Jiva writes to us from the carving site in Bangaluru:

We are almost near perfecting the face of Gurudeva. We  have reduced the original hair with the Rudraksha Malas by over 5 inches. We are comparing the face to the face sculpted by a Holly Young and refining it.
I've been spending a lot of time to get the special features in Gurudeva's nose right, along with his cheeks. Please burn some prayers in the homa fire since we are working on these two very important works and need a lot of blessings from the inner worlds.

The photos are a little blury because of the granite dust floating around by others using the machines.

The granite model of Bodhinatha arrived a couple of days ago. As usual, the initial carvers only bring it about half way to perfection. We have started working on it and will ensure that anyone who sees the model will know for sure who He is. Very detailed measurements are taken and transferred the same to the granite model and then we begin the long process of bringing forth the artistic talent, so that at the end of the day, we have Bodhinatha with us. I am personally spending hours with the carvers working on every detail. -Jiva.

Click here for more photos and description of our April Spiritual Park Homa

Also, the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation came recently to the Spiritual Park to film our SSC sishyas singing some Natchintanai for an upcoming television special to commemorate Satguru Yogaswami's 50th Mahasamadhi anniversary.
Click here for a few photos of the filming

My God is the melter of my heart of love. Let all adore my God, the Lord of primal love, first of beings, my Siva, who again and again melts my heart. May He render me His love in foremost measure! Praise Him but once, the Pure and Holy One, and He will be your escort to heaven. He, Lord Siva, decked in honeyed konrai blooms, sits enthroned in my love, steadfast and free.
Tirumantiram 274-275

Tomorrow is Ardra Nakshatra, an auspicious and powerful time to worship Lord Siva and receive his bountiful grace. We would like to share a recent Sun 1 talk that Satguru Bodhinatha gave in Kadavul Temple. In it He discusses the inner importance of temple worship, something to remember when we sit before Siva tomorrow. Aum Namah Sivaya

Click Play to Listen

They have done it again. The Malaysian members have pushed through a strategic project that would warm Gurudeva's heart and is dear to Bodhinatha's educational outreach initiatives.

They designed and printed the famous Four Facts of Hinduism in Tamil and Malay. Today a small package with several dozen of each reached Kauai's shore and were offered to Bodhinatha for his blessings. They printed 15,000 of each of the pamphlets, under the guidance of Maruthu Dharmilingam.

The plan is to distribute them around the nation, to educate the public about the shared beliefs of all Hindu lineages and traditions: karma, reincarnation, all-pervasive divinity and dharma. The sweet paintings of S. Rajam sit like little gems on the pages, and a Vedic quote is offered to show the original scriptural source.

Great job, everyone!

The final stretch of Bodhinatha's and Senthilnathaswami's recent visit to Texas took place in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, a vast area with several major cities, dozens of suburbs and a large Hindu population spread throughout.

The first stop was the new temple that is currently under construction in the southwest corner of Fort Worth, the only temple in the DFW Metroplex east of Irving. This location will be crucial, offering a major place of worship that isn't an hour's drive for those who live in this area. The temple's murtis are about to be shipped from Chennai, and the mahakumbhabhishekam date has been set for early June. Bodhinatha will be back then to preside at the event.

An outing to the Dallas World Aquarium with the Param family was great fun, complete with crocodiles, toucans, sloths, exotic amphibians, sharks and a giant manatee, among other attractions.

In Irving, Bodhinatha was the honored guest at the home of Srinivas Bhamidhipaty, a key leader of the Sivam Group, which meets regularly to chant Sri Rudram and perform elaborate Linga puja. The family visited Kauai Aadheenam last year and extended the invitation, and the date happened to be their wedding anniversary. Blessings were flowing strong in Irving!

The last event was a lecture at the Sri Ganesha Temple in Plano. This is also a new temple, currently operating out of a modified house, with a double-wide trailer for classrooms. They broke ground for the building of the new temple structure recently, but currently struggle, as many projects are these days, with raising enough funds. In an area that already has a couple dozen temples, the challenge is understandable. Bodhinatha continued blessings are a boon for their success.

Adoration to the Remover of Obstacles
Written by Auvaiyar Ma
Translated from Tamil by Tiru K. Swaminathan
(From Om Ganesa, the Peace of God)

O king, is there anything unattainable
To them who intensely contemplate
On the fragrant feet of the son
Of Ummaiyal, of sweet and comely speech?
The thunderous thud of the swift elephant
And that of the agile horse must give place
To that of the rider of this old dame!
He is none other than the mighty Mahāgaṇapati.
Cool, fragrant lotus feet
with anklets tinkling sweet,
gold girdle, flower-soft garment
setting off the comely hips,
pot-belly and big, heavy tusk,
elephant-face with the bright red mark,
five hands, the goad, the noose,
blue body dwelling in the heart,
pendulous jaws, four mighty shoulders,
three eyes and the three required marks,
two ears, the gold crown gleaming,
the breast aglow with the triple thread,
O Being, bright and beautiful!
Wish-yielding elephant, born of the
Master of Mystery in Mount Kailasa,
mouse-rider, fond of the three famed fruits,
desiring to make me yours this instant,
you like a mother have appeared before me
and cut the delusion of unending births.
You have come and entered my heart,
imprinting clear the five prime letters,
set foot in the world in the form of a guru, 
declared the final truth is this, gladly,
graciously shown the way of life unfading.
With that unfailing weapon, your glance,
you have put an end to my heinous sins,
poured in my ear uncloying precepts,
laid bare for me the clarity
of ever-fresh awareness,
sweetly given me your sweet grace
for firm control of the senses five,
taught how to still the organs of action;
snapped my two-fold karma and dispelled
my darkness, giving, out of grace,
a place for me in all four states;
dissolved the illusion of triple filth,
taught me how to shut the five
sense gates of the nine-door temple,
fixed me firm in the six yogic centers,
stilled my speech, taught me
the writ of ida and pingala, 
shown me at last the head of sushumna. 
To the tongue of the serpent that sinks and soars
you have brought the force sustaining the three
bright spheres of sun, moon and fire--
the mantra unspoken asleep in the snake--
and explicitly uttered it;
imparted the skill of raising by breath
the raging flame of muladhara; 
explained the secret of immortality,
the sun's movement and the charm
of the moon; the water lily's friend,
the sixteen states of the prasada mantra;
revealed to me in thoughtful wisdom
the six-faced form and the meanings four;
disclosed to me the subtle body
and the eight separate modes of being;
the orifice of Brahman opened,
giving me miraculous powers,
by your sweet grace, and mukti, too;
revealed my Self to me and by your grace
swept away accumulated karma, 
stilled my mind in tranquil calm
beyond speech and thought;
clarified my intellect, plunged me
in bliss which is the common ground
of light and darkness.
Boundless beatitude you have given me,
ended all affliction, shown the way of grace:
Siva eternal at the core of sound,
Sivalinga within the heart,
atom within atom, vast beyond all vastness,
sweetness hid in the hardened node.
You have steadied me clear in human form
all besmeared with holy ashes;
added me to the congregation
of your servants true and trusty;
made me experience in my heart
the inmost meaning of the five letters;
restored my real state to me;
and rule me now, O Master of Wisdom,
Vinayaka. Your feet alone,
O Master of Wisdom, Vinayaka,
your feet alone, are my sole refuge.

Today we explored some of the many beautiful artifacts which can be found inside the Monastery's Mini Mela. The little visitor center/gift shop has come a long way over the years, and is now at a high point in sales and support. Proceeds support two main projects: building Iraivan Temple and sustaining our extensive publications. Sadhaka Mayuranatha has been helping Shanmuganathaswami a great deal in managing the Mini Mela's inventory and helping to buy the shop's many beautiful and holy pieces of art, from skilled crafters in India. The Mini Mela is operated primarily by local island members, who all do a fantastic job helping throughout the morning visiting hours. We are all very grateful for their selfless and expert help.

Jai Chellappaswami!

Yogaswami explained that most people try to get you to love them by giving you something you like so you will pay more attention to them; you transfer some of your attachment from the thing you like to the person who gave it to you. He told disciples, "Chellappaguru, through subtle guile, pulled me to his side by taking everything away. He did not allow me to put on any show, nor to do any service, nor to know the future, nor to have any siddhis, nor to associate with other saints or sadhus. He did not even allow me to wonder."


Chellappaswami spoke cryptically, in a language that had to be deciphered. Yogaswami himself recorded some of his gems:
"Intrinsic evil there is not," and "Absolute is Truth which none can ever comprehend"--so saying, he would remain mute. "It is what it is, and there is none who can know fully, as it is concealed in dissimulation"--so uttered the lofty Chellappan, clad in ragged clothes, and haunting Kandan's frontal courtyard. At those who frequent that resort, he will hurl abuse, my fond one.
"That is so from endless beginning," he would say and wander hither and thither. "It's all illusive phenomena," he muttered, "Who knows?" and "It was all settled long ago" and went about the outer courtyards of Nallur Temple and sat in the dirt, saying that all that dirt would frighten away the people who came to fall at his feet. I don't think anyone ever got from him an answer to a question. I merely stood and waited behind him for the occasional gem that fell out of all the mad talk.

Mrs. Inthumathy (Amma) Navaratnarajah shares this image of Chellappaswami and thoughtful insights into his guise of lunacy in her manuscript Yogaswami, Life and Teachings.
The great personage Chellappar sat on the chariot house step every day. Yet no divinity was visible on the dark-complexioned sadhu who sat with a vacant look on his face. Coarseness was the only visible sign. Even during festival times when the crowd was so dense that a ray of light would not pass through, he would sit on the step, his face shining, laughing to himself. Sometimes he would lie on the step, looking at decriers. Sometimes he would berate with belittling words those who were wandering about aimlessly. They would in turn abuse him, call him a lunatic and go away. He would not bother about this abuse and would continue to harangue them, taunting them to oppose him.
Sometimes he would stand in Lord Skanda's presence, before the sanctum, wearing rags, and scold in foul language those coming and going. At times he would wander to Tirunelveli, Columbuthurai and other places. People seeing him wander around would ridicule him as insane. He would stand begging before houses, accepting whatever was given. On some days he cooked rice and a curry. He did not sleep much. After midnight, using his hands as a pillow, he could be seen sleeping on the ground.
His versatility with his hands in weaving palmyra and coconut leaves into various objects of art was the only factor that showed that he was not mad. But is this one factor alone enough for the crazy world to realize his sanity?
Chellappaswami lived exhibiting the qualities of a madman and a great sage immersed in spiritual meditation. Those who were deluded by him considered him a madman. Those thirsting for spiritual knowledge saw him in his true colors--a man of deep knowledge. Siva Yogaswami saw him as the royal sage, who in the form of a guru redeemed and saved him. "At the teradi, I saw him, the crescent jewel of grace. He made me his own and showed me the way of bliss."
With these baffling disguises Chellappa wandered alone, hiding his real nature; so that no one realized his true self. Even scholars who were well-versed in Vedanta and Siddhanta, even those who had a long-standing friendship with him could not realize his true inner nature. Chellappa acted well the role of a lunatic he had taken on himself. Yogaswami once noted, "For forty years he acted the role he took without anyone suspecting, and went away."