Our monthly Ardra Abhishekam for Lord Nataraja was held on February 15, followed a week later by the monthly Gurudeva Pada Puja. On March 3, we celebrated Mahasivaratri with our traditional homa, meditation, talks, elaborate abhisihekam and all-monks archana. Gurudeva’s recorded talk was on the subject of the deepest inner dimensions, described as pulse, impulse and creation. Here is a quote from his writings on these realms: “Impulse, the 14th dimension of the mind, here, where time, cause, sound and light merge into a oneness that cannot be compared to anything previously known is where the beginnings begin. It is in this dimension that all comes forth from apparent nothingness. It is here where maya ceases but to begin again. Pulse, the 13th dimension of the mind, is where, in the noise of the pulse of the universe now manifest, comes the peace that is difficult to understand. It is in the 13th dimension that mind takes form and form moves into and through form. Here, silence is within the action. Creation, the 12th dimension of the mind, is where the mind itself is set upon itself. It is here that the universe is seen as functionally perfect. Creation is ever present in its three forms: manifestation, change and disappearance but to manifest again in another way.” The group of devotees attending Mahasivaratri was unusually large; for many, Gurudeva’s talk was of a nature they had never encountered before. General contributions for February totaled $72,179, which is more than our minimum monthly goal of $70,000. Special project contributions totaled an additional $302. We are grateful to our global family of temple builders for your continued and generous support. Om Namasivaya,

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Founder of Kauai’s Hindu Monastery, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (Gurudeva), 1927–2001

We shall now discuss the three perfections of our Supreme God Siva: Parasiva, Satchidananda and Maheshvara. Isn’t it wonderful to know that two of God’s three perfections are inherent in the soul of man? What are those three perfections? The great God Siva has form and is formless. He is the immanent Pure Consciousness or pure form; He is the Personal Lord manifesting Himself as innumerable forms; and He is the impersonal, transcendent Absolute beyond all form. We know Siva in His three perfections, two of form and one formless. First, we worship His manifest form as Pure Love and Consciousness, called Satchidananda in Sanskrit. Second, we worship Him as our Personal Lord, Maheshvara, the Primal Soul who tenderly loves and cares for His devotees—a Being whose resplendent body may be seen in mystic vision. In our daily lives we love, honor, worship and serve God in these manifest perfections. Ultimately, in perfectly simple, yet awesomely austere nirvikalpa samadhi, we realize Him as the formless Parasiva, sought for and known only by yogis and jnanis. We cannot speak of His Absolute Reality which is beyond qualities and description, yet knowable to the fully matured soul who seeks God within through yoga under the guidance of a satguru.

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

Morning at Iraivan: Rainbows fill the sky most mornings and, amazingly, they most often arch right over the temple as in this photo.

Desert garden: It may be crazy, but the monks are making a cactus and succulents garden near Iraivan Temple. It is designed in the shape of a Shadkonam, a six-pointed star, the symbol of air according to vastu science. It is 60 feet in diameter and will hold hundreds of arid plants when completed. The is an aerial view of the creation before the planting was begun.

As the silpis look on, Yoginathaswami carefully lifts pieces of the perimeter wall onto the foundation.

Top to bottom: The Ainkaran Krishnarajah family from Sydney in the Guru Pitham with Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami; a monk out at the Temple Builders’ Pavilion captured this photo as a white owl flew by Gurudeva’s bronze statue.

Iraivan Temple Progress
In February the silpis worked on the first course of the perimeter wall, the support stone for the kodimaram of the Nandi Mandapam and decorative elements on the walls within the inner sanctum. Sixty percent of the first course of the perimeter wall on the temple’s east side is now complete. Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami installed posters in the five niches in the outer walls of the sanctum that will each later house a bronze statue of Siva. The posters have pictures of the bronzes to show pilgrims what they will look like.

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami’s activities
>Our three youngest monastics enjoyed their quarterly class with Satguru in which he presented his insights on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. In February, Satguru completed his weekly commentaries on all 68 lessons of Path to Siva. See the “Satguru Speaks” portion of our website to watch or listen to these talks. Satguru also prepared his class material for the Sri Lanka Innersearch.

Mahasivaratri
This year’s nightly observance began with a Siva homa and continued with a recorded talk by Gurudeva, a silent meditation, an upadesha by Satguru on the sacredness of the Siva’s Great Night and the goal of Self Realization, and finally an abhishekam to the crystal Lingam which sits at the feet of Lord Nataraja. The next day, the monks gathered to witness Natyam Dayanatha take his vows as a yogi tapasvin to become Yogi Dayanatha.

Publications and Other Activities
Work continues on a new full-color edition of the book Loving Ganesha. Lots of communications were done with young journalists—potential writers for Hinduism Today—that our swamis met during last December’s Soft Power conference in New Delhi. The Ganapati Kulam worked hard at preparing for the 2019 Sri Lanka Innersearch Travel-Study Program. Much of the heavy lifting for the program was done by Rishi Thondunathan and his team of volunteers in Sri Lanka. Our agricultural endeavors saw a “new-to-us” 1,500-liter press for our noni operation arrive from a vineyard in California. Preparations were made for a new planting of noni trees next to the existing orchard. Our monks made several presentations to legislators and citizens, on behalf of the East Kauai Water Users Cooperative, giving details about the 100-year-old irrigation system, built by the sugar cane companies, that provides water for thousands of acres of farmland.

Special Guests
School teachers from Waipahu High School in Oahu visited the monastery in February to tour the greenhouse operation and get how-to pointers from Yoginathaswami. (They first heard of the monastery greenhouse at a seminar in New Zealand.) They are in the planning stage of building a greenhouse at their school in order to train students to help with Hawaii’s food independence project.

Refreshing the stone: One of the facts of life in the tropics is this: everything grows on everything else. Here the monks are using a special “soda blaster” which is much like a sand blaster but uses soft borax which does not cut the stone. It removes all dust, mold, lichen and moss. (below) Kauai mission menbers hold a monthly Rudraksha Party. Their efforts have evolved into an important monthly contribution to the construction fund.

Rudraksha Seva: The Saiva Siddhanta Church Wailua Mission members hold regular rudraksha parties, to create malas and jewelry to sell in the Mini Mela shop to help support Iraivan Temple. While Satya Palani was visiting in February he created new wooden racks on which the seeds are strung for pressure washing. Thanks to Satya, Savitri and to all the local devotees for participating in this important karma yoga project!

Char Dham Yatra: The cover is an image of this amazing pilgrimage.

Indian Miniatures: The very fine art of India’s miniature paintings

Hindu Heritage Endowment

Estate Planning:

Balanced Giving: Simple Solutions for Life’s Financial Challenges

The two hurdles we hear of most when it comes to giving to projects that inspire us are lack of resources and a desire to put family first. We can help! Read on to see how these obstacles are easily overcome.

Obstacle I: Family Obligations

I have children and grandchildren to worry about, and they come first.

Solution: Estate planning attorneys can explain the various methods available to fulfill your philanthropic desires without jeopardizing your family’s security. The easiest approach is to remember HHE through a gift in your will or living trust. This gift supports HHE’s future work, and you can change your mind at any time.

Obstacle II: On a Budget

I am not rich. There is only so much money to go around.

Solutions:

Rather than make a gift of cash now to support the work of HHE, consider the following giving options. Bonus: they also offer important tax savings for you and your family.

Stock: For gifts of appreciated stock that you have owned longer than one year, you receive an income tax charitable deduction for their full fair market value—not the price you originally paid for them.

Life Insurance Policies: You can donate a policy you no longer need, or simply name Hindu Heritage Endowment as the beneficiary.

Retirement-Plan Assets: Highly taxed when left to heirs, such assets make an excellent charitable gift after your lifetime.

Real Estate: You can donate your home now and still live there for the rest of your life. We can help you identify a gift to fit your goals. Contact us to learn how you can make a big impact on Hindu Heritage Endowment.

Stengthen your family’s future and continue your support of Kauai’s Hindu Monastery by downloading the PDF file at:

www.hheonline.org/tool-kit.shtml

For information on establishing a fund at Hindu Heritage Endowment, contact Shanmuganathaswami at 808-822-3012 ext. 6 or e-mail hhe@hindu.org.

The Hindu Heritage Endowment wants you to succeed in your estate planning efforts and, through them, both care for your family and remember good causes like the Iraivan Temple Endowment. (For additional information contact Shanmuganathaswami at 808-822-3012, ext. 6, or e-mail hhe@hindu.org. To learn more about planned giving options to provide immediate tax and income benefits to you and your family, while also providing a future gift to HHE, please visit www.hheonline.org. Get the tool-kit (pdf)

Help Finish Iraivan Forward

 

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Building Fund Donations

Thanks to Our February Temple Builders in 20 Countries

For the six months of September 2018 to February 2019, our minimum monthly goal was $420,000. Excluding contributions directed toward special projects, we received actual contributions of $491,106.20.

Your support is deeply appreciated!

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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.