SSC sishyas Erasenthiran and his son Naavalan have arrived from mainland USA for a month to serve in the Siddhidata Kulam at Kauai Aadheenam during Naavalan’s summer break from school. In today’s photos, Naavalan is picking Abiu fruit that is abundantly in season right now. He says he enjoys being out in nature, with the cooling trade wind breeze and birds chirping.
A group of Nene geese also decided to visit the nearby avocado orchard this morning.
Over the last several weeks, Sadhaka Sabanatha has been doing a wonderful job of transforming Path to Siva lessons into truncated instagram posts.
Here’s an example of a recent chapter. If you use Instagram and would like to see them, go ahead and follow /kauaishinumonastery to see more. We publish a new lesson every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Aum.
In June, Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami and Shanmuganathaswami traveled to other side of the world to meet with members and participate in Satsang and other special events. Satguru tries to do this yearly, meeting our members who are far away from Hawaii. Providing encouragement and support for facing life’s challenges and offering ways to uplift their sadhanas. While there, Satguru gave several initiations. Above are the photos of their travels. Aum!
Words of our Master
If you want liberation in this birth make your mind a cremation-ground and burn all your desires to ashes.
Lily with dark leaves opens in the pond by Bodhinatha’s office
Giant seed cones of a cycad, fruiting for the first time after 10 years of making us wait!
Sadasivanathaswami takes a group of ten island leaders through the gardens today, including our former mayor Joanne Yukimura, Lucy Kawaihalau, Barbara Curl, Char Ravelo and Laurie Ho.
The rare False Fruit Tree gets ready to set seed.
Close up of a travelers’ palm
Today’s visitors, a flock of island geese, called Nene. They are the state bird and clearly wanted a closer look at the monastery.
Caladium leaves, hand painted so they say.
One of our frilly hybrid hibiscuses
The amazing Rangoon Creeper, from Burma, a vine out by Iraivan Temple
Now for the truly rare. This is a yellow poinciana, almost never seen in Hawaii. We got it from Puerto Rico.
Up close. Blooming for the first time.
A mountain apple tree whose limbs are actually breaking due to the heavy fruits.
Up close. Not the best fruit in the world, but among the most productive.
There is the garden, and there is today’s garden. And there will be tomorrow’s garden. It is changing every day, new fruits, unseen before flowers, ferns high up in trees that we never planted. So, here is a small sampling of today’s discoveries in Siva’s Sacred Garden.
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.
“Why would you ever want to place demands of perfection upon yourself? You now walk the path of perfection, and you must be so to walk that path. What is this perfection? First, it is a clarity of cognition. Second, it is a bursting of actinic love for your fellow man. Third, it is an openness and willingness to serve and fit in, in any capacity. Fourth, it is living a contemplative lifestyle better every day. Fifth, it is mastering all of your yoga disciplines given to you by your guru. Sixth, it is the ability to hold responsibility, maintain a continuity of your own karmayoga, yet have the mobile quality to be ever ready to do something different without losing continuity of what you have been doing in holding your responsibility. ¶If you can gear yourself to accomplish all this, you are on the path of enlightenment and you will surely prove to yourself, when you have your realization, that you are a free man in a free world, subject to nobody, to no power, even the power of karma. How could That which is formless and causeless be subject to anything?“
73 Spiritual Songs, The Natchintanai of Siva Yogaswami
An anthology of wisdom-filled Tamil songs expressing the devotion and enlightened insights of one of the most remarkable Saiva yogis of our times.
The profound tradition of South Indian Saivism migrated to Sri Lanka centuries ago. It was transmitted in recent times through a lineage of siddhars of the highest order. Siva Yogaswami of Colombuthurai (1872-1963) left a rich heritage of Tamil songs known as Natchintanai (“Good Thoughts”) that contain the essence of Siva worship and Saiva philosophy. This anthology of 73 devotional hymns stands as a rich introduction and learning tool for those who would integrate his gold mine of divine wisdom into their hearts and lives.
