Living in a spiritual community isn’t all it’s cracked out to be. It’s much, much more. Besides the fountainhead of bliss gushing forth amidst daily spiritual practice, service and fellowship, there come truly beautiful, blessed and rewarding opportunities. Such was our recent two-day trip, as myself, along with my six fellow 20-something-year-old gurubhais (fellow disciples) explored our first outreach opportunity with two classes at Butte College in nearby Chico.
But let me begin at the beginning, or nearer so: there is a growing energy here at Ananda Village and I believe worldwide, in which greater numbers of our generation are being called to the light. That is, they are finding an expanding sense of world brotherhood, of service and joy in their own hearts and in one another.
Be it a spiritual calling of a true teacher like Paramhansa Yogananda or any other pathway of expansive freedom, love and fellowship — there presently exists a great shift in consciousness that reaches far beyond all limitations and form. For us, one manifestation of this has been to reach out and share.
For example, we run the summer camp programs known as Living with Spirit, in which young people ages 18 – 30 spend two weeks camping at Ananda Village to experience the blessings of life in spiritual community. These programs include deep friendship amidst daily meditation and yoga postures, joyful work as service, and exploring and sharing the beauty of nature and community life.
After following the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda for some two years, my brother Tristan and I discovered Ananda through these programs just last year. We were, and are ever grateful and so happy to have this connection with so many spiritual friends and family in Ananda Worldwide.
(A side note: Rose Atwell and myself now lead the Farming and Sustainability Living with Spirit program, which includes organic farming along with everything else.)
Recently these programs have expanded beyond Ananda Village, in order to better share such a great many blessings. By way of networking and the more subtle but ever-powerful tools of meditation, affirmation, and energy magnetism, there suddenly appeared our first opportunity: the trip to Chico, which I mentioned earlier, to be hosted by an Ananda meditation center located there, and by a college professor whose had two classes centered on the study and practice of yoga postures and philosophy.
The result was a truly rewarding experience: the Ananda Chico Meditation Center alone and our gracious host Marlene provided us many accommodations to be both joyous and grateful. But the classes were the highlight of this trip: to be joyful and have fun, learning and sharing our knowledge, experience and energy rather than simply teaching or informing.
The interaction through sharing, brief meditation, chanting and singing was the mightiest blessing, in that we connected to a receptive group of young people who like us had opened the door of their hearts to higher guidance, truth, and joy through yoga.
There was a great sense of receptivity among many individuals and an expansive and powerful connection between everyone present. Some of the students inquired during or after the presentation for more information, or talked with us afterwards.
One person was so enthusiastically moved that she signed up for this summer’s Living with Spirit program only a day later. Other students were simply inspired and expressed their gratitude and enjoyment (very mutual, for us) in our coming there. On many different levels the outreach itself was a success and provided great satisfaction in sharing with others.
We spent our little free time in Chico enjoying one another’s company, in group meditation, and in further outreach trip to Chico State College, the greater Butte College nearby, to post Living with Spirit 2010 flyers and explore the campuses.
Behind the outward posting of flyers and other sharing and networking, we know and have experienced the power in the flow of energy put out that will surely lead us onward to greater heights of outreach and blessings. Even as I write these words we are only days away from another such trip this time to Southern California’s beautiful Encinitas to reach out, connect and share joy with more of our Ananda family and all receptive souls in kirtan, satsang and sadhana. (Editor’s note: We were slow in posting Jordan’s article — the trip to Encinitas has already happened, and went well.)
Above all things in our Chico outreach trip was the presence and power of Divine Grace before, during and still yet after. In the positive, energetic and enthusiastic attempt to be channels for the higher energies of light and love to all, we were blessed inexpressibly in our every thought and word.
Paramhansa Yogananda said that the “channel is blessed by what flows through it.” Despite whatever mere preferences or improvements we might have looking back and moving forward, we have indeed and yet again experienced this truth.
As our dear friend and host professor Annalisa Cunningham closed each class, “May all beings be happy. May all beings be free from suffering. May all beings be loved.”
My husband and I returned to live at Ananda Village in March of 2009 after living at Ananda Sacramento, California for the last 23 years. There we served as the Colony Leaders and Spiritual Directors.
Ananda Farms today…
We are now working with the young adults at Ananda Village and working with some of them on the Ananda farm.
As we were packing our things to move I found a diary that I wrote while traveling with my sister and brother-in-law, as well as by myself, for 6 weeks in Central America when I was 19 years old.
… and in the early days
As I read through the pages I was amazed. Behind the words I was reading was the consciousness of those with whom we were soon to be working and serving at Ananda Village!
From the daily entries sprang idealism, creative expression, inspiration, hope, the desire to serve and help others, to give back to humanity, make a difference, “save the planet.”
So much energy! The energy of the “ever new,” and yet, if you will, just mere ideas, untried and unproven. I was very grateful to read these detailed pages from my earlier life. The timing was perfect. I felt that Divine Mother was giving me a vivid picture to prepare me and to align my consciousness in receptivity to the souls with whom we would be living and serving.
Swami Kriyananda talks about “practical idealism.” He says that we need to ground our ideals in reality and channel inspiration into tangible form.
As I worked closely in cooperation with other devotees I began to learn how to be able to direct my energy, manifest dreams and hopes, and serve a greater reality than just myself. Indeed I was too busy to think of myself in a personal, selfish way. I discovered quickly that it was only by cooperating with God to change my consciousness that I could accomplish anything in life, what to speak of “changing the world.”
Maria and friends, early seventies
Within 3 years of my coming to Ananda, myself and my husband were managing the farms at Ananda.
Our gardening teacher, Haanel Cassidy, passed on and it all landed in our lap.
One day Swami Kriyananda invited us and few others who were serving on the farm at the time, to come over for lunch.
We brought with us a garden fresh feast. He loved it and so appreciates to this day the quality of what is produced on this land. His guidance was to “grow as much food as we could.”
But beyond that, he let us explore how to do it. He gave us the freedom to “tune in” and try to channel our inspiration and enthusiasm into creative deeds. Needless to say our hands and hearts were full.
Cate
It is very inspiring for us to serve with these young people. They are fresh, alive, hopeful, and most importantly, love God, and want to dedicate their lives in service to Him, and through Him, to others.
Jordan
It is a great blessing to watch the seeds of spiritual yearning grow within them so strongly. Their very presence is like a breath of fresh air to other thirsty, truth seeking young adults.
This year a number of them will be heading up 6 weeks of programs for young adults, ages 18 – 30 at Ananda Village. If you are interested please check out their website.
The name which they have coined for these programs is “Living with Spirit.” It truly captures the essence of youth in cooperation with the Divine.
My inspiration in writing this was Swami Kriyananda’snew book on renunciation, A Renunciate Order for the New Age. Also my own desire to be a monk… but also to be married.
The old cloistered form of monasticism says you need to renounce and “get away from the world” to find God. One might say that monastics living a reclusive life are selfish in the sense they are not being a service to society. Others might say they are doing more for society since they are trying to live in accordance with the Divine, and that their prayers are doing more than social works could ever do.
On the opposite side of the spectrum you have the worldly person trying to live his life, primarily driven by what he or she can do to find happiness: good job, family, career, etc. But as we see, most worldly people aren’t truly happy in comparison to the saints who are immersed in the consciousness of God.
Now let’s say you have a non-monastic person who is religious in the sense that they attend Mass every Sunday, pray ever day, and do their best to live a God-Centered life. While this way of life is indeed admirable, unfortunatelythe “idols” of the world are able to pull us into delusion much too easily.
As Yogananda said, “environment is stronger than will power.” Thus, wouldn’t the practical solution be to bring both environments together, the monastic and non-monastic lives? At Ananda, instead of trying to run away from the delusions of the world to find God, we try to see God in every life experience.
And most importantly, as Yogananda advised, we try to make our hearts our “hermitage,” so that wherever we go, there is our church, there is our God. At Ananda we have cloistered our hearts and have tried to bring that light into our service to society. As St. Francis said, “Preach the Gospel, use words only if you must.”
From my own experience I have foundit truly is much easier to live in the presence of Godwhere everyone is trying to do the same.
I came to Ananda with a deep desire for God and to share his joy with everyone, a desire that “typical” life did not fulfill for me. Being here a year and a half I am able to see how Ananda’smodel of living can’t help but spread in time throughout society.
While things here aren’t perfect, there is an underlying spirit in the people, an underlying attitude of cooperation, harmony and peace, that is saturated all over the land. It is born not of pretense, butrather of the deeper inner joy found in the stillness of meditation, and in serving everyone as images of the Divine.
As I walk the forests and meadows, and see the houses and people that live here, I can’t help but imagining God speaking through every part of this community, every person, tree and building, this holy phrase: “Be still and know that I am God.”
It has been a blessed month indeed! Here are a few excerpts worth a listen:
First, from our Living Wisdom High School Concert on Friday, Dec 11th, a piece by John Rutter titled Mary’s Lullaby.
On Saturday, Dec 12th, I led an astounding performance of Swami Kriyananda’s Oratorio, Christ Lives! at Mills College in Oakland, in a beautiful chapel with marvelous acoustics! Here are a few choir pieces: Christ Has Come
Sing Out With Joy
When Human Hopes Toward Thee Aspire
Thy Light Within Us Shining
Then back at the village, on Sunday, Dec 13th, we had our World Brotherhood Day celebration, which included performances of: The Christ Child’s Asleep (studio recording)
And The Christmas Mystery (studio recording)
Here is a link to the video of many of the pieces performed that afternoon (Three Wise Men at the beginning, The Christ Child’s Asleep and Mother of Wisdom at 24:23).
On Sunday morning Dec 20th, we had our Christmas Sunday Service, led by Jyotish and Devi, which can be viewed by visiting our video page. It includes our children’s choir joining us at the beginning of the video for Christ Has Come and The Christmas Mystery. You’ll easily find my daughter - the only one not standing still!
That same evening we had our annual Christmas concert on Sunday, Dec 20th, which included performances of The Blue Danube, For Unto Us a Child Is Born, the Halleluiah Chorus, a visit by the Victorian Singers, and many of Swami Kriyananda’s Christmas pieces.
It truly has been a blessed month, and our wish is for you to carry with you these vibrations of Light, Love, Peace, and Joy with you throughout this coming year! May God Bless you all.
I decided during Spiritual Renewal Week in August to join Ananda’s monastery for one year at the Ananda Meditation Retreat. In celebration of Swami Kriyananda’s discipleship anniversary, the vows of monasticism were taken last Sunday. The idea of monasticism had often inspired me, but in the past I had never quite felt like I would be able “cut the mustard” so to speak, as a monk. This summer I had several realizations that made think that being a monk would not only be possible, but would be the best possible thing for me at this point in my life.
The first was that nothing outside myself would ever give me happiness and fulfillment (with the exception of Hagan Daz ice cream, right?). The lines from one of Swami Kriyananda’s songs called “One Day When I was Roaming” caught my attention. The song isn’t sung very often, I think because it seems like a sad song, but Swami can be heard singing it on the CD, I’ve passed my life as a Stranger. The ending lines were particularly meaningful to me:
For life he thought these meadows,
would give to be his own;
But life he gave not first to them,
and life he’s never known
(These lines repeat twice, and “life” is replaced first with “peace,” and then with “joy.”)
What we are looking for is inside ourselves! As long as we think that it lies in things, we will be sorely disappointed. From one point of view this seems like a grim statement: Nothing in this world can bring you lasting fulfillment and happiness. But on the other hand, the keys to happiness are within us and not dependent on anything external. We can choose to be happy anytime and all the time! Anytime we think something outside ourselves will give us joy, that joy is within us already. In other words joy is within you (where have I heard that before?).
The second realization came while watching the rehearsals for Swami Kriyananda’s play, The Peace Treaty. In watching the characters Gazella and Ponder (who in the end, become monastics), I saw that renunciation is not a denial of life and love, but a joyful celebration of the soul’s freedom and devotion in God. Instead of being cold and dry, it is an affirmation to seek love in God alone. It is, after all, from God that all love originates. Any love that we feel can be offered upward and shared with God. In this it is impersonalized and in fact made greater.
The monks at Ananda’s Meditation Retreat
As I join my fellow monks and look at this year ahead, I hope and pray that this year will help me deepen my realization of the Divine within me, and help me to share that love, light and joy more fully and freely with others. In making this decision, it has been beautiful to see how the community has supported and encouraged me. It is truly a blessing to live in a place that so wholeheartedly supports the inward search for God, no matter what form it takes.
What do you think makes for success? Is it an end result? Or is it the way we do something?
This blog post is simple: it’s the story of a photo shoot done by a group of young adults living at Ananda Village. There’s a burgeoning youth movement within Ananda now, which I wrote about when it first started, and which Lisa Clark also wrote about recently from India.
The photo shoot had a clearly defined goal: get some good photos to publicize Living With Spirit, a summer program at Ananda Village for young adults age 18 – 30, that combines yoga and meditation with organic agriculture.
The photo shoot went very well—but it might have been worth doing even if our cameras had magically erased themselves immediately after the shoot.
What I’d like to communicate is a couple of things: one, the joyful, exuberant quality of the group, whose youthful energy is a unique expression in Ananda; and two, how the morning’s photo shoot showed us that the energy which goes into a thing is more important than the thing itself. Because we were serving, and having fun, it felt like we had a success in the doing as well as in the results.
We started in the “experimental orchard,” most of us posing, trimming, or digging, and several of us taking photographs. Ananta and Maria McSweeney, the coordinators of the program, are long-time and very experienced organic gardeners.
Swami Kriyananda recently asked them to move from Ananda Sacramento, where they were the spiritual directors for over 20 years, to Ananda Village, where they now farm and work with the young adults. In about a week, they and a number of young adults will move into a group house specifically for young adults, near the center of Ananda Village.
At the photo shoot, there were 11 or 12 of us. Some of us grew up here, others have come from elsewhere in America (like me), and still others have come from other continents and countries.
This was the photo of the morning—the one that we needed to get. It gives a clear idea of half of what the program offers: friendship, community, and organic gardening; and because there’s a face looking directly at the viewer, it’s a good one for getting people’s attention.
Please note Greg Traymar in the background, pointing off into the distance. (I had to throw out a couple of photos because people started imitating him!) Greg lives at Ananda Village and is working closely with Bharat Cornell, a minister at Ananda and the founder of the extremely successful Sharing Nature Foundation. (Greg directs its USA branch.)
After 10 to 20 minutes of taking photos in the garden, we walked over to where the actual summer program is going to take place…
… which provided a perfect opportunity for some tree climbing. Rachel (above) is one of the program leaders.
Rose led a devotional chant, which gave us time to take a number of photos and to record video. The chanting ended with a prayer.
This is one of my favorite photos of us. It has both good composition and a nice feeling behind it. It was a blessing to be there, taking photos; a service opportunity that I’m very grateful for.
Next we moved uphill to take some photos of yoga postures. Some of them were amusing.
Above, Melody is setting up another shot for the video recording. A talented member of our group, currently taking film courses at a liberal arts college near Los Angeles, is working on turning this footage into a video that we can share.
We have people cooperating from many locations and also cultural backgrounds. (For example, the flyer was designed by a young woman from South India.) One of the things I enjoy about publicizing this program is that it’s a team effort. Together, we accomplish much more than any one of us could on our own.
To end our photo shoot, Ananta led a 10-minute meditation. For me, though I was still taking photos, it grounded me in the sense that what we are doing with this program, with this photo shoot, and through all our marketing, is a form of service—to God above all, but also to everyone who will benefit from learning about the program, and who could be blessed by being a part of it.
Perhaps you could call this desire to serve our “ulterior motive.” I’ve never so clearly felt that doing publicity can be a service, as when working on the publicity for this program. I suspect it is because my attitude is beginning to change from one of “What can I get?” to one of “What can I give? What is the right next step for this person, or this group of people, that I’m trying to reach?” Marketing of this kind is expansive, and a joy.
Our second meditation closed with a prayer that we draw the right people to the program: the people who are seeking it, and who can benefit from it.
The photo shoot was simple, and photo shoots happen all over the world many times a day, but how many include periods of meditation and prayer?
For one reason or another, it was joyful. Perhaps it was because of our meditation, but also, I often feel a sense of joy and blessing when this group of young adults together.
Melody wrote,
Well, to begin with, it was such a joy to have us all together. Even if it was for a “fake” workday. I loved how everybody just got in there and helped, whether it was shoveling or pulling scotchbroom, or zooming in with the cameras and taking great shots.
My favorite part was when everyone was chanting underneath that huge oak tree. It was so magical. I knew Paramhansa Yogananda was watching us, flowing through us, and literally contacting those who will come to our program this summer.
There was so much fun energy and good ideas within our group. I just kept thinking and saying, isn’t this so great!?
During the photo shoot, we weren’t focused on the outcome; we were focused on the energy. In fact, I think we were more interested in having joy, in having fun, than in taking great photos. And it was all in service. Surely God blesses this kind of attitude.
Swami Kriyananda has often said the things we do don’t matter so much; what is important is how we do them. This photo shoot was an experience for me in why, though the things we do may be normal, the way we do them can make them deeply meaningful.
Related
This group here at Ananda Village is just one part of the worldwide youth movement within Ananda, which is also taking place in Europe and India.
Living With Spirit, the program we were taking photos for, is taking place for the 3rd year this summer, June 28 – July 12. It’s an immersion in spiritual living, based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda. You can click here to learn more about the summer program, or to share it with some young adult you know who is looking for deeper meaning in their life.
Lisa is a long-time member of Ananda India, and recently moved from Gurgaon, near Delhi, to help start the Ananda community near Pune.
Recently, Ananda Sangha in Pune held the first Youth Campout and Retreat on the land where the future Ananda Community will be, an hour outside the city.
We defined “youth” as being “anyone willing to sleep in a tent.” Indeed, the participants ranged in age from pre-school to a youthful gentleman in his seventies.
The weekend included group meditation, service projects, free time to enjoy the peace of country life, and a group discussion lead by Jaya Helin, who has been a member of Ananda Sangha for 40 years.
The topic of the discussion was “When To Sprint and When To Be a Long-Distance Runner on the Spiritual Path.” Jaya said, “When you enter the spiritual path, you will awaken seeds of past good karma. These can help you with your spiritual practices, and bring comfort and security in these troublesome times.”
There was also a great deal of enthusiasm for the service projects which included beginning a “test garden;” painting a small house where the land’s caretaker currently lives; digging terraces and swales to recover rainwater; and starting a greywater recovery system, in order to use water more efficiently.
When asked why they chose to participate in the retreat, two young men from India’s high-tech world said that they came to get away from the stresses of daily life, and to enjoy the company of other like-minded people. They also wanted to have time to meditate with others in order to deepen their own meditation practices.
A young mother of two, who, along with her husband, is a dedicated member of Ananda Sangha, said that the retreat was “an opportunity to get away from the harsh crowds, noise, and traffic of the city, and to recharge myself with time in the countryside in order to go back to daily life with more gusto.” She and her husband open their home in the city every week to host group meditations.
It was an amazing weekend with devotees of varying ages, countries and backgrounds coming together and finding joy in uplifting company, simple service, and, most satisfying of all, meditation with like-minded souls. We are all looking forward to the next opportunity to take a break from daily responsibilities, recharge with service and satsang, and then return to daily life “with more gusto.”
there presently exists a great shift in consciousness that reaches far beyond all limitations and form. For us, one manifestation of this has been to reach out and share.
(A side note: Rose Atwell and myself now lead the Farming and Sustainability Living with Spirit program, which includes organic farming along with everything else.)
The result was a truly rewarding experience: the Ananda Chico Meditation Center alone and our gracious host Marlene provided us many accommodations to be both joyous and grateful. But the classes were the highlight of this trip: to be joyful and have fun, learning and sharing our knowledge, experience and energy rather than simply teaching or informing.
Other students were simply inspired and expressed their gratitude and enjoyment (very mutual, for us) in our coming there. On many different levels the outreach itself was a success and provided great satisfaction in sharing with others.
