Asha's Birthday and Summer Concert

This past Saturday was the birthday of our very beloved Asha. Given that Asha is the choir’s biggest fan, and that we'll take any excuse for some more fun and music, we decided to hold a summer concert in her honor. So this weekend’s Sunday service led straight into a potluck in the piazza, and the concert actually began there as well, with Dambara and Saranya performing Canticle of the Creatures before leading us all back into the temple for the rest of the show.


The choir put together an excellent program, based around many Ananda favorites (see a video of Life is a Dream). There was also a gorgeous arrangement of Shenandoah, which we've decided just needs to be adopted into our repertoire. A light-hearted interlude featured surprise, customized birthday songs in both barbershop and Beatles varieties, as well as a must-see skit demonstrating the many, many interpretations of one of our favorite chants.

To end the concert, Rita debuted a new choreography to the song Keep Calling Him. The movements are simple and graceful, and suitable for audience participation, which let us wrap things up with a feeling of connection to everyone in the room. It’s also good to see that dance as an Ananda art form can continue here, even now that Pavani has moved to Portland.

The whole concert was recorded for a CD — contact the Sangha staff if you’re interested in getting a copy. For now, we’ll leave you with a link to all the photos, as well as a sweet poem that David G. wrote for Asha, and read at the concert.

To Asha on her Birthday

Onto the scene a cute baby did burst
The only child ever to be born mouth first
A gift to us all she’d grow up to be
A beacon of Light that hundreds would see
Her life has been filled with Swami adventures
But the birthdays add up—soon we’re shopping for dentures
But enough of that road, now’s a time just to cheer
So lend me your mind, your heart, and your ear.

We took a pen in hand to write
A poem we thought would you delight
But ne’er before had this been done
By us, for you, in birthday fun

We scratched our heads for soon we knew
Good poems there are but very few
And soon we saw a sight ‘twas sad
This one’s among the very bad
But do not fear; there’s not much more
Except the birthday wish in store
For all we really want to do
Is to share our love and prayers for you

And now here comes the final part
A thought that comes straight from the heart
We pray with all our strength and might
That Master bless you with his sight
For you’ve touched us all in so many ways
And bathed us all in Master’s rays
Our thanks run deep and strong and true
I speak for us all: love and joy to you!

“True Freedom” Cookout and Kirtan

This Fourth of July our extended Ananda family gathered together to celebrate true, inner freedom with a cookout at the residential community in Mountain View. About a hundred folks turned out to enjoy sunburgers, corn on the cob, baked beans, potato salad, and joyful satsang with fellow devotees. (Photos here, courtesy of D’Arcy, Dambara, and Jeffrey.)

And we can’t forget dessert, of course. The younger bodies effectively dominated the s’mores scene (above), but we also had a sundae bar to pick up the slack. Vanilla ice cream with raspberries and blueberries made an excellent combination for the patriotically-minded, but the brownies and fudge sauce were well worth altering the color scheme.

Dinner was followed by an outdoor kirtan in front of Paramahansa Yogananda’s shrine and gazebo. Along with the abundance of voices, we had harmoniums, guitars, kirtals, a flute, a drum, and shakers for the little ones. The chants naturally included “Rise in Freedom” and “I Am Free,” along with many other Ananda favorites.

Swami Kriyananda’s words from Living Wisely, Living Well remind us to be grateful not only for the freedom we’ve been given here on earth, but also for the divine freedom that awaits all of us:

Independence Day in America: The political and national freedom celebrated this day were meant to give all men a chance to rise to their own highest potential. 

Though independence has not been applied universally, it has at least been directional. It has taken time for black people and for women to win the right to vote, though that right should have been recognized and bestowed from the beginning. 

It is time now to declare a new kind of freedom: freedom of conscience! 

This declaration can be made only by and for the individual. Let no one pressure you into thinking or behaving as he thinks you ought to. God has a special song to sing through you. It can be offered to the universe only by yourself.

Rajarshi Day Report

Rajarshi Janakananda was Paramahansa Yogananda's most spiritually advanced disciple, and was also extremely successful on the material plane, being a self-made millionaire and funding much of Master’s work. It was in his honor that 40 devotees gathered at the Ananda Palo Alto temple on Saturday for a joyful morning of karma yoga, beautifying the church and the grounds.

We started with a two-page “wish list” of projects, and a truly impressive amount of them were accomplished. Some of the indoor projects included cleaning carpets and chairs; building some new storage shelves; cleaning and organizing vases, candles, candleholders, altar cloths, closets, and supplies; and framing or reframing many pictures of Master and other saints. The yoga center is also enjoying a newly cleaned entrance and sparkling windows.

Outdoors, one of the largest projects was laying down a coat of primer on the teaching center walls that have yet to be painted. This necessitated, of course, the extra step of covering in plastic anything that didn’t need to be covered in primer. We also had a team of gardeners working with the plants around all the buildings, and a duo of Cinderellas scrubbing stains off the courtyard paving stones. And in the midst of all that, we also replaced the gutter downspouts, and cleaned and organized the dumpster and storage areas.

It was a beautifully productive day that left not just the temple but all of us buzzing with new energy and magnetism. Well done, all!

[More photos here, thanks to Dambara.]

Free and Clear Luncheon

In 1994, after seven years in a suite of office rooms on California Ave., we scraped together the downpayment for a church of our very own and moved into what is now the Ananda Palo Alto temple. The building was formerly a Catholic church, but Asha said that when they visited it for the first time, they found there a copy of Autobiography of a Yogi, as well as Swami Kriyananda's autobiography, The Path. So it felt like Master was already there, getting it ready for us.

The 1994 congregation making the inaugural march to the new temple.
Who can you recognize? (Click photo to enlarge.)

At the time, we didn't know how we would be able to handle the new mortgage payments that were more than triple our previous rent, but in true Ananda spirit we put out all our best energy and trusted in God to carry us through the rest of the way. All of that energy and grace over the last 17 years has transformed the temple into a beautiful, sacred space, drawing and inspiring truth-seekers from all around the Bay Area and beyond.

Before and after: The St. Aloysius Church before we moved in,
and a more recent photo of its new incarnation.

At the beginning of this year, we still had approximately $1 million of debt left to be paid off on our church. The “Free and Clear” campaign began with the goal of eliminating that debt, and this was the theme of Sunday’s fundraising luncheon.

Lunch in our beautiful piazza.

After service we enjoyed a tasty Indian buffet and assorted desserts outside in our Italian piazza. Around the courtyard were displays of various old photographs of the church as it was when we first moved in, and of Ananda members painting and renovating it. There have been some pretty dramatic changes over the years since then! Asha spoke of our church's short history, and the larger sweep of Dwapara Yuga ascending that we're all part of, and Shanti led us in affirming as a community our goal of owning the church outright, that we might truly give it as a free gift to God and gurus.

Asha inspiring the multitudes.

You may have seen the jigsaw puzzle picture of our church that has been on the altar recently. Each puzzle piece filled in there represents another $25,000 that has been paid off. Sunday’s event (and some other activities leading up to it) resulted in an impressive $107,000 collected, with an additional $87,000 pledged over time. Well done, all of us!

See more photos of the event here, as well as a selection of video clips here. 

A Few Photos

As you may have heard, Swami Kriyananda spent some time in Palo Alto last week, before flying to Italy. He didn't make any public appearances, but a number of devotees did gather at Chela Bhavan to send him on his way with blessings. John P. took a couple of photos to share:

In other photographic news, we have an updated congregation photo online. Look at all those beautiful, joyful faces!

Karen says: 

This year's Easter congregation photo was the FASTEST EVER. It took about 10 minutes to have everyone line up and take their smiling faces. And it took a volunteer Photoshopper (Jeff C. - thank you very much) about 6-7 hours to roll some heads, till all the best ones were in this final composite. 'Off with their heads' has a more positive connotation these days.

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.