The Hindu Monastery

I was unsure about writing this post, because although I have shared personal experiences here, I am always apprehensive about talking on the subject of religion. Perhaps it is because I am not a fundamentally religious person, but am a spiritual person. I do not have a doctrine or dogma by which I stand...and I certainly do not wish my beliefs to offend others.

When asked about my religion, my response is that I was raised Hindu. I am of Indian heritage, and I was raised in a household where all Hindu holidays and festivals were meticulously observed and celebrated. It is the only religion that I have ever really had exposure to, with the exception of the occasional Catholic mass or Christian church service at friend's weddings or other occasions where I was singing at a church. That being said, I do not actively engage in the practice of any religion, but like so many people, am in pursuit of finding inner peace and truth.

So after we had decided to move here, in doing my research before moving, I discovered that there was a Hindu temple here on the island. I found this initially to be a sign of some sort that I had made the right decision about which island to move to... I knew that the general vicinity of the temple was near my new home, but really did not think too much about it.

My cousin and his wife and children were visiting Kauai here from Chicago this week. They are far more religious than I, and unlike myself, are more practicing of their religion. They had planned on visiting the temple, and since they were going, I asked if they wouldn't mind taking me along. I had wanted to visit the temple because it was something here on the island to be experienced, and I did want to do so. As a Hindu attending a traditional Siva 'puja,' a religious ritual, we were asked to wear traditional Indian clothing. Luckily, I had brought a single outfit for the possibility of such a visit...

Literally four minutes farther up the hill from my home, we arrived at the temple. I knew it was close, but I had no idea simply how close it was! There were several others waiting for the puja to begin, and as we entered the grounds, a sudden transformation occurred...it is as if we were all lifted to a higher ground, land marked with peace and tranquility...does beauty like this even exist in the real world? I am in a beautiful location for sure, but imagine then being transported almost instantaneously to an even more spectacular realm and foreground, a 350 acre lush and tropical piece of heaven.

If one wished to find peace and tranquility and the heart and soul of their religion, whatever religion that may be, I cannot imagine a better and more suitable location to do so. I was overcome by the majesty and beauty of this place, and I shall return again in the very near future, because it truly is a place that calls to you. My wish is that everyone would have the opportunity to see what I have seen in this peaceful place of worship, if for nothing else than to experience the grandeur of its simplicity, the majesty of its quiet.

E Komo Mai: Welcome Home

E komo mai...welcome home. I have moved into a home this week...only been here for a few days, but it feels like home already. Maybe because I know I don't have to leave in four or five days like I have had to for the past three months or so...I am unpacked, I get to go to the grocery store and Costco and WalMart and buy essentials, knowing that I am not a transient that will be leaving in a few days or weeks, I have a kitchen and am cooking again, I have a street address, and I received my first Christmas card today:)

We left our home in Danville, and I was absolutely convinced that I would not ever have the privilege of living in such a nice home again, at least not in the near future. But we have been blessed, for even though there was not an abundance of rental homes available when we arrived on island, we happened upon a beautiful home in the Wailua Homesteads. It is less than five minutes from the ocean in Kapa'a, the east coast of the island. My short drive up the hill navigates between the Wailua River on one side and Opaeka'a Falls on the other side, with lush mountains and greenery in between. A beautiful, fully furnished plantation home...two bedrooms, two and a half baths...lovely front porch, and a covered backyard lanai that overlooks streams and mountains...

The biggest concern that I had was that there would not be sufficient room for us to unpack...after all, I am an over-packer and we had over 10 pieces of luggage...but after unpacking all of our belongings, I realize what a small footprint we have had in this home. Although I feel that I have been carrying so much baggage for the past few months, I really have shed most of my baggage, have lightened my load, and walk into my new home, my new life, with lightness of things, lightness of stress, lightness of concern, lightness of life. I hope to be able to maintain this lightness, yet embrace the beauty that surrounds me.
Beauty is not to be underestimated in how it affects one's heart and soul...I feel privileged to awake to beauty each morning...                  

                                                         My Beautiful Danville Home

                                                             My new Kauai home

My new living room

                                                            Backyard covered Lanai

                                                                           Kitchen

                                                                     Master Bedroom

                                                                   
                                                                    View From Lanai

Becoming Kama'aina

Life transformation. This is still so much work...we have spent our first full week here on the island and thanks to my insistence on forward motion, we have taken care of quite a good amount of business. We have visited Princeville, Kilauea and Hanalei on the north shore, stayed in Kapaa on the east coast, and are now staying in sunny Poipu, on the south shore. We have secured a beautiful rental home for the next 12 months, picked up Keanu (our Honda Element) from Nawiliwili Harbor, and opened up bank accounts. We will move into our new home next week with more details and photographs to come....

Today we signed closing documents for our home in Danville, so that chapter of life will be ending in a few days as well...so much change in such a short period of time, and life right now truly is a bit of a 'free fall,' but I hope to be landing on my two feet fairly quickly.

In addition to the numerous sunrises I have seen over the past week, I awoke at 4am on Saturday to view the lunar eclipse. I have laid by the pool, on the beach, and have had to rethink my relationship to sunscreen...on vacations I normally use Hawaiian Tropic dark tanning oil with little or no sunscreen, but my daughter told me I ought not get so dark, so I will have to alter my sunscreen habits to suit the long term. I have made friends with tourists and locals, I have had sticker shock at the grocery store, eaten at fancy restaurants and local family eateries. I have perfected the pineapple martini and look forward to raising a glass with my friends and family that visit...

The locals that I have met so far have been welcoming, encouraging and absolutely delightful. Because we are accustomed to taking longer vacations, and because we are staying at resorts with other tourists, the reality of living here has not yet sunk in. But now driving Keanu around with out of place California license plates makes me realize that my transformation to kama'aina is getting closer to becoming a reality.

Kama'aina is a term that is used for Hawaiian residents, regardless of their racial background, so it is this transformation that I am trying to currently make. It is a shift from tourist mentality to the mentality that the sunrises over the ocean are not going anywhere, that the sunshine and the warmth will be there again in the morning...it is how you conduct your life when you know internally that the beauty and magic that surround you will always be there. Such a feeling of peace and tranquility, and it is this magic of the islands that drew me here to begin with...I hope to never have to leave it behind.

Sunrise in Kauai: New Beginnings

Finally. Almost 12 months in the making, but I am here. I am here in Kauai. This is near the end of my second full day here on the island. Listening to my dearest friend, Leokane Pryor, singing lovely Hawaiian melodies on my ipod, and trying to grasp a sense of my reality...

HST,  or Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time, is currently a two hour difference to PST, but will return to three hours time difference after daylight savings time ends, as it is not observed in the state of Hawaii. Hawaii maintains its 10 hours difference behind GMT, Greenwich Mean Time, throughout the year.
The reason I mention this is because I currently have a time change issue, and have been waking up several hours earlier than normal, around 4-5am, while still dark. Knowing that I will eventually shift my sleeping pattern to reflect normalcy, which for me is a waking time between 6-7, I have taken advantage of my early rising and have had my coffee early, and the past two days have sat on the beach and watched the sun rise over the Pacific Ocean.

I have seen the sunrise over the Caribbean a few times, I have seen the sunrise over the Himalayas once, Mount Kanchenjunga, at Tiger Hill in Darjeeling, India. The magnificence of watching a sunrise is exactly that...magnificent. Nature, God, whatever we wish to call it...at its purest and finest...it is the beginning, the beginning of a new day. 'Morning has Broken,' and all possibility exists again...and most of us sleep through the glorious sunrise, or we simply are not in a location that we can view and experience this daily miracle.

So my first two days here in Kauai I have watched the sunrise over the ocean...starting in darkness and progressing to glimpses of sunlight through the clouds and horizon, and then rising above to a new day, a new beginning, where life starts again...so I find it fitting that I have been awake and prepared to view, for I am at a new beginning myself, a new life, a place where where my life is starting again. And though I know that my sleep patterns will adjust to my new time zone, it is so gratifying to know that I have the ability to watch the sun rise...I am in a place now that I can do this, I can watch the sun rise if I so choose.

And I only imagine the transformation of a life where one watches the sun rise each day...and lived life with the understanding of the brilliance of the new day, its new opportunity, its new beginning.
It is to this life that I aspire.