The Making of Sadasiva Murthi

About three years back, Jim and Natalie Levin approached the monastery with their hope to create something extraordinary for the Aadheenam. Their plan was to sculpt a 4-foo-tall bronze of Siva in His form as Sadasiva, with five heads and ten arms. They knew Gurudeva back in the late 90s and have continued to admire and support his mission under Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami. Permission was given and an amazing process began. A series of sketches were made by Selvanathan Sthapati to guide her hand and make the work authentic. To begin, Natalie spent about a year sculpting a small version, called a maquette. This 14-inch high piece was easier to make changes on and resolve major engineering issues. About two years ago the Levins invited us to their home in Arizona and presented the finished maquette. With that approved, Natalie moved on to the full size sculpture, working closely with Sadasivanathaswami at each stage.

Natalie Speaks of Her Process:

"The process of creating the Murti of Sadasiva was to strip myself bare and lay vulnerable to the powers of Divine direction. The process took me to places of sublime ecstasy experiencing a divine love so profound and soul changing. But the 2-1/2 year process was not without wrestling with my own insecurity, self-doubt, worry, steep learning curves, and lastly, a sense of victorious accomplishment knowing I stayed the course and did not give up when so many forces seemed as major roadblocks to its completion.

"I knew in my heart of hearts, that if I stayed pure and did puja before showing up for sculpting that perhaps the presence of Siva would help me and provide direction on how to do this supremely complicated form. Nightly, I called upon the devas and Gurudeva asking for their guidance in the deva loka. In daily puja, Id call upon Ganesha to clear away all obstacles and to make the energy free from all interference, as I needed all the help I could get!

Slowly the murti emerged."

Jim and Natalie receive a small gift of Gurudeva\

s golden sandals.'

Natalie is an artist of many skills and a power vision.

She chose the Sadasiva murthi due to its central meaning in Saiva Siddhanta. It is rich in philosophical meanings.

A form from Chidambaram, India.

An ancient form.

This is one of five drawings from Selvanathan Sthapati.

Natalie works on the maquette. She chanted sacred slokas throughout the process.

video: 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLumsSW6V4c',

video: 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvscOsFPr7I',

Using digital camera to capture 360-degree image

video: 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j-3NWIvgxI',

This is a digital file, not a video, captured with high-tech scanners.

On one of our annual visits we took a walk in the desert.

Almost done.

Jim was at Natalie\

s side the entire time, providing solutions when issues arose and in all ways encouraging her forward. His trust in Siva and in Natalie\'s process never wavered.'

Imagine working in such a small form without sacrifice of detail.

They present us with the completed miniature encased in a class cube. With all approvals in place, Natalie prepares to begin the full-sized murthi. Stay tuned for the continuing story.

}

];