Vetri Vel Muruga Arogara!!!
On the November 14 we will be celebrating Skanda Shasti in Kadavul Temple along with pilgrims and devotes. For those who can’t attend we will be doing a live streaming for you all to enjoy it. Above is the link for the live stream. Aum!
Skanda Shashti 2027 Read More »
Jai Ganesha!
This past month, three long-time members arrived on the Taskforce Program to serve in the Aadheenam daily. Dohadeva arrived from Singapore, Jiva from India, and Deva Katir from the mainland.
Dohadeva serves in the Ganapathi Kulam and has helped prepare Rudraksha malas and bracelets for Mini Mela. Additionally, he has been instrumental in preparing vibhuti prasadam packets for faithful devotees across the world. Jiva, who oversaw Iraivan Temple’s Bangalore carving site, has been accompanying the tours. Visitors get to learn insights into the temple construction from a first-hand source! Deva Katir has participated in numerous Siddhidatta Kulam projects, from garden & greenhouse work to refurbishing shelves and vehicles across the monastery grounds. The spirit of Karma Yoga has been exemplified well by our senior taskforcers!
Consistency is the key to the conquest of karma
— Gurudeva
Long-time Members Return for Service Read More »
Jai Gurudeva!
Here is the final arati of the Mahasamadhi Puja, taken from our livestream. Satguru performed the arati gracefully, making the moment even more sacred, beautiful and filled with blessings.
Mahasamadhi Puja Final Arati Read More »
It has been 34 days since Hurricane Lowell passed Kauai close enough to cause major wind and water damage. Though this was most devastating near the shores, the monastery was hit hard. Today we are celebrating the power of life to renew itself, to recover from catastrophic harm. Already we are seeing new growth, plants rising toward the sun from roots that were protected by the earth even after the plant was demolished. Today we captured a few examples of this renewal which you can see in the slideshow above.
When we awoke on September 8, one of the thousands of plants damaged was a giant Encephalartos, which is in the family commonly called cycad. This one was some 50 years old, and its fronds spread some 40 feet wide before the storm. It was crushed by a truly giant cactus. We trimmed off all the broken fronds, leaving the base which is some 3 feet wide.
After about two weeks, we noticed a new flush of fronds peeking out of the stump. It inspired us to start taking almost daily photos with the intent to make a timelapse of the growth. From September 29 to November 6 we captured the progress, and made a rough timelapse, which we show below. In just 30 seconds these days of growth are revealed. In another couple of weeks it will be back to normal. See the timelapse bwlow:
Life After Hurricane Lowell Read More »
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.
“Oftentimes japa and chanting are the ardha-Hindu or non-Hindu’s first introduction to Sanātana Dharma. An ardha-Hindu is often one who has been given a Hindu first name. It is our experience over the last fifty years that their japa has little effect unless they make the full commitment to becoming stalwart members of the Hindu religion and join a mature community. Those who are inside a department store handling and purchasing the merchandise and those outside looking through the window at the same merchandise are two different groups. Ardha means half, and ardha-Hindus are those who have come half way to making a full commitment and are still making up their mind. They are still on the outside looking in. Their japa doesn’t have much power until they bring other aspects of their life into line with the Hindu Dharma.“
The Yoga of Incantation, Part Two Read More »
Our final day began with the early morning small Guru puja at the samadhi shrine, followed by satsang with Satguru Bodhinatha in the late morning in the Guru Peedam room. Then at 3:30, Kumar Gurukkal, assisted by Pravin Kumar Gurukkal, began a nearly five-hour process of sankalpa, purification of self and surroundings, invoking Ganesha and Varuna to bless the proceedings and honoring Siva’s abundant provision through the substances produced by the cow. This was followed by a homa to honor and invoke Gurudeva’s presence through Agni and a blessed khumba, after which abhishekam was performed to Gurudeva’s paduka, granite holy sandals, at the samadhi shrine. Everyone enjoyed prasadam at the end, prepared devotedly by our resident cook, Mani.
The last two images in the gallery tell a piece of monastery grounds history. In the early years of the monastery, the front, Tiruneri path leading up to Kadavul Temple was planted on both sides with plumerias and hybrid varieties of hibiscus. As the rains fell abundantly, the nearby banyan tree got larger and additional trees were planted in the area, the plumeria and hibiscus suffered and slowly withered, starting to die off in the early 1990s. We were able to successfully save several by transplanting them out to the other side of the property where there was more sun at the time, near the current rainbow eucalyptus grove beyond Iraivan Temple. They did okay for a while, but surrounding trees slowly got taller, shading them out, leading to a slow demise.
After some unsuccessful attempts with obtaining cuttings, we were able to get one viable cutting from a hibiscus through air layering on a branch for a couple months, just before the entire plant died, as shown in the first photo. After transplanting to the more recently acquired 17 acres, which gets more sunlight and had enough space to establish more rows of hibiscus, the plant is doing very well and producing its first flowers!
A Joyous Final Day of Gurudeva Mahasamadhi Observances Read More »
