Aum Namah Sivaya

Each month during the auspicious timing of the Krittika nakshatra, Pravinkumar performs a homa in Iraivan Temple. Satguru attends each time and he notes that the temple has become noticeably more powerful each time. Following the event devotees enjoyed the reverberations of the temple's not-so-subtle vibration (and also enjoyed the coconut rice!). Aum.

Kauai Aadheenam was honored by a rare visit from one of the leading Lingayat Saiva Gurus in the world. Jagadguru Dr. Shivamurthy Shivacharya Mahaswamiji from Sirigere in Karnataka State, India, was accompanied by devotees from Chicago. He has been the head of the Taralabalu Monastery since 1979. He is also the President of the Taralabalu Education Society which has over 170 educational institutions in Karnataka, and teached 50,000 students. Swami is also a Sanskrit expert and translator into English of 22,000 of the vacanas of the main progenitors of the tradition, including Basavana, the founder of Lingayat Saivism, whose poems to Siva have and continue to inspire millions.

Swami met Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami in the Guru Pitham, took a tour of Iraivan Temple, met with the Ganapati Kulam and went out on a garden tour.

Jai Gurdeva!

Recently our monks celebrated the monthly Chitra nakshatra with the usual padapuja to Gurudeva's shrine in Kadavul Temple. This month, Sannyasin Tillainathaswami and Nirvani Tejadevanatha performed the ceremony.

"Peace is the natural state of the mind. It is there, inside, to be discovered in meditation, maintained through self-control, and then radiated out to others." - Gurudeva

Construction finally wrapped up on what is affectionally known as the "Way Back Room," which is attached to the previously constructed "Back Room," which itself is attached to the longstanding Pillaiyar Kulam administrative desk space rooms. A few days ago they help a simple puja to sanctify the new spaces, wrapping up about six years of extending the original building to add storage rooms for holding most of our publications and Minimela inventory. Next they will begin moving items in here and reorganizing all the rooms to make everything categorized properly and easily accessible.

Gurudeva gave us the Shum word nimu to describe "a devotee, a peaceful person." Nimu is also an African Grey parrot, recently gifted to the monastery and welcomed by all the monks. This is perhaps the smartest parrot of them all, the one that speaks meaningfully and contextually. Check out this YouTube video to see how smart they are: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yGOgs_UlEc

Our Nimu is just 3-4 months old, still a fledgling, a baby (he hatched around the same time Iraivan Temple was consecrated). He lives in the Media Studio, and will soon have a larger aviary as well. He attends all of the morning meetings of the Ganapati Kulam and we find him an adorable member of the team.

Three days ago, he said his first word: "Nimu!" However, You can imagine our worry when just a few hours later, he was on Tillainathaswami's shoulder taking his regular walk between our buildings when he was startled by an electric vehicle. Nimu has trimmed flight feathers (a law for large birds in Hawaii), but off he flew! Right, he was not supposed to fly; he was a baby who has never flown, and his flight feathers wouldn't fully regrow for another year, but fly he did. Off he went hundreds of feet into the wilderness. A 10-monk search team (complete with a drone) failed to find him, and we thought him lost. It is extremely rare for a baby bird unfamiliar with an area to be able to navigate well enough to return, or even survive at all.

The next day, after prayers in the temple and a special outreach to Detaza (the deva who can find anything), a small miracle occurred when a clumsy-looking, chubby bird was seen passing overhead. Upon calling his name, he would squeak back. We did this over and over until we found him, up some 100 feet in a tree. Since he doesn't really know how to fly yet, he doesn't know how to descend. All he could do is go from tree to tree, trying to get a little lower each time. After lots of coaxing, he gained the courage to fly to a lower tree, a palm tree, another lower tree, another palm tree, and then finally dropped into Tillainathaswami's arms (see video of this moment).

Traumatized by a night alone in the rain and darkness, and tremendously hungry, he gulped down his grain/seed slurry, getting half of it inside and half of it on his feathered body. So a warm shower ensued, and lots of "welcome back" with a little party for the monks to celebrate his return. This morning, Nimu was back at the morning meeting, seeming to appreciate it more than ever. We certainly appreciated him more than ever.

The moment Nimu makes it back after a day of being lost:

We have a small flock of nene geese now hanging out on our Aadheenam property in various places. Short description from wikipedia-- The nene, also known as the nēnē or the Hawaiian goose, is a species of bird endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The nene is exclusively found in the wild on the islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Molokai, and Hawaii. In 1957, it was designated as the official state bird of the state of Hawaii.

One of the requirements for a new monk is to learn and then perform the Saiva Atmartha Puja (home shrine puja) in front of Satguru and all the monks. Sadhaka Vatshalanatha recently did this at 5:30am in place of our normal puja for the monks. This accomplishment is a stepping stone towards him next learning the parartha puja (established temple puja), which he will eventually perform for Ganesha and Murugan Deities in Kadavul Temple.

A team flew to Kauai for a few days, with a goal to produce an article and short film about the spirituality of Kauai Aadheenam and Iraivan Temple. They are from the noted Associated Press which ChatGPT describes this way: "The Associated Press (AP) is a global news agency famous for its extensive and reliable news coverage, its widespread distribution network, and its commitment to providing impartial and objective journalism. It is highly regarded for its integrity and credibility in delivering news from around the world."

They are Deepa Bharat of Chennai and her filmographer, Jessie. They have teamed up on a number of religious stories over the years, including about the remote Columbian indigenous tribals. In addition to a major print story, they will produce a 3-4 minute film. Jessie is a deft drone pilot and got great end-of-day shots from high above Iraivan's golden towers. They interviewed Devajyothi visiting from Portland in English and Pravinkumar, in Tamil. He shared something with them that struck Deepa as profound. Pravinekumar told her," In India building such a temple is possible, but it is not done anymore. In Hawaii it is impossible, and yet the monks built it. So it's a miracle."

Jai Mahalingesvara.

A local kumu (hula teacher) and island spiritual leader, Puna Dawson, brought six Brazilian tribals to Kauai for a shared spiritual adventure. Since she knew Gurudeva so well, she asked if the tribals could visit the monastery, and we could not say no.

Some of you will remember that Gurudeva was flown to Rio de Janiero in 1997 for a Conference on Human Survival. There he briefly met some tribals (see photos in the slideshow).

These profoundly Earth-connected men and women were a delight to be with, asking many unusually deep questions about Siva and the inner worlds. They were moved by the simplicity of the monks' guhas, admiring the austerity and naturalness of life in our own little jungle. It was easy to feel a bond with them. They walked through the Sacred Gardens, heard Pravinkumar chant in Sanskrit in front of Mahalingesvara, ate fresh oranges from our trees and more.

They are from a tribe called the Yawanawa, known for their rich cultural heritage and deep spiritual connection with the Amazon rainforest. They practice traditional rituals, preserve their ancestral knowledge, and actively engage in environmental conservation efforts to protect their sacred lands from deforestation and external threats.

The Womens' Kauai Retreatants are having tours of the monastery between their times of sadhana, worship, cooking for the monks, meeting with Bodhinatha and island exploring. Yesterday they came for a two-hour presentation by the Ganapati Kulam, held in the Media Studio. They heard about web designs and enhancements from Tillainathaswami, festival videos we are making for America's school system by Acharya Arumuganathaswami, the new Gantha Shala (Bell Tower) under construction by Acharya Kumarnathaswami, and some art and book projects by Sadasivanathaswami. It's a joyous group to be with. They are from Malaysia, Singapore and the US.