Ananda Family News

Farewell to Tushti and Surendra

2012-01-18T17:35:00.000-08:00

The new year has been bringing its new changes, and last week we bid farewell to our dear friends Tushti and Surendra. They’re moving on to new adventures at Ananda Laurelwood, where they’ll help create and develop the new Education for Life campus there.

Over the nine years they’ve spent in Palo Alto, Tushti and Surendra have been managers of East West, shepherding it lovingly through trying economic times. They’ve also directed the yoga center, taught many meditation classes, led the Sadhaka training group, and been tireless examples of devoted service, inspiring everyone who met them.

Tushti and Surendra, with the Masters,

as always, watching over them.

On New Year’s Day we held a going-away party for them at Chela Bhavan (photos here), sharing lots of food, stories, and expressions of friendship and gratitude. And, just so they could take a little bit of us along with them, we even presented them with 108 custom-made fortune cookies, each containing a personal note or a blessing from one of their many friends. At the following Sunday service, we also got to publicly acknowledge them and send them off with a chorus of Aums from the congregation.

Thank you, Tushti and Surendra, for everything you’ve given and shared with us here. We’ll miss you, but we wish you much joy and many blessings in your new roles.

Master's Birthday

2012-01-11T10:55:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday, January 5th, was the anniversary of Paramhansa Yogananda’s birthday, the day when we all wish each other “Happy Birthday” in joyful gratitude for the spiritual birth he made possible for all of us.

Of course, we wanted to wish Master a happy birthday as well, but what birthday gift do you get for the guru who has everything? Master used to say that he preferred a soul to a crowd, but he loved crowds of souls. And so, along with the flowers we brought to the altar Thursday evening, we brought crowds of souls before him to remind him (and ourselves) of our dedication to God and guru. From truth-seekers on other paths (or still finding their paths), to Ananda church members, to disciples, Sadhakas, and Sevakas, there was an appropriate vow and moment at the altar for everyone.

The choir sang a couple of songs (“O Master,” of course, a singalong at the end), and there were chants throughout the evening. But the full focus was on offering ourselves back to Master, who offered spiritual liberation to us.

Aum Guru.

(See more photos of the evening here.)

New Year's Eve Ceremonies

2012-01-04T17:42:00.000-08:00

As with our Christmas Eve service, we experimented this year with holding our New Year celebrations earlier in the evening, rather than doing a midnight service. Judging by the attendance at each, we have a lot of early birds in the community who appreciated it!

The evening began with a meditation, and a Nayaswami Order initiation ceremony, in which we welcomed in Adam, Joycee, and Amit as Pilgrims and a conditional (one-year) Brahmachari, respectively.

The initiation ceremony is very simple -- just an introduction from Asha and a recitation of the vows -- but incredibly powerful. Like a wedding, it has the power of human commitment supported by a loving community. But with God on the other end of each person’s vow the intensity is deepened immeasurably.

For the service portion of the evening we tried a completely new format, in which we got to go deeper into mantra chanting than we usually do. We began with 15 minutes of the Hring Kling mantra, for dissolving obstacles of all types, whether physical or spiritual. That was followed by 15 minutes each of the Gayatri and Mahamritunjaya mantras, more familiar from our Sunday fire ceremonies, which are chants for personal liberation, and for the upliftment of all beings. We ended with the Aum mantra, accompanying a purification ceremony -- an excellent way to set a spiritual intention for the new year.

Throughout the mantras and the purification ceremony, we had a large indoor fire, cleverly created out of candles fixed in the copper fire ceremony bowl filled with sand. This was very civilized for most of the hour and a half that it burned, but got much more exciting towards the end. The combined heat of all the candles (not to mention the burning purification papers thrown in with them) burned them down very quickly, until the bowl was one flaming mass of melted wax. It was actually quite dramatically beautiful, though it was also reassuring to have Nirmoha on hand with a lid, ready to intervene if it got out of hand.

Happy New Year!

Christmas Services

2011-12-28T17:25:00.000-08:00

Our always-gorgeous Christmas services had some new tweaks this year.

Christmas Eve featured a live creche scene that built up throughout the Festival of Light. Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus were summoned “by the call of aspiring love” as it says in the Festival, embodied in the song “Cloisters” and Rita’s dance of a devotee. The family was then joined by angels, shepherds, and wise men, all accompanied by appropriate music. Having actual, living presences up on the stage, all so consciously holding the vibration deeply intensified the unfolding of the story. And it gave a powerful focal point for the audience’s devotion, when everybody joined in the arati and offered their candles to the baby at the altar. (See all the photos here.)

The family service on Christmas Day featured the same live creche, but with an extended cast of smaller angels, shepherds, and wise men enacting Asha’s telling of the Christmas tale. This year also included a sweet new scene in which Asha donned a yarmulke and played the part of the rabbi marrying Joseph and Mary.

After the service was the Christmas banquet. The grand finale of the day involved a rendition of “The 12 Days of Christmas” that outdid even our enthusiastic attempts at the Christmas parties. The days were assigned to different tables, and the gifts were acted out with great alacrity and gusto!

More photos of Christmas Day are here. Merry Christmas to all!

Continuing Celebrations: Meditation and Caroling

2011-12-21T16:49:00.000-08:00

This weekend we celebrated what may traditionally be known as “Duality Awareness Week,” in which we juxtapose our most inwardly-focused and outwardly-focused Christmas celebrations. Representing the inward direction, Saturday was our annual 8-hour Christmas meditation. Many devotees gathered in the temple for a day of meditation, interspersed with chanting and recordings of Master and Swamiji. A few lovely photos are here.

On Sunday, we directed our Christmas cheer outward again, with a huge caroling party serenading the neighborhood. Also, in complete contradistinction to last weekend’s party, rather than having a potluck followed by singing, we went out singing first and then ate. Well, to be perfectly accurate, we sang, then ate, then sang again. It was just that sort of a night. (And there was some lovely a cappella harmonizing toward the end of the evening.)

May you feel Christ’s presence within you and around you this Christmas season!

Carols and Calories at the Christmas Party

2011-12-14T17:45:00.000-08:00

This weekend was the annual double-header Christmas party at Chela Bhavan. Having the party on both Saturday and Sunday evenings ostensibly allows people who can’t make it to one come to the other, though they’re enough fun that a huge number of people just came to both. The many potluck dishes included such Christmas miracles as: orange-enhanced brownies that melted in your mouth and in your hand; pumpkin cake, a magical combination of cake and pumpkin pie; and what became known as Asha’s “Jesus Cookies,” that she spoke about in Sunday service. (If you weren’t there, she described the making of them in relation to Meister Eckhart’s quote, “I move my hand and Christ moves, who is my hand.”)

After the eating, socializing, and satsanging, came the singing (an excellent warmup for when we’ll take the carols around the neighborhood next week.) “The 12 Days of Christmas” was a particular winner, both nights. Helen got us organized into 12 groups to coordinate the singing of all the different gifts, and would have had us acting them all out as well, if we’d had any space to maneuver in at all. Shanti led the charge the second night, in what became an even more rousing rendition, thanks to our previous practice. A glitch in the very last verse tempted some people to start it over from the beginning but they were, luckily, outnumbered.

We did manage to get a group photo, but only on the second night. Imagine this times two. More photos can be found here.

Christmas Concert

2011-12-07T20:39:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, the Ananda Palo Alto choir put on its annual Christmas concert, following service. Well, following lunch following service, that is, which is a very popular way to have concerts around here these days. Many volunteers provided the main dish of vegetarian chili and cornbread, along with numerous other potluck items. We probably fit over 100 people into the yoga studio with all our tables deployed, but the weather was nice enough for folks to spill out into the courtyard as well.

After lunch, we shepherded everyone back into the temple for the concert (much of which was videotaped and photographed). The festivities opened with a women’s ensemble marching in with a rousing rendition of “Alle Psallite,” complete with drum, tambourine, and kirtals. The rest of the program was arranged thematically, starting with songs to Divine Mother (Mary), and moving through the birth of Christ, the rejoicing, and culminating in His Power (you can guess which song that was).

One of the fun things about the Christmas concert every year is that the choir gets to add a few new songs to their repertoire. And lots of good Christmas music has been written over the centuries, so we always manage to find a few gems. Dambara’s spellbinding performance of “I Wonder As I Wander” in the middle of the program really seemed to shift the experience of the entire concert to a deeper level. An ensemble sang Bach’s arrangement of “In Dulci Jubilo,” in a mix of Latin and English. And the whole choir plus numerous audience members sang the tremendously glorious — you guessed, right? — Hallelujah Chorus.

Inspired to start singing yet? Join us for Christmas caroling on the 18th!

Thanksgiving Celebration

2011-11-29T20:44:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving day at our temple started off with a service in which Nirmoha led us in a special ceremony of giving thanks. Two tables had been supplied with pens and a large number of fallen leaves of all colors. During the chanting of “O God Beautiful” we each got to take a leaf and write on it something we were thankful for, before taking it to the altar to offer back to the Masters. As an additional dimension, for those so inclined, we were encouraged to give thanks not just for something obviously good or enjoyable, but for something that we found challenging. Knowing that everything God sends us is for our own ultimate growth helps us to reframe a situation and be grateful for it, even in a moment when it might not seem so desirable. The colorful leaves not only complimented the altar beautifully, but reminded us that change itself can be beautiful.

The Thanksgiving banquet that followed the service was a masterpiece, even by Ananda standards. And I’m sure we were all glad to be eating nutloaf rather than turkey, as we enjoyed a reading from Master’s 1934 Thanksgiving letter. (One of many choice quotes: “Be sure to thank God for forgiving you for compelling the quickening of the turkey’s evolution against its own will. And also thank God that you are not the turkey, to be used for the festivity of Thanksgiving.”)

Other entertainment for the afternoon included “Praise Ye the Lord” performed by a small ensemble, followed by “Zen Gospel Singing,” with Trish and Graham. Accelerating the progression of divine silliness, Steven stole the show with “If I’d Only Meditate,” sung to the tune of “If I Only Had a Brain,” and performed complete with scarecrow costume. This one very much deserves a full reading of the lyrics. (There’s a video, too!)

If I’d Only Meditate

I’d be pious, I’d be humble,
Walk the path without a stumble,
And radiate with joy.
Never dreary, always cheery;
I could be the next Lahiri,
If I’d only meditate.

I’d cure that rash of desperation
’bout my earthly situation,
By hearing Master’s call.
My heart would stop bein’ so fickle,
When I felt my Guru’s tickle,
If I’d only meditate.

Just think how it would be
To wake with God instead of sawin’ Z’s.
Clear the chakras and reside in ecstasy,
Instead of pining for that 50 inch TV.

I’d invigorate my dharma,
Obliterate my karma,
Illuminate my soul.
With my bright and saintly aura
I’d kick darkness out the door - a
If I’d only meditate.

I’d be done with courtin’ maya,
Give up my last desire
For a good cigar and brew.
Wouldn’t carry any baggage,
No more eatin' like a savage,
If I’d only meditate.

Oh, I could tell you why
There’s a star in the spiritual eye.
Or talk with God about that Praver guy.
Pay off the church, he’d say, and make your tithe.

As I seek that destination
Infused with inspiration,
I’ll know that home is near.
Livin’ life just like the Gita,
Sippin’ cups of sweet amrita,
If I’d only meditate.

The banquet wasn’t the only part of the afternoon to be regaled with music, however. Dambara and Michael managed in a single song (to the tune of “My Girl”) to detail every aspect of cleanup and takedown that needed to happen afterwards. And as Anandans are never inclined to shirk an opportunity for service or a good laugh, the banquet hall was transformed back into a temple in no time.

More pictures are here. Thank you everyone (and Everyone) who made the day such a delightful celebration!

A Church of All Religions

2011-11-23T14:44:00.000-08:00

When Paramhansa Yogananda was living, he called his places of worship, “Churches of all Religions.” In this way he wanted everyone to understand that even though the temples were dedicated to our particular line of gurus, the principles of Self-realization are not unique to this line of masters. Self-realization is the unifying principle behind all true religions.

To illustrate this, Master included symbols from various religions at Lake Shrine, and in other temples. And now, our Palo Alto temple follows in that tradition with seven beautiful new adornments to the walls of the main sanctuary.

Sunday service included a ceremony to welcome and bless these symbols. We chanted “I Will Sing Thy Name,” with the “Aum Guru” chorus being modified as appropriate for each religion. During the chant, designated congregation members took turns carrying candles from the altar and leaving them with a blessing at each symbol. You can see photos of the ceremony and all the symbols here.

Going clockwise around the room from stage left, the religions and symbols are:

Hinduism - Aum
Judaism - Star of David
Islam - “Allah” in Arabic calligraphy
Buddhism - The Wheel of Dharma
Taoism - Yin Yang
Self-Realization - Joy Is Within You
Christianity - Cross

Each one is beautifully carved in wood, and painted blue and gold, and they are all marvelous additions to our sacred space.

Free and Clear Fundraising Dinner

2011-11-16T07:52:00.000-08:00

Our “Free and Clear” campaign to pay off our church mortgage has been having a great year, and I’m sure you’ve all been filling up your special spare-change boxes and avidly watching the progress puzzle being filled in on our altar. (Just $25,000 per piece -- buy yours today! Excellent Christmas gifts!)

We recently had a fundraising dinner at Sapore Italiano in Burlingame that brought a whole new burst of energy to the project. 65 people showed up for good food, good music (some of Swamiji’s Italy-inspired songs, of course), and devotee satsang. And we each got our own little magnetic refrigerator puzzles, variously decorated with our Free & Clear affirmation, joy symbols, and other designs. (More photos here.)

The evening was a success not just as a meal, but as a fundraiser as well. Those 65 people together brought in a very impressive $52,000 at the event itself, with an additional $1,000 and two 1-oz. gold coins pledged. All that plus some other recent gifts (unrelated to the fundraiser) mean that David will be adding three new pieces to our puzzle this Sunday at service, bringing the total remaining on our mortgage down to $700,000!

We started the year still owning a million dollars on our church. Shall we aim to cut that in half by the end of the year? That would put us at $500,000, and the way we’ve been going so far, I think we can make it!

Divine Mother,

manifest through us

Your divine energy

to make this

Ananda temple

of Self-Realization

Free and Clear of all debt,

a gift of love to God and Gurus,

and to truth seekers

now and forever.

Halloween Festivities

2011-11-08T19:38:00.000-08:00

We’ve all seen jack-o’-lanterns carved from pumpkins before, but how about ones made from cantaloupes, oranges, and pineapples? Kids of all ages had fun bending traditions to greater or lesser degrees at the Halloween weekend carving party. (More photos here.)

And then, of course, we had Halloween itself, when 20 or so kids swarmed like adorable piranhas through the apartment complex, reducing the community candy supply to a skeleton in a matter of minutes. Some of those kids seemed awfully tall, too, but they did have costumes, so it must have been legit. (More photos of that evening are here.)

CSA Report: Success!

2011-11-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

Ananda Palo Alto’s CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture program) wrapped up its first season this Saturday, after 26 straight weeks of supplying 12 boxes of fresh produce to 23 members. We celebrated our achievement with (what else?) a potluck, sharing memories of the last six months, and making plans for next year.

Blessing the garden before the harvest.

The success of this project was due entirely to huge amounts of joyful service from a host of volunteers. Many remarked that the satsang with our gurubais and neighbors was at least as satisfying a part of the experience as the actual food we received.

Ramani and Darlene in the garden.

Not only did we harvest from our own garden and orchard, but we also visited our neighbors around Monroe Drive, many of whom have fruit trees that they don’t harvest. So we had the opportunity to make new friends, help them maintain their trees, and share the produce with them.

Tomato harvest!

We’re planning on expanding next year, so if you’re interested in joining the CSA, talk to Ramani and Amara. And if you like gardening, more volunteers are always welcome! Even though we had our last official harvest already, we’ll be working this weekend on taking out old plants, adding compost and cover crops, and otherwise preparing for the next season.

Darlene, Sharmila, and Amara, showing off
our eggplants, pumpkins, and Jerusalem artichokes.

More photos from the last couple months are here.

Painting the Teaching Center

2011-10-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

With the matter of the fraudulent colors having been settled, the teaching center is now beautifully garbed in its new palette of orange, yellow, and red. Nirmoha led a team of volunteers in the painting on Saturday morning, with several dedicated souls staying well into the afternoon.

The job is mostly done now, though there’s still a bit left to finish up. If you’re interested in helping out with some detail work, contact Nirmoha.

[You can find more pictures of your paint-spattered friends here.]

Puerta de Mi Corazón

2011-10-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

We held a discipleship ceremony at Sunday service this week, welcoming 5 new members into our spiritual family. There was a fun twist to it this time, though.

Over the past couple of years, Edwin has been teaching the introductory meditation classes in Spanish, doing a great job making these teachings accessible to more people in this area. And he just recently finished teaching his first Meditation 3 class in Spanish as well, so all the people in Sunday’s ceremony were his Spanish-speaking students.

Edwin gave the short talk that accompanied the ceremony, and while I personally couldn’t follow every word, I did like how he described the occasion as “súper especial.” No matter what language you take discipleship in, that rings true. And as the participants took their offerings to the altar and received their blessings, the chanters led us in the Spanish version of “Door of My Heart.”

Puerta de mi corazón
Tengo abierta para tí
Ven a mi, ven a mi
Una vez ven a mi

Pasaran mis dias
Sin verte mi Señor
Noche y dia, noche y dia
Yo te busco noche y dia

Asha remarked that it gave most of us native English speakers a chance to appreciate what some of our friends go through every week here, listening to services or classes in a foreign language. To push it just a bit farther, she then asked Edwin to lead the offertory prayer in Spanish. There were a lot of mumbles as the congregation prayed responsively, but the OM at the end was resounding!

(P.S. While we’re being multilingual here, did you know that the upcoming meditation class in Fremont will also be offered in sign language? Thanks to Saranya for that one!)

Celebrating Ananda

2011-09-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

September has always been a significant time of year for the Ananda Palo Alto community, and so we like to roll a number of celebrations into one big “Celebrate Ananda” event. Some previous Septembers of note have been:

1980 - Purchase of East West in Menlo Park
1989 - Purchase of the residential community in Mountain View
1992 - Beginning of Living Wisdom School
1994 - Purchase of our Temple property
1995 - East West moved to Mountain View

Over 100 people attended this year’s party at the residential community, which began with delightful circle dancing created and led by Rita.

Fine food, of course, is never far from an Ananda celebration. Lunch included tofu and paneer barbecued skewers, Indonesian rice salad, Anika's mother's famous baked beans, a mixed greens salad bar, and desserts extraordinaire lovingly baked and brought in by Marie and Simoné.

The festivities also included the world debut of Ananda Samadhi Bingo. The squares were filled with spiritual qualities and names of our gurus, and completed lines were marked by cries of “Samadhi!”

Congratulations to the winners: Anika with one complete line, and Kasey, Suman, & Eric, with two lines intersecting. (Though all participants are, of course, welcome to achieve samadhi, regardless of the state of their board. Contact your guru for more information.)

Many more wonderful photos of the day here!

Fraud at the Ballot Box!

2011-09-14T08:06:00.000-07:00

Or perhaps “discoloration” would be more accurate.

You may remember the Sunday service a few weeks ago, when we had various paint swatches up on the Teaching Center building walls, and voted on our favorites. Well, it turns out none of the yellows were qualified to be serious contenders for an outside paint job. Fine indoors, but none have the stamina to be in the cold (or rather hot) light of day. All fade in the sunlight. “People familiar with the matter” say that a key person on the Color Committee failed to do the proper research before putting the sample colors on the wall. (Unrelated note from Asha: “Oops!”)

However, the will of the people was clearly expressed: More Bright Colors. So in keeping with the spirit (if not exactly the letter) of your votes, you’ll soon see our Teaching Center adorned with the same bright colors that grace the rest of the piazza. For the walls facing into the piazza -- orange on the windowed walls, red on the big, two story blank wall. And on the outside of the building, facing College Avenue, a warm golden yellow (qualified to be outside -- we made sure this time!).

Eventually we’ll take this color scheme all around the building, using the golden yellow on the building, and the orange and red to accent architectural features, the way the doorway facing El Camino is orange now. We hope you like it!

Left: Outside wall of the Teaching Center, facing College Avenue.

Right: Teaching Center windowed walls facing into the piazza.

Left: Big two story blank wall facing into the piazza.

Right: The fraudulent yellows.

Krishna's Birthday Kirtan

2011-08-31T09:46:00.000-07:00

This past week was Krishna’s birthday (landing on August 22 this year), and so we celebrated with a special Krishna Kirtan on Friday. We had a great turnout of musicians and singers, and used the opportunity to indulge in many more traditional Indian chants than usual, all honoring our beloved, blue, flute-playing guru Krishna.

We chanted an hour longer than usual, but hardly noticed the time passing in our absorption with the music. The altar was a gorgeous sight to behold (and you can behold it here, along with more photos, courtesy of Rani). We rounded off the evening sharing tasty prasad with gurus and gurubais and reveling in the lingering vibrations.

By the way, if you like coming to kirtans, we’ve actually started having them every Friday. They’ve been on a great roll with this new, steady flow of energy and a rotation of excellent leaders. Do come join us any (every!) Friday you can. And we’re already planning ahead for another “big” kirtan for Shiva in February, so that’s something to look forward to as well.

Of Such Is the Kingdom of Heaven

2011-08-03T20:53:00.000-07:00

We held a baptism for several children of the congregation at Sunday Service last weekend. The ceremony Swamiji created for this is very simple, welcoming the souls to their new, small bodies, and letting them know they have the blessings of their whole community on their journey. We did this just towards the end of the Festival of Light, so we could treat them to an enthusiastic round of Sing Out With Joy while they were still on stage for their joyful occasion.

Here to be launched on their new incarnation, we had Amy M's young son Issa, along with Tim and Julie's twins, Carson and Drew. Photos of the ceremony are here.

Another fresh denizen of this planet who was not at the ceremony, but whom we'd like to welcome nonetheless, is Theresa and Vinicius' new baby Leo, born July 5. Here's a little peek if you want to say hello.

Many blessings to all our small friends!

Dancing the Psalm of David

2011-07-29T10:57:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, one of the musical interludes at Sunday Service was accompanied by a beautiful new dance. Karen and Todd performed Swamiji’s “Psalm of David” from the sidelines while Rita added the visual dimension on stage. Beyond that, we’ll let the video speak for itself. Enjoy!

Guru Day Retreat

2011-07-20T10:30:00.000-07:00

On Saturday our spiritual community gathered together to honor and commune with each guru in our line of masters. We are incredibly lucky to have not only one guru—blessing beyond measure in itself—but five, who illustrate spiritual qualities in different ways through their varied lives and legacies. Asha spoke in front of each shrine, helping us attune to each particular expression of the Divine. We chanted and meditated with each guru, and placed votive candles around them, offering the little lights that are in us into the blazing light of Infinity.

Jesus and Babaji, with their garlands and lights of devotion.

A beautiful new addition this year was a gazebo for Lahiri Mahasaya. We’ve had his statue for years, but it hasn’t had a permanent home, so this year’s Sadhaka training class has taken up the task of creating this shrine. There’s still painting and roofing to be done, and we’ll share a lot more about the project when it’s finished, but we had enough to decorate it up beautifully for the celebration. We also held a small ceremony, anointing the statue with Ganges water and rose petals, to welcome Lahiri into the space.

Lahiri Mahasaya in his new gazebo.

That leaves Sri Yukteswar as the only guru without a permanent shrine at the residential community (a project for future Sadhaka classes, perhaps?). But one can imagine him responding unconcernedly to the prospect saying, as he did to Master in Autobiography of a Yogi, “Do so if it pleases you.” And there’s always a certain charm to his hanging lanterns in the open air, glowing like the light of wisdom around his portrait, floating detached from “the vast world, interested only in externals.”

Swami Sri Yukteswar, and Paramhansa Yogananda.

We concluded the evening in front of Paramhansa Yogananda, whose shrine was accompanied by a photo of his disciple, Swami Kriyananda. These two great souls were the channels for bringing the teachings of all our masters to us, and for that we are eternally grateful.

Friend and guide, Swami Kriyananda.

[More beautiful photos here, courtesy of Rani.]

Asha's Birthday and Summer Concert

2011-07-13T14:45:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday was the birthday of our very beloved Asha. Given that Asha is the choir’s biggest fan, and that we'll take any excuse for some more fun and music, we decided to hold a summer concert in her honor. So this weekend’s Sunday service led straight into a potluck in the piazza, and the concert actually began there as well, with Dambara and Saranya performing Canticle of the Creatures before leading us all back into the temple for the rest of the show.

The choir put together an excellent program, based around many Ananda favorites (see a video of Life is a Dream). There was also a gorgeous arrangement of Shenandoah, which we've decided just needs to be adopted into our repertoire. A light-hearted interlude featured surprise, customized birthday songs in both barbershop and Beatles varieties, as well as a must-see skit demonstrating the many, many interpretations of one of our favorite chants.

To end the concert, Rita debuted a new choreography to the song Keep Calling Him. The movements are simple and graceful, and suitable for audience participation, which let us wrap things up with a feeling of connection to everyone in the room. It’s also good to see that dance as an Ananda art form can continue here, even now that Pavani has moved to Portland.

The whole concert was recorded for a CD — contact the Sangha staff if you’re interested in getting a copy. For now, we’ll leave you with a link to all the photos, as well as a sweet poem that David G. wrote for Asha, and read at the concert.

To Asha on her Birthday

Onto the scene a cute baby did burst
The only child ever to be born mouth first
A gift to us all she’d grow up to be
A beacon of Light that hundreds would see
Her life has been filled with Swami adventures
But the birthdays add up—soon we’re shopping for dentures
But enough of that road, now’s a time just to cheer
So lend me your mind, your heart, and your ear.

We took a pen in hand to write
A poem we thought would you delight
But ne’er before had this been done
By us, for you, in birthday fun

We scratched our heads for soon we knew
Good poems there are but very few
And soon we saw a sight ‘twas sad
This one’s among the very bad
But do not fear; there’s not much more
Except the birthday wish in store
For all we really want to do
Is to share our love and prayers for you

And now here comes the final part
A thought that comes straight from the heart
We pray with all our strength and might
That Master bless you with his sight
For you’ve touched us all in so many ways
And bathed us all in Master’s rays
Our thanks run deep and strong and true
I speak for us all: love and joy to you!

“True Freedom” Cookout and Kirtan

2011-07-06T14:58:00.000-07:00

This Fourth of July our extended Ananda family gathered together to celebrate true, inner freedom with a cookout at the residential community in Mountain View. About a hundred folks turned out to enjoy sunburgers, corn on the cob, baked beans, potato salad, and joyful satsang with fellow devotees. (Photos here, courtesy of D’Arcy, Dambara, and Jeffrey.)

And we can’t forget dessert, of course. The younger bodies effectively dominated the s’mores scene (above), but we also had a sundae bar to pick up the slack. Vanilla ice cream with raspberries and blueberries made an excellent combination for the patriotically-minded, but the brownies and fudge sauce were well worth altering the color scheme.

Dinner was followed by an outdoor kirtan in front of Paramahansa Yogananda’s shrine and gazebo. Along with the abundance of voices, we had harmoniums, guitars, kirtals, a flute, a drum, and shakers for the little ones. The chants naturally included “Rise in Freedom” and “I Am Free,” along with many other Ananda favorites.

Swami Kriyananda’s words from Living Wisely, Living Well remind us to be grateful not only for the freedom we’ve been given here on earth, but also for the divine freedom that awaits all of us:

Independence Day in America: The political and national freedom celebrated this day were meant to give all men a chance to rise to their own highest potential.

Though independence has not been applied universally, it has at least been directional. It has taken time for black people and for women to win the right to vote, though that right should have been recognized and bestowed from the beginning.

It is time now to declare a new kind of freedom: freedom of conscience!

This declaration can be made only by and for the individual. Let no one pressure you into thinking or behaving as he thinks you ought to. God has a special song to sing through you. It can be offered to the universe only by yourself.

Rajarshi Day Report

2011-06-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

Rajarshi Janakananda was Paramahansa Yogananda's most spiritually advanced disciple, and was also extremely successful on the material plane, being a self-made millionaire and funding much of Master’s work. It was in his honor that 40 devotees gathered at the Ananda Palo Alto temple on Saturday for a joyful morning of karma yoga, beautifying the church and the grounds.

We started with a two-page “wish list” of projects, and a truly impressive amount of them were accomplished. Some of the indoor projects included cleaning carpets and chairs; building some new storage shelves; cleaning and organizing vases, candles, candleholders, altar cloths, closets, and supplies; and framing or reframing many pictures of Master and other saints. The yoga center is also enjoying a newly cleaned entrance and sparkling windows.

Outdoors, one of the largest projects was laying down a coat of primer on the teaching center walls that have yet to be painted. This necessitated, of course, the extra step of covering in plastic anything that didn’t need to be covered in primer. We also had a team of gardeners working with the plants around all the buildings, and a duo of Cinderellas scrubbing stains off the courtyard paving stones. And in the midst of all that, we also replaced the gutter downspouts, and cleaned and organized the dumpster and storage areas.

It was a beautifully productive day that left not just the temple but all of us buzzing with new energy and magnetism. Well done, all!

[More photos here, thanks to Dambara.]

Free and Clear Luncheon

2011-06-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

In 1994, after seven years in a suite of office rooms on California Ave., we scraped together the downpayment for a church of our very own and moved into what is now the Ananda Palo Alto temple. The building was formerly a Catholic church, but Asha said that when they visited it for the first time, they found there a copy of Autobiography of a Yogi, as well as Swami Kriyananda's autobiography, The Path. So it felt like Master was already there, getting it ready for us.

The 1994 congregation making the inaugural march to the new temple.
Who can you recognize? (Click photo to enlarge.)

At the time, we didn't know how we would be able to handle the new mortgage payments that were more than triple our previous rent, but in true Ananda spirit we put out all our best energy and trusted in God to carry us through the rest of the way. All of that energy and grace over the last 17 years has transformed the temple into a beautiful, sacred space, drawing and inspiring truth-seekers from all around the Bay Area and beyond.

Before and after: The St. Aloysius Church before we moved in,
and a more recent photo of its new incarnation.

At the beginning of this year, we still had approximately $1 million of debt left to be paid off on our church. The “Free and Clear” campaign began with the goal of eliminating that debt, and this was the theme of Sunday’s fundraising luncheon.

Lunch in our beautiful piazza.

After service we enjoyed a tasty Indian buffet and assorted desserts outside in our Italian piazza. Around the courtyard were displays of various old photographs of the church as it was when we first moved in, and of Ananda members painting and renovating it. There have been some pretty dramatic changes over the years since then! Asha spoke of our church's short history, and the larger sweep of Dwapara Yuga ascending that we're all part of, and Shanti led us in affirming as a community our goal of owning the church outright, that we might truly give it as a free gift to God and gurus.

Asha inspiring the multitudes.

You may have seen the jigsaw puzzle picture of our church that has been on the altar recently. Each puzzle piece filled in there represents another $25,000 that has been paid off. Sunday’s event (and some other activities leading up to it) resulted in an impressive $107,000 collected, with an additional $87,000 pledged over time. Well done, all of us!

See more photos of the event here, as well as a selection of video clips here.

A Few Photos

2011-06-06T17:08:00.000-07:00

As you may have heard, Swami Kriyananda spent some time in Palo Alto last week, before flying to Italy. He didn't make any public appearances, but a number of devotees did gather at Chela Bhavan to send him on his way with blessings. John P. took a couple of photos to share:

In other photographic news, we have an updated congregation photo online. Look at all those beautiful, joyful faces!

Karen says:

This year's Easter congregation photo was the FASTEST EVER. It took about 10 minutes to have everyone line up and take their smiling faces. And it took a volunteer Photoshopper (Jeff C. - thank you very much) about 6-7 hours to roll some heads, till all the best ones were in this final composite. 'Off with their heads' has a more positive connotation these days.