It's visitors' day at the monastery, and many wonderful souls came to share. Among them were Jay Robertson and Dory, seen here in the Cedar Room with Gurudeva. They are key organizers for Kauai's October 10th future Fair, and shared with Gurudeva their plans for this important three-day gathering where island folks will be encouraged to think of their future, to share their visions and ideas for where this small community should be in the year 2020. dory is a leader of the Seven Steps program here, and a woman of vision helping the island move toward a clear, high-minded vision of its potential.

We also walked down toward the river with them, and after discovering Jay's love of plants, gave him a couple of rhyzomes of a rare etlingeri (tropical Torch ginger type) from Bankock, Thailand, called "SIAM." We hope it grows in your Omao garden, Jay.

Gurudeva gave them 100 Aloha posters also, and Jay will have them placed in the 42 stores of the Kukui Grove shopping center that he is marketing executive for. Then our two special guests took a tour of the grounds.

It's also Sun 5 in the monastery, and Acharya Kumarswami gave a talk to all the members gathered for the 6am puja. Thanks to Deva Seyon, recently back from the mainland and having brought his mother and father to the island permanently (Welcome to you both!) we have a summary of the talk for all to enjoy.

Acharya Kumarswami gave a powerful talk today on using the power of vrata to regain the original dedication and inspiration that enlivened our spirit to walk the spiritual path in this life. That might have been recently for newer students or 10, 25 or even 35 years ago for older sishya but we can trace back to that moment of realization that there is more to life than money, sex, food and clothes. That realization gave us the impetus to move up the spine into higher energies of the soul. Now some of the younger ones here today came along with their parents up to this point. They have not gone through all the searching and striving that brought their parents to this great realization. It is a great advantage in life but eventually you will have to find that power within yourselves.

Keeping this realization foremost in our mind and the original inspiration and impetus to move up the spine doesn't happen automatically. We can use the power of vrata to refocus ourselves on our goal and keep the energies above the waste that brings success and accomplishment on the path and in all walks of life. Some people are sitting down on the path or beside the path watching others walk by and wondering what has happened to them. We have all taken vratas in life to harness our energies and keep us free from the forces below the waste that dissipate our energies and lead us into fear, worry, resentment etc. If we fail to do what we promised ourselves we would do we automatically fall into the chakras below the waist. So vratas are very important to keep us moving up the spine. Take a vrata you have taken and use it as an affirmation. Keep saying this affirmation to yourself and channel your energies. Everyone has this great energy coming in through the top of their head - it is how we direct this energy. When we keep it up everything looks good even when problems come up - problems get solved. When we allow our energies to flow down there is too much confusion to solve problems.

[We interrupt this talk briefly to show you the Wailua River as it tumbled over some rocks, winding its way through the monastery this morning, lovely!] Those who are successful in life have a goal and a purpose and they are pushing ahead and striving. In Brahmachariya the energies flow in a single stream avoiding all distractions of temptations that drain off like a faucet here and there and then we loose focus and willpower. We can use our vratas as an affirmation to recommit to our original purpose and goal.

In today's world everything is available to the soul. It is not like the days of old on the farm when choices and options were limited. Today it is all available - everything we could ever imagine is right there on the internet.

If we will use the power of vrata as an affirmation in that split second of choice before we make our decision we will do what is noble, what we would do if we knew we were being watched and of course we are all being watched by our own soul nature to be reviewed on the astral as we complete our life. Those things that challenge us most may be one of the major purposes of this birth for us to accomplish, so we want to give them the proper attention and corresponding vrata to lighten our life with joy and accomplishment.