What We've Been Up To

After Sunday service this weekend (and lunch), we invited everyone back into the temple for our annual-ish church meeting, reviewing the accomplishments of the past year. If you missed the list of what’s been going on around here, prepare to be impressed....

Ananda Church

Initiations & Ordinations

• 34 Disciples
• 10 Kriyabans
• 14 Sadhakas
• 1 Lightbearer
• 1 Minister

New Programs & Directions

• Meditation 1, 2 & 3 offered in Spanish
• Raja Yoga 2
• Heart to Heart discussion group
• AKASH class series
• Gateway to Membership
• Wedding Renewal for 16 couples
• Kirtans now every week
• Introduction to Self-Realization after Sunday Service

Outreach

• Meditation groups launched in San Jose, San Carlos, Fremont, and San Francisco.
• Weekly email lists: Ananda Family News, Ask Asha
• Database shifted to the cloud, using Salesforce
• Banner: “Google can't satisfy every search.”
• Ananda Palo Alto’s website in 2011:
• more than 2,000,000 hits
• over 100,000 unique visits
• people have listened to or watched more than 250,000 videos of recorded classes, music, and Sunday services

Buildings

• Refurbished the outside of the teaching center: stucco, paint, and new windows
• Installation of religious symbols in the Temple

Initiatives

• Free & Clear raised $425,000 of $1,000,000 needed
• Thank You & Goodbye (remember Ananda in your will) now established
• Expanded our self-concept to be the Ananda Community for Self-Realization
• New membership process with Gateway to Membership monthly gatherings

Ananda Residential Community

• Shrine to Lahiri built by the Sadhaka Training Group
• Community Supported Agriculture had an outstanding first season
• Local Exchange Network (national non-money system) launched

East West Bookshop

• Now is the largest independent metaphysical bookstore in California
• Management passed gracefully from Tushti and Surendra to Graham and Nooshin
• December 2011 sales up 9% from year before
• January and February 2012 sales up $30,000 from year before
• Again voted “Best Place for Unusual Gifts” (won every year since 1996)

Living Wisdom School

• Enrollment higher than ever: more than 70 children this year
• Increased interest allows us to be more selective in accepting students
• Successful internship program is developing talented new teachers
• Theater Magic broke all records for attendance: over 1,000 people

Jai us!