. From there we trace the development of Hinduism through the early empires of India, a time of great advances in science, architecture, art and literature--during which Europe was experiencing the Middle Ages. Then came the years of trial by invasion, followed by colonization and finally, in the 20th century, independence from the British Crown. Throughout these periods of history, we highlight the people, philosophical ideas and religious practices that are key to the Hindu religion today. While the text is written for sixth grade social studies classes in US schools, it is suitable for high school classes. It has even been used in college course work, due to its accurate, comprehensive presentation of the world's most ancient faith. Hardcover, 128 pages, $19.95
I have carefully read The History of Hindu India and found it useful for Indian diaspora in general and Indian Americans in particular. It is well-written and tastefully illustrated. It incorporates most of the research done in the last half century without making it too scholarly and dense for the young reader. Apart from history proper, its greater value lies in its sections on art and society, festivals and rituals. They make the text come alive and relevant to present-day Hindus growing up in the Western world. The book is a must for those working on the revision of school textbooks in the United States.
D.R. Sar Desai, Emeritus Professor of History
University of California, Los Angeles
Peer into the Marvels of Hinduism
What Is Hinduism? is an incomparable resource for learning, teaching, or simply musing on the marvels of Hinduism. It is a compilation of 46 of the best educational articles produced by Hinduism Today's editors over the past 20 years. We might call it Hinduism's premier "coffee-table book." This book will be eagerly read by pre-teens interested in the Sanatana Dharma and secretly browsed by the teenagers in your home. It is used as text at Pittsburg's Sri Venkateswara Temple Summer Camp. Recommended for every Hindu home, it makes a great gift. Available at Minimela.com or at Amazon.com. Review it at gurudeva.org/resources/books/wih/.
