Kauai Aadheenam

Welcoming the 2025 Jivana Ritau

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    • Today is the first full day of our new season, the Jivana Ritau. Early this morning, monastics and sishyas gathered in Kadavul Temple for a short puja (monthly Krittika Homa at Iraivan Temple was on the day prior) and then listened to a past upadesha from Satguru, who is traveling right now. Following the upadesha they proceeded out the the Aadheenam’s flagpole to fly the dvaja for the new season.

    Excerpts from Saiva Dharma Shastras about the this time of year:
    “Beginning with Hindu New Year in mid-April, three seasons of the year divide our activities into three great needs of humankind the learning of scripture in the first season, Nartana Ritau; the living of culture in the second season, Jivana Ritau; and the meditating on Siva in the third season, Moksha Ritau. Thus we are constantly reminded that our life is Siva’s life and our path to Him is through study, sadhana and realization. In ritau one, we teach the philosophy; in ritau two, we teach the culture; and in ritau three, we teach meditation.

    During Jivana Ritau, the rainy season, from mid-August to mid-December,Living with Siva: Hinduism’s Contemporary Cultureis the primary text. The key word of this season is work. The colors are rust, copper-maroon and all shades of red rust for earthy preservation, copper-maroon for fulfillment and red for physical energy. The Aadheenam’s flag pole flies the rust-colored dhvaja, symbolizing environmental care. Copper-maroon and all shades of red adorn our smaller flags. This is the season of honoring and showing appreciation for those in the vanaprastha ashrama, life’s elder advisor stage. The focus is on preserving what has been created, manifesting goals and fulfilling plans made in the past. Inwardly the emphasis is on direct cognition and caring for the practical details of the external world. Practicality is a word much used this season.”

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    Efficient Use of Space for More Storage

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    • For decades we’ve been using “Big Max” small storage sheds to hold many construction, maintenance and repair supplies such as plumbing parts, electrical parts, etc. The sheds served a good purpose, but are inherently flimsy and more susceptible to corrosive elements than a actual building. Now that we have the new Hale Hana metal building, the Siddhidata kulam is gradually moving supplies into secure, better-protected storage space created above the welding station. They are fashioning shelves with unusually-thick plywood that was gifted to us by a local contractor.

    Across the room they also recently installed safety poles and ropes along the storage space up there.

    After capturing these few photos, we saw taskforcer Aran Malhotra weeding next to the “Tiki” sculpture outside Hale Hana entrance.

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    Miscellaneous Updates

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    • A few days ago we enjoyed the monthly Gurudeva Chitra Puja, attended this time by some sishya pilgrims from Mauritius, Singapore and Malaysia and mainland USA.

    In 2001, Gurudeva spoke about diplomacy, keeping the pranas flowing in a positive way by being careful about what to share with others, also knowing what areas are best not to be talked about at all: unsolvable problems. Keeping the prana between people flowing positively by being careful not to use words that create entanglement.–

    The Kadavul Temple re-roofing is proceeding apace. They have completely covered one side with new plywood and tar paper, and are halfway through the other side.

    A Hindu man with a fruit farm on the dry west side of Kauai has been gifting us boxes of huge mangos in season.

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    Kadavul Temple Reroofing Begins

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  • Reroofing begins
  • Tiles passed down to scaffolding…
  • Moved along more scaffolding…
  • Then pushed across this beam…
  • into the dump trailer

    • After protecting Kadavul Temple’s wooden roof from the elements for about 40 years, it’s finally time to remove the monier tiles, which had begun to crack here and there, causing some water damage underneath. They will be replaced with shingle tiles after conducting any necessary repairs of the wood ceiling beams underneath and placing a new layer of thick plywood and tar paper. As can be imagined, this project causes quite a disruption to the flow of visitors who normally attend puja and mill about throughout the mornings. To be fully on the safe side, we have shut down public access to the temple and surrounding area for the duration of the project.

    Yesterday was the first day of work for the contracted team. The first photo shows how much tile they have removed from one side (under the blue tarp). The job is estimated to last a couple weeks or longer, pending discovery of needed repairs or weather issues. Just today, it rained a fair amount (needed by plants after a dry spell), so the workers can only resume when that stops.

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    Fifth Dimension, the Mind of Light, Part Two

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    In this upadesha, Satguru shares the second half of Gurudeva’s profound description of the fifth dimension, which relates to the vishuddha chakra. “If we strew clothing from room to room, that disorder is always nagging awareness, bringing us too far out into external consciousness and plunging us into the mire of ‘I should haves’ and ‘Well, it really doesn’t matter.’ Till the outer dimensions are ordered and stabilized in crystal clear patterns of daily life, we never go deep. The foundation must be built first, and it must be strong. It is not advisable to overlook the importance of the most basic and ordinary daily chores and activities. No one wants to build the rest of the house, only to have to take it down later to repair weaknesses in the foundation.”

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