A Gift for the Monastery
July 30, 2009The monastery got a call from the folks that ship containers between the islands. "You have some live plants here." We took the 11-mile journey to the dock, to find 13 boxes of plants. They were a gift from a Big Island grower who wanted to share this amazing...
Sun Five - Chitra Puja
July 27, 2009Today was the monthly Chitra Puja for Gurudeva. Bodhinatha here chants Sri Rudram along with all the other monks. ~~~~~~~~~~~ END OF PHASE Today is the last day of our phase. This edition of TAKA will remain posted over our coming two-day retreat, until Dasami Tithi, Sun One, Thursday, July...
Darshan with Bodhinatha
July 27, 2009Asha Bhachandani and her sister from near Toronto, Canada, visited for the first time. They asked Bodhinatha questions about health, mitigating karma, family harmony.
Shivani Takes Her Vratas
July 27, 2009Shivani Vinayaga today solemnly spoke out her Arul Sishya vows today in Kadavul Temple. Sitting before Lord Ganesha, with mother Shama behind her (as she always is), Shivani vowed officially to do what she has been doing for a long time: to be a vegetarian, to accept Bodhinatha and the...
Sri Subramuniya Kottam's Educational Project
July 27, 2009Life in Sri Lanka after the war has ended is difficult for all the Tamils there, but good things are still happening. In Sri Lanka when children reach grade 6 one of the school items that is needed is a math/compass set (ruler, pencil, compass, eraser, sharpener in a box)....
Aums and a Lesson on Money
July 27, 2009Dr. Narayana Rao and his wife met with Hinduism Today Indian correspondent Rajiv Malik in New Delhi to discuss their collaborations with the monastery. Each year Palaniswami creates four new graphic AUMs for the covers of Hinduism Today. Today we get a glimpse of his work. This is a photo...
Nallur Festival at Murugan Temple of North America
July 27, 2009Nigel Siva sent us this announcement about the upcoming Ilankai Nallur Kathirkama Kanthan festival to be held on August 7th and 8th at the Murugan Temple of North America in Lanham, Maryland. Bodhinatha and Shanmuganathaswami will be attending this event, an annual pilgrimage they have both been making since 2004....
Silent Sages
July 27, 2009The first two granite pieces to ever be made for Gurudeva are Saint Tirumular and Saint Tiruvalluvar, whose statues grace the entrance to the Aadheenam courtyard. Here is Tirumular who is said to have stayed deep in meditation for 3000 years only to come into the conscious mind once a...