White Light Kirtan Band Concert

On Friday night, the White Light Kirtan Band played a concert at East West as part of their current tour throughout California. The band consists of 10 high schoolers from the Living Wisdom School at Ananda Village, and has performed its energetic blend of Eastern and Western chanting styles for audiences across the country.

The White Light Kirtan Band. Lineup unfortunately
out of date due to the graduating nature of students.

The band in its current incarnation has a high proportion of girls, whose voices they use to good effect with some lovely high harmonies. They also have a ukulele and a xylophone, which were delightful additions to the more standard set of guitar and harmonium. (The final song was a beautiful Hawaiian chant with ukulele duet.) Palo Alto's own Mary-Katherine led the percussion section with the djembe (a large, African hand-drum), as well as taking her turns on lead vocal, harmonium, and ukulele.

White Light's most recent CD:
From the Darkness Comes the Light.

These young musicians are talented, and many have a stage presence well beyond their years. But the best part is that they have the right energy for this kind of music. The concert was beautifully uplifting and left me with a smile on my face and in my heart all the rest of the night.

First Harvests From the New CSA

The Ananda Palo Alto residential community has started a new CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) program this year, and we've just completed our first two weeks of very successful harvests!

Several areas around the community have been turned into permaculture gardens and orchards, and are now happily providing us with fresh, organic produce. Having a share in the CSA means that for a fixed price you get a box full of whatever the garden is producing, every week from now through October. There are currently 12 shares in the CSA, and we may even add more if the garden's output keeps increasing.

So far, the harvests have included lemons, avocados, radishes, beets, lettuce, kale, chard, tat soi, chives, oregano, mint, parsley, and more. We'll have tomatos and squash coming along in due time, as well as fruit and almonds from the orchard, and probably many more nutritious things that are as yet only seeds. It's a great way to eat ultra-local, healthy, organic food, and to get more in touch with the flow of the seasons and the bounty of the earth.

Ramani, Amara, and Diego are heading up this project, but it depends heavily on volunteers to keep it all going. If you're at all interesting in helping out, let one of them know!

More photos from our first two harvests can be found here, courtesy of Amara.

Divine Mother Kirtan and Meditation

[Anandaprem shares the following note and photos.]

On Wednesday, May 10, Ananda’s new San Jose Meditation Group created a lovely evening of devotional chanting to Divine Mother, meditating on Her blessings and Her grace in our lives. The meditation room, highlighted by a devotional altar was bathed in serene candlelight and pictures of the divine.

Susan and Phil Hoffert have graciously opened their home for twice monthly meditations. The group meditates together the second and fourth Wednesday evening of the month beginning at 7:30 pm until 8:30 pm and ending with a short time of fellowship. This group is for new and old meditators alike. For more information, please email Susan at sjmedgroup@anandapaloalto.org.