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)

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.

A Midsummer Night's Concert

Swami Kriyananda wrote so much music (over 450 individual pieces!) that much of it unintentionally tends to fall by the wayside, even with all the music we enjoy during service and at other events every week. Every once in a while, we try to correct this by putting on a concert full of little-heard and lesser-known songs and instrumentals. Plus, it’s a good excuse to enjoy more music!

This time around we had the concert in the evening, which helped give it a sweeter, more intimate feel, compared to the afternoons we often do. Another difference was that there were fewer full-choir pieces this time, with the bulk of the songs going to solos, with a few duets and trios as well. There’s a certain clarity and connection that comes through when a soloist sings a favorite song that they particularly chose to share with us, and we could feel the experience of these songs one after another building throughout the evening. Many people, even those who have heard dozens of Ananda concerts, commented on how special this one felt.

In addition to all the singing, Janice performed an instrumental from The Mystic Harp, Rita and Karen B. performed a dance duet to “Emerald Isle,” and Rita danced to “Farther Away than the Stars.”

If you missed the concert, or just want to ever-newly re-enjoy it, the video is already posted! (Due to technical difficulties, the last couple of songs are missing, and “Dublin Town” is off in its own separate video.) Enjoy!

Easter Week

Our Easter festivities kicked off on Palm Sunday with a choir concert following service (and lunch). The choir had had a great time learning several new pieces by Handel, Mendelssohn, and Mozart, some of which have been voted among the top-10 favorites of choirs nationwide. And, of course, there was also a generous selection of Swami Kriyananda’s music, which will some day be on such a list. An extra treat was cello accompaniment to two of the songs, provided by Hiroki, an LWS student. We’ve got some photos of the day here, plus a video of the entire concert for your enjoyment.

Then this past Saturday it was time to stop letting the choir have all the fun. Asha hosted an Easter retreat based around Swamiji’s Christ Lives Oratorio, with everyone singing along. Barbara and a visiting Chaitanya led the singing, and everyone sang melody, both to keep it simple and devotional, and also to more directly tune in to the words, consciousness, and inspiration of each piece. So even for choir members it was a different and special experience. (Photos are here.)

Holy Week culminated in a glorious Easter celebration. One new element this year was a choreography to “Rise in Freedom” (an excellent Easter chant). It was performed by four of our dancers at the beginning of service, but the whole congregation got to join in later on (at least as far as the arm motions were concerned). We also got a performance of “Lightly I Fly” from many of the children and families who have been rehearsing it for us at our Family Services the past couple of months.

Our Easter banquet was held in the temple rather than at the community, due to impending drizzle, but all was bright with delight inside. Entertainment included juggling, violin music, banjo music, stand-up comedy, and the inaugural performance of the Ananda Ukulele Ministry (AUM). Clean-up inspiration provided by David and Karen’s rendition of “Who Will Clean Up?” to Swamiji’s tune of “Who Is Sylvia?” Photos of the entire Easter day can be found here, and if that’s not enough, also here.

In closing, here is the ukulele band’s rendition of an ancient Sanskrit Easter blessing song:

Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say 
on a bright Ananda Easter Day. 
That’s the sattwic greeting that we send to you
from the land where yogis pray. 
Here we know that Easter will be full of light: 
we’ll meditate by day and then again at night. 
Mele Kalikimaka is the wise way 
to say Happy Easter to you.

Pre-Christmas Roundup

Ah, December... that magical month when there’s just too much fun to keep up with. In case you’ve managed to miss any of the recent goings-on, we’ll catch you up here before we get started again this weekend.

A couple of Sundays ago we enjoyed a post-service lunch of our traditional veggie chili and cornbread, and then a post-lunch choir concert. In addition to many of our Ananda Christmas standards, we also had a rousing medieval Alle Psallite (in Latin and German both), and an Ave Maria (in Russian) by Rachmaninoff. There are a few photos here, lots of mp3 recordings here, and we even managed to get a fun video of the men’s ensemble singing Riu Riu Chiu.

Last week we enjoyed the Bay Area theater premiere of our Finding Happiness movie. We rented the Aquarius Theater in Palo Alto for a Wednesday night and a Saturday morning showing, and had about 400 people total come see it. (Photos here.) Some of the crowd was “us,” of course, but there were also many new people, as well as many friends and family who didn’t really know much about Ananda. And many positive reactions from people as they left the theatre, from smiles to tears (the good kind). Tons of people bought DVDs for Christmas gifts, and one new person walked out and registered for 3 classes, including the 12-week Raja Yoga class. A very successful debut all around!

And finally (for the moment) we had our Members’ Christmas Parties over the weekend. Two potluck evenings at Chela Bhavan enjoying the three S’s of the spiritual path: sweets, savories, and songs. (Did I get that right?) Photos are here.

All caught up? Ready for the next week? See you soon at the all-day meditation, the caroling party, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day!

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving festivities last Thursday had a number of fun new elements to them this time around. Shanti led the service, but shared mic time with Brahmacharis Vinny and yours truly, and so we got to look at the topic of gratitude from a few different angles. (Videos of our respective talks are here, here and here.)

We got some audience participation going as well, when Rita and friends led the congregation in some simple dance movements to the chant “Door of My Heart.” And at the end of service, we each got to take an autumn leaf, inscribed with one of the 8 aspects of God, and offer it at the altar. Later these leaves were taken to Ananda Valley Farm to be added into the soil. That should result in some pretty tasty veggies by next harvest season.

In between courses of our fabulously scrumptious Thanksgiving banquet (thanks to Robert and a host of volunteer cooks and helpers), we had another opportunity for creative expression. We all got paper and pens and did the “vertical poem” exercise (from one of Bharat’s famous Sharing Nature activities). One holiday-related word written vertically down the side of the page provides the starting letters for each line of a poem, which then comes to life almost magically, no poetry experience required. Several people shared their poems at the microphone, and we posted them on boards for everyone to read, as well. I have to say, I’m dying to know what Thanksgiving is like in the home of whoever chose the word “warthogs” to base their poem on.

Want to see some more poems, and more pictures? Check out all the photos of the day here.

And finally, I’ll leave you with a couple videos of amusing songs from the banquet entertainment. First, a list of things, some of which we are more thankful for than others:

And second, an amoeba love song. No, that has nothing to do with Thanksgiving. Yes, you should definitely watch it anyway:

Farewell Concert for Dambara and Manisha

On Sunday, we celebrated a remarkably enjoyable sad occasion. (Tough to do, yes, but we’re professionals.) Dambara and Manisha are moving to Laurelwood, and so we brought everybody together for farewells with an after-service concert.

We started with a sandwich bar lunch in the courtyard, along with carrot cake (for Dambara’s coincidental birthday), AUMs, blessings, and neither the first nor the last rendition of “Go With Love.” And then it was back into the temple for the concert proper.

In an effort to squeeze every last bit of song out of Dambara that we possibly can, we naturally packed the program with him. His solos ranged from classic favorites (“I Wonder as I Wander,” “To Death I’m a Stranger”) to more recent favorites (“Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind”) to seldom- or never-heard songs of Swami’s brought out for the occasion (“Melody’s Everywhere,” “Wartime Lullaby,” and more). He managed to work in a barbershop number with the guys, too.

The “Most Adorable” award, however, goes to the Dambara-Manisha duet, when they sang “Divine Friendship,” the song they skipped in their wedding ceremony 12 years ago because they weren’t sure they’d be able to make it through. Well, unfinished karmic tests have a way of cycling back around, and I’m pleased to report that our dear couple is just ever so slightly more married now.

As nothing is too good for our friends, this concert was not even limited to solely musical content. Saranya recited a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar which has to be heard to be appreciated — reading alone won’t do it. And our intrepid choir put on their dancing shoes and performed Pavani’s recent choreography to “Mañana, Friends.” Check out the video!

If you’re wondering what the off-camera laughter is towards then end, some of the singers were flinging roses, like joy, at Dambara as he sang. For further vicarious experiences, we’ve got some photos and even a full-concert mp3 you can listen to.

Dambara and Manisha will be greatly missed by all their Palo Alto friends and gurubhais. (The line for goodbye hugs filled the church aisle for an hour after the concert ended.) But we’re happy for them in their joyful, expansive transition, and we know the Portland-Laurelwood community has a lot to look forward to with the two of them up there.

The Unheard-Of Concert

Our choir concerts here are always very special events, but this Saturday’s was a particular extra kind of fun. From Swami Kriyananda’s vast collection of compositions, we pulled out a magnificent selection of songs that are rarely — if ever — performed. Shakespeare featured prominently in the program, Swami having written a whole album of songs based on his lyrics. We also enjoyed a few children’s songs, as well as selections from Mystic Harp, Rumanian Memories, and more.

The evening included just a few well-known favorites, but even those came with some surprises. It turns out that the solo for “Mother of Wisdom” is beautiful in Italian. And with “Home is a Green Hill” as the closing song, the audience was invited to join the choir up at the altar. With the choir around and the masters above, it was just sublime.

As well as having some great photos, the entire concert was recorded (through a new system that should give a much better rendition of what the sound is actually like in the temple) and you can download all the MP3s here. Not only that, but we got nine of the performances on video. All the links are below, but first, you absolutely have to watch “Big Frog, Little Frog.”

Here’s the complete list of the videos:

• Come Away Death
• Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind
• It Was a Lover and His Lass
• Who Is Sylvia?
• Big Frog, Little Frog
• Good Night, Sweetheart
• Dearest, When I Think of Thee
• Yes, It's Devil Worship
• Go on Alone!

Easter Celebrations

“Vivid” is the word for Easter at Ananda. The clarity of Christ’s life and message comes through our gurus and teachers so powerfully, and then resonates throughout the deep spiritual connections in our community until its practically palpable. It brings the story to life again, for us and within us.

On Good Friday we had one of our evening services that are always so lovely and inward, and we experienced our way through the story of the crucifixion via music and readings. This is an evening that can be tricky to end well—Jesus dies on the cross, leaving us in suspense about the resurrection—but we managed to wrap it up beautifully at the “intermission.” It was clear by then that, though he had died, he hadn’t been killed. He “gave up his spirit” voluntarily, rather than waiting to die on the cross, remaining completely a master of the situation, even in tragedy.

The next day (which I’ve just learned is called Holy Saturday) we had an Easter Retreat in the temple, in which Asha treated us to a few hours of more free-form story-telling and teaching. It was a time to come to a deeper understanding of not only the events of Easter but the true spiritual significance behind them all. We had people there who have grown up with the story in Christian churches, and others who were only hearing it in its entirety for the first time, and everyone gained something very worthwhile in the experience.

And then, of course, we had the glory of Easter itself. The Oratorio pieces performed by the choir and soloists come through with even more power than usual on that day, and the story is completed in all its ever-new joy.

The Easter banquet followed service (and an Easter egg hunt), with spanikopita as the main course, several tasty side dishes, creatively lavender-flavored lemonade, and a dessert that was like pumpkin pie dreaming it was in heaven. We also had a great collection of new or seldom-heard songs for the entertainment, many of which were thematically appropriate, even if only in terms of being resurrected versions of popular or folk songs. If you missed them, or want to revisit them, check out the videos!

Hawaiiana	What Do You Do with a Blissed-Out Yogi?
My, My, It's the Spiritual Eye	Take Me Home, Babaji

The full set of photos is also worth a visit. Happy Easter!

Sharing Music and Nature and Bliss

We’ve been blessed by several visitors from other Ananda colonies recently. First, Nayaswamis Raghu and Sabari came down from Sacramento for a weekend. They led Sunday service, taught a class on moving from Happiness to Bliss, and — first but not least — Raghu led the Friday evening kirtan. It was a delightful time to indulge in a few extra Indian bhajans, as well as to enjoy a chanting reunion with Raghu, who used to lead many kirtans here before moving to Sacramento. Not only do we have a few photos of the evening, but there are even recordings of many of the chants that you can download.

This past week we’ve had Nayaswamis Durga and Vidura with us from Ananda Village. On Saturday, Vidura and Dambara organized a hike at Rancho San Antonio, which included a number of Bharat’s famous Sharing Nature games at the top of a hill with a beautiful view. (Photos from that day are here.) Durga and Vidura gave a satsang at Chela Bhavan last night, filling us in on various happenings up at the Village and elsewhere, including the plans for the new temple. They also gave Sunday service last weekend, and will again this coming weekend, so if you haven’t gotten to meet them yet, there’s still time!

Christmas Concert

Our Christmas Concert last weekend was deliciously prefaced by our traditional Christmas Concert Lunch of vegetarian chili and cornbread, which is a great way to warm up on a winter afternoon.

And after the food to warm our bodies came the music to warm our souls. One of the fun things about our Christmas concerts is that we get to dip into the vast troves of beautiful spiritual music that has been written for this season over the centuries. Some of the new treasures this year included a men’s ensemble performing a couple of medieval and renaissance pieces: a hauntingly beautiful Hayl, Mary, ful of grace, and the lively Spanish carol Riu Riu Chiu. (Yep, those are video links. Enjoy!)

Music, whether you’re singing or listening, is such a powerful tool for uplifting and directing our hearts’ feelings. This concert really felt like it set the stage for the whole Christmas season. Rani put it well in a comment afterwards: “I remembered how it felt last year... having spent December with all the Ananda events, at the end of the season I felt peaceful, hopeful, renewed emotionally and spiritually. Today, as I listened and watched, I knew it was happening again. It was everything I longed for and needed, and though of course many more wonderful events are coming, this one was... perfect. Thank you for all the effort and thought you put into our music. Never doubt that it makes a difference.”

And on that note, we’ll leave you with a bunch of photos, and a few more highlight videos:

I Wonder as I Wander (by John Niles)
God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen (traditional)
Boston (William Billings)
Thy Light Within Us Shining (Swamiji, of course)
Hallelujah Chorus (Handel)

And if you want to relive the entire concert (or experience it for the first time, if you missed it) you can download the entire thing as an mp3 (59MB).

Happy December!

Thanksgiving Celebration

We had an excellent Thanksgiving at the temple last week, with over a hundred people coming in for the worship service and the following banquet. During the service, Nirmoha led us through musically meditative experiences of the different paths to God: bhakti yoga, karma yoga, gyana yoga, and raja yoga (devotion, action, wisdom, and meditation). The karma yoga step seemed to take particularly well, seeing how miraculously quickly we transformed the temple into a banquet hall. (God can really get things done when folks let Him work through them.)

Our traditional nutloaf dinner was accompanied by the even more traditional mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry relish and, of course, music. The entertainment kicked off with a song inspired by Rajarshi Janakananda. Click below for the video of “The Yogi King.”

Not to leave the Gilbert & Sullivan contingent unchallenged, Team Barbershop also turned out a couple gems, also with videos: Ananda is Home, and Goodnight Yogis (which doubled as this year’s cleanup song, inspiring another round of cheerful karma yoga).

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and may we continue to give thanks for food, friends, and fun year-round!

Krishna's Kirtan

Krishna Janmashtami — Krishna’s birthday — fell on Friday, August 10 this year, and so we celebrated by moving our regular Friday kirtan to the courtyard of the residential community and having a beautifully expanded, Krishna-themed evening of chanting. Yogananda kindly donated his gazebo, which numerous devotees decorated and filled with statues and images of Krishna. We spread out rugs and folding chairs on the lawn for the joyful crowd of souls chanting the sun down into the cool August night.


No recordings, unfortunately (and how do you record bliss anyway?) but there are some lovely photos here.

Easter Celebrations

Easter Sunday began with a very special Sunday service, featuring a number of reprised choir pieces from the celebratory end of the Oratorio. Rita also led the entire congregation in a dance to Velvali’s performance of “Children of God.” If you weren’t one of the volunteers up on stage with her, you have to try that next time. It’s a beautiful sight. 

From there, we shifted our base of operations to the community courtyard, where the smaller-bodied among us very conscientiously divested the grounds of eggs. Our local Easter Bunny aided the proceedings and supplied “spiritual Easter eggs” to those of us too tall to compete for the ones on the ground. 

Our outdoor Easter banquet (in perfect weather, by the way) consisted of carrot-ginger soup, salad, spinach frittata, roasted potatoes, various tasty dessert items, and lots of laughter and fun satsang.

And then, of course, there was the entertainment, which left no stop un-pulled-out. Graham performed a pair of Mary Poppins-inspired songs (can you say “sabikalba-nirbikalpa-karma-dharma-smritti” backwards?) and a barbershop quartet brought us Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, to perfectly capture the mood of a happy, Springtime celebration. The grand finale was when “The Colony People” performed their hit single Y.O.G.A. Click all those links to find the videos and lyrics; they are not to be missed. And while you’re at it, here are all the photos.

Funny, isn’t it, how Y.O.G.A. is practically indistinguishable from Children of God in a still photograph? Truly, Spirit unites us all....

Easter Oratorio

It’s been a couple of years since we last performed the entire Christ Lives Oratorio here, but we brought it back in style this past weekend after Sunday service. David Eby came down from the Village to conduct and inspire the choir, whose ranks were swelled by a number of singers from the Village, Portland, L.A. and, apparently, the astral world. Several newer soloists got to perform (including Rita, D’Arcy, and Graham), and we also enjoyed having Chaitanya back for some of his wonderful tenor solos, including “Psalm of David,” accompanied by one of Rita’s dances.

Several much-appreciated volunteers were responsible for videotaping the entire concert, and we’ve been improving our recording process in the temple. So while nothing is really like being there, this at least begins to do our wonderful choir some justice. If you missed the show, or if you just want to re-experience it, you can watch it below, or listen to it as you browse through the photos.

Oratorio concert at Ananda Palo Alto (March 2012) 

from Ananda Palo Alto on Vimeo.

Happy almost-Easter!