Lorna with the fellow trainees

Once we are sincerely seeking God, and the longing for truth becomes stronger than the call of the material world, God sends a guru. When we feel that we can give our life to the spiritual path and the guidance of the guru, we become a disciple. When we become a disciple, life may change in profound ways, but it doesn’t go away. Life is still there, in all its glorious complexities, and we still have to engage in it. The challenge of discipleship is not doing what the guru asks of us, it is doing what the guru asks, EVERY DAY. The challenge is living our discipleship.

Ananda Village offers a month-long course called Living Discipleship, and I had the extreme privilege of participating with eight remarkable souls from Portland and other Ananda communities. The program is required for those who plan to be residents and encouraged for all kriyaban disciples. We took the good – natured teasing about being live disciples and the inevitable comments about the alternative: dead disciples. But we all knew it was the verb we were there to focus on – living and applying discipleship to every part of life.

Meditation Retreat Temple

The course takes place (for now – things are always changing at Ananda) at the Ananda Meditation Retreat, away from the busier scene of Ananda Village. The setting is remote, quiet, beautiful, inspiring, and nurturing to the sensitive inner searching that the program is designed to encourage. (If you have an opportunity to visit the area, make the extra effort to see the Meditation Retreat, located about 6 miles from Ananda Village.)

The program is full – it is not a slow paced, quiet retreat from the world. You commit to being away from your “normal” outer life patterns, to enable a deep focus on the inner life patterns that are needed for discipleship. Much like turning off the car radio helps you focus on finding an unfamiliar address on a dark road; turning down the input from outer demands frees energy that is not usually available – so a larger commitment can be made to the work at hand.

Praying at the altar

The work we engaged in was to joyfully use the tools and techniques the guru has given us for Self-Realization. We had classes on the four techniques taught by Paramhansa Yogananda: Energization, Hong-Sau, Aum and Kriya, all taught by long-time devotees whose lives are examples of discipleship in the deepest form. Kriya is required for the course – we were all familiar with the techniques. But this was detailed review and group practice; a rare opportunity for busy disciples who are constantly engaged in the demands of life.

We also went deeply into various aspects of yoga we can use to awaken devotion, expand awareness, focus energy, and purify consciousness. All those things we know, as disciples, that we should be doing regularly but often barter away in the market of worldly demands. So we had long sessions of hatha yoga postures and discussions about attunement and renunciation. We studied the Festival of Light (a ceremony performed every week at Ananda Sunday Services), and we explored the attitudes that can get us into trouble or bring us closer to freedom on the spiritual path.

Retreat gardens

We chanted and did healing prayers with the great enthusiasm and joy that comes when you really commit time and energy to doing it. And we served; giving our energy into the infinite flow of divine energy that makes Ananda possible.

We had the opportunity to hear about the work Ananda does worldwide, the karmic lessons learned from 12 years of legal battle, and the financial workings of an ever expanding spiritual work. These classes were joyful and inspiring as well – far beyond what you might expect of “nuts and bolts” topics. But the question, “How does all this really work?” is a normal and expected one. Living discipleship means having a daily, practical understanding, not just an airy fairy hope that all will work out in the end.

Garden shrine… one of many!

And then (yes, there is more!) we had 4 ½ days of group seclusion. Due to the festivities of the Fourth of July weekend, our seclusion was shortened a bit. You may conclude that the seclusion was a reward, after a demanding, and somewhat exhausting, 2 weeks. I have to say it felt a bit like that to me, too. But seclusion is how we make the outward lessons become inner reality.

Majestic view from Retreat grounds

The true work of discipleship is inward – the outward struggles are really not all that important in the larger picture. The purpose of studying and learning the teachings of Self-Realization is to take that understanding within. As disciples, we have asked our guru to help us – not to understand and be able talk about everything in great detail, but to actually become Self-Realized and completely free from delusion.

So seclusion is a break from outward activity, but it isn’t a break from the work our guru has charged us to do. Our seclusion in the program included group meditations and group meals, but we had several hours during the day to use as we felt inspired. And we were in silence – blessed, sweet, grace-filled silence. Paramhansa Yogananda said, “The Lord comes not in outward noise, nor when the mind is agitated, but in inner silence. His very being is silence. In silence He speaks to the soul.”

When I’m asked if the Living Discipleship program was “fun”, I’m caught. I can’t say it was fun, like swimming in a cool river on a hot day is fun. The inner realities I struggle with, after almost 30 years of discipleship, are not minor battles – they are intense and messy. My spiritual muscles got a workout! But the memories of the time in the Living Discipleship program are also filled with laughter, friendship, joyful, intimate communion with my guru, and deep gratitude for the gifts we have been given on this path.

Entrance to the Meditation Retreat

I encourage you to look at the Living Discipleship program if you are a kriyaban and serious about moving forward in your spiritual growth. Mangala heroically coordinates the program and would be happy to answer your questions. Write to her at Mangala@expandinglight.org.

My apologies for the long post. Next time it will be short and sweet.
In divine friendship,
Lorna

The following is the second half of a two part interview with Dr. Aditya Gait, a resident medical doctor and member of Ananda’s Kriya Yoga Community in the countryside outside of Pune, India. Dr. Aditya is also a Brahmachari member of the Ananda Renunciate Order.

Aditya and a fellow monk with Swami Kriyananda

Jaya: There are good hospitals in both Pune and in Lavasa, but what sort of medical facilities are in the neighborhood of Ananda? Are there clinics nearby?

Aditya: There are small clinics in Pirangut, about 17 kilometers away, but they are quite expensive for the villagers and not at all up to the mark. Few doctors are available and they often give incomplete treatment. Two government dispensaries are in the area where we are staying but the villagers aren’t happy with their service and, again, the medicines are expensive.

I’m getting my medicines from a company in Gujarat that was started by a group who is consciously keeping prices low. Their medicines are at par with any drug company in the world but at only around one tenth the cost. I’m also trying to keep my consultation fees affordable for the villagers. They are twenty rupees only.

Jaya: What sort of medical problems do you typically see in Watunde? What is the greatest need, locally?

Aditya: What you see mostly are the basic seasonal illnesses, asthma, and injuries. 60-70% of the ladies are deficient in iron and have anemia which leads to fatigue and pregnancy complications. Alcoholism is a problem but it takes time to gain people’s trust before it can be addressed. Malnutrition is not so common in the village but the tribal people who stay on the hilltop, some of them are malnourished.

In the long run, what will help most is better health education and reinforcement of things they already know but lack the initiative to do, such as better ways to cook food and how to grow healthier crops. They grow sugarcane as a cash crop but don’t grow spinach or other leafy, green vegetables. All of the villagers have cows but they don’t drink that milk. They sell it. We need to teach better hygiene also. The villagers know these things but are not putting them into practice.

Jaya: Who typically comes to you now for medical attention?

Aditya: The people who now come are from the local villages (Watunde, Borde and Kharawade) and from the tribal village on the hilltop. The local village population is around thirteen hundred but only three to four hundred are staying at any one time. On any given day, eight to ten are ill. Last year I had medical camps in two nearby villages and got a very good response.

I’m sure if we build a real clinic with local people involved, I can reach maybe ten to fifteen villages in the vicinity. Almost all the villagers now have to go to Pirangut and that can be expensive for them.

Jaya: Because you didn’t finish your residency, is there a problem with you operating a clinic and practicing medicine?

Aditya: I can serve as a General Practitioner but not as a Surgeon, but even as that, there are many surgical procedures I can do, especially in a life threatening situation or when in remote areas. When there is no one else to help, you have to do it. I do need a license to run a clinic and since I will also be the lab technician, I need a license for that too and in India, a special license is needed to run a chemist shop. Doctors don’t usually run chemist shops so I will need to explain the situation to see if they can give me that license. Those three things I need before I can run this clinic.

Jaya: Because you are not from this area, have you been well received?

Aditya: Yes. I had that doubt too at first, but the villagers are happy. They see me as an outsider but when they also see that I am here to help them and my prices are very competitive, it immediately breaks that barrier. Being from an ashram also helps because they feel we are service oriented.

Watunde Village

You have to be absolutely selfless when serving in this way. There has to be no expectation that people should respect you because you are a doctor. In one of my rural clinics, someone came up to me and asked, “Where is your certificate? Where are you from? Why are you here? How much do you charge?” He was trying to intimidate me but in the end he shook my hand.

I was prepared for such things because I know that I am not from this part of the country. If you are absorbed in giving, you won’t have these problems. If you have expectations, things may go well for awhile but when something bad happens you will feel discouraged. You need patience. It takes time to build something and it takes time to build trust, but I could feel from day one that this is the right thing to do.

I’m learning to speak Marathi now which I only understood before but could not speak. Hopefully, by the time the clinic starts, I’ll at least be able to converse with the patients.

Jaya: What comes next? What is your plan?

Aditya: If we can provide basic care and provide for some emergencies, I think that is what is needed now. With the container now here, setting it up is the next thing. Maybe in a few months we can have a lab for basic investigations and a place where people can come for urine and blood tests. I’d like a small procedure room and at the very least, a supply of medicines. I already have a basic surgical kit. Also, once we have a space, maybe visiting doctors can come.

Soon, we’ll run an electric wire from the community to the clinic and we are expecting solar panels from the USA. As you can see, we have a lot of space and there are no trees around the container so we can put up those panels to provide electricity for when the regular power goes out. A water tank and a composting toilet are also in the plan. Already we are planting a small garden.

Jaya: That’s pretty ambitious. How are you able to fund it all?

Aditya: Up to now, it has been through donations, mostly from devotees in Pune. We have sent out mail seeking help in whatever form someone wants to offer it and have had a few replies. One devotee from America contributed a lot of surgical instruments, exactly the thing I needed.

I have kept prices very low, almost negligible, because I first must build a trust relationship with the local villagers. It isn’t my intention to make the clinic a profit-making business but I would like to see it grow and be financially stable to better serve people. Perhaps one day we can put it on enough of a healthy footing to attract more doctors and devotees who are in the healing professions.

In Maharasthra, we have the most health related NGO’s in rural areas in India, so a lot of doctors are service oriented in this part of the country. Many doctors want to serve but they find it difficult to take that initial step. I’ve also met doctors who are very keen on moving to our community but I can understand why, with families, they cannot abruptly leave everything to come here. I have to get things started first.

Jaya: At the moment, what is your biggest need?

Aditya: Honestly, for now, I need money to get set up and started, to buy the medicines, and to bring in electricity, waterlines and utilities. Today we have one container, but in time and with peoples’ help, we could have a permanent building where specialists could sit. I don’t see why people someday would not come from Pirangut or even Lavasa to get treatment here because it would be holistic and nice.

(Watunde Village is located at the base of the big hill in the background of the photo above. See the same hill in the previous village photo. The Ananda community is 50 meters behind the photographer.)

Jaya: What additional community projects are you working on, other than the clinic?

Aditya:  A lot has happened in the last one and a half years. At the monastery right now, we are putting up solar panels so as to have electricity and, later on, for the clinic. Also, we are trying to get a solar pump ready to bring water up and are making a composting toilet and a shower house. We just finished our meditation space. Initially, I was working in the garden and was buying supplies in the city one day each week for the community kitchen but now others have taken over those tasks.

Jaya:  What does your family think of all this?

Aditya:  They would be very happy if I came back home because my father has a clinic and he would be interested in having me help. They think I am just serving the rural areas and say, “Why don’t you see patients in the rural area over here?” But my aim is to serve Master’s work more than anything else. To be a channel in whatever way I can is the reason I am at Ananda. My mom is happy as she knows I am doing something good but my poor father doesn’t understand it at all. I love them and pray for them. I know Master will take of our souls.

The famous blue container!

Jaya: What has been your greatest gain in this project?

Aditya: The immense satisfaction of serving: serving my guru, serving the local villagers, serving the ashram. Building a community and doing something for others to follow has brought me great satisfaction and contentment.

When Swamiji asked, “What do you think of a rural clinic?” I realized he didn’t want me to cut myself off from medicine. He was happy I had taken up this path but he also wanted me to serve. I’m happy to do so because I never disliked what I was doing before. It’s just that I like what I am doing now so much more. Swamiji asked me to do this thing and I know things will work out. This container seems so empty today but I have a strong belief that it is just the beginning for something much, much more.

Editor’s note: If you would like to contribute to the clinic project in Watunde Village, please write to us at our regular contact information. We can put you in touch with Dr. Aditya, explain his needs, and clarify the options available to you.

Aditya Gait is a member of Ananda Sangha helping to build a “Kriya Yoga Community” in the countryside outside of Pune, India.

He trained as a medical doctor before joining Ananda and is now beginning a medical clinic to serve the needs of local villagers and community members.

Aditya is a brahmachari member of the Ananda Renunciate Order and, in addition to his medical service, is actively engaged in the development of Ananda’s retreat and residential community.

The following is Part One of a two part interview conducted with Aditya in early July, 2010. He had recently purchased a shipping container from Mumbai and had placed it on a small parcel of land adjacent to our community with the intention of converting it into a small clinic.

In this first part of the interview, Aditya tells of his early interest in medicine and of his coming to Ananda. In the second part, he will speak of his plans for the clinic.

Jaya: For the past year, you have been working as a medical doctor with local villagers, traveling here and there to see patients. I see you have now bought a shipping container with plans to convert it into a small medical clinic. How is it going?

Aditya: Swamiji has asked me that exact same question, at least seven or eight times, since we first came to Pune. It’s practically his first question whenever he sees me.

I’ve been answering, “It’s going well,” but when he last came, I told him, “Swamiji, so many things are going on. I’m unable to focus all my attention on the clinic though I have been seeing patients.”

He said, “I understand, but it would be nice if you can do something with the clinic which at the same time does not take all your time.”

Jaya: Have you always wanted to be a doctor?

Aditya: Yes. I was always interested in general medicine but never in surgery.

After my internship, I applied for residency training at a hospital in New Delhi known for its program in community medicine. They told me, “Those seats are full, but we have one seat in rural surgery.”

It was a pilot program combining general surgery, orthopedics, obstetrics, and all of the surgical things needed by a rural doctor. I had never been particularly attracted to specializing in those subjects but when they put that tag “rural” in front of it, I was interested.

My sister is a psychiatrist and my father is a military physician and I thought, “I will be the surgeon,” and we could all serve together.

Jaya: What was it about rural medicine that attracted you?

Aditya: When in medical school in Pune, I was aiming to be an oncologist or a neurologist, but when I went for my internship in New Delhi, I saw that most of my patients had come from the rural areas. That made me ponder, “Why are so many people coming from the rural areas? Instead, we should be going there.”

When someone was ill, the whole family would have to come into the city, often causing major complications because of the delay. I soon realized what was required and decided to serve in the rural areas. That didn’t go down well with my family but I was very content inside because I knew that if I was to serve as a doctor, this was the way it had to be.

Jaya: Did you enjoy your service as a doctor as you had expected?

Aditya: Yes, but when I saw patients I would think, “Why is this happening to them?” I would see people with chronic illnesses which had no cure and I would ponder about why it was so. In pediatric surgery, I saw small babies being operated upon and wondered, “Why is this happening to them?” It was hard to understand. You know, such difficult things are equally bad news for a doctor as for a patient.

I thought about karma and why things happen, but I couldn’t explain this to my patients in a way that would help them. Very few were receptive and once they are physically well, patients don’t come back. I found that disappointing because I wanted to give them so much more. Some days I was happy and some days wasn’t when unable to save somebody. Things eventually came to a point where I couldn’t go on like that.

All the while, I was desperately asking God for help and I eventually came to realize I needed to learn higher things than what I was then studying. I believed in prayer but I just didn’t know how it worked. I believed also in miracles like we read about in the lives of saints and I thought it would be good to learn those things too. But, who do you learn it from?

It was then that I read Autobiography of a Yogi. It answered almost all my questions. I was very certain Yogananda had been with me before. When he spoke of reincarnation, I thought, “He has been my guru!” From then on, I was always questioning and asking, “What does he want from me?”

Jaya: Is that when you came to know about Ananda?

Aditya: I came to know of Ananda just before starting my residency, and wrote a letter to Swamiji, telling him I was a doctor, of my interest in serving people and that I wanted to learn Kriya Yoga. I asked him to please tell me what I can do. I left my phone number and email address but didn’t hear back. When his reply didn’t come, I thought, “Master wants me to continue in medicine.” I thought this because I got my residency seat at the hospital under very miraculous conditions, I must say.

My application was already five months late and the seat was available only because somebody else had become ill and had left it. I was told, “Be at the hospital at nine o’clock in the morning and the head of the department will interview you.”

The next day, on my way to the hospital, I was entering the Delhi Metro when a beggar called out to me. I had only ten minutes but I thought I could give him two, so I said, “What’s your problem?” I could see he had rashes all over his hands and he was blind. He said, “Can you please tell me where the President of India sits? I have to meet him.”

This was a surprising question but I could see he was completely stable and not insane. I said, “That’s a very unusual request. How are you going to meet him?”

The fellow said, “He told me I can come see him at any time,” and he pulled out of his pocket a picture. There was the President Mr. Kalam, with that beggar! He had met him in Lucknow and the President had told him to come see him if he had any problem.

I asked him what his problem was and he said he needed Rs.2500 because he had been ill and spent everything he had on the clinic and private hospitals. “I don’t have money. I have not eaten for two days and my family has not eaten, so today if he can give me some money, I can go back home.”

His request was so simple. He would ask the President to give him some money.

That was the ninth day of Ram Nomi, so everything was closed. I thought, “If I leave him like this he will definitely not reach anywhere. Because I’m educated and a doctor, maybe the guards would let me get near the President’s office.”

Only the day before I had been reading in Swamiji’s book, The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita, the passage where Krishna says to Arjuna, “Oh Arjuna, as long as you think you can plan this and manage that, I will watch. But the day you offer your life completely to Me, I will take complete charge of it.”

I was so thrilled when I read that line, and I was thinking how nice it would be if God takes all charge. So, I said to God, “I’m taking this course for You and I want to help this man for You. Because You have put him in front of me, You must take care of my interview. I’m going with him.”

So I went with the beggar, and it was a very long day. At the President’s office we had problems and didn’t meet Mr. Kalam. Then I took him to an NGO but they could not help. I took him to a charitable person who also could not help. In the end, I had to pay him what money I had. He needed Rs.2500 and I had only Rs.1600, so I gave him that much.

It was 3:30 in the afternoon when I left him, and by then I was wondering about that hospital interview I’d missed. I thought, “Let me go and check.”

I reached the hospital and knocked at that surgeon’s office but nobody answered. I peeped in and his secretary was sitting there. “Mam, is Dr. Khanduri there?” “Please wait,” she said.

I was sitting outside and eventually saw him coming along the corridor. I thought he might scold me as I stood to meet him.

I said, “Sir, I am Aditya. You asked me to come for the interview today.” “Oh my God!” he said, “I’m so sorry. I made you wait so long!” He hadn’t come to the hospital the whole day!

I didn’t want to tell him the whole story so I just said, “It’s fine, sir.”

He said, “I had to interview you. Anyway, you know what? You are the only person.” He asked for my mobile and called someone, “This is the only guy and he wants the seat.” I was through.

So the seat at the hospital was a precious gift and I didn’t want to leave it. I thought, “I should become a doctor. Maybe it’s not my good karma to meditate in this life,” but finally, things came to a point where I knew I wanted to heal people, but not in that way.

Jaya: Eventually, you decided to come to Ananda.

Aditya: Yes, I finished one month short of two years in the residency program and then I came to the ashram. Obviously, my friends and family were not happy with me. They said, “It’s just one more year,” but I knew I had to come.

Swamiji met me and said, “Do you have any questions?” I said, “No.” And he said, “Are you sure?” and I said “Yes.” And he said “Sure?” I thought, “There must be something,” and said, “Swamiji, I had this question a few days back when I was doing my residency. Everything was good. My teachers were good. My college was good. I was happy but I just felt it was incomplete so I came to seek God.” And he said, “Man’s highest responsibility is to find God and I think you have done the right thing by coming here.”

Ananda Community near Pune

I was so relieved, but the very next thing he said to me was, “What do you think of a rural clinic?” I had given up my stethoscope, my books, everything, but I said, “OK.”

So this blue container is the result of all those things. I want to fill it back up with books and a stethoscope.

Part 2 of this interview will appear next week.

This past weekend was a very busy and joyful for the folks at Ananda Village. We hosted people from all over to celebrate the 41st Anniversary of Ananda and Independence Day.

Friends from all over came to help us celebrate, of course, but especially they came to see Swami Kriyananda who has just returned for a 2 month visit to America. This weekend is just one of three major public events scheduled while he is here.

Swamiji gave three talks: one on Saturday, one at Sunday Service and one at the Sevaka Retreat held at the Meditation Retreat. There was also a talk on Friday given by Jyotish and Devi Novak and Ananta McSweeney. The talks were amazing. All of them are on Ananda.org, so you can listen to them anytime.

Swamiji was filled to overflowing with inspiration and his talks touched on many aspects of the life of a spiritual seeker. He was quite tired from all his recent travels but came and filled the amphitheater with spiritual strength.

On Saturday night there was a concert in The Expanding Light Amphitheater that featured a 90 person choir. It was so beautiful. A new song was debuted: Larks Fly High. Swami wrote it for the new book, The Time Tunnel. If you would like to listen to it click here. It is enchanting sung by some of our Ananda children and Karen and Dambara.

Also part of the weekend was the annual 4th of July Parade. A classic! Floats! Costumes! Flags! It didn’t last very long, but I saw a lot smiling faces. Then there was picnicking and games.

Our parade started with Lady Liberty (Marga, from Spain) and Uncle Sam on a motorcylce (Lucien, from South Africa)!

We had a float highlighting the Ananda goat farm, Yogoata dairy.

And finally, five different presidents made an appearance with Andrew Jackson firing a canon with popcorn in it. Fun.

Monday was the day for our annual Sevaka Retreat held at the Meditation Retreat. The retreat center gets more beautiful every time I see it. It is so lush and colorful. The day began with a 3-hour meditation, then a brunch that was attended by Swamiji.
The sevaka members then convened to the temple of trees for brief, but inspiring reports from all the colony leaders. Swamiji spoke for about 35 minutes. It was a beautiful day.

It is SO nice to have Swamiji back in the village. He will be doing a live webinar June 15th. Check ananda.org for details.
I hope you enjoy the pictures. Blessings to you all.
Love, Barbara

Editor’s note: For video and audio of the weekend classes and concert, go to http://www.ananda.org/inspiration/video-audio/events/2010-july4.html

It has been several years since I made that first trip from Los Angeles to Ananda Village, but the experience stands out in my memory for several reasons.

I still remember clearly the morning I stepped into the reception area of the Expanding Light Retreat. I don’t remember being ever greeted by strangers anywhere so lovingly, so warmly before. I was charmed from the very beginning!

Then I got a tour around the area and I can still feel the joy of my hostess as she took me around. I had never come across such a happy person – happy, apparently to simply show a guest around a resort…and I wondered. As it would turn out that was only the beginning; I would pause and wonder many times during that trip.

Helicopter landing near the Village green

Smoky air…

I was waiting for my room in the reception foyer when I thought I heard a helicopter outside. I couldn’t believe my ears. Helicopters belong in LA, not here! – I remember thinking to myself!

However when I peeked outside, I saw that the sun’s light had turned orange in the dark smoke that was curling out in the distance. Before I realized what was happening I, along with everyone else, was asked to get in their cars and leave the Expanding Light area – there was a fire!

Ananda’s “downtown” area obscured by fire smoke

As I had flew into Sacramento and took a shuttle up to Ananda expecting nothing but an uneventful, peaceful week, all I had with me was a small carry-on. As I got into someone else’s car with my bag I was still in a state of shock and disbelief. I was whisked away from the hill top down to a meadow like area which I would later come to know as the Master’s Market. As I stepped out of the car, not knowing what to expect next, I found myself looking at a huge crowd of people.

Prayer circle

Someone was asking everyone to fall in a circle – she seemed very familiar – I felt I had seen her before. Again, as I was to find out, that was a feeling I would have many times that week at the Village. Everyone gathered around in a large circle.

I looked around to see happy, calm eyes of people chanting Aum. That resounding Aum awakened something in me and as I joined in with everyone else I felt so much at home, so much in place!

Invoking divine protection

We had powerful prayers going on till the afternoon. I was amazed to see people so calm, so loving and joyful even in the midst of an ongoing fire. Again I remember thinking “These people have their houses on fire – literally! – What keeps them so peaceful, calm and joyful? What is the source of this courage and strength?”

I was, along with other retreat guests, asked if I would like to leave given it was uncertain when the fire would subside. While all the other guests left I wanted to stay back. Ananda had hooked me! The place and the people felt strangely familiar and there was no way I was leaving before finding out all about it!

One of Ananda volunteer firefighters

As we continued to pray in the circle, we got word that the fire had been brought under control. The firefighter captain came down and congratulated us on our successful prayers. He said the wind was blowing the fire closer to the Expanding  Light when there was a sudden shift in the wind and the fire was driven away.

Later that day I was offered to stay with one of the residents at her house. I accompanied her to a community meeting in the evening. Everywhere I went I came across joyful, happy people. Their eyes mesmerized me with their warmth of love and depth of joy, seeming to pour from deep within. “What is this place? Are these people real?” I asked myself. I came across so many faces that seemed so familiar – how is that possible?

Everything’s under control!

I attended Sunday Service the next morning. Again I had never experienced anything like that before! Words fail me to describe the wide range of emotions I felt that morning. Finally when everyone sang together during the Festival of lights I remember feeling “This is how heaven is, this is how heaven must feel!”

Little did I know I had stumbled across a place that would help me find my guru, awaken yearnings long buried under dusts of day-to-day familial life and launch me on an incredible journey of spiritual awakenings.

Peaceful village the day after the fire

Thank you, Swami Kriyananda! Thank you, Ananda! For being what you are – a beacon of Divine’s Mother love and light for God-thirsty, truth-seeking souls everywhere.

Ananda’s temple in Assisi

Greetings dear friends

My husband, Michael, came out with the most profound statement the other day in the beautiful Ananda temple near Assisi, Italy, and he not being familiar with the teachings of yoga. He said, “You know what is blocking my path?….myself!”

Those who read a previous blog of mine may remember that I missed seeing Nayaswami Kriyananda, at the Ananda centre in Pune, India, by just 4 days. Swamiji hates to break an appointment and asked if I could perhaps visit him at the centre in Assisi in June when he would be there. I said that this would not be possible as we had financially stretched ourselves with the visit to India. Then I received correspondence from two members of his staff both asking the same thing. Again I declined. My Kriyacharia (kriya teacher) at Ananda Village asked me the same question, and so did many more as time went on. Each time my answer was negative.

Meanwhile I had asked Swamiji for a telephone interview, by way of a compromise which, he said in an email, he would gladly grant, but went on to say that wouldn’t it be much better if I could meet him in Assisi? Again, Assisi, Assisi, Assisi! Why is the same question being raised so often, and more than once by Swamiji himself? I looked to myself. “Who is it that is saying that a visit to Assisi is out of the question? Who is it that is blocking the flow of energy that is doing its best to steer me in a certain direction?” Ego… With all the limitations and fears that it thrives on!

In my realization I put out a superconscious plea. “Divine Mother, if it is your will that I go to meet Swamiji in Assisi, then please help me out here”. I went straight to my husband and asked him how he fancied a long weekend in Italy. He looked a little surprised as we were only a few weeks back from India, but asked me why. When I told him he said, with a sigh and a knowing look, “See how much it will cost”. Now when my husband says that, he means “Sure, why not?” He knew how much meeting Swamiji meant to me.

And so it came to pass that Michael and I have just shared the most fantastic weekend with Swamiji in the picturesque Assisi community.

Ananda Assisi

The Retreat Centre

The people we met, the energy we shared… all priceless.

Sisters reunite

Brotherly love

Newfound friends

Swamiji himself carries such a high vibration and I am totally convinced of his saintly status. Both Michael and I are changed since our precious and most timely encounter with him.

Swamiji in fine fettle

We shared many an intimate moment. Swamiji granted us a private interview, we heard him give class, listened to him sing at the evening concert and then watched him take Sunday Service. He even invited us to Sunday lunch at his table.

At lunch

What blessings I would have missed if I had stayed in my comfort zone of limitation; if I had played into ego’s hands? What blessings would I, in my blindness, have deprived my husband of? The encounter with Swamiji has been a pivotal point in our lives and since our return home we are both moving in a newly inspired direction TOGETHER! Would this be happening if I had continued in my egoic delusion? I have learned a great lesson. Get my ‘self’ out of the way and all will unfold beautifully before me, just as it should.

Precious moments

The final grace of the trip was an email from Swamiji shortly after my return home in which he gave me a spiritual name, long a tradition in Yoga. The new name is given to the guru in meditation, or the guru’s channel in this case, and is adopted as a means to break away from identification with the old ‘self’. He named me Maitreyi and said it meant ‘a wise woman’.

Thank you Swamiji for working Divine Mother’s magic, and may She continue to bless you too.

Joy to you all

AUM

t.maitreyi