Today we received these photos from Bobby in Colorado. He has been the artist responsible for transforming Sculptor Holly Young's waxes, into beautiful bronze statues. This is the statue of the sipli at the forge. When completed it will join the statues of Gurudeva, Ganapati Stapati and the silpi sharpening a chisel, all of which are already at Kauai Aadheenam. The bronze is now ready to receive its patina, which will give it slight variations in colors.

Recently, the monks have been milling logs of monkeypod wood. The logs were gifted to the monastery by local tree trimmers. Monkeypod has long been prized as a quality carving wood and Nirvani Nilakanthanatha in particular, has recently been using it for turning beautiful wooden bowls.

These are a few families who had darshan with Satguru Bodhinatha this morning

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami reads his editorial from the Apr/May/Jun 2014 edition of Hinduism Today magazine. "A critical examination of secular humanism and Hindu humanism for youth immersed in the academic atheism of college" httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A21RaGjwrdM

"If all the temples were destroyed, the gurus would come forth and rebuild them. If all the scriptures were destroyed, the rishis would reincarnate and rewrite them. If all the gurus, swamis, rishis, sadhus, saints and sages were systematically destroyed, they would take births here and there around the globe and continue as if nothing had ever happened. So secure is the Eternal Truth on the planet, so unshakable, that it forges ahead undaunted through the mouths of many. It forges ahead undaunted through the temples' open doors. It forges ahead undaunted in scriptures now lodged in nearly every library in the world. It forges ahead undaunted, mystically hidden from the unworthy, revealed only to the worthy, who restrain themselves by observing some or all of the yamas and who practice a few niyamas."
-Gurudeva

This morning during the chirta nakshatra, the monks, along with local members and guests, invoked Gurudeva's light and blessings with an early-morning Padapuja to Gurudeva's black granite tiruvadi in Kadavul Temple. Natyam Nandinatha and Nirvani Nilakanthanatha performed the abhishekam. As usual, Sri Rudram was chanted for the first half, after which the rest of the puja was performed in a blissful silence. Gurudeva's presence was strong as his inspiring and subtle energy filled the hearts and minds of those present.

Today the Ganapati Kulam installed the 1008 lingam cabinet in the media studio. The cabinet resides on the east wall of the Cedar room, above the counter. It was made in Pakistan and is built entirely of rosewood with a brass inlay at the bottom which reads "Om Namah Sivaya" in Tamil. Within each of those 1008 little boxes will reside a small stone lingam. The backing behind the rosewood is an ornate golden wallpaper, and the rest of the surrounding walls will be covered in the soon-to-arrive mural wallpaper.

Yesterday, Satguru Bodhinatha was invited as a Guest to the Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay. Rotary International is a service organization whose stated purpose is to bring together business and professional leaders in order to provide humanitarian services, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. Bodhinatha gave a light-hearted, 25 minute talk and spoke about the various ways the monastery gives to the local community, most of which are unknown to many Kauai residents. Bodhinatha also discussed the progress of Iraivan Temple and our agricultural land, Himalayan Acres. The group had very good questions about Hinduism and the charitable works of the Monastery. 

Yesterday the vinyl wall murals destined for the Media Studio bath arrived from Chicago. We selected a delightful work of art by our S. Rajam, a coconut grove in which a villager is drawing water (bath, get it?) from a kineru, a village well. If you have never seen one of these in action, the man walks back and forth on a beam made from a coconut tree. As he steps forward, the bucket drops into the water, and as he steps back, the bucket rises to be emptied.

You can see in the slideshow this art transformed into waterproof vinyl which will adorn three of the walls, with a giant mirror on the basin side, so one will feel surrounded by coconut trees, which, by the way are just a few feet away outside the Media Studio!

Now we can plan for the installation, after leaving it for a few days to acclimate to our Hawaiian humidity.

Recently the monastery had a public tour day. Every few weeks, these tours are offered as a chance for people from all walks of life to see the monastery, its sacred gardens and of course, Iraivan Temple. The tours are led by some of our local island members, who all do a wonderful job and to whom we are very thankful. The tour groups have grown over the years, to the point where our guests have to book a space months in advance. Gurudeva was very careful about keeping the monastery a monastery, and not allowing it to become another "attraction" on the tourist-saturated destination of Kauai. Thankfully, more and more, we are seeing that the visitors that come on these tours are generally very kind, respectful people, who often tell us of the profound effect that their visit has had on their lives. This group loved Iraivan Temple and the bright sunny day on which they visited. The rudraksha trees and other rare plants were also well enjoyed.