It's a sunny, clear Monday on Kauai. Once each month on Ardhra nakshatra a special abhishekam is performed in the Kadavul sanctum, and our six-foot Siva Nataraja is bathed in sacred substances, including fresh yogurt from our Jersey cows.

Work is going forward dynamically on our November issue of Hinduism Today, which will have major feature stories on Vedic astrology, and a special section explaining the workings and use in life of the science of nakshatras. Our artist, Manivelu, in India is painting day and night in his little studio, working on a large canvas of the planets, Indian style, for the gatefold, and on a special descriptive graphic, very complex, that compares the nakshatras with the better-known 12 zodiac signs.

Our taskforcer, Jnanadeva Shanmuganatha, a teacher from California, has helped the people of our island this week. Gurudeva introduced him to the superintendent of education who guides the island's childrens' training, and to our former mayor and others in education. Jnanadeva met with these leaders and helped them to understand a new system of child ecucation that his school has been experimenting successfully with for a couple of years. It stresses values, a non-fear-evoking classroom and other key changes in the outmoded teaching style of today. Jnanadeva has been her serving at the monastery for three months, is wrapping up thousands of hours of tedious and very important work on the glossary and index of Gurudeva's next legacy book, MERGING WITH SIVA. In the next few days he will give a report on the project which we will share in this space.

Gurudeva spoke at length about the work of Hinduism Today, and the 120-strong Renaissance Team that is working to manifest the magazine each month from all corners of the Earth. He spoke of the five purposes of the magazine which he founded 20 years ago this year: 1. To foster Hindu solidarity as a unity in diversity among all sects and lineages; 2. To inform and inspire Hindus worldwide and people interested in Hinduism; 3. To dispel myths, illusions and misinformation about Hinduism; 4. To protect, preserve and promote the sacred Vedas and the Hindu religion; 5. To nurture and monitor the ongoing spiritual Hindu renaissance. We invite our readers to share these purposes with us by writing letters, contributing reports and articles on events, sending news clippings and encouraging others to subscribe.