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"We are not on this planet to become educated, to get things, to make money, to dress up the physical body, to acquire property, to feed ourselves. We are on this planet for the realization of the Self, for that one thing, to go within ourselves. That is why we have come to this planet, and we will keep coming back through the process of reincarnation, time and time and time again, until that awareness grows up into a great big ball, where it is strong enough to move through the rarefied areas of the mind--if we are comparing awareness to a ball, from a ping-pong ball, to a volleyball, to a beach ball--and finally, we are just there. Intellectually, we have to compare awareness to something in order to get the idea. Once we have the idea and have caught the vibration and have released awareness from that which it is aware of, we are on our way in our innersearch for the ultimate goal, inwardly. "

Bodhinatha gives vibhuthi following our Sun One homa. It was a quiet day at the Aadheenam, but everyone was focused on some very intense projects. The big news was the "raising of the Parampara Stone" at the Iraivan Temple site.

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Hold on to your modem folks and stay with us while we send you a 33-photo documentary of the amazing process of getting an eleven-foot long, three-ton stone, through an 8-foot opening 15 feet in the air. We begin with bring in an extra big fork lift from Kauai Commercial to do the job.

Teddy Perreira is the driver and is a real expert. The first order of the day is to take the forklift up empty and form a strategy for the approach and to check distances.

Here is Teddy Perreira on the right and Clesson Ching who accompanied Teddy, riding "look-out" for the giant Kauai Commerical low-boy equipment carrier that was used to bring up the forklift. Teddy will be able to tell his grandchildren that he helped build the Iraivan Temple.

They take the forks all the way in. Yoginathaswami tells Teddy how things are lining up.

Teddy wants to be very sure about this and climbs up for a first hand look.

Meanwhile, the silpis are looking at the top stone of the sanctum doorway of the 13th course, where the Parampara stone will finally rest, working out a strategy for getting him in, once he is up that high.

OK, Teddy makes his approach to pick up the stone.

The silpis watching. Behind them are other stones for the 14th course, of which the Parampara stone is one.

Teddy is taking his time, thinking about the approach. He gets down and explains he will have to come in at an angle, putting one end of the stone in first. Yoganathaswami translates into Tamil and tells Sthapati what is going to happen.

More discussion at the point of entry.

Here we go....

Yoginathaswami is Teddy's eyes for what is happening on the ground.

The fork lift is a giant and has no problem with three tons.

We have to put him down again and take a new angle.

Teddy places the stone at an angle to the face of the sanctum. Sthapati is also guiding them from above, sighting the line up with the opening.

OK almost ready now.

Mr. Ching comes over to take a look a the ornamental carving.

Sthapati watches from above and suggests that the stone be even more on an angle.

No problem, Teddy is really good at this!

"Move that board.... come in more....!"

The moment comes and up we go.

Yoginathaswami signals to Teddy about his level "More... three more feet up!"

Teddy goes up and draws closer. Yoganathaswami calls: "Good, just one more foot up and you are over the railing!"

Teddy has this move perfectly under control, which is exactly how we want it.

"Yes! Perfect... You are in!"

Everything seems fine, but believe me, tensions are running high with three tons of granite hanging in space!

"Good, your right fork is clear now, come in some more."

"Perfect! Stop!"

"OK, now down... easy...easy!"

The left fork of the forklift is now resting on a platform of planks just inside the temple retaining wall perimeter. Teddy locks everything down and waits. The silpis take over.

The stone slides easily on the metal forks and years of experience in the simple movement of iron levers working over wood blocks with precise coordination of the team... inch by inch 6,000 pounds of granite seems to "float" into the temple.

We ran out of batteries at that point... and came back later after lunch... Suffice it to say the silpis completed the task and the Parampara stone is in place. It was pretty hot today so after lunch the silpis came from their house for a snooze in the breeze.

This photographer also took a break and lay down on the rocks for a short yoga break. "Rumba Shanti" Very Peaceful... head against the stones that came from India, thinking of Gurudeva and seeing his vision come to life.

OK, back to work, the sun is shining and all is well at iraivan.

Lord Siva's new home in paradise.

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Date: October_07_2002
Title: Bodhinatha's Travels to Mauritius part 2
Category: Travels, Pilgrimage and Missions Abroad
Duration: 6 min., 21 seconds
Date Given: October 01, 2002
Given by: Bodhinatha

My chronology gets a little vague at the moment. We went to maybe, it was a Siva temple that night and gave the talk on, 'Siva as the Perfect Parent'. We gave that here and Kulapati Moogem Periathamby, was the translator for that night He is our recently inspired 'Hinduism Today' subscription acquisition person for Mauritius. He came here and got very inspired with everything that the members in the US were doing for 'Hinduism Today'. He decided to go back to Mauritius and get some subscribers. The talk went very well in Creole. I was getting my ear back for French words. So, I could tell sometimes he would get a sentence ahead of me and then I would make a joke, "Oh no! You are a sentence ahead of me." It helped to keep the mood light and getting a sense of the language again.

The President of the temple, Mr. Perumal was the one who gave us his bungalow for free, which is just half a block away. A brand new bungalow there on the Bay. He was so happy we came to the temple. The priest first of all began with an archana in each of the Shrines, Ganesha, Muruga and Siva. They redid the temple and removed other Deities under Gurudeva's concept. So, they have a pure Saivite temple now. It looks beautiful too, it is nicely painted, has 'Siva Siva' in Tamil on the top. It is not a small Mauritian temple, it is a medium size temple that would fit into a village in India. It is very nice.

One of the interesting points was the priest was chanting and he chanted it so many times I started to think about it . I started to think of it previously when we went to the first temple, he was chanting, "Thennanudaiya sivane potri, ennatavarkum iraiva potri". You know, that chant that is done at the end quite often. So I was starting to think about the meaning, you know the original meaning of course. It says, "He who is worshipped in the Southern land as Siva is worshipped elsewhere as Supreme God." It fit right in with the talk which was God Siva is the Supreme Being. But I realized this chant was made a long time ago, this is not a modern thought. Really at this point, He who is worshipped as Siva in the Southern land is worshipped as Siva elsewhere too. That the Saiva Agama form of worship is now worldwide, whereas it was not, when that concept was first stated. It was restricted to India or countries near India. But now in the USA, Canada and Europe, traditional Saiva Agamic pujas are being done worshipping the Supreme Being, Siva. Pujas to Muruga and Ganesha are being done, worshipping them as Muruga and Ganesha. So the whole concept is a little different.

I was just reflecting on that, it is a very recent phenomenon. The Agamic puja has become established in all continents in the world. It is a very interesting thought, could make a small article or something for 'Hinduism Today'. How the world has changed in that regard.

I saw a number of the members, Kutumbas, at the bungalow. But the Mardemootoo Kutumba was too big for the bungalow. So we had a nice evening Satsang at their home which is close by, just ten- fifteen minute drive. It was on the other end of Grand Bay from where we were. It was the only Guru puja we had in Mauritius and the members were much more comfortable in the home. It was really devotional and the vibration just soared. It went sky high. Everyone was just chanting away, it was really a remarkable evening.

I got inspired and gave a long talk that I was not going to give, on Yogaswami's room. The Saivite Shastra quote about Yogaswami's room. Gurudeva has a room which His Guru is in and the wall opens when the puja comes, you know that whole explanation we have been given a few times. That intense devotion through the Guru puja, the Guru is present and the Saivite Shastras go into the specific explanation of the wall of the room opens and the division between the worlds becomes clearer.

So I was giving that explanation, very nice. It made me realize that next year we should see all the members in homes and not see any of them at the bungalow. It would be a nicer experience for them. The bungalow is a nice place for us to stay, much better than a hotel. They bring you food, you have your own kitchen. There is no tourist around or anything. It is just a private room. It is like being on the beach on Kauai, an ideal place to stay. But, definitely see the members in their homes.

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MORE UPLIFTING THINGS		Innersearch 2003-4 in India! We just completed the July 17-23 Kauai Innersearch, 2002. Bodhinatha will lead the next Innersearch to India, between Dec 2003 and Jan 2004. We will visit Bangalore and the Iraivan Carving Village, and settle in the South in Tamil Nadu, Click on the above for details on what will be an inspiring journey to our holy land of Bharat!
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