As we write it is night in Mauritius and Bodhinatha must be sleeping after a long journey.

At home, Sadhu Paksha Continues.

~~~~~~~~~~~
END OF PHASE
Today is the last day of our phase.
This edition of TAKA will remain posted
over our coming three-day retreat,
until Tritiya Tithi, Sun One, Saturday, April 11th.<

Everyone knows Facebook, right? The monastery has been receiving suggestions from devotees to create a Facebook Page for months. Being that the monks don’t have social lives outside the monastery, it never really occurred to us what the benefit would be. When Josh Mellicker of DVCreators.net in Los Angeles was at the monastery last phase, he took the monks of the Ganapati Kulam on a tour of Facebook and showed us how it works. He said, “The time when people asked themselves the question ‘Should I be on Facebook?’ has passed.” We realized that, just as we have a daily blog as well as a presence on iTunes and YouTube, Facebook would be yet another way to be a part of the lives of the 100+ million and growing Facebook population, which is expected to reach a billion in the near future. Its organic and viral networking system is, to us, the latest way to share Gurudeva’s teachings and news of the activities of the monastery to those who already know of the monastery, and to many more Hindus and spiritual seekers through word-of-mouth. This new technology was inconceivable even just a few years ago. Here we go, Web 2.0!

So, today, the monastery is pleased to announce its Facebook Page! You can find us on Facebook here. We encourage you to become a fan of our page, keep in touch with, comment on and like our updates, photos and videos and, most of all, tell your friends.

The April/May/June Edition of Hinduism Today has been off the press for sometime and today we are pleased to announce the release of the PDF editon. For those of you have subscribed to our PDF manager, simple boot up and you will be prompted to download the current issue. If you have not subscribed, click here to go get you PDF Edition Manager.

The April/May/June issue of the magazine called “the voice of Hinduism,” contains a remarkably lucid eight-page “Introduction to Hinduism” by Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami. You can also listen to him deliver this discourse on YouTube and print out the PDF for your local community. This issue’s center section is on “Affirmations: Mantras to Remold the Mind” bringing you powerful tools to change your life and consciousness. If you think miracles are myth you may change your mind after reading about the miraculous activities of a temple bull who acts as an oracle for the community in India. Murali Balaji gives a great opinion piece on “The Colonized Mind.” The article on the New Age from an Indian Hindu angle, reveals that the New Age, at least in India, might just be the Sanatana Dharma, smartly repackaged for modern consumption. The feature story on Rameshwaran gives us a rare and intimate look at the experiences of pilgrims having their karmas washed away by the waters of the wells of this holy temple of South India. We also meet face-to-face with the young leaders of America’s most dynamic Hindu public relations team, the American Hindu Foundation, which is making the voice of Hinduism be heard loud and clear all the way up into the halls of Congress and the White House. Don’t miss it!

Sadhaka Rajanatha delivered this pail of giant two-foot Swiss chard leaves for the monks lunch today. Grown in our Anna Purna Gardens he was ebulliant with successful gardener’s prognostications that the “Sat Yuga has arrived! Be prepared, things will start growing twice their size!” (smile)