This was the floor being pressure washed yesterday.
Tools of the trade.
We begin with stone. Today we are installing quartzite from Brazil on the floor of the Stone Bell Tower. It will match the floor of the nearby Silpi Pavilion, which you see in the background in this first photo. Quartzite is a dense kind of stone, which makes it perfect for tropical paths and floors since it does not give a foothold to lichens or molds to grow and it has a slip-proof texture.
Siva’s Garden is a daily wonder, reminding pilgrims of the beauties of life, the soft nurturing that surrounds us if we can just be still enough to see it. Today we bring you a small collection of the botanical creatures that live with us here at the monastery and are showing off, trying to impress pilgrims, to remind them of Siva’s infinite, and sometimes odd, forms.
Kavi Kat finds a quiet corner among the Calocasia Green Shield under the Bilva tree
A new arrival, Philodendron Gloriosum,
It is one of the most sought-after rarities in the botanical world today and we are working to make more copies.
Licuala cordata, a palm with almost perfectly round fronds
The Gold Rain tree in full bloom
New plantings along the San Marga path. Not impressive today, but they will be.
The leaf of a large anthurium
The purple is Petrea volubus or Queen’s Wreath Vine, with palm grass in the front.
It’s name tells the story of its abundance of flowers
Wow! A False Fruit tree shows its other-worldly look.
A devotee in Australia has been inspired to bring the monastery’s teachings to the youth, inspired by the needs he sees in his own children. His latest work is now available on YouTube. He calls it “Bedtime Podcasts for Kids, Parents and Teachers.”
He has taken the wonderful book that Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami inspired and used a special AI to narrate the text. There are 11 stories in all, and they render as podcasts of 18 to 30 minutes. Each is a life lessons for a teenager. The topics are real-life issues, problems and challenges faced by young ones these days. They all teach teens how to cope. Great for sharing with teens in your community. In the video below is the first chapter, called “Friendship Endings.” If you want to see the entire playlist, click on the small hamburger icon on the upper right corner.
The playlist on YouTube accessible with the link above.
The book cover
It’s a hardcover book now. You can order the book at Minimela.com. printed by Amazon.
Last year the devotees in Singapore reached out to Kauai Aadheenam wanting to create a special edition of the Know thy Self booklet for introducing the new generations of Singaporeans to Gurudeva’s teachings and to Saiva Siddhanta. After months of back and forth, two days back the first copy was printed (on a digital press so one copy is possible). This morning a few small corrections were made. We thought you would enjoy a peek at the pages. Aum Namasivaya!
The saint served in his early years as the accountant for the king.
He is given diksha by his guru, Maunaguru, who was ever silent.
As many of you know, the monks have been (and continue) working on a new book, an English edition of the 1,454 songs of Saint Tayumanavar, the Tamil poet and philosopher who lived from 1705 to 1742. His songs to Siva are revered in South India and memorized by children in annual competitions. Imagine, learning so many songs by heart.
When in Singapore two years back, we met an Oduvar, Vivek Raja, whose temple singing is deeply spiritual, completely traditional. We commissioned him to sing the Tamil songs in his trained style, and when he returned to India he made great progress, though there is much yet to be done.
Today we share the first song for you to enjoy, along with the Tamil and the meaning of the lyrics in English. Click the sound baar under the slideshow to hear this first song. Below is the English rendering:
What is it that is immeasurable effulgence, perfect bliss, filled with grace? What is it that willed to contain the countless universes in boundless space and there flourishes as the Life of life? What is it that stood transcending thought and word? What is it that remained as the ever-contentious object of countless faiths claiming, “This, my God,’’ “This, our God’’? What is it that exists as omnipresent and omnipotent, love-filled and eternal? What is it that knows no limits of night and day? That indeed is what is agreeable to thought. That indeed is what fills all space in silentness. That indeed is what we in meekness worship.
The black line shows the placement of the new path around Iraivan Temple
Here we see the old dirt road, and the arrival of asphalt to build the new one.
Many hundreds of loads were required over the months.
The material was stockpiled nearby then carefully placed. It lifts the elevation of the road, providing good watershed even in strong rains.
After the 12-ton compactor has pounded the material.
The new road through the wild guava.
Up a small hill to Tirumular’s murti.
Past Mango Pond and around a corner.
Chellappaswami keeps an eye on this section.
Slide to show the asphalt path before and after
Paths and roads have been the great enablers for the Romans, the Vedic explorers, the early American pioneers, indeed all who wanted to go more than a hundred feet in a day. And the evolution from cow path, to walking trail, to dirt road to paved highway has marked mankind’s progress. So it will surprise no one that paths at the monastery are similarly evolving. For decades we had unimproved dirt paths and roads. A few years back we were able to upgrade a the major arteries, but until recently most access around the land (and visitor parking) was on unimproved dirt, often pitted with potholes that filled with water and mud whenever it rained, which is often as you know.
Fast forward to today. The monks are still getting used to proper asphalt paths, made possible by an unexpected gift. In the past 3 months we have paved virtually all roads and paths, several miles worth, so even on rainy days we can drive safely and comfortably around the monastery. It has changed our life in the same way cross country highways changed the dynamics of transportation in all nations. The slideshow shows the progress and the slider gives a BEFORE & AFTER of the path that now circumnavigates Iraivan Temple.
