Being located in a rural area with lots of brush and trees, Ananda Village has always been in risk of being affected by wildfires. Add to this the hot and dry summers, it is almost impossible to have a year without any fire incident.

Year 1976 (way before my time here) marked the worst fire in Ananda’s history, which burned all but a few structures. In August 2004, I experienced my first close encounter with a wildfire. A fire that started on Tyler Foote Road right below the Expanding Light Retreat, burned a few acres as it traveled up the hills, and eventually destroyed one of the cabins.

After that fire, our awareness and preparedness for fire incidents have increased immensely, year after year, fire season after fire season. Every year we try to fine-tune our preparedness and bring it up a notch higher to be ready for the inevitable.

Yesterday we had another small incident. Due to a possible electrical problem, a car caught fire on the side of Tyler Foote Road right below Ananda Village land. As it burned to ashes, it started a fire that took the brush and trees around it. It was around 4:15pm when I started hearing the fire attack planes circling above Ananda.

I was just about to listen to the Nevada County scanner available on the web, when I heard my phone ring, and saw it display Emergency on its screen. I immediately listened to my messages, and heard Peter Goering (our Village manager) reporting the fire and asking our first responders to stand-by with their clothing and firefighting gear.

I then called 511, which is our conference number for these emergency situations. In a few short moments I heard the announcement that asked our first responders to go to Meru road in one of our housing clusters. I put on my firefighting clothing, grabbed my backpack pump and camelbak, and rushed to the location.

Other first responders had started gathering on Meru Road waiting for further instructions. Soon after we arrived, Thom, one of the Village employees, heard through his scanner that the Fire Department were already calling off the air attack. We didn’t need to fight any spot fires.

Everyone felt a relief. It was also reassuring to see so many people be able to report to the scene so quickly.

Over the last few years, we had many improvements to our fire preparedness, including:

1. More land is being cleared and mowed each year, especially around houses to give the firefighters better chance to protect the structures.

2. We have teams made up of community members responsible for three main areas:

a. Fire Chiefs - people who can run the command center (located at village office), direct other fire chiefs and first responders to the scene, liaise between our first response team and between the Fire Department in charge.
b. First Responders - people who have the proper clothing and gear to fight small fires, mainly spot fires.
c. Evacuation Team - people who are trained in evacuation, and who would go to each cluster to ensure everyone is informed and/or evacuated as the situation arises.

3. Every season we meet with the firefighters from the local volunteer fire department (North San Juan - NSJFD) and from the Columbia Hill CAL FIRE station to get trained and better informed.

4. Three of our residents are volunteer firefighters with the NSJFD.

5. We purchased scanners and 2-way radios for better communication.

6. We purchased many firefighting tools, McLeod rakes, backpack pumps, etc.

7. All first responders carry their fire clothing and gear in their cars during fire season.

8. We have improved our communication system using many of the features of our local PBX (phone switch). We have the ability to alert the fire chiefs and first responders in an efficient manner. We also have voice conferencing capability to be able to interact with each other at the onset of these emergency situations.

9. We perform regular reviews of our response system, fire drills and ongoing training.

This evening we had another training session with firefighters from CAL FIRE, Columbia Hill Station. We had many questions answered and they also tought us how to cut a fire line, how to sharpen tools and how to use fire hoses with our fire hydrants. As usual they emphasized our safety as the main concern and encouraged us to stay within our limits.
As you see, we are doing our part as best as we can to protect this blessed land, its residents and its structures. The rest is up to the grace of God and our Gurus.

I first came to Ananda Village in the fall of 1979 for a vacation. I had been practicing hatha yoga for about 6 years, and I really wanted to learn how to meditate.

I had a great longing for “something more” in my life, and I knew I could find it within myself somehow. At the time I owned and operated a cabinet-making shop in Davis, California. I loved my work, but I was not happy.

I began attending Sunday Services at Ananda’s first colony outside of Ananda Village in Sacramento. At that time, the services were held in the “Garage Of Eternal Religion,” to paraphrase the Sanskrit term, Sanatan Dharma (Eternal Religion).

The garage was attached to a 3-bedroom house, which served as Ananda’s ashram (house for devotees). I moved there just before Christmas 1980, and lived in the ashram for the next 11 years.

During the mid-80’s I sold my business and started a software company. By 1990 I knew that God had other plans for me, so I moved to Ananda Village within a year. Right after coming to the Village, I began helping with the fledgling video department founded by Swami Kriyananda.

At that time we were videotaping 52 television shows with Swamiji for cable TV. He was speaking on a variety of spiritual subjects. It was amazing to watch him move from topic to topic, giving as many as six different talks in a row.

Swami Kriyananda shared with us his vision for the video department: to record his slide shows on video and broadcast his TV shows on satellite TV.

During his ceaseless travels around the world, Swamiji took thousands of photographs, which were compiled into slideshows. Each slideshow highlighted an aspect of the Divine found in Nature, human consciousness, or lives of saints.

The satellite TV idea looked like pie in the sky in the early 90’s. But then, in 2003-2004, Swamiji recorded 365 satellite TV shows, which now air to millions of souls in India.

The concept of putting Swamiji’s slide shows on video seemed like a nice idea, but hardly practical. I felt that such a product would never sell well, and a part of me dismissed the idea in favor of “more practical” yoga videos. Those would make money, I thought.

During that time, I happened to be in a car with Swamiji. We were discussing the slideshows on video concept. He knew I thought poorly of it, so he gave me a clue. He said, “The moving images on video take one outward, while still images in a slideshow take one inward.” I was beginning to understand his idea!

At about the same time, my friend Nirmala Schuppe was working with Swamiji’s photos. She suggested we put together a few slide shows on video, accompanied with music, as a present for Swami’s birthday. He loved the presentation!

I thank God to this day that Nirmala stirred me to action. Soon I was creating one slide show after another. You can watch them online: Hawaiian Magic, Different Worlds, The Autobiography of a Yogi, Saint Francis, The Land of Mystery, and others.

An interesting change happened within me during this process. I was becoming more attuned to Master (Paramhansa Yogananda) and to Swamiji. I soon realized that this was the point of the whole exercise. It got me out of my pragmatic head and attuned to higher guidance.

At Swamiji’s request, my wife Barbara and I made a trip to India in 2004. A gathering of 2 thousand souls was planned by Ananda in one of the largest auditoriums in New Delhi, The Siri Fort.

To convey the spirit and scope of Ananda, I was asked to prepare a DVD to be shown at the event. At first I thought to use video footage, but my intuition drew me to use still images instead. My previous “training” with Swamiji’s slideshows showed me how to create the DVD drawing on Master’s grace.

The DVD came out beautifully. It is called “Ananda Worldwide.” I really enjoyed watching something that Master had created through me. Thank you Swamiji, for always pointing me in the right direction.

It has been my joy to accompany Swami Kriyananda on his travels around the United States during the past 15 years, recording his talks on video.

Sometimes, people prefer to listen to Swamiji’s voice while driving or doing tasks around the home. I would like to encourage you to watch Swamiji on video, when you are not distracted by other tasks.

Watch his eyes especially. It can be a wonderful experience. To me, watching Swami on video comes close to being in his presence. Because of that, I had long ago decided to produce videos of Swamiji’s talks , even if no one will ever watch them!

[Editor’s note: Thousands of truth seekers watch Swami Kriyananda’s videos every month on Ananda’s website and Google Video.]

Listening or watching, one can experience the same sense of upliftment, love and joy that Swamiji projects. I know. I have felt it. And so have many, many others, through his talks on the web.

On June 2nd, JT, Bob and I did our first century together in Calaveras County, organized by the Sacramento Wheelmen Bicycle Club. I had talked about this upcoming ride in my previous post, titled “Satsang On Bicycles”.

Three of us have been preparing and training for this event for the several months preceding it. We were lucky to have trained in the hills around Ananda Village, because this ride was considered to be one of the harder centuries, with close to 11,000 ft of climbing. We were happy to see that the training had paid off as from start to finish we all felt that we were ready for this ride. We not only finished it but we also finished it with energy left. The total time it took us was a little longer than what we had planned, thanks to many relaxing rest stops and several flat tires (mine!), but the ride time was nothing to be ashamed of.

Though the scenery along this ride was quite beautiful, we realized how much better roads and scenery we get by riding around our area, right off of our doorstep. We rode together to Downieville (and beyond) several times, and it’s nothing short of world-class views and roads. Last weekend, we also enjoyed bicycling the entire loop around Lake Tahoe, which is about an hour and a half driving distance from Ananda Village.

Over the weekend of the Sierra Century we talked about how wonderful would be to invite others to share the joy of bicycling on the hills around Ananda. We could make a weekend event out of it, starting with an orientation on a Friday evening, then meditating together on Saturday morning and then going on a bike ride together, however long it might be, and then coming back to the village and sharing a meal together. Perhaps to top it off we can end the weekend with another leisurely ride on Sunday after Sunday Service. We talked about putting together a website of maps and different routes one can take all starting from Ananda Village for all levels of cyclists. This project is now in progress.

If you are interested in participating in a “Bicycling Around Ananda” weekend, drop me a note. I look forward to hearing from you.

(Note: Gurubai means “spiritual brother” or “brother disciple” in Sanskrit.)

Yesterday was the first full day of Spiritual Renewal Week of 2007 and Jyotish and Devi Novak gave the most wonderful and profound talks. This years theme is Inner Peace, World Peace. I believe at this moment my husband, Dave, is converting and uploading today’s talk to our website. I think when you listen to them you will agree with me that these two talks are very important and timely.

I am posting only a few photos from today’s talk. To me, Jyotish and Devi’s beautiful and insightful words are reflected in our lovely surroundings. I could tell that everyone in attendance today felt as inspired as I did. We all left knowing that what we do to raise our consciousness will have an impact on the world. I will let my blogging buddies share with you more of the content of the talks and of course, the recordings will be available very soon.

I hope you enjoy the photographs. It is a beautiful day here at Ananda Village. It is warm, but the angle of the sun and the gentle breezes tell me that Fall is just around the corner. To me, the light was very beautiful at The Expanding Light amphitheater which added to the wondrous quality of the morning. There was nice contrast between the green trees and the brown grass, there are many blooming lilies and lotuses on the lake and the altar was lovely and colorful.

There will be more to come! God Bless you all.

And thank you Jyotish and Devi for an incredible beginning to our 38th Spiritual Renewal Week.

During his stay in America, Swami Kriyananda met with various groups, including a number of pilgrims from Ananda in India. (The monks were also invited – that’s how I came to be there.)

The gathering, or “tea,” took place at Swami Kriyananda’s home at Ananda Village, the Crystal Hermitage. The centerpiece of the Hermitage is a large blue dome overlooking the roaring Yuba River, which is often used for gatherings like this one. It was here that we sat down, carrying snacks, for a very informal question and answer session.

Solar Power and Ice Cream:
A Few Nice Things From the Afternoon

Swami Kriyananda was a gracious host. He shared his words, but much more than that, he shared his kindness and friendship. When he had been talking with the Indians for a while, some of them set their food aside, probably out of respect, or because they had experienced an inner stillness. The conversation continued for several minutes.

Then Swami Kriyananda stopped in mid-sentence and said to one of them, with sincere motherly concern, “Eat your ice cream!” I was touched that he would notice something seeming so insignificant! Sometimes you see love expressed most clearly in small things like that.

Everyone laughed, and a few picked up their food again.

Swami Kriyananda thanking the Solar Project team during the showing of an early prototype

Swami Kriyananda also spoke at length about Ananda’s new Solar Project, emphasizing that cheap solar electricity could help villagers in India and all over the world. He pointed out how even just a little good light at night could transform the lives of people who are completely “off the grid.”

Finally, he talked of service: an important aspect of the path that Yogananda taught. He said that we gain spiritually when we give. The phrase he used was:

“What you give out the front door comes in through the back.”

Either studying his life or meeting him in person, one can see in Swami Kriyananda that he has lived and realized this truth.

I was a bit sad to see Swami Kriyananda go back to India. It was a summer visit packed with inspiring events and talks and visits with spiritual family from all over. The time seemed to go too fast.

Before heading off for a brief vacation with my family I grabbed the book, Swami Kriyananda As We Have Known Him, by Asha Praver. WOW! What a great book. Once I started reading it I could hardly put the book down. Any sadness I had vanished.

The book was filled with stories of Swamiji’s life and left me feeling inspired and in awe of the courage and devotion he has shown as a disciple and in establishing Ananda. He has lived his life in service to our guru, Paramhansa Yogananda. He has given so much to Ananda and the world. He shared his joy and devotion and attunement with Master with everyone he met while here in the US.

I want to share with you a few photos of Ananda Village and The Expanding Light.

Our northern California summers are very warm and the grasses that cover the foothills turn brown in June. So summer evenings are gold and radiant and they invoke a calmness and inwardness. Our sunsets are famous. It is always nice to see Ananda Village residents and Expanding Light guests out for evening strolls on the ridge or sitting and enjoy the setting sun.

Next week is Spiritual Renewal Week! So there will be more to share soon. I hope to see you here.

Recently, the parent of a first-grader told me how grateful she was for the culture of calm and compassion at our Living Wisdom School. She had just seen her son, on his way to fill his water bottle, turn to a classmate and ask if he can fill her water bottle too.

The mom attributed the servicefulness of her 7 year-old to the teachers, curriculum, and most of all, the spirit of Living Wisdom School. A major aim of the Education for Life curriculum is to help children understand that lasting happiness comes from compassion for others.

Children respond to this approach with enthusiasm, as they relax into becoming themselves. Sophia, a kindergartener who has attended Living Wisdom for pre-school and pre-K, says, “I want to go to this school forever and forever!”

Living Wisdom Schools are part of a network of schools united in their core philosophy, Education for Life. This is a system in which personal development is more important than the memorization of facts; where wisdom is valued over knowledge, and the education is aimed at the whole person, not merely the intellect.

Presently, there are several Living Wisdom Schools in the Education for Life network, located at Ananda Communities in Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; Palo Alto, Sacramento, and Nevada City, CA; and Assisi, Italy. There is also an affiliate Seaside Wisdom for Life School in Encinitas, CA.

The first Education for Life School began in the early 1970s at Ananda Village, with the express goal of bringing spirituality into education. Through many years of experience, teachers learned what worked and what didn’t, in helping children develop their deepest natures.

What does not work is being told what to do. Lectures and discussions can be intellectually stimulating, yet not realized in action. What does works is giving children real experiences and the chance to reflect on them.

Skills for Living

For example, a child had trouble sharing her materials and classroom equipment in one of the classes. The teacher put the children in pairs, and had partners share scissors for an art project. In advance, the children role-played, practicing phrases such as, “May I use the scissors now?” and, “I’ll work on coloring while you use the scissors.”

Of course, the teacher paired the student who had difficulty sharing, with a student who was able to be assertive if needed. As a result, the spirit of sharing increased in the entire classroom. This, in turn, helped the student who had trouble cooperating. Cooperation is not a separate class, but a way of doing every activity.

Skills for Living, as we call them, are taught in our schools, because students will be happier if they have them. These skills also contribute to success later in life. A recent poll taken by the International Association of Administrative Professionals found that only 9% of managers said they would hire someone who has strong technical expertise but weak interpersonal skills.

On the other hand, 67% of them said they would hire an applicant with strong “soft” skills, which include organization, verbal communication, teamwork and tact, but whose technical abilities were lacking.

Directional Relativity

In addition to universal values, Education for Life focuses on helping children gain control of their energy. Children cannot use their will power if they are unwilling or “shut down.” The teacher’s first goal is to awaken their enthusiasm.

Next, the teacher helps to focus the children’s attention. Finally, the child’s energy is ready to be directed to pursue a goal (learn about insects), or have an experience (express themselves through painting).

How a teacher motivates a child or class depends on how much energy is being expressed:

1. None or very little
2. Enough to get what one wants for one’s self
3. Enough to be directed toward selfless goals—the good of everyone, or learning for the joy of it

This principle is called Directional Relativity.

Directional Relativity is a unique contribution of Education for Life to educational theory. It depends on a holistic view of the student as a being with a body, will, feeling, and intellect.

Keeping a positive flow of energy going in the classroom is an important principle. This stands in stark contrast to the current trend in education, which breaks the learning down into simplistic steps that can be tested, but that often kill the joy of learning.

Joy in learning is a hallmark of all successful schools. In the best schools that nurture the whole child, students also learn how to find the joy within. As second-grader Dolby told his mother, “I wish every day was Monday…so I was going to school!”

Ananda Portland Living Wisdom School Mission Statement:

“To help children develop their unique potential, and give them the tools to make life choices that lead to lasting happiness.”

Susan Usha Dermond is author of Calm and Compassionate Children, A Handbook, and co-director of the Education for Life Foundation. The Foundation offers teacher training, books, including Education for Life by J. Donald Walters, and DVDs for parents and teachers.