Shanmuganathaswami and I flew to Malaysia at the beginning of May. Activities began with the Malaysia Hindu Sangam, first with a reception at their property in Tapah, where they are renovating a temple to Siddhar Jeyanathaswami, and second a visit to their headquarters in Brickfields to give a short talk to their leadership group. Our major public event was a Saturday book launch for Guru’s Wisdom at Kala Mandapam, Brickfields, which had about 700 people in attendance. On Sunday we held satsang at Iraivan Illam in Klang at which one member received samaya diksha and three youth took their brahmacharya vrata. Next we travelled south to the Siddhi Vinayaka Temple in Johor Jaya. In the morning we participated in the final four hours of their kumbhabhishekam, and in the evening I gave a talk and vibhuti blessings. Next we flew to London for a week of activities. A satsang for members and devotees was held plus temple visits and talks at Shree Ghanapathy Temple in Wimbledon and Sri Rajarajeshwari Amman Temple in Stoneleigh. The weekend was devoted to the 20th annual Saiva Conference of The Federation of Saiva (Hindu) Temples, UK. My presentations were a short talk on dana, a keynote on Lord Murugan and a workshop based on Guru’s Wisdom. Back at the Aadheenam, we celebrated the Vaikasi Visakam festival on May 17 with a powerful abhishekam to Lord Murugan. General contributions for May totaled $61,960, which is less than our minimum monthly goal of $70,000. Special project contributions totaled an additional $434. We are grateful to our global family of temple builders for your continued and generous support. Om Namasivaya,
   — Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami.

Click here to see Bodhinatha's extended travel schedule. Bookmark the link and return for updates.

Founder of Kauai’s Hindu Monastery, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, 1927–2001, arrives by ship in Trinidad and Tobago in 2000.

Within the inner worlds, there are realms far more subtle than the astral plane. Advanced souls residing on the astral plane are able to access those higher worlds at will, there to learn from and receive blessings from rishis and great devas. For most, in order to do this, the astral body would not “die,” but simply be left behind temporarily. Similarly, here on the physical plane, you can go into meditation and get “beamed up” into the higher world in your purusha body. Your physical body and astral body are temporarily left behind. However, there are beings in the inner world who reside fully in these higher planes in their mental body, having dropped off their lower astral body long ago. But the law is that after death you won’t be able to go any higher in the inner worlds than the level you had attained in a physical birth, because it is only in physical birth that all twenty-one chakras are available. In physical birth, the lowest ones become attainable, and the highest become attainable as well. Whatever your attainment on Earth is, you carry that with you into the astral worlds unchanged. Whatever your accomplishments are of living in the gamut of the chakras, lower or higher, you can’t go lower and you can’t go higher in the inner planes. That is why you need a physical birth.

Explore Gurudeva's Wisdom

• Study Gurudeva's Master Course, which is filled with philosophical, practical, soul-stirring information potent enough to inspire even a skeptic to change his ways of thinking about life and the ultimate goal of existence on this planet: HimalayanAcademy.com/study/mc/
• Read Gurudeva's books online at: https://www.himalayanacademy.com/looklisten/gurus-talks
• Listen to Gurudeva's inspired talks by visiting: https://himalayanacademy.com/talks/gurudeva
• Explore the teachings in the easy to use Sivasiva mobile app: https://himalayanacademy.com/apps/sivasiva

Temple consecration: Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami stands with priests on the roof of the Johor Baru Ganesha Temple during the kumbhabhishekam in Malaysia

Lord Murugan: Following the annual Skanda Shashti puja, Murugan, holding His Shakti Vel, is dressed and garlanded abundantly

Top to bottom: Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami honors one of the attendees at the launching of his newest book, Guru’s Wisdom, in Malaysia; Silpi Adaikalam adds intricate detail to the top of the handrail for the steps leading to the upper level of the Nandi Mandapam; one of the two Iraivan sanctum doors that just arrived from India.

Iraivan Temple Progress
With the Nandi Mandapam being so far along, some of the focus of the silpi stone carvers is shifting back to the perimeter wall and the finishing detail work on the ceiling carvings in the mukha mandapam. They are also working to refine the sculptures on the two large yallis that will frame the front steps leading from ground level up to the temple floor. In May our island neighbor Pradeep returned with his heavy equipment to begin a landscaping project on the northwest corner of Iraivan Temple. Huge boulders, which had been delivered years earlier, were set into place and low rock wall terraces were created between the temple and the Shadkonam arid garden.

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami’s Activities
Satguru’s annual May visit to Malaysia to spend some quality time with his devotees was routed through London so that he could also attend the Twentieth Year Saiva Conference held by the Federation of Siva (Hindu) Temples UK at the London Sivan Kovil. The Federation is an association of twenty-two Sri Lankan Tamil temples in the greater London area. While the conference is held mostly in the Tamil language, Satguru’s English presentations are aimed at the second and third generation youth who speak some Tamil at home but who are mostly living in an English language universe. His talk, “The Nature and Worship of Lord Murugan,” can be seen on the May 31 entry of our “Today at Kauai’s Hindu Monastery” blog.

Special Guests
On May 6 we had the unique pleasure of hosting six monks and three grihasthas of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha. The group hailed from different areas around Southern California. After greetings at the entrance to the monastery, everyone enjoyed a short visit to the Media Studio. Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami gave them an overview of our Hinduism Today magazine (they are avid readers) and gifted them a painting that depicts Lord Swaminarayan that we commissioned in India for an article in our magazine which will explain the Swaminarayan philosophy and its acceptance by scholars as a unique new school of Vedanta, something that has not happened for centuries. The monks also enjoyed a tour of the ongoing construction work at Iraivan Temple.

Publications and Other Activities
Satguru recently asked the monks of the Pillaiyar Kulam to create a new edition of Gurudeva’s Master Course for on-line study using an existing web platform—a two-year study revolving around the daily Ten Minute Spiritual Workout. A second on-line course for studying the Path to Siva, a Catechism for Youth has also been created. See the current courses at http://courses.himalayanacademy.com. The courses are taken using a web app. Recently the monks of the Siddhidatta Kulam have been making progress on the creation of the Aadheenam’s newest hydroponic greenhouse. Soon we will have the space needed to produce crops with longer growing times, along with the regular production of many greens and, of course, bright red, savory tomatoes! The Siddhidatta Kulam has worked to upgrade the original greenhouse to be more productive. We’ve also finished building our first true wood oven in May, after testing and experimenting for a few years on a smaller wood oven. That mobile unit proved to be such a great asset, we decided to build a larger, permanent one. The wood oven is used to make bread, cook pizza on our once a month pizza night and for other creative dinners (think lasagna baked in cast iron pans). It can also serve as our primary oven in case of a natural disaster, like a hurricane (though we don’t see one on the horizon), using fallen trees as renewable fuel.

Visitors: Heads of a new temple in Malaysia greet Satguru and Sannyasin Shanmuganathaswami.

BAPS Visitors: Swamis and assistants from BAPS Swaminarayan, visiting the Aadheenam, requested this photo be taken with Shanmugam under the giant banyan.

Hindu Heritage Endowment, Estate Planning

Calculating the Value of Your Estate

As part of the estate planning process, it’s important to determine what you own and to calculate the value, or size, of your estate. By calculating your estate size, you can plan for the future and leave your loved ones better prepared. Determine your estate size by taking the following four steps:

Step 1: Inventory Your Major Assets

Assets can include many items, such as the following:

• Cash, including savings accounts and CDs
• Stocks, bonds, mutual funds
• Retirement accounts, such as 401(k)s or IRAs
• Home(s), land and other real property
• Life insurance policies
• Tangible personal property, including automobiles, jewelry and antiques
• Equity/ownership interest in a business like a sole proprietorship or partnership

Step 2: Determine How and with Whom Your Assets Are Owned

Ownership generally falls into three categories: solely owned, jointly owned with rights of survivorship, and tenancy in common. Owning an asset with your brother, for example, is different than owning an asset with your spouse. Also, married couples who live in community property states have additional record-keeping requirements.

If you are unsure how your assets are owned, review the title of each asset. This information can typically be found in the deed, title or account information. If you are still unsure, ask your attorney or financial advisor.

Step 3: Calculate Your Debts

Debts are subtracted from the value of your assets at your passing. Common debts include mortgages on a primary residence or vacation house, equity loans and credit card balances. Vehicle loans and other loans are also calculated here.

In addition, your estate itself will incur legal fees and other expenses that will reduce the amount of your estate subject to taxation.

Step 4: Total Up Gifts You Have Made

Don’t forget the gifts you’ve already made to others. You are allowed to gift up to $14,000 (for 2016) per year per person without having to declare the gift or pay gift taxes. Gifts made during your lifetime in excess of this amount will reduce your estate tax exemption (currently $5.45 million).

Contact us to learn more about these flexible ways to support Hindu Heritage Endowment. Strengthen your family’s future and continue your support of Hindu Heritage Endowment by downloading the toolkit pdf file at www.hheonline.org/tool-kit.shtml. Learn more about estate planning and planned giving at www.hheonline.org.

Help Finish Iraivan Forward

 

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Building Fund Donations

Thanks to Our May Temple Builders in 19 Countries

For the nine months of September to May, our minimum monthly goal was $630,000. Excluding contributions directed toward special projects, we received actual contributions of $711,767.14.

Your support is deeply appreciated!

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Click here to see Bodhinatha's extended travel schedule.

Iraivan Temple is a punya tirtha, a sacred destination for devout pilgrims. The vision of Lord Siva on San Marga that Gurudeva was blessed with in 1975 is sustained and made manifest by the daily sadhanas of 19 resident monastics from five nations. Kadavul Hindu Temple and the many sacred areas of San Marga are available to Hindus for worship, meditation, japa and quiet reflection. It is best, if you are planning to come to visit us, to email us in advance to make sure the days of your visit coincide with our open times. And, if you want to have darshan with Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, to check if he is in residence and to make the necessary appointment. Please see our visitor information pages for more details.