How Can I Help?

There are many ways you can help Bodhinatha's work

Many have asked how they can support the monks. If you have a clear idea of what you want to support then you can click here to go directly to our secure donation form now and choose to feed the monks, help with our garden or enter your intention for your gift if you have something specific in mind. If you want more detail on various options, then read below.

If you want to give a donation directly to Bodhinatha for him to use at his discretion or donate to the temple, see below. You gift will encourage the many projects Gurudeva has set in motion and which Bodhinatha is carrying forward. Or to simply do something for the monks in appreciation of their work. This page is a response to all the good souls who wish to help. We know each of you is inspired by different things, so we will work to keep a broad spectrum of the needs (or wants) on this page, from high-tech stuff to warm socks for the monks, from small items to serious improvements that we could not otherwise afford to implement. Please feel free to sponsor part of a project, even if you feel you cannot sponsor the whole thing. Every dollar counts!

If you are interested in sponsoring a project or need that is not listed below, please send an e-mail to sadasivanatha@hindu.org.

Help Build the Iraivan Temple

Iraivan Temple

Summary: This is our most important project: fulfillment of Gurudeva's grand vision of the Iraivan temple being built on the island of Kauai. Made entirely by hand, not using a single machine, from stone in India and shipped to Hawaii. This will be an historic gift to the future generations of Hindus around the world. Don't miss the opportunity to participate today! Click to help build one the most remarkable temples in the world.

Contribute to the "Thank You Bodhinatha" Fund

Gurudeva with Bodhinatha

Summary: If you have been inspired by Bodhinatha's life work, grateful for his influence in your life, appreciative of the gifts that he has given us all, you may honor your sentiment with a donation to the Thank You Bodhinatha Fund. This fund is used for promoting Bodhinatha's teachings around the world and the travel of Bodhinatha to spread the great truths of Hindu dharma. The fund is maintained as a permanent trust within the Hindu Heritage Endowment so your donation will grow and build through the years. Click to go to the HHE secure donation page.

Donate to Hinduism Today Magazine

Summary: Hinduism Today Magazine is a nonprofit educational activity of Himalayan Academy with the following purposes: 1. To foster Hindu solidarity as a unity in diversity among all sects and lineages; 2. To inform and inspire Hindus worldwide and people interested in Hinduism; 3. To dispel myths, illusions and misinformation about Hinduism; 4. To protect, preserve and promote the sacred Vedas and the Hindu religion; 5. To nurture and monitor the ongoing spiritual Hindu renaissance; 6. To publish a resource for Hindu leaders and educators who promote Sanatana Dharma. Click to go to the Hinduism Today secure donation page.

Feed the Monks

Summary: We are often asked by devotees if they can feed the monks. The answer is yes. This is an ancient and traditional form of giving known in Sanskrit as anna dana, feeding the sadhus. It is common for devotees to choose a day to honor a family member or celebrate some sacred or important event in their life.

The challenge is that we are in the middle of the Pacific, and you may be living in London, Chennai or Brazil.

The preferred way that devotees accomplish this is to make a cash donation to the monastery. The donation will be used to order a restaurant take out meal, to shop for some fancier than normal items from the supermarket to add to our normal lunch and dinner menus or, for donations with no day specified, help with the expense of our normal daily meals.

If you have indicated a specific day for the meal, your sponsored meal will take place as close to that day as fits into the monastery activity and cooking schedules. When making arrangements with the monastery, it is helpful to say, "Please use this donation to sponsor a meal for all the monks."

Cost: Restaurants charge about $450 including delivery on this all-too-expensive island to feed all of us. You can make your donation online. Click here to go to a secure donation form.

Donations for Hardwood Trees

Summary: Our monastery could use financial assistance with maintaining nearby hardwood plantings.
To give some history:

When Kauai’s Hindu Monastery first moved to Kauai in 1970, Lihue Plantations, a cane sugar company, leased the land directly across the river. Every three or four years the night sky would light up as they burned the cane in preparation for harvesting. In 2000, they found cane no longer profitable and abandoned the lease. 

The monastery was concerned with possible ways new neighbors might use the land and so we applied for and in 2004 received a long term lease. Blessed with over 200 acres of former cane land, Gurudeva in 2001 sent some of the monastics to a forestry seminar and in 2004, once the lease was secure, we began the planting of at least 100 acres of hardwood trees.  The planting has continued to the present and the original planned acreage has been planted with a few more small areas to be planted or replanted in the near future. Eventually when the canopy of the trees fills in and becomes dense, we hope to have very little maintenance. However at the current time two invasive species, albezia trees and guinea grass are a constant challenge for the hardwoods, and need to be monitored and controlled, requiring constant monitoring and maintenance. We expect some areas to fill in within a few years and newly planted trees may take another fifteen years or more.

We have had financial support from both the federal and state governments and other minor sources, all of which are no longer available. Our current manpower costs are roughly $65,000 per year with another $10,000 annually in supplies. We are also considering replacing one of our tractors for a cost of roughly $39,000. We expect these costs to reduce as the canopy fills in. Anyone wishing to support our hardwood planting with donations, big or small, can email the monastic supervising the project, Vishvanatha Swami at vishvanatha@hindu.org.