Pancha Ganapati, Day Two
December 22, 2008Happy second day of Pancha Ganapati! The monastery keeps moving forward in our duties as usual, but Ganesha's joyous shakti is in the air. "Day two of Pancha Ganapati is devoted to creating a vibration of love and harmony among neighbors, relatives and close friends and presenting them with heartfelt...
Bodhinatha Sends a Gift To Picchai Gurukkal
December 22, 2008Jai Ganesha, who guides us always along the right path! Pillayarpati is one of Lord Ganesha's greatest temples on Earth. Nearby, Picchai Gurukkal, Hindu of the Year 2005, has his priest training school. We prepared a surprise for his 60th birthday. Mark Boyer took several weeks off from his New...
Chitra Puja and Happy Pancha Ganapati
December 21, 2008Bodhinatha sits deep in samadhi, in a photo from a Satguru Purnima padapuja. Once he told us, "Satgurus of our lineage are very different on the outside. But during a padapuja or when giving an initiation, we are one." And so it is that today we performed a padapuja for...
Last Part of Bodhinatha's Trip To India
December 21, 2008Our first stop in Chennai was the Sanskrit College. Here we meet with the head scholar. This college was founded over a hundred years ago and is one of the premier Sanskrit institutions in South India. There are classes in the various Vedanta philosophies, jyotisha, language and more. Class in...
Tour Day Guests
December 21, 2008The heavy rain has abated, leaving happy plants behind its trail of blessings. But a few days ago a tour day happened while it was still wet. We bring you its photos today. The silpis blend in with the crowd. Umbrellas everywhere. Rain and happy smiles are so common here....
The Other Monks of Kaua'i
December 21, 2008Further south on our beautiful Garden Island, Poipu beach is famous for its beauty and its monk seals napping on the shore. This last retreat we monks took a photo of them monks when touring the silpis around the island. Aloha from Kaua'i!
Bodhinatha Is Back At Home
December 20, 2008Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami is back at the Aadheenam, which is great news for us all. We welcome the guru with a small padapuja, a traditional way of honoring the blessing of having him with us. Sannyasin Arumugaswami has wonderful stories to tell about our efforts to translate the Saiva Agamas...
More Stories From Bodhinatha's Trip to India
December 20, 2008In Bangalore we visiting the RK Mission, which is over 100 years old. The resident Swami Harshananda produced the three-volume Encyclopedia of Hinduism, reviewed in the January issue of Hinduism Today. He said they printed just 2,000 copies last year and have already had several reprints with a total sales...