On the coming 15th of February, we will be celebrating Mahasivaratri at Iraivan Temple.
The event will begin with Satguru’s talk at 8:30pm, followed by the main puja from 9:00pm until midnight.
This year, we will be live streaming all four Kala Pujas, continuing through the night until 5:30am.
Very soon, we will share separate YouTube live stream links for each Kala Puja, so you can participate and experience the entire night of worship from wherever you are. Aum
Note: Please check back this post after a day or two for the other Kala Puja’s link. The timing might differ then the initial timing. Aum
This one is a Small Leafed Jade tree, beautifully developed. She is about four feet tall in that shallow pot.
The two bonsais sit near the temple pond on rose granite stands carved in India
Just like in a barber shop!
The bonsai master’s toolkit
Tandu trims the Ironwood with its thin, pine-like needles
Notice the soft copper wires used to shape and hold a branch in place
This simple pruning happens every 2-3 months. Structural pruning ever couple of years.
Looks ancient.
The two masterful bonsai trees gracing the Kadavul Temple pool are a delight to all pilgrims. But their beauty comes with great discipline and care. The roots are so shallow, even 3 days of no rain/water can stress them and so Tandu Sivanathan has to be constantly aware of their needs.
Two days back he and his friend and bonsai sensei, Abe, gave the two a haircut. Why? Without continual pruning, the carefully developed miniature proportions and artistic structure gradually disappear. We share the happening in our slideshow today.
Bonsai, the sacred art of shaping living trees in miniature form, carries a history of more than a thousand years, passing through generations as both a refined craft and a contemplative discipline. It quietly reflects profound spiritual truths long cherished in Hindu thought. The gardener does not force the tree but guides it with patience, restraint and loving attention, working in harmony with nature rather than against it. In this gentle partnership we see the path of sadhana itself—steady effort joined with divine grace.
A bonsai reminds us that spiritual maturity is not measured by outward size or display but by balance, rootedness and inner beauty. As branches are trimmed and growth directed, the practitioner is inwardly taught the same lesson: refine the mind, steady the heart and allow life to unfold according to dharma. Thus the tending of a bonsai becomes a quiet meditation, a daily reminder that with patience, humility and devotion the soul too can be shaped into a work of living harmony.
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.
“The sequential pattern of evolution is experienced by each individual in a microcosmic sense in each lifetime. Even if they have been experienced in a previous life, the lessons contained in each stage are, in a sense, relearned in childhood. If we have previously learned them, then they will be quickly mastered. But if we have not learned these lessons in another life, we draw to ourselves in this life the experiences that we need to do so. This knowledge is an inheritance that comes along with the physical body. In other words, experiences from other lives affect the patterns of experience in this life. With basic inherited knowledge, the soul develops an intellectual mind through the good graces of its own personal karma and destiny, provided his intellectual mind is in accordance and in harmony with the precepts of his religion. If not, he has problems. Those problems can be overcome, but they are problems while they are being overcome. If his beliefs are not in harmony with his religion, that conflict can stagnate and congest his natural advancement and must be resolved before he can move on to the second stage. “
Source plant of this white hibiscus, with new air layer attached
Opening the air layer after around six weeks
Air layering results now planted in the ground
A couple of our common tropical hibiscus varieties planted in the ground are so resilient that you can just take cuttings from a mature plant, stick them directly in the ground and they’ll grow new plants. With more complex varieties, not so easy. For a long time we were temporarily putting cuttings in pots that serve as a gentler way station for them to put out new roots. After a while we would transfer them to the ground. However, this method was not always successful, especially with more complex hybrids, and took many months to accomplish.
Then we heard about air layering, a faster, more reliable propagation method whereby you expose the inner stem of a young branch and wrap a growing material around it, such as coco peat or sphagnum peat moss, held together by foil or a plastic bag. It only takes about 1.5 to two months for new roots to form and be ready to transfer to the ground. We are having good success with it. The slideshow above shows the process from start to finish for a fluffy double white hibiscus.
Iraivan Temple and Mount Waialeale receive the warmth of the rising sun, after a cool winter night
Huge gusts knocked down several weakened palm trees as well as many leaves and branches
A group of tiny Kauai pigs search for tasty ground-goodies
The banyan tree above Kadavul Temple catches the evening glow
A stormy day among the foxtail palms
This moss is happy to get the rain though
Shiva’s moon above Iraivan Temple’s kodimaram several weeks ago
One of our monks picking flowers for the temple at 4am
Down by the ocean, our monks get this photo of the full moon with a plane flying by
Jai Ganesha.
As some of you may know, Kauai has slightly shifted warm and cool seasons compared to areas in cooler climates. We have a late summer that sometimes peaks in October, with humid weather in the mid-80s °F, and a late winter that you don’t really feel until late January through February. It may look like a tropical paradise out here, but this past week has been a little chilly for anyone acclimated to constant warmth, and surprisingly windy on some days. Here are a few photos of our clear skies and our gusty days and nights.
Each month, during the auspicious period of the Krittika nakshatra, Pravinkumar performs a homa in Iraivan Temple, which Satguru attends regularly. The puja begins with the homa, and once it is completed, the abhishekam follows. This is a vibrant and powerful monthly puja at Iraivan Temple. Aum
