April 17-21 of this year, 2008, I was blessed to return to my “ole stompin’ grounds, deep in the heart ‘o Texas.’” Actually what that means, ya’ll, when translated out of Texan into Amurrrri-can, is that I flew to out Dallas to give classes and get-togethers at the Ananda Dallas Center. My flight was over 5 hours late due to tornadoes, hail, and huge thunder storms in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. But hey! That’s springtime in Texas. The carpets of blooming bluebonnets (the fragrant state flower) and many other colorful wildflowers made up for it.

There was a time, back in the late 80’s and early 90’s, when I flew out to Texas many times a year, supporting our meditation groups and Ananda connected folks in whatever ways I could—offering classes, retreats, and so on. But during this visit, I realized that it had been several years since I returned to Texas and that was way too long to be out of touch with those fine, faithful folks, some dear old friends (and some newer ones too), and all my fellow disciples in Texas. There is a flavor of deep joy, a sweetness there among Texas devotees, which is hard to describe, but simply wonderful to feel first-hand.

In reflecting on how inspiring this visit was for me, I thought it might be interesting to write down a little of the history of Ananda’s presence in the Lone Star State—a history that actually goes back quite a few years.

In 1975, the year I first visited Ananda, I had been living in Texas for 13 years. I returned from my 2-month visit to Ananda Village (the only Ananda community there was in those years) determined somehow to create some sort of “Ananda in Texas.”

My first step was to start teaching Hatha Yoga at the closest university—which happened to be Texas A&M. I am now amazed at my courage in doing this back then, for 3 reasons:

1) Nobody asked me for credentials, which was a good thing, because I had none—except my 2 months at Ananda, being led in Energization Exercises, Ananda-style yoga, and meditation twice a day;

2) Texas A&M was a very conservative place indeed, most people in central Texas in those years not knowing yoga from yogurt;

3) Having not been officially trained to teach yoga, and none of my students having a clue what it was anyway, we all had a great time together!

Based on the success of this venture, I began offering classes and retreats in other locations, teaching meditation to whoever was interested, leading sadhanas in my home many afternoons each week, to friends who were interested, and starting a small meditation group (I think at its peak we had 3 participants).

I continued to visit Ananda Village in the hopes I could figure out a way to move there. During my Christmas visit of 1977, I heard that Swami Kriyananda was going on a nationwide tour which might be passing through Texas. I told him I lived there and perhaps I could help in some way. Little did I know what that suggestion would do!

In my brief conversation with Swami that Christmas, I said: “When you visit Texas, do you know where, in which city, you’d like to give classes?”

He answered, “Well, I guess Dallas—it’s the biggest city in Texas, isn’t it?”

I said, “Well yes, I think it is, but I live closer to Austin and Houston, and would be able to be of more help if you chose one of those cities to visit.” [hint, hint]

Imagine my surprise when, soon after my return to my home in Texas, I received a call from Keshava, who (I believe) was Swami’s secretary at that time, who told me gleefully, “Swami is coming to Austin, Houston, and Dallas and we want you to be in charge!” I just about fainted when I heard that, but bravely said I’d try. Fortunately I found other willing souls in Houston and Dallas to help make all the needed speaking engagements happen and to help find places for everyone on the “Joy Tour Team” to stay—while I took care of arrangements in Austin.

March of 1978, the Ananda “Joy Tour” arrived in Texas in full force. Swami and the “team” of a dozen or more Ananda folk, most of whom I had met on my previous visits to Ananda Village, were traveling in a van and a motor home. I worked hard to see that everything went smoothly in Austin, and I think it did! The crowds were large, the enthusiasm great, and Swami was well-received there. Houston was even better, and I think Dallas was best of all, though I didn’t get to join the group there.

In Houston, after one of his evening seminars, I asked Swami if I could have a spiritual name and he graciously blessed me with the name Savitri. What a personal peak-life experience that was!

Several times during the next 2 or 3 years after that first springtime visit, Swami returned to Texas to speak. Ananda Meditation groups sprang up in Austin, Houston, and other locations. I was thrilled to see it all, but by that time, I had moved to Ananda Village myself, and thus simply watched and prayed from afar as the Ananda Texas energy grew stronger.

Texans are indeed strong people, independent-minded, friendly, enthusiastic, and full of joy. I love them! And though I truly loved living at Ananda Village, I still missed that sweet Texas spirit and the many friends I had there. So when the time was right, and Ananda teachers were needed to travel to Texas to help our work there, I was among the first to volunteer.

I’d like to especially mention and honor a few folks who hold an important place in Ananda Texas history. Clara Evans was the first Ananda Dallas Meditation Group leader to invite me to come there to teach in 1988. Happy Winningham was a dynamic part of the Dallas group then and soon after moved to Ananda Village, as did Clara, too. Jan Shapiro took over Ananda Dallas leadership and did a magnificent job for many years. Rex Anderson and Harold Byrd led the group in Houston, Agnes Lundstead led the group in Austin, and Lewis Kreydick led a small group in South Padre Island.

Soon the Ananda Texas energy seemed dynamic enough to send full time Ananda ministers to live and serve in Texas. Pranaba and Parvati Hansen were the first to go in 1992, establishing themselves first in Austin, and eventually in Dallas, (which, interestingly enough, was the first place Swamiji had mentioned he wanted to give classes on his first cross-country speaking tour, all those years ago). Krishna Das and Mantradevi, now serving as leaders of our Ananda Los Angeles Center, also served at Ananda Dallas, 1994-1996.

Right now, Sue Chadwick is the acting Ananda Minister and primary director of Ananda Dallas, the very active Ananda Dallas Meditation & Yoga Center, located at 4901 Keller Springs Road, Suite 103, Addison, TX 75001, on Keller Springs Rd. between the Tollway and Addison Road They have a full calendar of activities, including Sunday Service every Sunday, programs for families, yoga and meditation classes, and so on. Check it all out at www.anandadallas.org

During my visit this past April, I was thrilled to see how strong and dynamic Ananda Dallas has become now, with a great core of dedicated kriyabans who really know the importance of keeping their Center strongly serving as a beacon of light for all truth-thirsty souls. I know from personal experience that it is not easy, living in mid-America and trying to hold yourself together as a devotee of this path, keeping your own spiritual practices strong, and trying to help others to find their own way spiritually also. Therefore, I bow at the feet (and cowboy boots) of all those Texas devotees of past, present, and future, who were and are able to do just that. Bless you one and all. I can’t mention you all by name, but you know who you are.

After countless hours spent by the volunteers and staff of Crystal Hermitage, the gardens opened their doors to the public about a month ago. Nevada County’s local newspaper, The Union, featured a wonderful front-page article, titled “Spring glory over the Yuba”, talking about the beauty of the gardens and inviting the public to visit them. After all, I don’t think there are many gardens in the area with 6000 cheerful tulips.

Rather than talking about the beauty of these gardens, I will let you browse through the pictures that were taken recently. If you are in the area, it’s still not too late to visit the gardens and see especially, the tulips.

tulips with the Middle Yuba gorge in the background

more tulips

more joyful tulips

a feast for the eyes and the soul

tulips and pansies by the front door

vibrant colors

beautiful cherry blossoms

You can find out more about Crystal Hermitage here.

Photos courtesy of Suzanne Ilgun.

Hi Everyone,
It has been a wonderful and awe-inspiring week. I live out here on the West Coast and woke up Saturday morning feeling like something good was happening. It was the morning that Swamiji gave his heart-opening and soul stirring talk in Rome. I think everyone here at Ananda Village felt a calm sense of rightness in the ether. We all heard Swamiji was very happy with the evening and all the preparation. There have been several wonderful written accounts posted on this blog site. Hopefully you will see some of the amazing photos taken by Andrea Roach.

While things were awesome in Rome, over here the bloom cycle of the tulips, crabapple trees and cherry trees were incredible. Perhaps they were responding to all the great energy in the universe. What ever it was we were treated with spectacular show of color.

Crystal Hermitage was featured in our local paper and one Saturday the Crystal Hermitage staff hosted two-hundred visitors from the near-by towns. Eighty of those people stayed to eat lunch at The Expanding Light. It sounded like every one there had a good time, looking at gorgeous gardens and eating in a restful rejuvenating environment.

Scaffolding

The Expanding Light staff and saintly volunteers have recently been beautifying our lovely retreat center. The efforts started with a group of talented devotees led by our local Vastu expert Mandala Skillman.
I talked with Mandala one day and learned about the level of her committment in enhancing the vibrations of The Expanding Light.
For years we have mostly had off white walls: nothing wrong with it, but with Mandala skills she

Mandala takes a quick break to pose for my camera. She is the brains and heart behind The Expanding Light color improvements.

artfully picked colors that would be uplifting and calm and enhance the harmony of the inside colors with the outside view. She seemed to have a small army of dedicated souls that put up an amazing array of scaffolding and then caulked all the cracks, and painted

Test colors are painted on either side of the rock wall

the ceilings. The finished product is lovely! It is soothing and uplifting, warm and inviting. Well Done.

The colors here will harmonize with the colors outdoors and with the Guest Services building that you can see through the window

The Expanding Light Temple was also painted, it is beautiful and elegant. I hope to share with you soon a photo of that room. There have been several workdays at The Expanding Light, it will soon be iris season. I hear big rumors of work being done on the amphitheater. I will try to check in on that project.

Come Join Us!

This is a big year. One where we have already seen Swamiji’s beautiful talk in Rome reach out to so many. Other great events are still to come: Swamiji’s birthday at the beautiful Crystal Hermitage, Large public events in Palo Alto, smaller events in LA in July, Ananda’s 40th anniversary celebrations in August and the deeply moving celebration of Swamiji’s 60th year of discipleship. Whew, what a summer.

We should all be praying for each other and especially Swamiji. I pray that Swamiji continues to be in bliss, that he arrive and enjoy his stay in the US with great health and vitality. I pray that you all are happy, healthy, feel bliss and that I see you at one of these events.
Bless you all.

During his lifetime, Paramhansa Yogananda exhorted his students to create spiritual communities, places that would support their spiritual lives. As he put it, “Environment is stronger than will power.”

I moved to Ananda Village 3 years ago, and rarely leave it. I run errands in town on occasion, and visit family or go on pilgrimage a couple of times a year.

When I do travel, and see places like those I used to live in, I sometimes make new discoveries. On a recent trip away from Ananda, a few things struck me.

Looking for joy in all the wrong places

First, I was amazed at how crazy most people seemed. They seemed to seek happiness mostly in ways that can’t bring them anything more than fleeting happiness – they seem to seek it in things, in other words: money, property, relationships, and so on. This is pretty crazy! Things are unreliable. They are in constant flux; they are no one’s friend.

That I found such a way of life perfectly normal several years ago underscores the truth in Yogananda’s statement, quoted above.

Good conversations come from being interested

Dog grooming is not one of my usual interests, but something I discovered on that recent trip was how to have fascinating and even inspiring discussions with others, on diverse topics. The secret was to approach the subject from their point of view.

In fact, my cousin recently started a dog grooming business. Canine-hair care was an unknown art to me, but after making some effort to find what my cousin liked about it, it became interesting. In fact, it has a lot of spiritual lessons!

She told me, for instance, that if certain ferocious dogs sense fear in a groomer, they’ll take advantage of him or her and refuse to cooperate. So my cousin simply makes up her mind not to be afraid! With this act of will, she’s able to handle the trouble-makers even when others aren’t. Her technique is reminiscent of Sri Yukteswar’s sage words: “Look fear in the face and it will cease to trouble you.”

After talking for a while, we concluded that we are each doing that which is helping us to grow. Several years ago, I wouldn’t have been so open to her reality, or enjoyed it so much!

This openness is something I’ve experienced from others at Ananda, thanks to Swami Kriyananda’s leadership and example.

Swami Kriyananda enjoying a conversation with a member of Ananda

Universal friendship

I lived in a suburb near Seattle for most of my life. Day in and day out, I’d see lots of people that I didn’t know and never would.

Today, though, most of the people I see are friends, Ananda members that I know: people who I live with, sing with in the choir, or serve with in Ananda’s outreach ministry. Some of my closest friends are also my co-workers.

Swami Kriyananda has made “People are more important than things” one of the key principles that guide Ananda. When I first encountered it in action, it took me off guard. Two Ananda Seattle members were helping me to find a job. I had only recently met either one and felt that I was being a burden. Seeing this, one of them said to me, “This is just what we do for each other.”

I’m deeply grateful to have lived in a place that strengthens the feeling that “all the world is my friend.” It may have had a hand in the following story.

I’ve been using a specific practice on recent trips. It is, while around strangers, to single someone out, and find the place inside myself where I would truly give time, attention, and even my life, to him or her – in the same way that I would give to a brother or a life-long friend. (It’s easy, because I’m very unlikely to have to actually do anything!)

It is rewarding and freeing in its own right – I’ve felt a sincere love for others that I hadn’t experienced before – but I wasn’t expecting any outward results. Things have happened, though, which make me think that this technique has an effect on others, too.

When I practice it on trips, people I don’t know act kinder towards me – even on days when I’ve forgotten about this altogether. We all want friendship and respect, and respond positively towards people who offer it to us.

One day, at a website-related conference, I was attending a meal with hundreds of people I didn’t know. I tried to practice this technique, but was also quite timid, and didn’t introduce myself to anyone! After that, I prayed to Divine Mother to be guided to the right people. Paramhansa Yogananda has taught that we attract friends by giving friendship.

The next time I sat down, it was next to someone who meditated every day. He also lived 5 minutes from the headquarters of Self-Realization Fellowship, which was founded by Yogananda. After we discovered our shared interests, we had a wonderful conversation about meditation and other spiritual topics.

After writing all of this, I realized that Swami Kriyananda teaches a similar technique, a purer one, which relates to others not from the level of the personality but from the level of the soul.

He writes in Revelations of Christ:

“God is in every person you meet. It would be a good practice, while walking down any city street, to look at every passerby and think of him or her as God in that form. Then tell yourself, ‘He (or she), too, wants what I want: happiness.’

“He/she may visualize that fulfillment as a new job, or a raise in salary, or a wife or a husband, or children, or as any of the innumerable things people yearn for everywhere on earth, in the expectation that they’ll find happiness through them. Look at them more deeply, however, and remind yourself, ‘What their souls really want is divine bliss, which is only masquerading as human happiness. In that yearning, they are all my brothers and sisters, even if in their present intentions they are misguided.’

“Talk to God about them in your heart. Ask Him to bless them. In time, with this practice, you will come to think of all life as a great, glorious symphony, blending all creatures together in wonderful, flowing chords, rhythms, and melodies of divine aspiration.”

(This is continued on page 436 of Revelations of Christ.)

God’s free gift of love

I’ve also seen how much we all need divine teachings, and, most importantly, need to see them in practice.

In this way, trips away from spiritual community are a blessing, and even a necessity, an opportunity to share the treasures of the spiritual path. Jesus said, “To whom much is given, much is expected.”

A favorite past-time of mine in crowds (one mentioned above by Swami Kriyananda) is to pray for God to bless everyone around. I recommend it also for use in any environment with a negative magnetism – it helps protect you from that negativity, and can become a real joy in itself.

Though it didn’t happen in a crowd, there’s a small example from my own life of the effect that God’s blessings can have, through this technique.

I follow some blogs related to my work with websites. One day, one of the blog writers apologized for something and said that his week had been going very badly. I wrote and told him how his blog had helped The Expanding Light (Ananda’s meditation and yoga retreat), and tried to pray for him as described above.

My email was very short, but he wrote back and said it had “made his day.” And I felt a blessing come back to me in return.

This is all to say: wherever we live, if we experience peace or any divine quality, we can share it. It’s not necessary to be overt: a calm gaze, a kind word, or your loving presence itself can be an inspiration.

Or, “What Happened At Our House During the Big Storm.”

The short version

A huge oak tree fell on our dome-home at noon on Friday in the middle of a large windstorm. We were at home, but not hurt. We have quite a bit of damage to the dome, but we have received tons of help on every level and we will be able to keep living there while repairs are happening. We are very grateful to God and Gurus, but certainly would appreciate your prayers at this time. It was and is all quite an adventure, full of challenges and many special blessings. If you want to know more details, read on:

The long version

A big storm and high winds were expected here including power outages and all that sort of thing. But we are used to it out here in the country – it happens every winter – and we thought we were prepared. Sudarshan and I both came home early from work because the electricity had gone off everywhere and it was difficult to work without it. This was a great blessing, because we could start dealing with everything very quickly after the tree fell and get help also. So at 12 noon, I was sitting at the dining room table eating lunch and Sudarshan was a couple of feet away from me, talking on the phone. Our kitty Grayson, who is generally a quiet cat, starting yowling a lot. We tried to calm him, but he wouldn’t be calmed and finally went to the bedroom and hid (intuitive cat – they often seem to know these things ahead of time).

One of the big black-oak trees in our front yard was uprooted by a huge wind gust and thrown on to the house, hitting the dining room area about 2 feet from where I was sitting. I saw it coming at the window out of the corner of my eye, but there was nothing I could do. I felt very calm and was mostly surprised to see all the pictures and a mirror flying off the walls all around me (the mirror didn’t break). The big window beside broke and plexi-glass flew my way, but again didn’t hit me. Sudarshan calmly said to the person on the phone: “I’ve got to go now. A tree just fell on Savitri.”

Naturally the friend he was speaking to was shocked, but she could hear me saying in the background: “I’m OK! I’m OK!” I stood up, folded my hands and said a prayer of thanksgiving to my guru. Our phone friend hung up and called her husband and lots of other guys in the community who were there with chain saws and tarps within 20 minutes. They worked for quite some time under very dangerous conditions. The storm was at its full furry, wind howling, debris blowing about. It was spectacular. They were able to chain-saw the tree carefully into sections and use a winch to pull it off the house in such a way as to not damage the dome any further. But several folks were high up there on ladders or on our slippery dome in high winds. What heroes they all were! We are so grateful for all the help.

The tree punched a big hole in the side and top of our dome and did some damage to the cupola a the top and another section higher up also. I stayed inside and tried to deal with all the water coming into the house (fortunately it was on to vinyl flooring and not carpeting) and move furniture out of the way of the instant interior waterfalls. Several women friends came to help me deal with the inside of the house and that was great. Once the outside workers got a big tarp lashed on to damaged part, things quickly got a lot better inside the house.

So we have spent the last couple of days (Yogananda’s birthday weekend, no less) working hard to clean up, to assess the damage, to take pictures for insurance purposes (we are insured through the Village, thank God!) and to start some of the actual repair work.

All this took place without electricity as we were without power for three days and during intermittent snow falls, which were fortunately not too heavy in our area. Friends came through with all sorts of food and repair work and continuing offers of aid. We have much hard work to do, perhaps months of it, to get it all repaired. Because of the gaping hole in the dome, we have to use more than the usual amounts of fire wood to keep warm, but other than that, we are able to eat, sleep, and carry on. We’ll be living in the middle of a construction project for as long as it takes, which you know is never fun, if you’ve ever had THAT experience yourself. It is sad on another level, because Sudarshan had recently finished re-shingling the whole dome pretty much by himself, and now a large section of has to be re-done. It’s very tricky doing this, because the roof comes all the way to the ground on our dome and the sides are steep and the angles are tricky. Ah, well!

All through it I felt very calm and blessed, so meditation does help “free one from dire fears and colossal sufferings” (smile). I feel that there was indeed a great amount of karma which was held at bay by divine forces, especially by Master himself. We are taught in our path that often when karma is coming to us, the gurus protect us. We still get the karma, but may be mitigated. Instead of breaking an arm, you might just get a scratch – that sort of thing. Sudarshan and I were about 2 feet from what would have been either sudden death or severe injury, if the tree hadn’t been nudged out of the way just a little and kept from falling on to the window near us instead of the roof/wall.

We had an engineer-architect friend helping us yesterday. He explained that a regular building, being hit by such a force, most likely would have been totally destroyed. But a geodesic dome, because of the way it is built, has a way of deflecting a blow and spreading it all over the structure instead of concentrating it at one place – making it super-strong. This is an amazing fact about geodesic domes, I think. Swami Kriyananda, our founder, really encouraged us to build domes in the early days of Ananda. Esthetically they are unique and the energy is excellent inside them. Practically, they present many unusual privacy challenges. But safety-wise, I now believe that they can’t be beat! Thanks Swamiji!

Another lesson driven home once again: Living in an intentional, spiritual community like Ananda Village has value beyond all measure. In times of trouble, sickness, disaster, whatever, your gurubais are there beside you, never questioning the cost to themselves personally, going the extra mile. And I am sure all our friends here understand that we would do our best to do the same for them in a situation like this one. Everyone in the world should live this way! I know it’s not possible in the world just now, but do I wish I could convince everybody otherwise. The blessings are amazing! As Swamiji’s song says (”Many Hands Make a Miracle”) “…when people laugh, and dance, and struggle as friends, then all their dreams achieve their ends.” So very, very true. Cooperative living, at its finest! Loving, divine friendship made manifest.

Christmas is a holy time, a joyful time of remembering Christ’s life and mission and taking those blessings deep within. It is also a fun-filled, busy time for families, which can become frantic and harried, with all feelings of blessing and holiness lost in the hustle.

Over the years we have used many different traditions and activities in our home to keep the focus of our Christmases on spiritual blessings. At the Ananda Portland Temple and Teaching Center, we have also engaged the children in many fun activities to help teach them the meaning of Christmas.

This year at the temple we brought back the tradition of Advent. Advent is well known in Catholic churches, but not commonly practiced in the Protestant tradition or other faiths. Very simply, it is a wonderful way to repeatedly bring the focus back to spiritual blessings during the holy season.

If you look up the Advent tradition, you will find a variety of Bible readings and scripts that are used, but I’ll tell you how we adapted the idea for our Sunday Services.

An advent wreath has 4 candles placed around it, with a 5th candle in the center. Each week (starting 4 Sundays prior to Christmas eve), a candle is lit. On Christmas Eve all 4 are burning and the 5th one is lit to represent the Christ.

The wreath was set up on a table next to the altar. The children were happy to help light the candles and carry figures to add to the nativity scene. We assigned those duties prior to service, to avoid hurt feelings and save time.

The first candle represents the Promise of Christ’s birth and the eternal promise that divine light will always come into darkness. The three wisemen were brought up the first week, because they understood why Christ was coming and they followed the star (seen in the spiritual eye in deep meditation).

The second candle represents divine Love. Mary and Joseph and the empty manger were added because of the love they held in their hearts for God and for the Christ child.

The third candle represents divine Joy and the shepherds. The great joy the shepherds experienced at the news of Christ’s birth can be experienced by everyone who opens their heart to what God is offering.

The fourth candle represents divine Light, manifested by the angels. This is the last Sunday before Christmas Eve and the nativity, with the addition of the angel, was now in full splendor on the altar.

We also added a new service for families on Christmas Eve. Scheduled from 5pm – 6pm, it was accessible to all, but especially child friendly. During this service, we lit the last advent candle, placed the little baby Jesus safely in his manger, and “built” a live creche scene with costumed players of all ages.

The feelings of deep blessings, gratitude and awe were tangible that evening. Because of the focus on the Christmas story and the qualities of spiritual blessing each week, the Christmas Eve service felt like a sweet culmination of celebration, instead of a too-brief opportunity to take it all in at once.

Advent can be practiced at home and can become a deep and meaningful part of the Christmas season. Children can be engaged on many levels – they can choose stories and crafts that depict the quality focused on for the week. They can set up their nativity or decorate their room a little at a time. The advent wreath can be the centerpiece on the table and if Sunday is not a convenient time for family celebration, choose another day of the week to do your advent remembrance.

Paramhansa Yogananda taught that a long Christmas meditation was good practice for adults to balance the social aspects of Christmas with the inner opportunity for grace. For children, balance can be even harder to find. I am so grateful for the blessings shared during our Advent season, and the insights and joy experienced by adults and children together.

May the new year bring you ever closer to God,

In divine friendship, Lorna

One of the beauties of Ananda Village is its super-abundance of deer.

The baby deer are the cutest. They have spots in summer; by mid-fall, the spots have gone, and the boys are developing antlers.

Deer are kind, innocent, and uplifting to see. For many people who visit the Village and have some kind of encounter with them, they are a highlight.

Deer are a year-round phenomenon – now, in late fall, you can still see them more days than not. In warmer seasons, they are even more common: last summer, counts went as high as 58. Popular hangouts include “downtown” Ananda Village as well as the apple orchard.

Click on any of the photos to see a larger version.

These deer are at Rajarsi Park, the group of office buildings which are the home to Crystal Clarity Publishers, Ananda’s outreach ministry, and several Ananda-member-owned businesses. (I work in the building on the left and help develop websites like this one.)

This photo is called “Deer in the Infinite.”

These two young ones are at the apple orchard that I mentioned. The recently-improved orchard provides an easy source of food. (I can imagine the adults saying to the children, “Back in our day, we didn’t have these newfangled orchards. We had to eat grass all summer! etc.”)

Another day, while driving past the market and the orchard, I saw 36 deer within the space of about 30 seconds. You can check my calculations, but if they are correct, I was driving at nearly 4500 deer per hour (dph). 

This buck is at Ananda’s Meditation Retreat, 7 miles from Ananda Village. (The retreat is where I live – it’s also a place where people often come for quiet retreat and seclusion, and the home of Ananda’s university, the Ananda Institute of Alternative Living.)

Deer are not an unmitigated blessing; they carry ticks, eat plants out of gardens, and can even attract mountain lions, a natural predator. (Though I haven’t seen a mountain lion in my 3 years here, there are occasional sightings.)

A mother deer cleaning one of her children.

I came to work early one day and found this final group of deer nearby. I walked with them for over an hour, while they became more comfortable with me. When I left, I felt that we had developed a living relationship.

In no other place have I seen deer so accepting and unafraid of people, as if they sensed that, around people dedicated to inner peace and high ideals, they were safe.