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Bodhinatha visits Dallas-Fort Worth

Aum Sivaya!

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami's next stop was Fort Worth, to visit the site of the new Hindu temple being built there. Soil and gravel compaction was set to begin the next day in preparation for the sinking of 30-foot pilings on which the temple foundation will rest. We also had the opportunity to visit the temporary temple, which is located in a shopping complex. As it was Monday, the priest invited Senthilnathaswami to help with the Siva abhishekam. The opportunities to perform worship oneself while traveling are few, so this was a cherished moment.

Driving all the way across the metroplex to Plano, the next event was at the Sri Ganesha Temple, another of the many new temples coming up in the area. This temple also recently had its groundbreaking ceremony and plans to begin building soon. Bodhinatha gave a talk in a temporary classroom located on their land.

Twitter Update: Bodhinatha is out on a morning walk in Los Angeles…

Bodhinatha is out on a morning walk in Los Angeles before returning home this afternoon. Beautiful bougainvillea! http://t.co/Xe2anQEdFZ BIjfB9lCMAAhx65

Haran's Namakarana Samskara

Haran Kandadas, who was recently at the monastery helping with the media stuio construction, has just had his official Namakarana Samskara. His name changing ceremony, and his formal entrance into Hinduism.

Gurudeva speaks of the Namakarana:

"Anyone can declare himself a member of the Hindu religion, but for one to be accepted into the community, he must immerse himself in its traditions and lifestyle. This is the first step. Next he must practice Hinduism openly and thus prove his declaration in his own life and in the minds of others. A person seeking entrance to Hinduism must convince not only himself but his close friends and family that, in fact, he is a Hindu. Otherwise, it is just a secret "play pretend." Finally, he must change his name and use his Hindu name, first and last, in all circumstances and have it made legal so that it appears on his passport, driver's license and business letters. This is a clear sign to one and all that he has fully embraced the Hindu faith.

When a soul who has experienced the Hindu religion for many years in a small village in India or Sri Lanka suddenly finds himself incarnated, through desire, in the Western world in a family of no religion or in a Christian or a Jewish family that expects him to follow what is an alien faith to him, that soul intuitively seeks out and searches for the religion that is right for him. When he finds Hinduism, God and the Gods become dear to him, Lord Ganesha is a familiar friend. All layers of his mind are content, and wholeheartedly he declares himself a Hindu and later enters into the Hindu religion."

Recent Happenings

Adi Srikantha is back for 3 months of task force. He's here to help the Ganapati Kulam in its continuing renovation work.

Orchids are blooming today, and the rain has brought forth hundreds of mushrooms.

Thanks to some major earthwork being done at the Kauai Airport, the monastery is receiving dozens of huge boulders. It's a gift since the workers knew we were looking for landscape rocks. All we have to do is pay for the delivery. What is a giant rock worth on our island? Years ago we went shopping for them and since there were precious few the prices were in the $1-5,000 range.

Puja in Honolulu

A month back the monastery received a call, inviting Bodhinatha to attend and bless their 25th-Year Anniversary puja on April 21, today. With Bodhinatha in Texas, Sadasivanathaswami and Yoginathaswami flew to Oahu for the special event.

It is closing a circle, since it was in 1988 that Savitri Kumaran, then working as a nurse at a local hospital, first saw an article on the Haawaiian Healing Stone, and visited it. Seeing that it was so akin to a Sivalingam, she invited others to come and see, and soon it attracted Gurudeva's attention.

He saw it was being neglected and flew over to begin monthly pujas, and for a long time the monks did this each month until the local community was able to take it on. They have done it regularly since then under the name of LOTUS.

The specialty of this site is that it is a small 10-foot cube right on the sidewalk in a small community. Yoginatha did a great abhishekam and Sadasivanathaswami held a short satsang afterwards, answering the question,"What is the future of Hinduism in America?"

A wonderful meal followed in an elementary school cafeteria, with lots of animated conversation.

Weekly Tours Begin Again

The gates are open again to our weekly public tour with the end of Sadhu Paksha. From every imaginable background they come to hear about the Great God Siva and His Iraivan Temple, Satgurus, and the dedicated life of our Monks.

Strange Shapes

How quickly can you guess what kind of odd-looking plant life this is?

Midland Interfaith Event Video

On April 17, 2013, one Hindu (our own Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami), one Jew, three Christians and one Muslim sat together to answer questions submitted by the panelists themselves before an audience of mixed faiths at St. Nicholas' Episcopal Church in Midland, Texas. This was the third such interfaith panel held in the Permian Basin. The questions were: 1. "How do you think your faith tradition supports a pluralistic society?" 2. "Do you believe in the resurrection of the dead? If so, what preparations should we make?" 3. "If a young person were to come to you, struggling with issues of sexual orientation, what would you say to this person and why?" 4. "Is it important or necessary for God to authorize mankind to act on His behalf? If so, how does He authorize mankind?" 5. "What basic step can our faith communities take to serve our neighbors, near and far, in a world filled with conflict?" The event was tremendously successful. Watch it below. httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZsCh14T3cc

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