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

Do you feel joy when using your physical skills to learn and grow and experience life? Perhaps you lead with your heart and feel most alive when you are in a beautiful natural setting, or caring for animals or babies. Maybe you live for a challenge – such as tackling a new project, or raising money for a cause or finding a solution to a problem. Then there are those who love to make lists and use their mind to discover and learn.

Body, Feeling, Will and Intellect – those are the four tools of maturity that Swami Kriyananda describes in the book Education for Life, which is the foundation of the Ananda Living Wisdom Schools.

I teach at the Living Wisdom School in Beaverton, Oregon. We recently had a workshop for parents and experienced the tools of maturity in a fun, interactive way. Learning through direct experience is an important tenet of Education for Life and Living Wisdom Schools. So we didn’t sit around all evening talking about the tools of maturity; we played games, built towers out of blocks, looked through animal pictures, wrote about our feelings and had a great time.

The parents went home with a real understanding of how we teach and how Living Wisdom Schools approach education differently than the mainstream schools. They were all smiling and laughing and asking for more classes as they left. I could tell that the evening they had anticipated – important perhaps, but an imposition on other, more entertaining activities – had turned into an engaging and enlightening time with people they enjoyed.

Education for Life will change the way we learn and teach all over the world. The technology available now is making it possible to share with other educators and parents who are not near a Living Wisdom School, or who really want to create one. With online classes teachers in India can share with those in Wisconsin.

Find out more about Living Wisdom Schools and Education for Life. What is your dominate tool of maturity – body, feeling, will, or intellect?

In joy and friendship,
Lorna

My inspiration in writing this was Swami Kriyananda’s new 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, unfortunately  the “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 found it truly is much easier to live in the presence of God where 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’s model 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, but rather 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.”

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.

Swami Kriyananda has often said that music has the power to change consciousness, and I have always believed that to be true. But there are always new levels of understanding to discover.

I have been singing in the Ananda Portland choir now for many years and find that my consciousness is always uplifted when I concentrate on the music written by Swami Kriyananda; whether singing in choir practice, a performance, or singing to myself in the car. I know I feel more expansive and joyful at those times. But it is difficult to convey in words the power that is within each song.

This week we had two opportunities to sing in concert and celebrate the Christmas season. The first time was a Catholic sanctuary here in Portland. There is an annual festival of lights and a beautiful stone chapel with amazing acoustics. Choral groups sing every night in the chapel and we were honored to be one of them. The day of the concert, when I should have been meditating, practicing, and happily preparing for the evening performance, I was home feeling irritated and moody.

It was my one day off during the week and I felt pressured to get a lot done in very little time. The house was in chaos because of several unfinished projects. The Christmas decorating had just begun and boxes were everywhere. My daughter had a piano lesson and there was no place for the piano teacher to even sit. My oldest son was coming home for the holiday and there was no place for him to sleep or put all the stuff he was bringing with him. There were several stressful issues that came to a head on the one day I didn’t want to deal with them, and the idea of singing in a challenging concert became more of a burden than a joy.

When we arrived I was still feeling impatient and irritable while we waited our turn. After warming up and reviewing details, we all sat to meditate a bit before we were called upstairs to the stage. After meditating just a few moments, I felt calmer, but not exactly inspired. We stood in the lights to sing the first song and I could see friends in the audience. I prayed it wouldn’t be a disaster. The first song was Children of God:

Children of God, your time of trial has ended!
See where the dawn irradiates the night.
Soon all your tears will rise like dew to the sun,
Sorrow will turn to joy, your griefs to delight.
Children rejoice for lo, the kingdom of God,
Comes in full splendor,
It needs but your sight.

Listen to an earlier version (some of the words have changed, but the melody is the same) of the song:

My mood was gone and in its place was joy and gratitude.

When you sing a song with that message, there is no room for anything but joy. We sang for forty more minutes and the joy grew. As the story of Christmas unfolded through each piece, the little me disappeared and I felt a kinship with everyone in the audience and those beyond the gray stone walls. We were all blessed by Christ, and we could all experience the consciousness he manifested, if we turned our sight within.

A few days later was another concert. This time the setting was more intimate – just a small gathering of the Portland Ananda sangha. But the vibration of the music is the same, regardless of the setting. I felt blessed beyond measure.

I’ve reached a new level of awe for what Swami Kriyananda has given us. There is something about these two experiences that reach deep into my consciousness. I know the vibration of this music is changing much more than my emotions. It is not just an easy answer to mood swings (although that is a good place to start!). If I can feel it changing my consciousness, and my perception is extremely limited – I know there are subtle changes happening beyond my awareness.

I urge you to listen, sing, play, hum, and memorize the music of Ananda. I don’t know if it is the greatest gift Swami Kriyananda has given the world, he has given so many. But I am convinced it is the most accessible and powerful transformational tool available on the planet today.

Use the music of Ananda to experience the truth of Christmas. Open your heart to the message of light and love that Christ brought and that can be experienced by every soul.
Children rejoice for lo, the kingdom of God,
Comes in full splendor,
It needs but your sight.

Free samples of music by Swami Kriyananda can be found at Crystal Clarity and at Ananda.

In Christmas Joy,
Lorna

Dear Ones:

The statue of Madonna at Medjugorie

As many of you know, I went to Medjugorie recently. This little village is in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is where the Madonna appeared to six children in 1981, and has been appearing to most of them ever since. I have always wanted to go to places where the Divine Mother aspect of God is especially manifested.

I went with Nandini, who had been there before and “knew the ropes,” and with Miriam, who for some years has been my nurse. I can’t imagine better companions for such a trip.

In going, was not interested in the intellectual or dogmatic aspects of the scene there. I know that Catholics think of Mary as having been only the mother of Jesus Christ.

At Medjugorie, however, the Madonna has repeatedly told the visionaries that all humanity are her children, and that She is above all sectarian differences, even between religion and religion. I ask, Before the birth of either Mary or Jesus, was there no Mother? Of course there was! And at Medjugorie She makes it very clear that that is who She really is.

I wore my Nayaswami robe throughout my stay there, and felt completely comfortable with it. Everywhere I went, people respected it without questions. It also helped me to get inside places from which others were excluded.

Nayaswami Kriyananda and Vicka

Vicka (pronounced Vitska) is perhaps the main visionary, though I’m not quite sure of the distinctions. She hasn’t been seeing people for many months — perhaps for three years — owing to great pains she is suffering in her spine.

Much of her time seems to be spent in Zagreb (where, incidentally, my father was being transferred from Bucharest when World War II broke out). We were fortunate to see her at her home on one day when she came back there. I think we were the only ones who got to see her in, maybe, months. And, as far as I know, millions go to Medjugorie every year.

We were fortunate to arrive during a very quiet time, for most of the pilgrims would be arriving for December 8th, the Festival of the Madonna, and, later, for Christmas.

Left to right: Mario, Miriam, Vicka, Nayaswami Kriyananda, Nandini

I have to say that this visit to Vicka was the highlight of our visit. She spent quite a bit of time with us, was extremely loving. Her husband, Mario, asked me privately for a blessing, and both of them were an inspiration to be with.

I asked Vicka if she would ask the Divine Mother for me whether there was anything more I could do for Her in this life. I told her I’ve been serving Her for over sixty-one years, and have done nearly everything I can think of in this service. She promised to ask that question.

So far, I’ve had no outward answer from her, but I returned from Medjugorie with what I feel is Divine Mother’s answer: “Love me ever more deeply, in your heart.”

And sometimes, even more so since my visit there, I feel so much bliss in my heart that I find it difficult to bear!

Meditating at the Blue Cross

Marjana (pronounced Maryana) had a “visitation” in her home on the second. I was allowed inside, despite the crowd, and sat hardly two yards from her. I had my eyes closed throughout, however, feeling great bliss. It wouldn’t really have mattered where they put me.

The next day (I think) she had a public meeting outside her home. Again, I was allowed in the courtyard, though almost everyone else had to stand outside. When she came out, she came straight over to me and shook my hand.

I found her extremely clear minded and intelligent — really, a joy to listen to. There was quite a bit of emphasis on everyone going to confession, to mass, fasting, and reciting the rosary every day.

Catholic stuff, beautiful in its own way, but things we translate into other terms. Confession, to us, means opening our hearts with complete honesty to God, and to one who we really feel can help us.

Mass, to us, means inner communion. The rosary was beautiful in its way, but all that outwardness I found a little distracting. When people recited, “Pray for us sinners,” I substituted the words, “Pray for us, who love You.” Why keep on affirming our sinfulness?!

When Marjana spoke of listening to the priests, she used the word pastors, which seemed to me deliberate, and more suitable.

I was extremely well impressed with her.

We also went to the home of a lady called Nancy, who has built what she calls an outward replica of St. Teresa of Avila’s “Interior Castle.” This lady also spoke beautifully, with deep inspiration, but sounded the note much too heavily (for my tastes) of submission to the priests. I couldn’t help remembering the words of St. Odo of Cluny, “The floors of hell are paved with the bald pates of clergymen”!

Nayaswami Kriyananda and the men from Cenacolo

We went to an institution, called the Cenacolo, which rescues drug addicts and the like. A very noble enterprise. And we also went to a place where music is composed and sung, some of it beautiful and inspiring.

I was taken up Apparition Hill in a chair by a group of young men from the Cenacolo. A wonderful experience. The way was so very rocky that even Miriam had a hard time coming down it.

The weather was mostly very rainy, windy, and cold. But even so, the trip was very inspiring.

Have I covered everything? Probably not, but I hope I’be given you at least a flavor of what was, really, a high point in my life.

Love,

Nayaswami Kriyananda

After hearing of my decision to embark on this time as monk, a friend here at Ananda Village sent me an excerpt of a talk by Swami Kriyananda where he talks about monasticism. He starts by explaining how it fits into the community of Ananda as a whole.

“I feel that spiritual communities need a monastery to set the example of selfless service, which is something harder for people with children to support to keep in mind. If Ananda becomes too much of a householder community, then I’m afraid it would lose something precious. Yogananda said that the path of worldly responsibility is indeed higher than the monastic path provided the householder does his duty without any attachment or ego involvement. But not many people are able to do this without examples. If you find people who really feel that they don’t want anything except God and all they own belongs to Him, their example will make it easier for everybody to tune in to that attitude.”

Many people have inspired me by there service, devotion and dedication to God. When I see someone overcome a test, or let go of desires and attachments, it inspires me to do the same. When I see people living for God and not for the egos, it inspires me to be more ardent in my own search for God. As one dedicates themselves more ardently to God and Guru, they inspire devotion and determination in others on the path as well.

Swami continues on what a period of monasticism can mean for individuals within the community.

“It would be good if new Ananda residents could get grounded in the monastic attitude before they thought about marriage. In the Buddhist tradition at least the young men live in a monastery for one year. They come to marriage with a certain understanding of self-control, of detachment, of service. Let’s first be devotees seeking God. Then, as we bring that level into marriage, we can begin to set an example for people everywhere of a kind of marriage that our culture doesn’t prepare us for. We need to have a different concept of human love than what Hollywood films give us. It’s got to be on a soul level.”

Whether monasticism becomes a lifelong path or is something done for a year or two, it can be a beautiful expression of the soul’s devotion and dedication to God.

I don’t know how long I will be a monk. I can only say that I am grateful for this time to dedicate myself to God in a more focused way. I now realize that the important part is to be open to what God wants for each of us, and to let nothing come between us and Him.