Aum Namah Sivaya!

Recently work has begun on the landscaping immediately surrounding Iraivan Temple’s foundation. For the most part this means preparing the ground for the hardy grasses that will surround the temple. In other areas, the landscaping is growing in lush and full. Below we present to you some aerial footage of the plants and streams along Rishi Valley, to the west of the temple.

“God is with us always, even when we are unaware of that holy presence. He is His creation. It is an extension of Himself; and God is never apart from it nor limited by it.” – Gurudeva

Many years ago a family commissioned these black granite murtis for placing outside their home. Years later plans changed and they no longer needed the murtis, deciding to donate them to our monastery. In discussing where these murtis could call home--at least for the time being--we noted than many general visitors stop by during our closed hours, so enriching the experience at our very front entrance (outside the gate) was felt to be most appropriate. A granite Sivalingam is already there, so now Ganesha and Murugan join Siva. A couple weeks ago when SSC sishya Gaurav and Ripla Malhotra family was here on pilgrimage, they and two Pillaiyar Kulam construction crew, Raymond and Kawika, helped to installed the two Deities.

Aloha, Everyone loves getting new things, even better though, especially for the environment, is to transform something you already have into something new. This 1999 Ford F250 truck was on its way to the wrecking yard. The SK team had a crazy idea . The engine was too far gone to repair, but what if the front end of the truck was removed, a pintle hitch welded in front and a Diesel tank installed on top. Armed with an acetylene torch, the SK team cut the bolts securing the cab to the frame then blocked the truck and cut the frame. The engine and front cab was taken to the metal recycle. Next the frame was cut again and welded to a pintle hitch. Power washing, grinding off rust, more power washing, then paint was applied. The monastery has a 1968 military water tanker (600 gallon) that required replacement seals. Parts were ordered and installed and the tanker was painted and attached to the frame. Now we have a new tanker trailer! This concluded the story of an old dead truck, a tank and the power of reincarnation. Aum!

Today is the first full day of our new season, the Jivana Ritau. Early this morning, Satguru, monastics and members gathered in Kadavul Temple for a homa. Following an upadesha from Satguru, they then proceeded out the the aadheenam's flagpole to fly the dvaja for the new season.

Excerpts from Saiva Dharma Shastras about the this time of year:
"Beginning with Hindu New Year in mid-April, three seasons of the year divide our activities into three great needs of humankind the learning of scripture in the first season, Nartana Ritau; the living of culture in the second season, Jivana Ritau; and the meditating on Siva in the third season, Moksha Ritau. Thus we are constantly reminded that our life is Siva's life and our path to Him is through study, sadhana and realization. In ritau one, we teach the philosophy; in ritau two, we teach the culture; and in ritau three, we teach meditation.

During Jivana Ritau, the rainy season, from mid-August to mid-December, Living with Siva: Hinduism's Contemporary Culture is the primary text. The key word of this season is work. The colors are rust, copper-maroon and all shades of red rust for earthy preservation, copper-maroon for fulfillment and red for physical energy. The Aadheenam's flag pole flies the rust-colored dhvaja, symbolizing environmental care. Copper-maroon and all shades of red adorn our smaller flags. This is the season of honoring and showing appreciation for those in the vanaprastha ashrama, life's elder advisor stage. The focus is on preserving what has been created, manifesting goals and fulfilling plans made in the past. Inwardly the emphasis is on direct cognition and caring for the practical details of the external world. Practicality is a word much used this season."

Aloha, as many of you know, Sadhu Paksha is a time when the mathavasis change their usual morning routine and instead enjoy their sadhana unstructured, walking and meditating among nature. This change of routine provides an opportunity for a change in perspective. Shifting perspectives is a wonderful thing and an invaluable tool when solving complex problems or any time you feel stuck. We hope you enjoy these photos taken by the monks, that offer a unique perspective of the monastery. Aum Aum Aum!

Back in 1972 Gurudeva was leading an Innersearch to India that stopped over in Thailand. While walking through Bangkok, he and a few of us were exploring a shop specializing in carved wood items. There, near the entry, stood two marvelous teak elephants, about 40" tall. They were carved from a single tree. If you know teak, you know it is slow growing and seldom reaches such a size, since it is so valuable they are harvested early in their life. Gurudeva loved this pair. One of the Innersearchers heard him admiring it, and offered to get them as a gift for the new aadheenam on Kauai. They arrived a year later and for many years have stood as sentinels in the brick-floored courtyard where the monks have lunch each day. The years passed along with their pristine look. Recently our young Taskforcer Arunesh was inspired to clean and refurbish them with a concoction of bees wax and orange oil. Like magic, the wood turned radiant, like the day Gurudeva first saw them. Thank you, Arunesh...

The Pillaiyar Kulam is adding to their existing building at our front entrance so they can store most of our printed publications, as they are shutting down the expensive storage space on the mainland US. The new area is taking shape more quickly now, with extra workers on the job. Here are some images of the progress.

Earlier today a shark took a bite out of one of the cables connecting Hawaii to the rest of the world taking out all of our web servers... Not really, but that's a much more interesting story. The real story involves human error, the computer terminal, and a lot of convoluted code. Anyways, everything looks like it is working as of now, the only casualties were a few taka post published before the server backup happened.    As consolation, please accept this picture of our cat Kavi. Aum Namah Sivaya

Yesterday, during the Chitra nakshatra, Brahmachari Akash entered the Guru Pitam to sit with Satguru and the monks and to take his pledge as a supplicant.

This important ceremony signifies the stage where the young pre-monastic has made a firm decision to follow the monastic path. He is now in a state of "supplication" begging the monastic order to take him into their midst and to become a postulant, or full Sadhaka.

"The supplicant's foremost objective is to strive for mastery of the charya marga, or path of service. This begins with the avoidance of wrongful actions and the overcoming of base instincts and emotions as he learns to transmute worldliness into the higher states of devotion and selflessness. At this stage on the path, the Saivite devotee is content not to strive for profound spiritual attainments but to work diligently with the faults and flaws that are stumbling blocks on the path, learning at the same time to depend not only on his own resources but on the limitless abilities of the Gods to resolve all difficulties and dissolve all obstacles. In "The Final Conclusions for All Mankind," Gurudeva has said, "In the stage of charya, similar to karma yoga, the devotee naturally awakens a desire to work for the sake of work, to serve for the sake of service. He does this in his daily life and through helping in the temple in practical ways--through sweeping the marble floors, polishing the brass oil lamps, weaving fragrant garlands for the pujas, helping other devotees in their lives and in general through a humble and unseen kind of service." The Supplicancy is a time of profound worship of Lord Ganesha, Lord Murugan and Lord Siva and of deepening commitment and service to Saivite Hinduism and to the Church. It is also a time of study, challenge and inner change. The supplicant is encouraged to strive for the perfection of service and for the monastic ideals of humility, industry and responsibility, renouncing personal needs for the benefit of others. In this service, he should strive for transparency, that quality of anonymous virtue in which the premonastic lives in full harmony with others, remaining centered within and not standing out or disturbing the surroundings. It is this ancient tradition of unseen service and unperturbable stability that the supplicant seeks to emulate, realizing that serving in unheralded ways and renouncing the fruits of even good deeds averts the pitfalls of the spiritual ego and nurtures the state of unpretentiousness. By putting great energy into premonastic life and by serving tirelessly for the benefit not of himself but of others, the supplicant opens himself to the inflow of Lord Siva's grace."

Sorry for this post being a bit late but we just had to share this beautiful cake that one of our devotee's daughter hand crafted for Bodhinatha on Guru Purnima. This cake was designed to look like a flower basket and it definitely succeeded in its goal! Maybe you are a professional cake baker, but if not, and you have ever tried to frost a cake you will know what a challenge it can be so it's even more amazing that the creator was 13 years old! Aum Aum Aum