Happy Third Day of Pancha Ganapati Festival to all!

These are Mr. and Mrs. Anandakopal from Toronto, originally from Sri Lanka. He told a story of how when young, he and his father were riding a bike along the road and father was pinching him because he hadn’t done well in math studies. He was crying. Yogaswami came walking down the road, saw the boy crying and told the father, “Don’t pinch him and make him cry!” And his father never pinched him again.

Bodhinatha also had darshan with the Supermaniam Suthaker family from Edmonton, Canada, members of the Mahaganapati Temple there and from Jaffna, Sri Lanka originally. It’s their first visit to Kauai, and already planning to come again next summer. The two daughters Nila and Roja attend our sishya Aran Veylan’s Saiva Dharma class in Edmonton. They received Ganesha murthis as gifts from Bodhinatha.

They were too shy to ask a question themselves, so their father asked on their behalf, what are some good ways to incorporate religion in daily life? Bodhinatha responded that they should perform a daily puja at home as a family, and cultivate being of service to others, the eastern mentality of giving to be happy, rather than the western mentality of getting.

Today the press shop received the visit of Andreas and Anastacia, two very dedicated souls who moved to Kauai recently and were delighted to find Kadavul Temple. They have been coming every morning for the Siva puja and then a long meditation. They had few questions, and mostly wanted to just express gratitude.

Anastacia is the one who reads avidly from the trilogy and uses Gurudeva’s teachings. She said she was extremely pleased to find a structured pattern for her sadhana in Gurudeva’s books. The disciplined approach has brought wonderful results, she said.

In this Third Day of Pancha Ganapati, we received this inspiring card from a devotee. His wonderful altar blends well all the elements Gurudeva intended for this festival: a colorful, traditional, devotional and joyous event in honor of our sweetest God.

You can read more about Pancha Ganapati here.

Here is a close up of the card which is a picture of the devotee’s altar, with a khumba representing Ganesha. And many gifts for family and friends.

Aum Ganapataye Namah!

Meanwhile, the project of producing 1,008 keychains for fundraising in Malaysia may have made all the keychains, but now we are working on the publicity. Bramachari Maruthu is designing a poster and wants this lovely photo to show how Iraivan is more than a temple; it is actually an Aadheenam with a Swami Sangam from an ancient parampara.