Blog Archives
February 16, 2004
"To understand the mysteries of the soul, we distinguish between the soul body and its essence. As a soul body, we are individual and unique, different from all others, a self-effulgent being of light which evolves and matures through an evolutionary process. This soul body is of the nature of God Siva, but is different from Siva in that it is less resplendent than the Primal Soul and still evolving, while God is unevolutionary perfection." -- Gurudeva
Bodhinatha shows a gift of a small Narmada Lingam, given by Aditya Vinadhara.
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Mahesh and Panna Mody from Chicago. As soon as Mody's arrived on the Island they checked in at the hotel and came to the temple right away. A friend of theirs had mentioned casually a year ago if they ever went to Kauai they should make a visit to Kauai's Hindu Monastery.
Aditya had darshan with Bodhinatha this morning. Here Bodhinatha blesses him with vibhuti. They talked about the Ganesha temple in Utah and the about the possibility of setting up an endowment for the temple in the Hindu Heritage Endowment.
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2004 Indian OdysseyJanuary 19, 2004 - February 5, 2004 |
We continue our documentary of the trip to India with more from our very busy day of January 31st.
After the short stop at Dharasuram, we drove on to another one of the famed Murugan temples, Swamimalai. It's a beautiful temple, very well maintained and active. The temple elephant comes to greets us on the street...
Sadhaka Dandapani who was the key "CPU" for coordinating everything all these many moons, was also our photographer on the trip. Here he give the camera to Yogi Japendranatha... entrance to Swamimalai ahead.
We had participants from 19 different countries in our group! Here is Shren Moodley, from South Africa.
Bodhinatha receives the traditional greeting at the temple entrance.
The always delightful and uplifting elephant blessing.
The main temple sanctum is up a ways... so we make our way up the stairs to the top.
An amazing painting along the way. Lord Murugan surrounded by the nine planets.
Swamimalai is a town of master craftsmen in the art of metal sculptures. Here Paramacharya Palaniswami meets with Vidya Shankar Sthapati who was commissioned to do the murthi of Gurudeva that now sits in Kadavul Temple. He did a great job... and is a wonderful soul. He met us at the temple.
Again the puja experience is "rahasya" to photographers. Actually this is a really great policy and prevents our beloved temples from turning into tourist havens. The sanctity is preserved when those whose only interest is taking pictures leave their cameras back and must focus on God.
After a wonderful puja we a group photo. We all really loved this temple.
Then off for lunch at the nearby Sterling Resorts and Ayurvedic Spa, which caters to people who want to come for a stay to go through the traditional rejuvenation therapies of Ayurveda. They had a great natural setting, a lovely murti of Murugan as Dandapani was there on the side.
With coconut trees right in the middle of the resort compound, we had a demonstration of climbing and cutting down green coconuts which were then brought back to earth and served to us.
These deer wander freely on the property, so soft and gentle.
Mr. and Mrs. Karthigesu from Singapore, enjoying the hot, light soup that was served as an appetizer before lunch.
Usha Kiran Shastri, from Oregon, with relatives in South India... always a bright and jovial spirit, well versed in the ways of India.
Thomas Evan Reese from North Carolina. He and his wife Karen have been to India many times.
Next stop for the afternoon was the work shop of the renowned metal craftsmen of the Devasenapathi Sthapati family and associates.
Officer Stephanie Shreiber, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Nilufer Clubwala on the left, a well-known doctor in the field of pediatrics, served selflessly on this trip as our "chief medical officer" handling any health issues that came along... what a great job she did too with such light hearted joy and giving spirit. Thank you Nilufer!
On the right, Laura Marks, from California.
Dave Tropf from Florida.
Inside the shop of Devasenapathi we met a ISKCON devotee from Brazil who was staying in India and overseeing a giant project of metal statues of Chaitanya and other saints for their center in Mayapur, North India.
We just missed seeing the giant, bigger than life statues which had made the news... here they are loaded on a big truck being shipped north.
We took the opportunity to take photos... watch for a story about this in a future issue of Hinduism Today.
We give a gift to the team here... a picture of the 108 bronze statues of Lord Siva doing 108 Tandava poses, which these men had created for Gurudeva many years ago.
The Stapathi's in turn gave a gift of a beautiful small statue of Lord Ganesha to Bodhinatha.
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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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