A Day at the Farm with Jyotish and Devi

We were blessed this weekend to have Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi, spiritual directors of Ananda Worldwide, visiting us in Palo Alto. In addition to enjoying Sunday Service with them, we took them on Saturday for their first visit to Ananda Valley Farm.

Lahari and her team masterfully transformed a seemingly ordinary greenhouse into an uplifted, uplifting temple, sattwic and calming, with beautiful plants everywhere, and no matter where the eye went there was an altar waiting to raise your consciousness. Divine Mother played Her part as well by providing us with an exquisite day — sunny skies, perfect temperature, little wind.

Jyotish and Devi were very moved by the beauty and peaceful vibration of the farm, and both gave talks that focused on the land. Devi remarked that “if I had two bodies, one of them would be right here.”

She went on to share that nearly every senior Ananda member had worked in the garden, under the tutelage of Haanel Cassidy. She was new to Ananda when she began working in the garden, and after years of college and mental busy-ness, it was the garden that brought her experiences of deep mental calmness and peace. Though she sometimes found at night, when meditating, that instead of seeing the spiritual eye, she saw endless rows of baby carrots (well-weeded, of course)!

Jyotish also spoke about how it is necessary to spiritual life to gradually slow our vibration, in order to experience the Divine (which is free of vibration, in its pure form). Living in the Silicon Valley is a little like living in your office — not something we want to be continuously immersed in! The farm offers a nearby respite from the faster vibration of urban life, where we can come to replenish and renew ourselves, and draw closer to Spirit.

Both of them encouraged us to keep our consciousness focused on the Divine as we moved about the property, now and always. It seems none of us could ever be on that land in the same way after their talks. We were all feeling blessed from the outset with this land but they added an element of grace and power to it all.

We then blessed the farm with the installation of a murti (similar to the one recently arrived at the temple). The sculpture of Paramhansa Yogananda was carried around the pond in a procession, accompanied by chanting, and touching all of the corners of the pond in a ceremony such as one might see in India. Once he was in his final place, rose petals and blessings were offered by all.

Then, back into the greenhouse for a beautifully laid out and really scrumptious farm lunch — a gourmet sandwich bar. The grand finale of the day was a reception line with Jyotish and Devi, so that everyone had the opportunity to meet them, share a few moments with them, and receive their blessing.

You can see many lovely photos here, and there’s also a short video that includes a slideshow and some footage of the procession.

Happy New Year

New Year’s Eve at the temple began with a long meditation and a Pilgrim Vow initiation — always an auspicious way to herald a new beginning. Then during the service itself we held an extended purification ceremony in which we each got to offer ourselves and our aspirations for the new year up to God and Guru. It was a very personal and inward celebration, and all the more so for its contrast with most of the other celebrations going on around the planet at that time! You can see a few photos here.

On the day after New Year’s, East West Bookshop closed for its annual Inventory Day, inviting numerous friends and volunteers over for a joyful work party. In addition to getting an accurate tally of the merchandise, we also took the opportunity to clean, organize, or throw away anything the could possibly be cleaned, organized or thrown away. Doesn’t it look like fun? The store positively glows now with the fresh infusion of energy.

Sunday January 5th was the 121st anniversary of Paramhansa Yogananda’s birthday, but we went ahead and began the festivities on Saturday night. The best birthday present to give to our guru? Ourselves, naturally. And so everyone who has taken any step along Ananda’s particular ray of the spiritual path had the opportunity to reaffirm their vows and support others in their reaffirmations. (A few first-time initiates slipped in to the Sadhaka and Sevaka vows as well.)

Then at Sunday service the next day we celebrated a birthday gift, as it were, from Master back to us. We’ve just acquired a beautiful statue of Yogananda, done by an Italian sculptor named Sandro da Verscio, with personal guidance from Swami Kriyananda. Master has a completely blissful smile on his face as he meditates, and his presence shines through the statue so clearly that it’s a breathtaking joy to behold. At the end of service, the entire congregation came up to the altar to shower it with rose petals before it made a procession down the aisle to its more permanent home in the foyer. Isn’t it lovely?

Many blessings to all in 2014 — and Happy New Year!

Post-Christmas Roundup

The final lap of our annual Christmas marathon began with our all-day meditation on Saturday the 21st. Some additions to the altar this year were some items of Swamiji’s — a shirt and a pair of slippers that he wore in the last days of his life. These were in the right-hand niche, where they will later have a more permanent installation, and they were the source of much inspiration and devotion for everyone gathered there. More photos of the day are here.

Our caroling expedition around the neighborhood the following evening was a delight, as usual. This year we even absorbed a few neighbors into the group as we made our way around the Monroe loop. These included three small children with plastic trumpets, who provided an enthusiastic fanfare for the end of each carol.

Our Christmas Eve service came next in the ever-alternating Christmas dance of inward and outward energies. This beautifully devotional evening comes across well in the photos, but to fully appreciate them requires a vivid imagining of the exquisite music by a small ensemble and several soloists.

And then finally, Christmas Day. The family service was a glorious pageant full of angels, shepherds and kings of all sizes, and we got it filmed this year, so you can watch the entire thing here. And if you enjoy the photos, you can even peek backstage for the costuming and some outtakes.

The Christmas banquet had more tables full of people than we had days of Christmas, so we had to double up on the seven swans a-swimming and a few others just to get through the song. The entertainment also included a brand-new play, written by Marilyn and involving 12 actors, a director, a pianist, a sound technician, and the baby Jesus. It was quite a production! (Cliff's notes version: Santa and baby Jesus do indeed manage to share some Christmas cheer with a number of folks who very much needed it. Two thumbs up!) And, as a final number inspiring us all to help clean up, the three wise men were paid a return visit by a king of a different sort. (Okay, so we didn’t look remotely like Elvis, but we did our best.)

Merry Christmas to all!

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:

More Updates from Ananda Valley Farm

We had another community workday up at Ananda Valley Farm this past Saturday, with about 30 folks coming to pitch in. Some of the notable accomplishments include transplanting 250 calla lilies and weeding in the hoop house, clearing a hiking path to the top of the ridge (with a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean), designing and installing a much needed drainage ditch behind Seva House, measuring and installing metal fence posts around the orchard, and most important of all, preparing the orchard for planting. Check out this fun time-lapse video of the day's work:

And have you seen the new farm website yet? Give it a visit, see some more photos, and subscribe to the newsletter if you want to keep up-to-date on all the happenings there!

Farm Brainstorming

[Guest post courtesy of Trisha. See all the photos here.]

What do rotating seed banks, chickens, and Ananda-brand teas have in common? They were just some of the many ideas generated on Saturday at our Palo Alto temple when a group of over 50 devotees joined creative forces to brainstorm ideas for our new farm. Karen G. and Robert Z. creatively led the group into coming up with ideas in six major areas including: our vision for its use, how to market products, farming and what to grow, the buildings and equipment, security and a safe haven, and communication. Ideas were shared on what we would like to see happen on our farm, and every person that added an idea sparked more ideas from others. At the end of the day, presentations were given on the ones generated. There were too many to list here (they will be published soon), but some included raising bees for honey, sustainable farming and permaculture, having seasonal celebrations, sharing farm news on the web, what emergency supplies to have, and how to brand our name.

What we may lack in farm experience was made up in life experience and enthusiasm. Asha ended the day with beautiful words on how this farm has reconnected us to nature and to each other. How perfect our farm is, not just having everything we need it to, but also being so beautiful, and if we were all there camping out with no power but we had a harmonium with us, how much fun it would be.

We felt Divine Mother there on this most uplifting and inspiring day, moving her children along lovingly to help us get our farm going. At Ananda, when we are attuned to what is trying to happen, the possibilities are endless and as much creativity that had occurred on this day, the amount of joy coming out of our temple far exceeded even that.