Aum Namah Sivaya!
Happy Ardra Nakshatra!
Recently, Madan Ganesh from Bengaluru created a small web app that specialized in playing Master Course audio lessons. Note that it currently draws on the formerly non-Gurudeva-narrated version of Dancing with Siva audio lessons, but that will be updated in the near future. You can access it here or click the image below.
A Web App to Access Master Course Audio Read More »
Jai Ganesha!
On the last retreat, Sannyasin Siddhanathaswami and Sadhaka Shankaranatha took our taskforcers on an outing. They went to Poipu Beach, a very popular spot for everyone on the island. The taskforcers had a great time swimming and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Aum
The monastery has tens of thousands of botanical species, some humble, some stunningly proud, some edible, some poisonous, some not so pretty. But they all add to the special spaces here, hundreds of little microcosms, each with a different amount of light and water and wind and minerals and predators. Those who work in the gardens, growing and nurturing, soon learn to listen to the plants, watch their reactions and respond in order to help them survive and flourish. Of course, our teachings tell us that the entire universe is aware. A molecule has awareness, a protein shows intent. Siva is aware and Siva is the life/existence in all things, so it is no surprise to us that plants would exhibit awareness. Theirs is different from ours for sure, but it is awareness nonetheless.
Science is just now catching up to that little fact. Witness the latest New York Times bestseller on plants:The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger. It’s a deep dive into the secret life of plants. According to her research, far from passive greenery, plants see, smell, remember, decide and communicate. Schlanger presents five fascinating reasons to think of plants as having awareness: they sense light direction, emit chemical warnings, store memories, respond to touch, and even adjust their behavior. This, she insists, is hard science and she tells it well. She is not as talented as Michael Pollan in his books about food, but she does reveal that science about plants is evolving quickly.
One of the most compelling anecdotes Zoë Schlanger shares in The Light Eaters involves the mimosa plant (Mimosa pudica)—a sensitive species known for folding its leaves when touched. Hawaiians call it hilahila which means shy or bashful. Scientists dropped mimosa plants repeatedly from a short height—not enough to harm, but enough to provoke the leaf-folding reflex. At first, the plants reacted as expected. But after just a few drops, they stopped closing their leaves—having “learned” that the drop wasn’t dangerous. Even more astonishing, weeks later, the same plants still remembered not to react. No brain, no nerves—yet they showed signs of learning and memory. Consciousness? Maybe. Awareness? Undeniable.
Do Plants Have Consciousness? Read More »
In this upadesha, Satguru picks up from where he left off last week which was sharing about the fourth dimension in depth. Today he begins exploring Gurudeva’s profound description of the fifth dimension, which relates to the vishuddha chakra. “The perspective that all is well in the world, the experience that everything is as it should be, perfect right now, is of the fifth dimension. In this state we realize a great bliss, a comprehensive, all-encompassing acceptance of the universe as it is, which reveals that the whole of existence is working proportionately one with another.”
Fifth Dimension, the Mind of Light, Part One Read More »
Two of our upcoming books are about Sage Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and Saint Tayumanavar’s life and songs. Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami commissioned ten original pieces of art for each book from famed muralist Suresh Muthukulam in Kerala. Though it will be a while before the books are published, the artwork is now available on our Himalayan Academy Museum of Spiritual Art (HAMSA) in the Suresh Muthukulam collection, with detailed captions for each. Here is a sample from each group:
Tayumanavar
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras
Artwork Added to HAMSA Site Read More »
This has been quite an energizing month at the Aadheenam. We’ve had many guests come through, mostly to attend Guru Purnima celebrations. We’ve also been having bright, sunny day’s, interspersed with sudden, deafening deluges of tropical rains from Kauai’s fast moving clouds. After our cooler spring months, much of our surrounding nature has begun to grow and bloom rapidly, aided by this onset of water and sunlight. In the slideshow are a few photos of some of the sites from our jungle canopies and waterways.
Tirumantiram 2010:
Śiva assumes the form of infinite smallness by being within the minutest atom. At the same time, He assumes the form of infinite vastness by holding all the universes within Himself, such that each universe appears like a small atom. Lord Īśvara who is incomparable and matchless, simultaneously presents Himself within all the objects of the world, both moving and inert. He pervades the entirety of space and all the worlds. There is not even a minute space that is unoccupied by Him. In spite of this presence of Śiva, the worldly-minded do not realize His inseparable oneness with each soul and His presence in everything.
The Living Land Around Us Read More »
