Christmas Concert

The choir thanks everyone who came to enjoy our holiday concert last weekend, and who streamed from afar. There were about 100 people in the temple (wow!), not counting all the singers and musicians. And about 100 connections came in for the live stream throughout the concert.

The musicians were in music-heaven, and we’re pretty sure the angels in charge of music were more than pulling their weight that day, too. Todd played flute for the concert, not long after he just started learning to play. A great lesson in the value of knowing how to practice. And Jasmin graced us with her gorgeous cello playing on a few pieces.

 In case you missed it, or want to re-enjoy it:

• Beautiful photos.
• The complete 2016 Christmas concert video (use a quality speaker or earbuds for the best sound).
• The audio MP3s.
• And direct links to each song in the long video, if you want to head to a particular spot:
  • Lift Thine Eyes (Mendelssohn) 
  • Cloisters
  • O Come O Come Emmanuel (with flute and cello) 
  • Looking for a Friend
  • Hayl, Mary, ful of grace (15th C.) 
  • Mother of Wisdom
  • To Mary There Came
  • Hail Mary
  • The Light That Was Christ
  • God is Truth, God is Love
  • He Shall Feed His Flock (Handel) 
  • Ave Maria (Biebl) 
  • Shepherds Awake!
  • Three Wise Men (wonderful, all-new group of singers this year) 
  • The Christmas Mystery
  • That Night When Christ Was Born
  • The Christ Child’s Asleep
  • O Jesulein Süss (Bach)
    
    Small ensemble set 
  • Ding Dong Merrily on High 
  • The Seven Rejoices of Mary 
  • Lullay My Liking (Holst)
  • I Wonder as I Wander (Niles), arr. by Tandava 
  • The Angel Gabriel, arr. by Tandava 
  • Good King Wenceslas
    
    Choir closing pieces 
  • In Dulci Jubilo (Bach) 
  • Christ Has Come!
  • African Noel, arr. by Andre J. Thomas (a total blast) 
  • Hallelujah Chorus (Handel) (a total blast x 2)

Guru Day

One person traveled from as far away as Seattle, and others came from Ananda Village for this sacred evening. The rest of us were fortunate enough to roll in from around the Bay Area, for what is widely felt to be one of the most unusual and sacred evenings of the year. It feels like a mini pilgrimage to India, with the added pleasure of clean air. A few passing trains and various other bits of noise evoked India as well, but gradually gave way to quiet.

The community courtyard had gradually transformed over several days into exquisitely decorated shrines to the Masters, and Asha brought each Master’s life to a special focus, in story and exploration of each one's message to us today. (Look for Asha’s talks to be posted here soon.) Strength in the face of challenge; kindness in the face of hatred. Easy messages to hear; hard to practice. Ever inspiring to renew, especially against the backdrop of conflicts elsewhere today.

We tried a new experiment this year, keeping all the musicians in one place, so there could be virtually no disturbance to the evening (of extra movement, cables, technology). It deepened the inwardness of the event.

All of the beautiful photos are posted here.

The Land of Golden Sunshine

The Land of Golden Sunshine was a story Swami Kriyananda wrote when he was a young man, and then finally published 60 years later. He called it the most autobiographical thing he had ever written, and that’s even including The New Path, his literal autobiography.

A group of Ananda actors, dancers, and singers, led by Marcel, recently performed this little gem—the first time it’s been done here in years. This new arrangement included many of Swamiji’s songs, woven seamlessly into the story. Our small dance troupe of Rita, Karen B., Suman, and Sneha also added original choreographies, both as angels and as storm lords. Detailed sets and intricate lighting work added the finishing touches to a beautiful and powerful production.

Here’s a gallery of photos, plus a full video of the show:



(And just for an extra bit of fun, here’s a video of the 1992 production of the same play!)

Open House at the Farm

This past Saturday we had a fantastic Open House event up at Ananda Valley farm. This was a chance for us to open our doors and have hundreds of friends, neighbors, and community members come in an find out what our Farm and Ananda in general are all about. The welcome crew estimated that we had 400 visitors, not counting staff and volunteers, which makes it very possibly the largest event Ananda has ever put on that did not have Swami Kriyananda physically present. (He was definitely present in other ways, though, along with all our gurus!)

Guests got to tour the farm, enjoy a vegetarian cookout, practice yoga and meditation in the temple yurt, play children’s games, sing songs, get their faces painted, dance to live music, and visit with our flock of chickens. There was even a display of paintings by Galen Wolf, an artist who lived on the property for many years, including a painting of the farm itself in the 1930’s. The weather was gorgeous, spirits were high, and the energy was delighted and joyful.

Some comments from our visitors included:

• “Great to see your operation today. It is definitely one of the jewels of the coast!” 
• “Thank you so much, my kids, husband, and I are so excited!! We absolutely loved your open house and are considering volunteering on Saturdays with our boys.” 
• “I am so inspired here. I would like to come out with my easel and do some painting.”
• “We had so much fun! The kids don't even want to leave.” 
• “I am signing up for your CSA because I went on Yelp and you had the best reviews ever!”

You can find more photos of the whole day here. Jai Farm!

Healing Waters: Bernadette of Lourdes

This year’s Living Wisdom School play was their 23rd annual production, presenting the life of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes.

Bernadette was a poor, uneducated peasant girl, living in Lourdes in the 19th century. When only a teenager, she beheld a vision of a beautiful lady in—of all places—the town dump. Though no one else could see these visions, they continued for a few weeks, and even in the face of severe opposition and interrogation by city and church officials the holiness of these occurrences shown through.

It’s a short story, and Bernadette spend much of the rest of her life in a convent, leaving very little “plot” on which to base a full play. But that simplicity allowed for a greater focus on Bernadette’s actual experiences of the Divine, and also illuminated one of the qualities that make the LWS plays into magical experiences themselves.

It’s hard not to love all the children on stage, and every single student in the school is involved, from kindergarten through 8th grade. The little ones are so adorable, the older ones so beautifully sincere, all of them putting everything they’ve got into their performances. The opening of the heart that we strive for in all our devotional and meditation practices is a natural, automatic reaction with children.

In any other, secular, school play, we may adore the children, but there’s nowhere further to take our devotion. What makes an LWS play special is that it also offers us something sacred. We open our hearts to the children, and a vision of the Virgin Mary enters along with them. And there were times that you would swear the actors were seeing her. That’s when it truly becomes “Theater Magic.”

Keep an eye on the LWS Vimeo channel, where the video will be posted once it’s ready.

Christmas Celebrations

On the weekend leading up to Christmas, we celebrated inwardly by following Yogananda’s tradition of holding an all-day meditation. Some hundred or so meditators filled the temple for eight hours, meditating with occasional breaks for chanting and listening to recordings of both Master and Swamiji, and their music. The photos capture the lovely, astral quality of the day.

Our Christmas Eve service is the bridge that connects our inner observation of “spiritual Christmas” with the outer events and celebrations that the season honors. In an extended Festival of Light, we watched the whole Christmas story unfold before us in glorious pageantry, but the bhav throughout was one of deep and reverent devotion. Photos of Christmas Eve are here.

Then finally, Christmas Day itself. Our “family service” (well-loved by all ages) enacted the story again, narrated by Asha, in a more exuberantly Christmas-morning mood, with various children, parents, and friends taking part as shepherds, angels, wise men, and even musicians.

And to top it all off, our Christmas banquet followed the morning service. For entertainment, Steven and Tandava enacted a rather different but nonetheless entertaining story: “The Amazing Hat Mystery,” by P. G. Wodehouse. (If you missed it and are wondering how we solved a mystery like those hats... well, it was either the fourth dimension or a Christmas miracle.) All the Christmas Day photos are here.

Christmas Music

It’s December! And, as always, our Christmas season at Ananda comes with an almost continual soundtrack of glorious music.

The kickoff this year was the choir’s Christmas Concert, which we held after service on the 6th (lunch provided). Along with some of our favorites of Swami Kriyananda’s Christmas music, we also  enjoyed pieces by Bach, Rachmaninov, Holst, Billings, and more. So much good music has been written over the centuries in honor of Jesus’s birthday, which makes this a fun way for the choir to branch out a bit and learn some new pieces. And it’s pleasing to think that someday perhaps there will be an equally broad and illustrious repertoire written by devotees of Yogananda.

If you’re looking at the photos and wondering what’s going on there at the end, we’re singing “Lord of the Dance.” So naturally that requires some dancing, and the choir can hardly be expected to do it all themselves. Check out the video of the entire concert if you want the full effect.

This past Sunday, a number of families came on stage and led us in singing “Joy to the World.” They’d been practicing this recently at our monthly Family Service. (If you’ve got kids and aren’t coming to this already, you should definitely check it out on the first Saturday of each month.) More pictures of the kids are here.

Also this weekend we had our Members’s Christmas double-party (double because it takes two nights and we still barely squeezed everyone in). What portions of Chela Bhavan weren’t packed with devotees were filled with food, and then we poured Christmas carols over the whole thing to fill in the cracks. Which of course got us all warmed up for next Sunday’s caroling trip that we’ll take around the neighborhood. (So if you’re still up for more singing, that’s your next chance!) Party photos are here.