Today at Kauai Aadheenam

Saying Goodbye to Two Giant Sugar Palms

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  • The palm has long, drooping fronds.
  • A shot befor the storm, with two seed clusters left and right and a new one just flowering in the center.
  • A few days later, they are felled by the 90+ mile an hour winds.
  • We will replant and regrow them in the months ahead.
  • When they flower, it is a spectacle, loved by the bees.
  • The green pods open up to reveal the yellow flowers, eich with pollen.
  • A pile of spent flowers, probably 10 gallons in volume for each pod!
  • The flowers before opening. This cluster is 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide.
  • Finally ,the seeds develop looking like large grapes.

Today we say aloha to two amazing trees, mature Sugar Palms (Arenga pinnata) that towered near Rishi from the Himalayas for some 32 years. They were called (by us) “the world’s most overachieving palm tree.” And for good reason, several times a year they would produce massive clusters of seeds, tens of thousands of seeds the size of large grapes. The clusters, sometimes six at once hanging from the trunk, weighed 300 pounds each, or more. No other palm we have produces such abundant seeds, not even close.

They lived a good life, looking down at Rishi’s black granite murti and able to see Bodhinatha’s murti across the pond. A life well lived. Let us all live such that we can say the same, and live with pure detachment so anything can come to us, even calamity, and we will remain centered, unchanged, trusting in Siva’s Dance.

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More Results of Rudra’s Winds

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  • This tree that fell over from the neighbor's property missed the Media Studio roof by inches. It was blocking one of our storage containers and got cleared over the past couple days.
    This tree that fell over from the neighbor’s property missed the Media Studio roof by inches. It was blocking one of our storage containers and got cleared over the past couple days.
  • A broken branch over our back road is suspended high up, barely held by the tall tree
    A broken branch over our back road is suspended high up, barely held by the tall tree
  • Our monks were able to cut through the talipot palms to open a single narrow lane on the concrete road leading to Iraivan Temple, thereby saving us time to reach that side of the property
    Our monks were able to cut through the talipot palms to open a single narrow lane on the concrete road leading to Iraivan Temple, thereby saving us time to reach that side of the property
  • The monks cut through fallen bamboo to open another driving lane near the svayambhulingam mandapam
    The monks cut through fallen bamboo to open another driving lane near the svayambhulingam mandapam
  • This and the next five photos show current scenes adjacent to and beyond the San Marga Path along our fenced property line that borders the University of Hawaii Agricultural Research Station. Our property line has many tall blue gum and swamp mahogany trees.
    This and the next five photos show current scenes adjacent to and beyond the San Marga Path along our fenced property line that borders the University of Hawaii Agricultural Research Station. Our property line has many tall blue gum and swamp mahogany trees.
  • Some of the numerous downed albesia trees on the university side
    Some of the numerous downed albesia trees on the university side
  • Uprooted sections of the cactus garden outside the Media Studio
    Uprooted sections of the cactus garden outside the Media Studio

Today we view some of the progress in opening up various access points and driving lanes on the grounds, along with images of what happened along the property border beyond Iraivan Temple and adjacent to San Marga Path, where we have many tall trees along the fenceline.

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Post Hurricane, Day Two

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  • Totes of water for cleaning dishes in the kitchen
  • Water to use sparingly for abhishekam and cleaning puja tray in Kadavul Temple. Another set of buckets are brought to Iraivan Temple.
  • Example of trees landing on our guhas (monks’ sleeping huts)
  • Two large-diameter uprooted talipot palm trees completely blocking the main road to Iraivan Temple
  • Uprooted large lychee tree nearby the flagpole (except there is no longer a flag; it was ripped off and disappeared)
  • Many downed branches from swamp mahogany trees
  • Greenhouse covers blown off in Annapurna vegetable garden
  • Another downed lychee tree next to Annapoorna Garden
  • Many hibiscus plants providing flowers for the temples were blown over but the roots are fortunately still in the ground.
  • Many uprooted avocado trees in our fruit orchard
  • Large downed tree across the San Marga path, just before Muruga Hill
  • View from San Marga path small Ganesha shrine towards the rudraksha grove, with massive uprooted bamboo clumps over the path in the distance
  • Branches strewn throughout the rudraksha grove
  • Electric company truck inspecting power lines near our property

We embarked an another very clear, sunny, hot day as is the typical weather for a while after a hurricane. Much coordination occurred with mobile washing and cooking water supply totes from our rain-catchment tank, including bring a trailer tank of water over to the house where our temple priest and cook stay. Our chainsaws revved up again to clear more small trees from pathways. Additional trees had fallen since the night of the hurricane, weakened by the winds. We hear that the airport has reopened, though running on generator power. The electric company and county department of water are working hard to assess damages and start to restore power and clean water supply to the island. Portable generators have to be staged in various locations to pump water from tanks while the power is still out. Extra tree trimming contractors were brought to Kauai before the hurricane struck, so enough teams could be ready to fan across the island in the aftermath. Around 15-20 souls braved their limited living conditions to come up and pray in Kadavul Temple, some with suitcases in hand. One local devotee said he was woken up at night in his house during the hurricane by a tree branch piercing through the roof and ceiling of his bedroom.

Photos above include a larger sample of downed trees around the property, giving a sense of the tremendous cleanup process ahead of us.

Below is a video showing some of the island damage, mostly on the south side coast from the storm surge.

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A New Day After Hurricane Lowell

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Jai Ganesha!

Firstly we’d like to mention that, following our very-recent storm, our monks are all doing well. Last night’s Hurricane Lowell was at peak intensity around midnight as it passed by our island, delivering ~80-90 mile-an-hour winds or more. Ever since Hurricane Iniki leveled the whole island in the 90’s, the monastery has taken disaster preparedness very seriously, and we were quite well prepared for this storm. For example, all of our buildings have quickly deployable metal hurricane shutters on doors and widows. Last night, in between moments of sleep, the large and loud wind gusts could be heard, flying debris through the air, all with the sound of a falling tree every 10-20 minutes.

This morning we awoke to a stunning sunrise, accented by the extra light now filtering through our many de-leaved trees. The first order of business was damage assessment. The Aadheenam’s buildings were for the most part completely unharmed. The winds were strong enough, however, to fully uproot many huge trees. Nearly every road around the aadheenam acreage had been blocked. The whole island is temporarily without power, but the monastery has a big generator and our fiber internet connection remains unbroken. The island’s utility water is also out, but again we are well prepared while county teams work tirelessly to bring everything back online. The day has been spent making sure our basic utilities are up and running, as well as chainsawing trees, clearing our vital roadways and removing debris.

Aum Namah Sivaya

  • A stunning sunrise after a stormy night
  • These palm trees didn’t fare too well
  • the grounds are completely covered in leaves, twigs and branches
  • The Nene (Hawaiian geese) fly overhead. They’re happy the storm is over.
  • Monks mobilize and begin working on whatever needs doing.
  • The rivers surges all day long, long after the rains have stopped
  • This tree had long hung over the pond. It finally fell in.
  • monks enjoy a morning rainbow that is being turned pink by the sunrise
  • As you can see, no tree escaped at least some form of damage
  • Uprooted bamboo near the rudraksha forest
  • Iraivan Temple looks like nothing happened. Stone construction has its perks.

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Quartzite Arrives from Brazil

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  • 20 crates arrive from Brazil. The concrete on the left is a glimpse of the path that will be clad with stone.
  • Quartzite is an especially hard stone, so dense it does not give a foothold to molds and fungi like softer stones do.
  • Offloaded onto the asphalt west of Iraivan.
  • It made it all that way—9,000 miles by ship—with no breakage.
  • Each crate will cover 45 linear feet of the Garden Path.
  • It’s a big project and will take about two months to install, depending on the weather.

We sometimes kid that projects always take less time, effort and money than expected. Of course, only those who never completed a big project believe it. This Garden Path has been many years in the making. The final step, of many, is to install half-inch-thick quartzite onto the recently poured 900-foot-long, 8-foot-wide concrete path.

It took about four months for the stone to reach Kauai, and that allows Alfredo to begin the installation after the hurricane passes. You will meet him in future TAKA posts. This project is also significant because it is the last large construction project at Iraivan.

Jai to our Beloved Gurudeva! Jai to our Light-filled Paramparai! Jai to Iraivan’s Grace-giving Mahalingesvara!

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The Path of Egoity, Part Four

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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.

“A powerful businessman, a bum on the street, a highly educated scientist and the uneducated field worker could all be sharing the āṇava mārga. It is a path of gratification of the ego, or the gratification of other persons’ egos. These days egos get gratified by going to heads of corporations, meeting important people and bowing before heads of state. It is on the charyā mārga that we learn that rich and poor, the powerful and lowly are all purushas, pure souls, jīvas encompassed in a physical body. And on this mārga we learn to bow before God and the Gods. We learn that their home, their officiating place, is the temple, the home shrine and under sacred trees. Being in their presence makes the charyā mārgī feel small. The first glimmer of the feeling of smallness is the first footstep on the charyā mārga. “

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