Kauai Aadheenam

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami gives his weekly upadesha in Kadavul Temple at Kauai’s Hindu Monastery in Hawaii. It is part of a series of talks elaborating on the inspired teachings of Satguru Śivaya Subramuniyaswami as found in his book Merging With Śiva.

“Lord Gaṇeśa is the first God a Hindu comes to know. As the Lord of Categories, His first objective is to bring order into the devotee’s life, to settle him into the correct and proper flow of his dharma—the pattern of duties, responsibilities and expectations suited to the maturity of his soul. As the Lord of Obstacles, He deftly wields His noose and mace, dislodging impediments and holding avenues open until the individual is set in a good pattern, one that will fulfill his spiritual needs rather than frustrate them.“

December 24, Green

Nurturing Harmony through Cultural Arts

The sadhana of day four is to draw forth the vibration of joy and harmony that comes from music, art, drama and the dance. Family, relatives and friends gather for satsanga to share and enjoy their artistic gifts. Children dance and sing. Poems are recited. Plays are presented. When the program is over, all sit together before Pancha Ganapati, Patron of the Arts and Guardian of Culture, discussing Hindu Dharma and making plans to bring more cultural refinements into each household. More gifts are placed before Lord Ganapati.

Self & Samadhi Audiobook

We continue to create a audio version of each book that Gurudeva authored, using his professionally cloned voice. The small book, Self & Samadhi, was the final one. It is now complete and available here. The Foreword and chapter titles are rendered in a different voice.

For example, here is Chapter One–

A few days ago we celebrated the new annual Krittika Dipam lamp lighting and bonfire. It began with the normal monthly Krittika homa in the morning. The regular afternoon 4pm puja then took on magical hues as various extra deepas were lit within and just outside the mukha mandapam. Rows of electric lights were hung around the temple to provide soft illumination as late afternoon gave way to early dusk and then nighttime. After the puja, we paraded around the mukha mandapam and maha mandapam, lead by Satguru carrying a large deepam which was then used to light our simple bonfire out front made of dry palm fronds. It burned up very quickly, perhaps in a minute or less. Ash was then passed around to place on our third eye, followed by final aratis and prasadam inside the temple.

An AI overview describes Krittika Deepam thusly:

“Krittika Deepam (or Karthigai Deepam) celebrates the divine light of Lord Shiva, symbolizing the triumph of spiritual knowledge over ignorance, marked by lighting clay lamps to dispel darkness, invoke prosperity, and honor Lord Murugan (Kartikeya) and the Krittika (Pleiades) stars that nurtured him. It signifies enlightenment, divine union (Shiva-Parvati), and removing ego, culminating in a massive bonfire (Mahadeepam) at Tiruvannamalai, representing Shiva’s infinite flame.