59 Days of Baby Strads: Building Up Our Karma or Mosquitos are a Monk's Best Friend

Have you ever imagined yourself to have been a mosquito in another life?  How about a spider, or a dog, or a koala (cute!), or an ancient king or queen? Well, if you are Hindu, you have likely imagined yourself to have once been any number of living things.  But no matter what you once were, you can celebrate, because now in the Earth's most intelligent form (homo sapiens), you are well on your way to enlightenment, or becoming a drop in the ocean that is God.  

At least that is what I learned when I visited a gorgeous Hindu Monastery in Kauai.  We were told, "As you step into these sacred grounds, let your everyday concerns drift away.  Relax into the peace; absorb the sanctity. Let it pass through you like a purifying wave." This site, due to its indescribable beauty, although only established in 1970, is now considered one of the most important holy sites in the Hindu religion.  The lushness of the area, the waterfalls, the trees and flowers, it was like walking into a dream or maybe the Garden of Eden.  The whole experience made me want to be a hindu monk, that is until I learned that the monks sleep outside. Which brings me back to mosquitos.  So, if you believe that a mosquito is just another soul on its path to progression, why would you get in its way by swatting it?  That's what the monks believe, and boy do the mosquitos love the monks and all the other visitors who are too embarrassed to smash one of these blood-sucking insects in front of the most peaceful people on earth.  Our guide explained to us that Karma is a *&^%$, and that likely we are making up for bad deeds we've done in a former life even now... In other words,  smashing that mosquito will come back to haunt you some day.  Thanks karma.  

Anyway, whether or not you believe in karma or dharma or past lives, you can certainly enjoy the immense natural beauty that is preserved at this 263 acre monastery.  We took a two hour tour, learned some things, got eaten alive by fearless mosquitos,  and by the end couldn't wait to strip out of our modest clothing (floor length pants/skirts) and jump into the ocean.

This temple is currently under construction.  It is made of "virgin" white, red, and black marble, which means that it has never been mined, shaped, or molded my machinery.  It is was carved out of a mountain by hand and then chiseled by hand by hindu artists all in INDIA.  It is then shipped to the monastery where the monks and other builders fit the pieces together.  It was monstrous.  In the center of the temple will be the largest quartz crystal in the world.  This will help people find the vast ocean that is God.