"Are not all persons on this planet driven by desire? Yes, indeed. Then let's redirect desire and let our desires perfect us."

Gurudeva

Gurudeva Darshan of the Day

Guru Purnima Puja, 2008

It was a magnificent day at the Aadheenam as we celebrated Guru Purnima with an early morning homa and worship of our beloved Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami.

Don't miss his latest upadesha, posted today (see right sidebar for links).

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END OF PHASE
Today is the last day of our phase.
This edition of TAKA will remain posted
over our coming three-day retreat,
until Dvitiya Tithi, Sun One, Sunday, July 20.

Light showers in the early morning brought an auspicious rainbow to bless the annual celebration of the greatness and blessings of having a living spiritual preceptor.

Yogi Jivanandanatha and Sadhaka Satyanatha performed the sacred ceremony, attended by the monks and sishyas on Kauai island.

The ceremony is held each year at the site of an ancient, naturally formed lava rock Lingam. This is the place Gurudeva saw in his early-morning vision of God Siva in February, 1975, which inspired the creation of Iraivan Temple. Later that same day, Gurudeva led a bulldozer to that never-before-seen spot, which was in the thick of a guava-tree jungle at the time. Since then, the Lingam, which is to Bodhinatha's left, has been worshiped daily. One day, a traditional, open-air mandapam will be built here to permanently honor the site of Gurudeva's vision.

Bodhinatha meditated throughout the puja

Saravananathaswami maintained a small homa to keep the channels open to the inner worlds while swamis chanted Sri Rudram. The chanting began before Bodhinatha arrive. The words "Namasivaya," which are right in the middle of the 20-minute mantra, which is at the center of the Vedas, were intoned just a moment before he sat down in his chair for the puja.

Monks, premonastics and devotees in quiet contemplation during the ceremony

Jothi Sendan's son enjoying being with his family for this sacred event

Everyone chanted Bodhinatha's 108 names. The second name is "Purvashada-jata," he who was born on Purvashadha nakshatra. It just so happened that Purvashadha nakshatra started at 9:00am today!

Flowers are offered after the Mantra Pushpam chant

Devotees come forward to prostrate and receive vibhuti blessings from Bodhinatha after the final arati

The pujari traditionally comes forward after all others present have done so

Bodhinatha posed for several photos in front of Iraivan Temple after the puja

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami ki jai!



Two Videos to Enjoy

For those who may have missed yesterday's new monthly web cast, we are running this again over the retreat, along with another YouTube video of drilling a hole in stone at Iraivan Temple.

The monks have finished the first edition of our new monthly video and are happy to present it here. This month, Bodhinatha tells us of his travels to Arizona, Illinois, California and Ontario, Iraivan Temple gets a floor and a ceiling, a silpi departs the monastery after five years of service, hundreds of guests come from all walks of life, monks go on a high-tech educational voyage to New York and California, the nation of Nepal, the world's last Hindu kingdom, goes secular, and we enjoy a video message from Gurudeva about sadhana and willpower.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive updates every time we post a new video. You may also subscribe to our new video podcast in iTunes here to download our videos and watch them offline on your computer, iPod or iPhone. Also available in High Definition.

Stay tuned in the next few weeks for the July edition!

Next, we present a video about how a hole is drilled through an 18-inch-thick granite stone.


Sadhaka Dandapani and Sivakatirswami have been working on a new slideshow presentation and technology, using PicLens (FireFox or Internet Explorer only). Click here to view the Maha Innersearch Asia Odyssey Show.