Blog Archives
January 30, 2004
Gurudeva on the beach in Kapaa town. He came here daily for many years to work on his books.
In Living with Siva, he wrote, "If you ever becomes discouraged and wonder about the path, remember that there are three pillars of Hinduism that will keep you on the path: the satguru, the temple and the scriptures. Go to the temple, strengthen your relationship with your guru and begin studying the scriptures. Discouragement will go away and courage will come. Dark hours will go and bright hours will come. Problems will bend down as the intelligence from the spiritual force begins to comes up. This is the way of the mysterious Nathas, who don't follow the way of words."
Meet Bodhinatha in Malaysia and India, Jan-Feb 2004
Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami will be traveling through Malaysia and South India this January/February on his 2004 Indian Odyssey travel-study program. You are welcome to meet him at the below places:
- Mon, Jan 19, 2004 - Sri Kandaswamy Temple, Kuala Lumpur
- Fri, Jan 23, 2004 � Sri Meenakshi Temple, Madurai
- Sun, Jan 25th, 2004 � Sri Karpaka Vinayagar Temple, Pillaiyarpatti
- Mon, Feb 2nd, 2004 - Siva Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram
- Wed, Feb 4th, 2004- Binny Hall, Taj Connemara Hotel, Chennai
- Thur, Feb 5th, 2004 - Thaipusam celebrations at Arupadai Veedu Temple, Chennai
Click here to go to his Travel Page for details.
Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami in a thoughtful mood.
He writes on the 28th:
This is our sixth day in Madurai. Today was a day spent in the hotel to balance out our previous day which was totally away from the hotel. In the morning I gave classes on the yama of Brahmacharya, the niyama of Faith, and affirmations. Additionally, a number of questions were answered that had previously been submitted by the innersearchers. Afterwards, a special blessing and abhishekam was given to Raman Pumaniam and his wife Suselah as the day was Raman's sixtieth birthday. In the afternoon, Paramacharya Palaniswami gave a two-hour class. Our more adventuresome innersearchers headed off on their own for an excursion to Palamuthirsolai Murugan Temple and another group of them took a bus for Madurai Meenakshi Temple and shopping. After dinner, a Kathakali dance troupe from Kerala performed.
We also met with Dr. Shankaram and his colleagues who have started a Vedic Centre in Madurai to propagate Vedic values in Tamil to the common man as well as Sankaran Sivacharya who is a priest at Maudrai Meenakshi temple who is promoting Agamic knowledge through an English/Tamil website url www.sivaagama.com. We discussed the various ways we could work together to spread Agamic knowledge through the web.
Bodhinatha's Sun One Video. Most Recent update: September 12, 2003. Bodhinatha speaks on Ahimsa, noninjury, yama #1, which is noninjury in thought, word and deed. The law of karma decrees that it is wise not to harm or hurt others, for we will then receive harm and hurt in exchange in the future. 12 minutes, 29 seconds.
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This is Sun One on our panchagam at Kauai Aadheenam, and the day always begins with early morning homa, or fire worship, in Kadavul Temple. This view is looking out from the inner sanctum, with the crystal Siva Lingam just in the picture at lower left.
Vasuki Sendan and daughter Shaila place flowers upon Bodhinatha's sandals. The guru's sandals are used to represent his presence.
Dr. and Mrs. Sayuchchiyadevan also attended the homa this morning.
Paramacharya Ceyonswami burns the devotees' written prayers in the homa fire.
The final offering is made.
Ghee, fruit, flowers, leaves, grains and various other substances are offered.
Mrs. Sayuchchiyadevan is seen at the end of the line of ladies on the left side of the temple, while little Shaila stands with her father, Jothi Sendan.
These substantial pieces of steel are the lifting mechanism for the vimanam cap stone. The rod is 1 1/4 inch steel, the hook 1 inch plate and the round disc 1/2 inch. There is a hole in the top of the cap stone for this mechanism. The large disc goes underneath, inside the capstone, the hook on top, connected by the rod and multiple bolts. In a few days the crane operator will hook this up and do a trial lift, which includes weighing the capstone. There are estimates of the weight, but it is difficult to be precise with its unusual shape. Knowing the true weight will assure that the right capacity crane is used.
This is the newest addition to our fish pond. It has eyes on top of its head, and is therefore the first of our fish to actually see its picture being taken. We're not quite sure what it made of the flash.
Today we bring you a retrospect of day 7 of Innersearch, the last day in the city of Bangalore. The morning was free time and our Innersearchers took to the city streets for shopping.
The main target of the day was to go out and get Hindu clothes for the remained of the trip and of course, to get an eye-full of Indian's ever-remarkable traffic conditions.
Back at the hotel, Bodhinatha has an interview with local media people.
And now, check out time with the Innersearchers returning from the shops all dressed now in beautiful saris, sarwal kameez and elegant kurta shirts for the men.
The staff of the La Meridian hotel were tops, professional and courteous. We highly recommend this place should you ever be traveling in Bangalore. A side note on health issues. This hotel has an 85 percent foreign occupancy during the cool season from September through March each year. The water coming into the hotel is all filtered and distilled. Then, as it enters the kitchen, it passes again through filters. So we had the happy occasion of not worrying about anything we ate here. As the Food and Beverage manager said: "With so much international traffic, we simply cannot afford for our clientele to fall ill."
Next, we made a move to visit Sri Balagangadharanathaswamigal at his new ashram on the outskirts of Bangalore. He has been instrumental in supporting the Iraivan Temple project through the years with his donation of land for the temple carving site and all kinds of assistance in various matters. A pure renunciate, he is also at the same time a dynamic leader in Karnataka state.
We are taken first to his goshala... cow shed.
Sadhaka Dandapani with his mother...
Next we all walk off to one of Balagangadharanathaswami's newest institutions. True to his "bigger is better" mode of operation we find next his international residential school.
This is the Balagangadharanatha International Residential school. Adorning the main entrance is a giant fresco of Goddess Sarasvati... The school provides education to the children of high-level diplomats and well-to-do families in other states of India and other nations.
A perfect venue for a group photo.
Next we take a leisurely 15 minutes to stroll the spacious grounds.
Everywhere is beautiful landscape, carefully maintained. This is very arid area and watering new planting is critical to the landscaping development.
Next we sit for dinner with Swamiji and we are joined by Puri Swami also. both of them had come to Kauai with Trichyswami many years ago and this is a joyous reunion.
Innersearchers are fed... but time is short... the train to Madurai is calling and trains to not wait for anything in India.
Paramacharya Palaniswami shares the appreciation of Kauai Aadheenam and all the monks for the great support the Iraivan Temple project is receiving from the swamis here in Karnataka.
Then we gave him a giant picture of him standing with Gurudeva.
We drove off in the dusk to arrive at the train station in Bangalore late at night, about 9:30 PM. We don't have any photos of the boarding but it was, as usual, an exciting process. Getting 90 people and all their luggage on to the train in two air-conditioned sleeper cars, one for ladies and one for men, took nearly 2 hours! The night ride was a different experience for everyone... this was a second class sleeper with births that are seats that drop down. Some found it hard to sleep, others said, with the rocking and clickity-clack of the train over the tracks they slept even better than in a hotel. As the sun rose in the morning we had the opportunity to look out the door between cars and for the first time get a glimpse of the beautiful landscape in the heart of Tamil Nadu.
Acharya Kumarswami, view the villagers, trees and mountains in the early morning sun.
One hour outside off Madurai the train stopped at Kodaikanal Road junction. This is the junction from which travelers can go up to the nearby hill resorts establish in Kodaikanal by the British at high altitudes to escape the heat of the plains below. The India Innersearch in 1969 spent nearly a week at Kodaikanal.
Sadhaka Tejadevanatha steps down. Everyone is happy to stretch their legs for a few minutes.
Our monks and Innersearchers take delight in striking up conversations with other passengers and locals. One nice quality of India is how open and friendly everyone is... there is no sense of "don't talk to me..."
Passengers bound for Madurai...
Traveling by train is a great way to experience India.
Mr. Nellaiappan. He is one of the trustees of the San Marga Trust in India and our liaison officer here. He is someone who knows how to get things done and has been working on Innersearch preparations for months, by going to each venue, setting up special pujas, contact the hotels and making sure all arrangements are set. Thank you, Nellaiappan!
Mr. Dave Tropf from Tampa Bay, Florida, is really enjoying himself on this trip.
Vendors ply the crowds on the platform. There is nothing like an orange or apple, tree ripened and just picked off the trees a day or so ago.
Our participants say how impressed they are by the joyful spirit they see in everyone's faces, rich or poor.
Palaniswami talks to one of the innersearchers.
Gerard Linsmeier has a background in Buddhist meditation and is delighting in the break from his intense business activities in California. He asks a lot of profound questions about spiritual work and transformation.
Not everyone feels it is necessary to brush out their hair in India.
Back on the train, the monks are dressed after the night's sleep and ready for the last leg in the train ride.
We only had ten minutes to deboard and get all the luggage off. It went very smoothly.
Chudika Mahadevan on the left and Darshani Alahan on the right, two young ladies who are good company for each other and are delighted with the journey.
Nirmala Satgunasingam. These transit junctures are always cause for everyone to get focused... keeping 90 all together is a challenge... "Now, which way are we all going?"
Sushela Pumanian from Singapore.
In blue on the left is Mrs. Sivayogam from UK. She knew Yogaswami when she was a little girl and her husband was named after Yogaswami. The ladies are happy to finally get off the cramped train.
We have finally arrived!
And many thanks to the dynamic and professional teams of porters at the train stations. We had anticipated "painful" luggage handling, but these strong men made the job sooooo smooth! And we felt happy that our rupees we paid them helped them and their families.
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2004 Indian Odyssey
Join Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami on an 18 day Innersearch to South India, from Jan 19 to Feb 5, as we pilgrimage to ancient monasteries, magnificent 1,000 plus year old sacred temples and meet with India's holy men in a life-transforming adventure. Click on the above link for more details. |
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