This past week at Ananda Village and The Expanding Light has been filled with inspiration and spiritual friends. It seems impossible that 12 different talks in six days about the spiritual path could hold one’s attention from beginning to end. But it did. The theme for Inner Renewal week was: Going Deeper into God.

The weather generally has been pretty gray all week with some rain. Inside the Expanding Light temple was warm and cozy. The choir sang many of my favorite songs.

The talks were very insightful, encouraging and challenging.

Anandi gave a great talk on the energization exercises. If you need any new inspiration to fuel your love for these exercises you will like this talk. You can click here to watch it.

All the talks can be accessed through ananda.org or here. I am always amazed at the depth of spiritual understanding of our teachers and of the devotion of my fellow disciples.

The week also included Kriya initiations and the very special Pilgrim initiation.

This was a special evening for me. My husband, Dave, and 102 other people took Pilgrim Vows. I felt very blessed to be part of this ceremony. These are the vows:

I understand, and intend from now on to live by my understanding, that life is a pilgrimage, of which the final goal is to find and merge back into God.

Bless me, and direct my footsteps ever to the summit of Thy holy mountain.

They are beautiful aren’t they? You can find out more about them here. There was such a sweet devotion and spiritual power in the room as we took our vows. I saw alot of joy in everyone’s face.

So, next week Dave and I will be going to India! We will be with Latika, and Jyotish and Devi. I can’t believe it is only one week away! We will be in Gurgaon for the Inner Renewal Weekend there. Swamiji is planning to be there. We will also get to celebrate Master’s Mahasamadhi in Pune. I am thrilled to be able to see the great work happening in India and to be with Swamiji and my gurubhais. I plan on trying to post to this blog and also onto my Twitter account. If you would like to see some of my posts you can follow me here. I don’t know how connected I will be to the internet, but I will try to update as best as I can. I hope you will connect with me!

May the Masters bless us all. Let us radiate peace outward and create a web of joy around the world. I have been visualizing joy as an unbreakable silver string through the center of my body. It connects me to the cosmos and God’s divine joy. It connects us all.

With love,
Barbara

I teach science at a public high school in a southern California suburb. This is my third year of teaching and though not a veteran yet, you can say that I have mastered it quite a bit. But I thought I’d share with you some of my experiences as a brand new teacher. While on one hand they did not feel pleasant, especially at the time, on the other hand they are some of the most cherished experiences of my life as a devotee, as Master’s (my Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda’s) child.

Let me give you a little background about myself. I had very little experience of the school system in the U.S having completed K-12 in India. An American high school classroom felt very “foreign” to me; the teenage jargon, the dress code, the behavior, the attitude – I was at times completely overwhelmed! – not to mention the pressure to perform anew in front of a 40 member class audience five times a day and the need to come up with new lessons every day, five days a week! I was exhausted!

Also since I had opted for what is called the internship instead of traditional student-teaching, it meant I had no mentor or guide to lend me a helping hand. I was on my own. However I did have Master and Divine Mother by my side.

Our school has a strict electronic policy that students cannot use electronic devices in the classroom. One day, and this was probably within the first three months of my first year, I had confiscated the cell phone of a student who was using it in the class and kept it on my table. It had never crossed my mind that it is possible for my students, the 14-15 year olds, to steal! Yes, I was naïve as I soon found out to my horror! The cell phone was gone and I realized it right after the class got over. It was very embarrassing as a teacher! What am I going to do?

I remember visualizing holding Master’s hand for support; “Everything is fine” – I felt calmer and centered. I talked to another teacher and she advised talking to the class which I did the following day. I told them how deeply disappointed I am and why I do not expect such behavior from the class. At the end of the class two students quietly came up to me, after everyone else had left, and said “We know who took the phone!”
Eventually the thief confessed and the phone was returned to the owner. I quietly thanked Master.

Another time I had left my thumb drive on the desk computer in my classroom. Again something one should never do, as I learned very quickly. As it turned out I had to call sick the following day. When I finally returned the day after the thumb drive was gone! Now that thumb drive had not only all my lessons, power point presentations and files, it also had all my assignments that were due at the university where I was completing my teacher preparation course. Remember that was my year of internship which means I had to go back to the university to my student-teaching class every week and yes, all my homework and papers ready to be submitted to the State was in that thumb drive. And it did not have a back-up. I was lost! Also there was a little hub like connection in the classroom where the video player, CD player, computer and speakers were all interconnected and connected to the overhead projector. Someone had pulled out every cord out of every socket and everything was lying in a big meshed up pile on the floor!

I went to see my department head about this incidence. He said this happens. As teachers we happen to enrage teenagers who then take out their anger on us. He also told me not to take it personally and that he too has lost his zip drive in a similar way. I was grateful for his support and kind words. However even though I understood it all, I was panicking in my mind – “what will I do without my lessons and assignments?”

I didn’t think I had the time and energy to recreate the lost work again – something that is sure to take months. I didn’t have all that time. I returned to my classroom and closed my eyes and tried to meditate. I mentally gave my problem to Divine Mother. “Thy will Ma, thy will; and whatever that is, its ok with me.” I felt lighter and relaxed and started to get ready for the next class.

Later that same day, I got a call from my department head. He said he’s found a zip drive and wanted me to check if it was mine. As it turned out it was mine! He, while keeping an eye out for his lost drive, by chance, saw something zip drive-like lying on the roof of one of the classrooms. The science building being a two-storey building allows a view of the rooftops of surrounding single storey buildings. Some students(s) might have thrown the zip drive and it landed on the roof. The recovery felt miraculous and I felt so grateful, both to him and to Divine Mother, that words didn’t come easy to me. I prayed that he find his drive too.

There were so many similar incidences that first year as I went fumbling my way into the school system and every time I experienced the guiding, protecting hand of Master and Divine Mother. We devotees do have an umbrella, in form of Divine Mother’s love and guidance, to protect us from the storms of our karma. We might get a little wet but isn’t it wonderful to experience the umbrella around us? And I’m thankful for all the storms. Looking back, how else would I have experienced Divine Mother’s umbrella?

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to travel to Mexico and Venezuela to lead Kriya Yoga initiations. Even though it’s a struggle to communicate due to my lack of Spanish (fortunately, I had a very good translator!), there is a lingua franca (common language) shared by sincere Kriya Yogis — the language of divine joy.

When we live for God, and regularly practice meditation and Kriya Yoga, we naturally grow into what the yogis describe as our true nature: “Satchitananda,” ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever new bliss.

In Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico, we stayed at the brand “new” Ananda ashram begun by our dear friend Medardo (see his blog post about the ashram, Building Ananda in Mexico). It is an extraordinary testimony to the creativity and will of the devotees there, that they made a beautiful ashram out of a ruined and abandoned building — one which had graffiti on all the walls inside and out, and a foot of waste on all the floors!

Ananda Ashram in Mexico

We were given a wonderful opportunity to experience divine cooperation and joy. There were about twenty of us staying there as part of our Kriya retreat. We shared two bathrooms that didn’t have doors yet. The flimsy curtains covering the doorways were frequently blown aside with the breeze, sometimes at very inconvenient moments!

There was no dimming of anyone’s joy — it only increased throughout the retreat. A group of us were talking on the last day, and one of the new Kriyabans received a phone call, which reduced him to tears. At first concerned that there was a tragedy in his family, we eventually learned he had just found out that he won a money lottery at the factory where he worked.

He had prayed to Babaji for help in winning it, with the intention of paying for bathroom doors for the new ashram! Praying for winning a lottery is typically not recommended, but we were all utterly charmed by the man’s simple devotion and sincerity. Our joy turned to laughter when someone suggested that Babaji must have earnestly wanted those bathroom doors installed in the ashram! It’s obvious that the Ananda Ashram will grow into a beautiful home for the Kriya Yogis in Lazaro Cardenas.

Anaashani, Blanca, and Devarshi

In Venezuela we had a delightful and inspiring meeting with Blanca, a 95-year old Kriya Yogi who received Kriya over fifty years ago from Senor Cuaron, a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda.

Blanca has continued her Kriya practice and devotion to Yogananda all these years, with very little support from other disciples. The divine joy in her eyes and overall demeanor were a powerful testimonial to the benefits of Kriya, and steadfast discipleship to Yogananda.

Blanca’s parents were also Kriya Yogis, as well as Blanca’s daughter Nancy, who recounted a very interesting story about the birth of her own child.

Kriya Initiates in Venezuela

A friend of Nancy’s was visiting India while Nancy was expecting a child. Her friend met a Swami there who, in so many words said, “You have a friend back home who is about to have a child. This child is the soul of my former disciple Ganesh. Your friend’s child will be a boy, and will be born on such-and-such date and hour. Ganesh and I won’t be together in this lifetime, but we will see each other next lifetime.”

When Nancy heard this, she had difficulty believing it because the birth date given by the Swami would mean a a premature birth by many weeks. But, sure enough, a boy was born on the very date and hour predicted by the Swami, and Nancy named her son Ganesh.

When he was six years old, Ganesh wrote to the Swami in India. The letter was returned, with a note that the Swami had just passed away. Certainly a strange story! And a beautiful confirmation of reincarnation and the eternal nature of the Guru-Disciple relationship.

During our trip we not only had the opportunity to meet Ganesh, now an adult, but to perform a baptism for his young son. Now five generations of that one family in Venezuela are blessed by the teachings of India and Kriya Yoga!

I would like to thank everyone who donates so generously to help spread the teachings of Kriya Yoga throughout the world. There are many, many souls who are receiving the blessings of Kriya, and the divine friendship and support that we could not otherwise share.

Finally, I would like to share a wonderful practice suggested by Paramhansa Yogananda. He once told some disciples, “Memorize my poem ‘Samadhi,’ and repeat it daily. It will help to awaken within you that lost memory of what you are in reality: sons of Infinity.”

During a weekly three-hour men’s Kriya meditation at Ananda Village, we listen to a recording of Swami Kriyananda reading the poem.

If you can’t memorize or read the entire poem every day, you can learn one line that Yogananda repeats over and over in a talk he gave one Christmas day. It describes and helps us affirm our own true nature. Try repeating the following line in your meditation, as you go to sleep, and during other times:

A tiny bubble of laughter,
I am become the Sea of Mirth Itself!

A tiny bubble of laughter,
I am become the Sea of Mirth Itself!

A tiny bubble of laughter,
I am become the Sea of Mirth Itself!

Listen to Swami Kriyananda reading the poem “Samadhi”:

Ananda’s founder, Swami Kriyananda, spends his time primarily in 3 countries: America, Italy, and India. As he recently quipped, “Well I have these [8] communities that I’ve started, and I have to check in every now and then.”

Today Swamiji arrived safely and soundly in Gurgaon, India. As he stepped out of the car, he said, “So nice to see you all! Wow! You’re all looking well.”

Mr. Bij–who met Swamiji in India in 1959 and received kriya initiation from him then–said, “We’re glad you are looking so fine.”

“Yes, you know it’s a miracle,” Swamiji said. “When I left here, I nearly died. I had a mini-stroke the day before I left. Everything went black. Anyway, suddenly [in Italy] I had a miracle and I was well.” Smilingly, he added, “Maybe you’ll be stuck with me for a few more years now.”

The devotees in India are thrilled to have Swamiji back in India after 8 months. On January 4th he has a large lecture in Delhi, “A Celebration of Paramhansa Yogananda’s Life and His Mission”. On this evening he will launch his 100th book, The New Path: My Life with Paramhansa Yogananda, and another book, A Renunciate Order for the New Age.

And on the next day, January 5th–Yogananda’s birthday–Swamiji will conduct the first initiation in India into this new order (the third initiation worldwide).

Please keep Swamiji in your thoughts and prayers during these two historic events.

Dear ones,

My name is Medardo Vargas Muñoz. I am an architect in Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan, Mexico. I am a Bramachari (1) at heart.

“Truth simply is, it cannot be created. Everyone has to perceive it in the Self within.” These are the words by my Guruji Yogananda, which stir my mind, a mind that is avid and likes to question everything.

Gardens outside Ananda Center in Lazaro Cardenas

Since my early childhood I had always wanted to be an architect. In my mind I had built a big white structure. It was divided into seven parts: a beautiful home for my mother, and one for each of my five brothers and myself. It was situated on a farm, and had beautiful gardens. In the center there was a big living room to celebrate Christmas.

That is how I grew up: thinking about giving to others, and how to change everything from darkness into light. In this way God prepared me to receive my Guru, whose soul is all-inclusive, and who achieves everything he has set out to do.

My soul rejoices with the mere mention of His name. I’m committed to his service, in the same way I serve Jesus, God, and you all.

And what can I do with that joy? Serve, love unconditionally, and share with others. The Ananda Center in my young city (Lazaro Cardenas is only 60 years old) was born from these principles.

Lazaro Cardenas is located in the Rio Balsas delta, and is bathed by the Pacific Ocean. Our busy city is not just any city anymore. Now it is blessed by God, our Guru, and the Yoga Masters.

Ananda Center

I have very vivid memories of the day I found the Center building. It was a dusty, forgotten, “full of nothing” yet joyful, day. That was the day God gave us a place to dedicate to Him and His service. Nothing was easy, but it was very inspiring.

Now it is a beautiful place where you can breathe calmness, hope, and peace. Many devotees have come here. I know Guruji will bring many more. Children have also arrived (2). They are my hope, my promise, and inspiration.

The luminescent inner star follows its course, always leading ahead. Right behind it, I follow its steps. I hear its voice and feel its warmth and love. Now it has taken me to another beautiful place, forgotten and marked by the imprint of time.

Ananda Ashram

The area, at its peak, was one of the most desired places to live in the city. The building had been abandoned, but it looked like it was waiting for a better future. We have rescued it and brought back its splendor. We are creating a better destiny for it: the path of prayer, chanting, and meditation.

Meditation room

Now you can visualize a beautiful Ashram (3). It’s like a diamond in the mud that is reclaiming its shining light. It won’t be easy. It’s going to be a challenge, but at the same time, it will be a place for inspiration.

I can see it full of joy, with flowers and wonderful magic, crowned with a high blue dome. Not just any dome — it will be a large beacon for peace, harmony, and divine union. I can hear a deep bell: it’s the sound of Ananda, uniting people and countries, sowing magic and love.

I always dream of a world without borders: riding on our camels of love, bringing gifts in our hearts to the Christ-child within. There is nothing better we can offer Him than following the star of our inner heart. One day we will arrive at the city of Bethlehem of Self-realization. I too, will see my King!

Medardo

Footnotes

1. Bramachari: Sanskrit for a dedicated spiritual seeker who practices celibacy
2. Medardo teaches yoga to children whose parents attend Ananda Center.
3. Ashram: Sanskrit for a place where devotees live and worship together.

Editor’s note:
Medardo organized a Kriya Yoga retreat  in Lazaro Cardenas this fall with  Anaashini Alzate and Dave Warner from Ananda Village.

Dave and Medardo: amigos in God!

Anaashini is blessing the retreat participants

Ananda Mexico Kriyabans

Greetings all.
In my last posting, I revealed Ananda’s blessed treasure, as given to me…. Attunement!

Ananda Isle of Man Meditation Group Altar

Attunement to such a wonderful, sacred and healing vibration, that I must share it with all.

Well this is one of the ways I have begun doing just that…

For some time I had been asked by friends to start a meditation group. They saw positive changes in me, since my launch into Raja yoga meditation, and naturally wanted to learn themselves. Yet I wasn’t ready to lead a group. I didn’t feel capable of the daunting prospect. It wasn’t until after my initiation into Kriya yoga that I truly knew I could do it. Living in the dynamic vibration of the Guru gives licence to the manifestation of just about anything one puts a mind to, knowing the power of the Divine is working through us; that it is God Who is the doer.

I put out a call in meditation for souls who were ripe for these teachings and they started coming. In July of this year Ananda Raja Yoga Meditation Group, Isle of Man was born. The numbers swelled quickly, but some come and some go. I know my mettle is being tested, so early on in this venture. Will I stay the course no matter what? One week I was meditating on my own, yet it doesn’t matter. The service is there for any who want it, and it is not up to me to be concerned how many, or how sincere are the members. God alone knows the whys and wherefores.

Helped by daily sadhana (spiritual disciplines) and my ever increasing attunement to the Gurus, I am also supported by Ananda Assisi, Italy which oversees the Ananda meditation groups in Europe. I am supported too, of course, by my dear friends within the group. I can serve with the confidence that internal and external help is at hand when needed. The Isle of Man group meetings are held in the chapel of our island hospital where I work.

The vibration of the Gurus is spreading ‘like wildfire’ just as Yoganandaji predicted of future spiritual communities. Although very new and very small, the group may not be a residential community but the Ananda community spirit manifests through it. The divine connection that comes with regular meditation is increasingly evident in those who are sincere in their meditation practice.

Ananda communities and meditation groups are far more than isolated islands of calm amidst the hub-bub and chaos of general society.

The Ananda/Guru vibration is expansive and integrates into any location and culture if one is receptive to it.

As a devotee and disciple, it is my joy to help spread this ray of Golden Sunshine; to draw and increase the momentum of this holy vibration; this sacred dispensation.

Ananda’s essence knows no bounds. It permeates near and far, which I can far better express in another way I have recently learned to share my heart’s joy…

Isle of Man

Ananda Sangha *

From hither and thither
Come friends bathed in light,
Brought here together,
In One to unite.

Drawn by the ray of our Gurus divine
From four winds afar
To this point here in time.
Soul upon soul,
Who are known of past lives,
Recognized at once
By the Light in their eyes.

This place of upliftment,
Of family true,
Born of right living,
Is open to you.

All faiths are welcome,
From all walks of life,
For all are our brothers
And sisters in light.

We sing with one heart
Our devotional chants
Infused with the joy
Of our Gurus presence.

Together we practice our Kriyas
In God’s grace,
Cremating the seeds
Of past karma, to date.

The Masters’ vibration
Infused in this land
Spreads far and wide
‘Cross the seas and o’er sands,

They permeate within us
To a place beyond time,
We glide on their grace
To our summit sublime.

O Gurus, we thank you
For showing the way,
For gifting Ananda
To soul weary strays,

For shining the beacon
That reflects in our hearts
And spurs us to service
And love all as ours,

For hands ever holding,
For kindness to all,
For joy on this journey
Through Spring and through Fall,

For gracing the lives
Of the ardent sincere
With keys to the freedom
Our hearts hold so dear,

For invoking God’s ray
Of blessings and love,
This vibration, Ananda;
Bliss understood!

*Ananda Sangha – Ananda Worldwide, founded by Swami Kriyananda.
Ananda - Sanskrit for bliss

Joy to you

My concept of Ananda, before I had visited, was a place of inspiration, support, and Paramhansa Yogananda’s teachings.

My initiation into Kriya Yoga earlier this year proved to be the most moving and sacred experience of my life.  Ananda holds a treasure, just waiting to be discovered…. and if I can find it, then so can you!

I am a member of Ananda Sangha (Ananda worldwide).   I live on the Isle of Man, UK, a small island situated in middle of the Irish Sea, more or less equidistant of England, Scotland and Ireland.

An unexpected invitation to become a contributor for ‘A Place Called Ananda’ was a delightful surprise for me, a relative newcomer on the block.  As my dear friends at Ananda recognize, I have much in my heart to share (and they are probably so fed up of my renditions, they have given me a regular slot, ha, ha!).

I would be hard-pressed to capture in words the essence of Ananda Sangha.

A poor attempt would be to define it as expansive consciousness. In truth, it has no bounds and cannot be defined in terms.  Swami Kriyananda often talks about how he can tell when he has crossed the neighboring boundary onto Ananda Village property.  I now can attest to this.

Lake near Expanding Light Retreat

One doesn’t have to be highly attuned to instantly recognize the immediate sense of tranquility and poise, of ‘something precious,’ after crossing the threshold.  Ananda, I soon discovered, does not have to promote itself in a marketing sense.  Its principle of truth by right living is a shining example to all, and promotion in itself.  But the real treasure?……..it’s all about attunement!

On our first trip to America, my daughter Nicola and I were booked into Ananda’s Expanding Light Retreat for Kriya Yoga preparation and initiation. Six in our Kriya group took initiation together, the experience of which has left us with an eternal bond.

Over the 3 days prior to initiation, an awareness of something I could not quite put my finger on was manifesting within me.  As time went on it became increasingly more obvious.  True ‘no strings attached’ friendships were being forged, or were they old friendships being renewed? Light recognized in the eyes; everywhere warm hearts freely gave of themselves.  A common vibration to all became evident to me.  I was walking in this vibration.  It was conscious.  I felt a connection to the land, the people, but most importantly, to our Gurus.

The morning of Kriya initiation, I had a profound opening experience whilst chanting Door of My Heart.

(For those of you who don’t know the chant, click on the player to hear it:) 

The rest of the day was spent in welcome seclusion and silence, to reflect and prepare inwardly for the sacred initiation ceremony, to be performed that evening in the beautiful Hansa Mandir (temple).  The blessing of diksha (a sacred touch during which divine power is transferred to the receptive devotee) given by the officiating Kriyacharya (teacher of Kriya Yoga) during the ceremony has changed me forever.

Blessing at a Kriya Initiation

Emanating from him, I strongly perceived the energy of our gurus, but in particular Master Jesus Himself.  On leaving the temple after initiation, I knew I was not the same.  The overwhelming sense of connectivity, that I had come home and found my true family, was a tangible vibration.  I became that vibration!

Hugs and tearful, loving farewells after the following Sunday Service saw Nicola and I boarding the Super Shuttle back to Sacramento for the long (3 flights) journey back to UK and my island home.

What I really want to share with you today is that this wondrous and powerful vibration has not left me. I no longer feel out on a limb from Ananda.   I live in its very essence, which is synonymous with the essence of the Guru: God!

Ever increasing, never static, this essence is powerfully dynamic.  I would dearly love to be back living amongst the Ananda community, but God has placed me where I am for His purpose, known only to Him as it unfolds in my life, yet I don’t feel bereft of these wonderful people.

They are now always with me and I with them.  I am not limiting my connectivity to my newfound family alone.  I am ever expanding it to include all humanity.

My devotional flame is fanned by regular visits to my ‘lifeline’ support network online on Ananda’s main website. I keep current of the events, and I am a regular viewer and participant in the Sunday Service, available online, each week. I am able to receive support from my dear friend and Kriyacharya Dave Warner, and also my new/old friends.

The attunement I speak of develops by default when faithful, regular sadhana (spiritual discipline) is practiced.

Living without attunement to God and Guru is to remain on this earthly plane for God knows how many more lifetimes until the realization dawns that there is only one way out.  To be able to ‘go the distance’ in meditation and the discipline taught by Yoganandaji is vital if one is to find liberation in this life.

I know without my own efforts in applying Master’s teachings to, not only my sadhana, but my daily life, I would not be progressing so quickly on this path.

The realization of this sacred flow; the attunement to the gurus and Ananda’s treasure, leaves me longing to share it with others.