Re-Landscaping at the Temple

One recent Saturday, 17 souls from the “Sadhaka Excel” Monday night satsang group swept like a swarm of avenging landscapers over the front gardens of the Ananda Sangha temple on El Camino Real. The gardens which once served to frame our lovely church building were last reworked 13 years ago, and have more recently begun instead to hide the beautiful old mission-style building from motorists passing by. And hiding isnʼt something an organization with a worldwide message wants to do.

So, after morning snacks and an opening prayer, the Sadhaka group went to work. Under Sahadevʼs able guidance, they cut, hacked, dug, and took the old vegetation right down to the roots. Some of the old bushes had grown over 6 feet tall, completely blocking the view of what was behind them. A few of the best old plants were saved to use around the edge of the parking lot and the piazza, filling in gaps where older trees had passed on into the arboreal astral world. Climbing ladders, the sadhakas tore the old vines off the walls, allowing the original arches to show themselves off again. The trees along the sidewalk were pruned of drooping branches.

Thanks to a day of joyful devotion and energy, passersby can again see what a wonderful shape our temple has. New flowers are already planted to give instant color to the front garden until the next major revision is mapped out. This workday is envisioned as the first of many more steps yet to come in restoring the exterior of our temple site to all its former glory, and more!

(More photos here.)

On the Migratory Patterns of Swamis

Swami Kriyananda is nowadays dividing each year roughly between Italy, India, and Ananda Village. Palo Alto has the privilege of being relatively convenient to a major international airport, and so we occasionally get to host him as he rests up between legs of a journey. Swami and entourage arrived last Wednesday evening from Italy, and spent a few days in Chela Bhavan before making the drive up to the Village. His arrivals and departures are always occasions for “driveway satsang,” with devotees gathering to shower him with rose petals and pranams as he passes through. (Photos are here.)

In between comings and goings this time, Swamiji paid a visit to the Living Wisdom School. Such visits tend to be rather last-minute affairs, but they still managed to assemble all the students, teachers, and even a fair number of parents there to greet him. He gave a short talk, leaving everyone with the advice to “make your mission in life helping others to be happy.”

By the way, if you haven’t already heard, Swamiji will be coming back through Palo Alto in September, and will be giving a public talk on Sunday the 16th. Save the date!

Jyotish, Devi, and the Annual Appeal

This weekend we were pleased to have Jyotish and Devi visiting Palo Alto from Ananda Village. After giving Sunday Service, they shared with us all the ways in which Ananda’s worldwide outreach has been growing over the last year (hint: it’s impressive). The presentation also included a video of many people who are directly involved in the different projects sharing highlights and success stories.

Some of the ways in which Ananda is serving the world include the Ananda.org website, the Online with Ananda classes and webinars, the Healing Prayers ministry, Crystal Clarity Publishing, Clarity Magazine, meditation support, and much more. See the whole list here (and make a donation, too, if you like).

The Annual Appeal in support of all these ministries reached its goal of $325,000 last year, with about $21,000 of that coming from Palo Altans. It’s incredible what we can do with that kind of support, so let’s get there again for 2102!

You can see some photos of Sunday Service with Jyotish and Devi here.