Monday, June 21, 2010

Faith group seeks new path as stone is moved - Hawaii News - Staradvertiser.com

Faith group seeks new path as stone is moved - Hawaii News - Staradvertiser.com

stone is moved

A focal point for many in Wahiawa will be repatriated to a Hawaiian birthing site

By Michael Tsai

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jun 21, 2010

Papia Sengupta said she and her fellow members of the Lord of the Universe Society (LOTUS) are not going to dwell on matters beyond their control, but the tears on her cheeks yesterday seemed clear-enough indication that the loss of the group's central object of worship was still fresh.

Members of the Hindu group had spent 22 years as adopted caretakers of the so-called Healing Stone of Wahiawa, in which they discerned the presence of the god Shiva. In recent years, the group had worked in loose partnership with a group of Hawaiian nationalists who valued the stone's historical significance as a kapu marker for the sacred area of Kaukonahua. Last week, the Hawaiian group removed the stone from the marble temple on California Avenue that LOTUS had built for its protection.

Tom Lenchenko, kahu of Kukaniloko, said the stone would eventually be repatriated to Kukaniloko, the venerated birthing site of Hawaiian alii where it had spent the early part of the last century.

Yesterday, LOTUS observed its regularly scheduled monthly service at the California Avenue site, its first since the stone was removed.

"We are very sad, very depressed," Sengupta said afterward. "Our religion tells us to be tolerant and reasonable. We are nonviolent people and we do not want to create conflict, so we must now decide what we do from here and not look to the past. It is very important for us to keep this community together."

The ceremony proceeded as it always does with the bathing of sacred icons in milk, honey and yogurt, the honoring of gods Ganesh and Shiva, and the recitation of 108 variations of Shiva's name. The audience sat tightly packed together on the small marble platform, many dressed in brightly colored traditional garb, their eyes occasionally drawn to the empty concrete cradle on which the largest portion of the three-piece stone had rested.

Robert Cain, who attended to the day-to-day cleaning of the temple and its surrounding areas, was there the morning that the stone was removed.

"I arrived here around 5 a.m. to do my normal cleanup and I was surprised to see (kahu Elithe Kahn) with a group of people," Cain said. "They had watered down the stone and were preparing a ceremony. I asked her what the occasion was and she said, 'It's time to move the stone.'"

Kahn, who holds the lease on the small plot on which the temple stands, worked with Lenchenko to get authorization from the property owner to move the stone, although LOTUS was never informed of the plan.

Cain said he left but returned a couple of hours later to watch a group of people use jackhammers to loosen the stone from its anchoring. Cain said he was invited to stay for a ceremonial blessing. There was a moment of tension when a couple of LOTUS members arrived at the scene, but Cain said the entire process of moving the stone was handled efficiently and was "very respectful."

Sengupta said LOTUS erected the temple around the stone to protect it (it had previously been housed in a dilapidated shack) and to give people in the community an opportunity to worship it as they saw fit.

"We never said it was our stone," she said. "It was always available to anybody who has faith. We worshipped it in our way and for us it was a peaceful and disciplined way for our children to see how we get together. But it has always been about the entire community. Now we need the support of the community if we are going to go on."

LOTUS board members have begun discussions of what to do with the temple now that the stone is gone. They are considering taking over the soon-to-expire lease so they can continue to make the temple available to visitors.

"I was amazed that (the stone's removal) happened so suddenly," said longtime LOTUS member Mira Savara, 56, of Aina Haina. "We're definitely going to miss its presence and its blessings, but this place has become such a powerful place for prayer. We believe in praying together and I will still come."

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARADVERTISER.COM
Members of the Lord of the Universe Society gathered yesterday at the former site of the Healing Stone of Wahiawa. The empty base of the stone is in the background.

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Papia Sengupta said she and her fellow members of the Lord of the Universe Society (LOTUS) are not going to dwell on matters beyond their control, but the tears on her cheeks yesterday seemed clear-enough indication that the loss of the group's central object of worship was still fresh.

Members of the Hindu group had spent 22 years as adopted caretakers of the so-called Healing Stone of Wahiawa, in which they discerned the presence of the god Shiva. In recent years, the group had worked in loose partnership with a group of Hawaiian nationalists who valued the stone's historical significance as a kapu marker for the sacred area of Kaukonahua. Last week, the Hawaiian group removed the stone from the marble temple on California Avenue that LOTUS had built for its protection.

Tom Lenchenko, kahu of Kukaniloko, said the stone would eventually be repatriated to Kukaniloko, the venerated birthing site of Hawaiian alii where it had spent the early part of the last century.

Yesterday, LOTUS observed its regularly scheduled monthly service at the California Avenue site, its first since the stone was removed.

"We are very sad, very depressed," Sengupta said afterward. "Our religion tells us to be tolerant and reasonable. We are nonviolent people and we do not want to create conflict, so we must now decide what we do from here and not look to the past. It is very important for us to keep this community together."

The ceremony proceeded as it always does with the bathing of sacred icons in milk, honey and yogurt, the honoring of gods Ganesh and Shiva, and the recitation of 108 variations of Shiva's name. The audience sat tightly packed together on the small marble platform, many dressed in brightly colored traditional garb, their eyes occasionally drawn to the empty concrete cradle on which the largest portion of the three-piece stone had rested.

Robert Cain, who attended to the day-to-day cleaning of the temple and its surrounding areas, was there the morning that the stone was removed.

"I arrived here around 5 a.m. to do my normal cleanup and I was surprised to see (kahu Elithe Kahn) with a group of people," Cain said. "They had watered down the stone and were preparing a ceremony. I asked her what the occasion was and she said, 'It's time to move the stone.'"

Kahn, who holds the lease on the small plot on which the temple stands, worked with Lenchenko to get authorization from the property owner to move the stone, although LOTUS was never informed of the plan.

Cain said he left but returned a couple of hours later to watch a group of people use jackhammers to loosen the stone from its anchoring. Cain said he was invited to stay for a ceremonial blessing. There was a moment of tension when a couple of LOTUS members arrived at the scene, but Cain said the entire process of moving the stone was handled efficiently and was "very respectful."

Sengupta said LOTUS erected the temple around the stone to protect it (it had previously been housed in a dilapidated shack) and to give people in the community an opportunity to worship it as they saw fit.

"We never said it was our stone," she said. "It was always available to anybody who has faith. We worshipped it in our way and for us it was a peaceful and disciplined way for our children to see how we get together. But it has always been about the entire community. Now we need the support of the community if we are going to go on."

LOTUS board members have begun discussions of what to do with the temple now that the stone is gone. They are considering taking over the soon-to-expire lease so they can continue to make the temple available to visitors.

"I was amazed that (the stone's removal) happened so suddenly," said longtime LOTUS member Mira Savara, 56, of Aina Haina. "We're definitely going to miss its presence and its blessings, but this place has become such a powerful place for prayer. We believe in praying together and I will still come."

GIVE ME A BREAK-MY COMMENTARY ON THIS

1. First of all, there is NO SHIVA IN HAWAII.
2. The Gods here are 400,000. ABout a thousand times more then they have in India.

3. If you want to worship Shiva in YOUR pohaku, then BRING IT FROM INDIA AND HOUSE IT IN THE TEMPLE.

4. This is not a "stone", but a KII POHAKU. A standing stone. THese stones, are Laa Kii Pohaku, sacred standing stones were EXCLUSIVELY MALE IN GENDER. (THEY WERE NOT FEMALE OR FEMININE IN ANY WAY AT ALL. (SHIVA IS A FEMALE GODESS IN THE HINDU BELEIF).

6. IF you want people to be respectful of YOUR religion, then respect the HAWAIIAN religion!! If YOUR religion beleives in the embodiment of living gods or godesses living within stones, and the Hawaiians beleive the same thing, why would you move the stone in the first place? It was housed in a ":shack". What may be a shack to you, is a blessed place, just old with certain materials. I am AMAZED at the AUDACITY of Hindu religious practitioners flooding into Hawaii, and trying to OVERTAKE THE HAWAIIAN RELIGIOUS PRACTICES AND BELEIFS!!

7. That this stone was removed is a good thing. I applaud it one hundred percent!! STOP STEALING THE SACRED POHAKU!! ITS NOT YOURS ITS THE LAST THING THE PEOPLE HAVE NOW U TAKE EVEN THAT AND SAY IT IS YOURS! HEWA HEWA HEWA!!

Democratic chief takes Mufi to the woodshed « Volcanic Ash

Democratic chief takes Mufi to the woodshed « Volcanic Ash
Democratic chief takes Mufi to the woodshed

Mayor Mufi Hannemann got a dressing down from Democratic Party Chairman Dante Carpenter for not minding his manners at the recent state Democratic Convention, where Hannemann stumped as a candidate for governor.

In a 2 1/2-page letter to Hannemann, Carpenter complained that the mayor and his campaign committee decided not to sponsor a breakfast it was expected to host, “created turmoil” by hosting a competing campaign event that drew delegates away from Resolution Committee meetings, breached an agreement on the time for the mayor’s speech to the convention, ignored the time limit on the speech despite repeated warnings and tried to bamboozle hotel audiovisual people into playing an unauthorized campaign disc after the Hannemann speech.

“Working with your campaign representatives at times became cumbersome and created confusion,” Carpenter said. “Misunderstandings between your campaign representatives and the convention committee were numerous.”

Carpenter said that even after the Hannemann campaign was asked to avoid having its Friday night event interfere with the Resolutions Committee, the campaign placed invitations on the chairs of all the committee meeting rooms.

“At minimum, your Friday function represented a ‘distraction’ while at worst it was disrespectful of the very core reasons for the Friday night Democratic Party’s convention meetings — the serious participation of convention delegates engaged in developing Democratic Party principles,” Carpenter said.

He said the Hannemann campaign insisted on a written agreement for the time of Hannemann’s speech, then breached it.

“The written agreement stated that you would speak for five minutes with 1-2 minutes of ‘wiggle room.’ In fact, you spoke for 12 minutes and even when called on subtly three times by me (‘… Mufi, Pau’) to wrap up your remarks, you did not.

“In addition, during your speech your representative approached the Hilton’s AV people and gave them a disc to play at the end of your speech and informed the Hilton people that the convention committee had approved it. Hilton people checked and discovered that no such arrangements had been made or approved to place special for music for you and they did not. This representing yourself to the Hilton AV people was inappropriate; putting our people in the position of having to tell Hilton that no arrangements had been made was embarrassing for all concerned.”

Carpenter expressed disappointment that Hannemann didn’t participate in the nitty-gritty of the convention’s work.

“In your speech you spoke about your mentors, specifically Senator Inouye and Governor Waihe’e; both excellent examples of outstanding, committed Democrats. For your information, both Senator Inouye and Governor Waihe’e participated in many aspects of the 2010 convention, voting on resolutions, SSC members, national committeeman and state convention chair elections.

“It was a privilege for me to be able to look out over the delegation and see these two men sitting at the table with the delegates from their districts and precincts. Had you followed the examples you cited, I am sure that the delegates from your district and precinct would have enjoyed having you sit with them and share your views on the platform, resolutions and changes to the party’s constitution, as well.”

As party chairman, Carpenter says he’s neutral in the primary contest for governor between Hannemann and former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie. When Carpenter served in the state Senate in the early 1980s, he and Abercrombie were both members of a faction led by Ben Cayetano.


ANd you have to ask me why I do NOT SUPPORT Mufi Hanneman as the next so called, fake, sheeps wool "Democratic" candidate for the governor? Hell No. Not only this, he has gone against civil unions, treated the homeless like garbage, and only cares about Oahu. WHat will the outer islands gain by this obvious conservative republican in Democratic Party sheeps clothing? ZERO.

The outer islands revolt will show in the voting booth, trust me.