Today at Kauai Aadheenam

Fire Mountain, Rain Mountain: Waialeale

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Mount Waialeale is one of Kauai’s greatest natural marvels, rising from the island’s emerald heart (more technically the island rises from its heart) and cloaked in near-constant mist. Its name means “rippling waters” or “overflowing water,” a reference to the countless waterfalls and ancient bogs that spill from its summit. Known as one of the wettest spots on Earth, Waialeale is revered in Hawaiian culture as a sacred wao akua, a realm of the gods, where clouds gather, nourish the land, and sustain life downstream. Its blue-green cliffs and perpetual rain have long inspired respect, marking the mountain as a living temple of water, fertility and spiritual presence at the center of the island.

We live with it daily and watch it change from hour to hour as the clouds come and go, as the setting sun sets it on fire. Gurudeva envisioned a futuristic coffee table book which would show all of its moods, and we share a few of those in today’s TAKA, taken by various monks over the years.

In December of 1968 Gurudeva brought 32 Innersearchers to Kauai and on the second day we hired Larry rivera, the island’s legendary singer/composer, to regale us all with his song about Waialeale. Larry warned us, as we gathered around what is now the temple pool, that the song makes it rain more often than not. We nodded politely, and asked him to continue. It rained before he ended!

Want to hear him sing it right now? Go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0voBezB05cw

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Love of the Gods, Part Two

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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.

“Darshan is a vibration, too. It is first experienced in the simple physical glimpse of the form of the Deity in the sanctum. Later, that physical sight gives way to a clairvoyant vision or to a refined cognition received through the sensitive ganglia within your nerve system, the chakras. Through these receptors, a subtle message is received, often not consciously. Perhaps not immediately, but the message that the darshan carries, direct from the Mahādeva—direct from Lord Gaṇeśa, direct from Lord Murugan, direct from Lord Śiva Himself—manifests in your life. This is the way the Gods converse. It is a communication more real than the communication of language that you experience each day. It is not necessary to understand the communication immediately. The devotee may go away from the temple outwardly feeling that there was no particular message, or not knowing in his intellectual mind exactly what the darshan meant. Even the words you are now reading may not be fully cognized for days, weeks or even months. The depth of meaning will unfold itself on reflection. “

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Our Instagram Contents

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Jai Ganesha!

Here are some of our newest Instagram posts, showcasing teachings from Path to Siva and Gurudeva’s Spiritual Toolbox. We’ve been putting extra care into crafting these carousels and visuals to make the wisdom more accessible, engaging, and visually inspiring. Below are the links to these recent creations—we hope you enjoy exploring them and find them uplifting.

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Guru Puja, Vow Taking, Booklet Reprint

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Today was our monthly Gurudeva Chitra Padapuja. Here is a random selection from Gurudeva’s audio archive–

Hindu view of diet items

A few days ago one of our local Master Course students, Katrina St Marie, took the Dasama Bhaga Vrata, or tithing vow. Text of the vow–

Oh! Divine Beings of all three worlds, let us bring our minds to rest in the darsana of Him who has one tusk, let us meditate upon Him who has the form of an elephant with a curved trunk, May He guide us always along the right path.

Vrata: I believe in You, the one Supreme God, Lord Siva, and the Gods of our Saivite faith, and in the Saiva Dharma. In love and trust I recognize Your goodness in providing for my every material and spiritual need. I accept the principle of Dasamamsha (giving one tenth of my gross income) as the method by which I may acknowledge my gratitude to you, Lord Sva, and share in helping You fulfill and perpetuate Your work on earth. As an act of dedication, I am resolved this day to begin (or continue) the regular practice of tithing.

We have a small booklet of fourteen lessons called Know thy Self. We finally ran out of copies and, following our new pattern of book publication, have set it up to be print-on-demand by Amazon KDP. In the process, we have shifted from the unusual horizontal layout to a typical vertical layout.

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Sri Karpaga Ganapathi Temple Maha Kumbhabhishekam

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  • A warm welcome at the temple’s Ganesha shrine
  • A Gopuja proeceeded Satguru’s arrival
  • A very friendly face to greet Satguru and Swami
  • First stop is the Ganesha shrine
  • A beautiful black-granite Ganesha!
  • Aum Gam Ganapataye Namah
  • Satguru gives an upadesha
  • Followed by vibhuti blessings for those present
  • Also on the trip, Satguru and Swami have a satsang with our California members and students
  • Aum Namah Sivaya

Jai Ganesha!

Last week, Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami and Sannyasin Yoginathaswami took a short trip to San Ramon, in the Bay Area of California. They were there to attend the Maha Kumbhabhishekam of the Sri Karpaga Ganapathi Temple. The event was conducted on November 10th, 2025, and was preceded by four days of preliminary pujas and prayers. Satguru was the chief guest of honor. The temple was founded by Sivasri Suresh Viswanathan Sivacharyar, whom we have known for many years. Sivacharyar has strong local community support and was very happy to have been able to start this temple. The Ganesha murti was gifted by Bodhinatha, following Gurudeva’s long-standing tradition to give a Ganesha whenever a community starts a temple.

The powerful puja was done successfully and was accompanied by a 3.8 earthquake. The chief priest was Sivasri Swaminatha Sivacharyar from Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu, and he was assisted by Sivasri Karthikeya Sivacharyar and Sivasri Balu Gurukkal. Aum.

This video includes a San Ramon local TV interview of Satguru (interview starts at 2m 15s)

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San Marga: THE STRAIGHT PATH TO GOD

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  • Ganesha
  • Muruga
  • Svayambhū Śivaliṅga

Jai Ganesha!

With the discovery of the boulder in Gurudeva’s 1975 vision, San Mārga, the straight path to God, was created just west of Iraivan Temple. Worship of the sacred stone he found, known as a svayambhū Śivaliṅga, was commenced immediately at daily pūjā rites, and a master plan was unfolded from the devonic worlds.

Pilgrims to Iraivan begin their spiritual excursion to Iraivan in the Rudrāksha Forest, which Gurudeva planted in 1984. He wrote, “Being under the rudrāksha trees in this magical forest has hidden, sought-after healing ­ powers, the key to helping aching hearts, the salve to soothe broken hearts, yearning hearts, sad hearts and ailing hearts.” On a knoll near the Rudrāksha Forest stands Lord Hanumān. Gurudeva asked for a small Iraivan Temple to be placed in His left hand, held aloft. Just as Hanumān brought the healing Sañjīvi mountain from the Himālayas to Sri Lanka, so He carried Iraivan from India to Kauai.

Walking south from the forest, visitors proceed through a bamboo corridor along San Mārga, the lush and tropical straight path to God, composed of three sections denoting the three worlds. The first is overseen by Lord Gaṇeśa, ruler of beginnings. Farther down, Lord Murugan, in the form of a 12-foot-tall Vel, resides atop a small hillock, overlooking the second world. Ringing a bell, pilgrims enter the third world, Śiva’s realm. From this point on, no other Deities are seen. It is all Śiva, nothing but Śiva. Gurudeva made this path perfectly straight to stress that we should go directly to God, avoiding distractions, walking past diversions, pitfalls and fascinations, ever keeping our mind on our goal, on Śiva’s Feet.

The path leads to the Svayambhū Śivaliṅga and beyond to the Wailua River and the entrance to Iraivan Temple. Gurudeva wrote, “When you begin the pilgrimage to Iraivan Temple, you drop off and dissolve the karmas of the past. Then, because of the direction the temple is facing, the temple gives a new start, a new impetus for a wonderful future. It is a boon-giving temple, a gift-giving temple, a life-giving temple, a wish-fulfilling temple.” Following San Mārga is both a sādhana and a metaphor of the inner path that leads to God.

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