Krishna's Birthday Kirtan

This past week was Krishna’s birthday (landing on August 22 this year), and so we celebrated with a special Krishna Kirtan on Friday. We had a great turnout of musicians and singers, and used the opportunity to indulge in many more traditional Indian chants than usual, all honoring our beloved, blue, flute-playing guru Krishna.

We chanted an hour longer than usual, but hardly noticed the time passing in our absorption with the music. The altar was a gorgeous sight to behold (and you can behold it here, along with more photos, courtesy of Rani). We rounded off the evening sharing tasty prasad with gurus and gurubais and reveling in the lingering vibrations.

By the way, if you like coming to kirtans, we’ve actually started having them every Friday. They’ve been on a great roll with this new, steady flow of energy and a rotation of excellent leaders. Do come join us any (every!) Friday you can. And we’re already planning ahead for another “big” kirtan for Shiva in February, so that’s something to look forward to as well.

Of Such Is the Kingdom of Heaven

We held a baptism for several children of the congregation at Sunday Service last weekend. The ceremony Swamiji created for this is very simple, welcoming the souls to their new, small bodies, and letting them know they have the blessings of their whole community on their journey. We did this just towards the end of the Festival of Light, so we could treat them to an enthusiastic round of Sing Out With Joy while they were still on stage for their joyful occasion.

Here to be launched on their new incarnation, we had Amy M's young son Issa, along with Tim and Julie's twins, Carson and Drew. Photos of the ceremony are here.

Another fresh denizen of this planet who was not at the ceremony, but whom we'd like to welcome nonetheless, is Theresa and Vinicius' new baby Leo, born July 5. Here's a little peek if you want to say hello.

Many blessings to all our small friends!