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Many Gurus, one Paramapara, one message, one mission...:

Letter from Kasi (Varanasi in North India)
"After wanderings far in an earnest quest, I came to Kasi and lo, I saw the Lord of Kasi--Viswanathan within my heart. Let not your hearts be troubled by wearisome pursuits. There is a fine saying that the herb that you have been searching assiduously lies at your feet within easy reach. In this place too, men live very much in the same manner as our people." (cont.)

"There is nothing wonderful, nothing mysterious in this world. In this holy city of Benares, I have performed the rites and obsequies most solemnly for my countrymen who have lived in bygone yesterdays, and to those of today and even of the morrow. From henceforth, live in obedience to your inner spirit imbued with love for one another; and live in harmony with the world under the protecting shelter of His Feet."

Siva Yogaswami:

--Natchintanai. 373.

No Audio Today

				Live Web Cam Pix!

Suresh and Anjani Desai from North Carolina. They are here visiting their son Niraj who is a medical specialist on Kauai. After coming to the monastery about two years ago they had to come back and see the morning Siva Puja. We took them to the Iraivan temple site to show them the temple building project. Both of them were quite amazed with the progress that has been made since they were last here. They picked a few rudraksha beads from the forest and bought a mala as a contribution towards the building fund.

Sannyasin Yoginathaswami with Sadhaka Tejadeva, together they review a check off list some vehicle maintenance. The Siddhidata Kulam has a master Calendar and all projects are carefully entered there. We have a large garden, one John Deere tractor, one Bob Cat, one pickup truck, one van... a variety of small vehicles, dozens of air conditioning units, plumbing, facets, milking equipment in the cow barn, grounds keeping, maintaining our water stream through the property... and that is just the tip of the iceberg of what they do! Oh yes, and don't forget, they are coordinating with sthapati the jointing of Iraivan Temple!

On the Local News front Sannyasin Yoginathaswami gave his Sun Four report today:

• "I am happy to announce that the brocolli you are eating is from our own garden... " (all the monks cheer and clap!!!)
• All the stones for the 15th course of the temple have been lifted up and are ready to be set.
• Containers are coming over soon from Honolulu with more stones.
• In the days ahead the silpis will start to work down the face of the temple and we will be removing some of the retaining wall in the front as they do more finishing work on what they have put together so far.

Walking down to the river area we refer to as Bali Hai, you find yourself directly below the temple site. In the years ahead we will have a huge ghat at the river and steps going up this hill to the temple.

Coming over the rise the temple appears before us...

The Remarkable Vision	Iraivan Temple Progress Update	Join this historic undertaking. Please contribute generously. Sponsor a stone today! Monthly Report Sponsor a stone Iraivan Wonders
	Order Sacred Rudrakshas or Gorgeous 2003 Iraivan Calendars with Hindu festival days on them. Great for Gifts! All proceeds go to the building fund.

One day we will do pradakshina around the sanctum (walking around and around) Today, look up...

All the stones of the 15th course inner wall have been lifted up and are ready to be set. The silpis cannot go further upward now until pillars are placed outside and beams that go from the pillar to the sanctum are in place.

In the meantime, the scaffolding you see here will be removed and some portion of the same on the front side as the silpis work their way down again, making final touch-ups.

This is the ceiling level of the inner sanctum...

Raman at work with the never ending leveling of stones.

The iron used for chisel is quite soft and necessarily so. Someone once asked why they didn't use hard steel chisels that would retain their sharpness... the reason is because the shock of the hammer on the chisel is transferred sharply to the hand that holds such a hard steel chisel, making it impossible to do this work for a long period of time without stress on the hand and arm that holds the chisel. So, the soft iron does the job and the carvers can work, hour after hour, day after day. year after year without injury.

Looking back down now toward the slope which goes down to the Wailua River.

Please give generously to the Iraivan Temple project!

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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