Gurudeva blesses Mauritius as the top of the crate is removed to welcome him.
The team in Colorado made a super sturdy box, knowing it was traveling to the other side of the planet.
The truck delivers it to the Spiritual Park from the airport. Note the informal worker footwear! Watch your toes.
Through the entry gates.
Heading to its temporary home.
Safely kept in the Devasthanam until the final display place is prepared.
It’s been said before, but Holly Young did a splendid job capturing Gurudeva’s spirit and form
Jai Gurudeva!
The 25-inch-tall bronze murti of our dear Gurudeva has taken the route he often flew, from Kauai to Mauritius. As CyberCadets know, there are three copies of this masterpiece, one here at Kauai Aadheenam entrance, one at the temple in Alaveddy, Sri Lanka, and now a third in Mauritius awaiting installation in the months ahead. One monk commented that this is Gurudeva’s way to mystically tie together his shishyas in the three nations. One day we may see one in Malaysia as well. And elsewhere?
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.
“There are two basic forces in the universe, which you can look up in the dictionary. One is called odic force. The other is actinic force. Odic force is magnetic force. Odic force is the force of collective energies that make things—trees, chairs, tables, houses, the physical body. Odic force is of the material world—dense and heavy. The aura around the physical body and the forces of nature which govern much of man’s life on Earth are odic force. ¶Actinic force is your pure life force coming from the central source deep within, out through the nerve system. But as soon as this pure life force begins to mingle with the astral atoms and the physical body atoms, it turns to odic force. The study of these two forces can give you a great awakening—two primal forces.“
We know some of you have seen this video before, but many have not, so we thought it a good idea to show it again here on TAKA. It is a video made by Sivanadiyar Kodiswara, interviewing our monks about monastic life here. The goal is to give greater insight for both those who may be considering monastic life, and those who simply would like to know more about the monastery and our monks.
The next day the SK works to rebuild our broken quick tents
Sadhaka Shankaranatha going through the manual
Checking the pistons
Jai Ganesha!
Two days ago, the island of Kauai experienced a challenging day as heavy rain and strong winds swept through. Everyone, including us monks, faced the storm’s intensity as it descended upon the island, causing power outages and property damage. News channels and government issued warnings to locals, and although we had previously encountered similar storms and taken some precautions in advance, we did not expect this one to be so severe. After the strong wind ended, the Siddhidata Kulam monks went around the property, fixing everything they could. In the slideshow above,the mathavasis and taskforce repairing the tarps that were torn off by the storm. Meanwhile, amid all the restoration efforts, Sadhaka Shankaranatha carried out routine maintenance on our new Kubota tractor. Since it requires a piston check every ten usage-hours, he ensured it was in proper working condition and performed the necessary maintenance. The video below offers a glimpse of what we experienced during the storm. Aum!
Gurudeva watches as we make offerings to his tiruvadi (sandals)
This is the home shrine altar with a feast that was prepared for him and placed as naivedyam
Milk is offered
Then yogurt
Panchamritam: Five fruits and sweets
Sandalwood
Oils
Honey
Lemon and lime
Holy Ash, vibuthi
Then decorated with flowers for the final arati.
On January 10 the monks and members gathered in Kadavul Temple to witness the 310th Chitra Pada Puja, so the moon has circled Earth 310 times since his Great Departure. On that day in home shrines around the world devotees performed their own pujas. We have never shown that and so today we glimpse a devotees puja, complete with artistic images.
The Kularnava Tantra speaks of the Satguru’s feet most eloquently: “According to tradition, the totality of the Satguru is contained within his feet. All nerve currents terminate there.The vital points of every organ of his bodies—inner astral, inner mental and soul—are there. Touch the feet andwe touch the spiritual master.
The big toe on the left foot gives the most grace. The left leg is the revealing grace, and the big toe of that legconnects to the guru’s pituitary gland, the entrance to the door of Brahm, deep within the sahasrara chakrawhere he instantaneously merges with Siva in the state of Parasivam.The vibration of the Satguru can be felt through gently touching his sandals. In doing so, one subtly tunes intothe actual physical feet, astral feet, mental feet, soul feet of the preceptor.“
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.
“A woman living in the iḍā current goes through her emotional cycles, too. Her moods change regularly. She laughs, cries, sulks, enjoys. He has to be wise enough to allow her to have these ups and downs and neither criticize nor correct her when she does. If conditions become strained within the home, the man of the house becomes the example by feeling the power of his spine and the spiritual force of Śiva within it. He finds that he remains calm and can enjoy the bliss of his own energy. He finds ways and means to create joy and happiness and make odic forces that may have gone into a heavy condition beautiful, buoyant and lovely again.“