We’ve had a cool rainy spring, perfect weather for tulips. This year more than 4,000 visitors came to “Springtime at Ananda,” to see the gardens at Crystal Hermitage and the 9,000 tulips. Many have commented that these gardens are among the most beautiful in the world, not only because of the amazing flowers but also because of the uplifting and expansive setting — vast vistas and joy-filled residents.

A couple of years ago at the end of the tulip season, we mentioned to Swami Kriyananda, who was in Italy, that in spite of so many visitors, the gardens still looked beautiful. His response was one of those simple statements that has a profound impact. He said, “Well, of course they would look good. They’ve just had thousands of people appreciating them.”

Many emotions — frustration, anger, delight — seem to be thrust upon us without our conscious consent, as if they had a life of their own.  But appreciation is a feeling that can be cultivated through practice.  When we do, life begins to bud and blossom.

Swami Kriyananda returned to America last week. On the drive home we stopped at a café with Swamiji and, as he often does, he complimented a woman on her dress. This simple act of appreciation created a lovely connection. She told us her daughter brought it for her from Hawaii, and we chatted briefly.

Life led with simple acts of kindness becomes rich. Positive emotions send signals from the heart to the brain that releases a cascade of healthful neurochemicals. Appreciating gardens, events, people, and tests is a powerful pathway to happiness.

Like the gardens, Ananda’s work everywhere is exploding with new life. In India we are working on plans for a large new center in Gurgaon. This project is being done in cooperation with India’s largest real estate developer and could become a model for future centers throughout the country. Also in our community near Pune the first 28 flats are nearing completion and the first pioneering families are starting to arrive.

Ananda’s work is also booming in Europe and America. Near our community in Portland, Oregon, we have acquired a former 7^th Day Adventist Academy which has housing for over 500 people. Set amidst verdant farmland, Ananda Center at Laurelwood will become a center of learning for Education for Life, permaculture, ecology, and community living. Starting next year it will also become a branch of our Ananda College. A famous physicist and author, Amit Goswami, who recently visited the Ananda College said, “Harvard and Stanford are good schools, but students of awakened intuition will want to come to the Ananda College.”

Ananda Village is also growing. We’ve recently installed hundreds of solar panels and are expanding our agricultural efforts in new and innovative ways.  The baby goats have just arrived and are bouncing around as if they had pogo sticks for legs. A new Master Plan for future expansion will soon be submitted which will allow us to build many more houses for new members who want to live here.

But all this expansion of facilities wouldn’t be very meaningful without the continued growth of the spirit. What we have or do is not nearly as important as what we become. The most gratifying growth can be seen in Ananda members worldwide in their deepening of dedication, devotion, service, and love for God.

Swami Kriyananda is at Ananda Village now and will be in this country until mid-September and then return to India. (You can see his schedule here.)

This is a great time to visit. Come and refill your cup of joy and appreciation. Who knows, it could change your life.

In divine friendship,

Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi

The post Tulips and Transformations appeared first on Inspirations from Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi.

When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties, and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.

These words are from Patanjali, and were written by the ancient exponent of yoga about 300 BC. Yet they are so vibrant and alive that he could have said them yesterday. For us they describe the experience of building Ananda and spreading Paramhansa Yogananda’s mission: the excitement of watching ordinary people become extraordinary when they do something they believe in.

Often in our blogs we’ve written about some inspiring project from Ananda and invite you to join us in the effort. One reader recently wrote us saying, “I don’t understand what you mean? How I can join you from where I am? What can I do?” A fair question.

What we mean is for you to find “some great purpose” in your own life — serve others, spread peace to those around you, seek God, whatever inspires you — and devote yourself to this goal. We mean to join us by finding the deeper purpose of your life, and then give it all you have. This effort will help you discover “yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed of.”

Swami Kriyananda’s life is dynamic testimony to this principle. At the age of 22 he met Master, and now at 85, he continues his life’s great purpose of spreading Yogananda’s teachings that he began 63 years ago.

At his recent talk in Delhi, India on “The Importance of Dharma in Today’s Practical World,” Swamiji spoke to an enthusiastic crowd of 1500 people. Currently India is plagued by corruption in both government and business that is crippling the efforts to improve the standard of living for millions.

Swamiji received an ovation when he exhorted the audience: “It is your destiny to put out the energy to attract wealth to your country, but do it dharmically. Then India will once again take its role as the guru of the world.”

Currently Swamiji is releasing his newest book: Paramhansa Yogananda — A Biography with Personal Reflections and Reminiscences. A major book launch took place in Mumbai, India; and soon in Rome, Italy; and in Los Angeles, California on June 24.

This ad will run in The New York Times Book Review.

We want to make sure that this wonderful book gets the wide readership that it deserves. The biography will be placed on the front store displays of Barnes and Noble’s 270 top stores nationwide. And we’re taking out a large ad in The New York Times Book Review, which is read by millions.

We share this news in part because it’s inspiring, but also to show you the power of dedication to “some great purpose.” Find your own and draw strength from the spiritual heroes who have walked before you. Swamiji writes in his new biography: “Yogananda was a towering giant among saints — one of those few who come from age to age, having been sent by God with the divine mission of guiding mankind out of the fogs of delusion into the clear light of divine understanding.”

So rejoice in Patanjali’s statement: “Expand your consciousness and find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world.”

With divine love and friendship,
Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi

Related

• Video: The Importance of Dharma in Today’s Practical World — A talk by Swami Kriyananda, 1 hour and 20 minutes
• Paramhansa Yogananda — A Biography with Personal Reflections and Reminiscences — The new book by Swami Kriyananda

The post Some Great Purpose appeared first on Inspirations from Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi.

We send our love to all of you, and now after nine days in India, we finally have a moment to write you some news about our travels here. This trip has had many blessings and some unexpected adventures along the way.

We flew out of Sacramento on January 6 traveling to Portland, Amsterdam, and finally arriving in Mumbai on January 8 at 1:00 am. We were met at the Mumbai airport by a driver, who was hard to find amidst the dense crowd of other drivers waiting at the arrival exit gate. When we finally spotted him he was holding up a sign saying “Nayaswami Jyotish” with a spiritual eye on it.

We eventually (and very happily) were driven to the hotel, where Swamiji and a large group from Ananda were staying. Everyone was eagerly helping with the book launch of Swamiji’s new biography of Master taking place that night. On the one-hour drive from the airport to the hotel, we were surprised and delighted to see big billboards in Mumbai with Master and Swamiji’s picture announcing the event.

After a few hours sleep, we met Swamiji in the lobby of the hotel. Swamiji stepped out of the elevator looking radiant — what a joy it was to see him again.

The day was mainly spent in preparation for the book launch. Many of you watched Swamiji’s talk either live or recorded, so you were able to see what an inspiring and beautiful evening it was. The auditorium, which we were told was possibly the best in all of India, was designed by the same man who did Lincoln Center in New York. It was a perfect venue with great seating and acoustics, and was located directly across from our hotel.

Swamiji spoke for over an hour to a full house of 1200 people seated inside the auditorium and an overflow crowd of 350 standing in the lobby watching on TV monitors. The book launch was a great success with many copies of the biography sold.

The next morning, January 9, after breakfast we had planned to drive back to the Ananda Pune community while Swamiji, Dharmadas, Narayani, and Miriam were to visit a sacred pilgrimage spot. However, when we greeted Swamiji the next morning, he spontaneously invited Nirmala, David and Asha Praver (who had arrived the night before), and us to join them on the pilgrimage, and we happily accepted.

The pilgrimage was to a place called Kanya Kumari, located on the southernmost tip of India where three oceans meet: the Arabian Sea on the west, the Indian Ocean to the south, and the Bay of Bengal on the eastern shore.

There is a large rock (or small island) located a few hundred feet out to sea that was made sacred both by Swami Vivekananda and the Goddess Parvati. Vivekananda was the disciple of the great master Ramakrishna. After Ramakrishna’s passing, Vivekananda prayed for divine guidance as to how to carry on with his life. As penance, he undertook to walk the length of India, and finally reached the southernmost tip. He then spied the island and swam out to it. There he began to meditate and after some time achieved enlightenment alone on the island.

Years later a temple was built to commemorate the event. It was also believed that on this island the Goddess Parvati destroyed a terrible demon that was terrorizing India. A temple to Parvati was also constructed, and the Indian people consider Kanya Kumari to be one of the most sacred places in their country.

The journey was not easy involving planes, trains, cars, and boats, but we eventually got there. Next to the sacred island is another smaller island with a huge statue of a revered Indian poet who wrote an epic poem about Parvati’s destruction of the demon. The statue is 130 feet high to commemorate the 130 verses of his poem to Parvati.

We were able to meditate with Swamiji in several rooms of the Vivekananda and Parvati temples. Though it was crowded and noisy with many other pilgrims, there was still a vibration of great spiritual power there. We stayed in a nearby hotel, and the next morning Swamiji said that he felt a deep blessing from the shrine. We, too, felt greatly uplifted by the experience.

Next on January 12, Swamiji and all of us flew to Goa, on the West coast of India, where we were joined by Lila, Durga, Vidura, and Anand from Assisi, for a rest and vacation. We’re staying at a beautiful resort, the Taj Exotica, with one of the most beautiful beaches we’ve ever seen. It’s been a lovely visit with everyone enjoying the beautiful scenery, perfect weather, and the joy of each other’s company.

Swamiji is a bit tired from all the traveling, but still doing well. Everywhere he goes he touches the hearts of people here in India, who recognize what a great soul he is and naturally pour out their love to him.

In Goa, with Swamiji and friends

We’ll leave here (too short a stay in Paradise) soon to go to the Pune Community for the remainder of our stay. There we’ll help with the training program they’re starting for new members who are moving into the community. Our departure from India is scheduled for January 30.

We send our loving thoughts to you and look forward to sharing more about our trip later. It has been a time of great blessings and joy in this holy land of India with Swamiji and our divine friends in God.

In Master’s love,
Jyotish and Devi

The post News from India appeared first on Inspirations from Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi.

We send our heartfelt wishes that your Christmas season be filled with peace and joy. May you feel you are like the three wise men bearing gifts of divine love with each gift you give.

Yogananda tells us that the three wise men who traveled from the East to visit the baby Jesus were our gurus — Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Sri Yukteswar — in previous incarnations. Master also explained that they were great yogis guided by the Inner Star of intuition which led them to the Christ Consciousness present in that tiny babe asleep in the manger. They came, in part, to prove by the “Miracle of the Star” that Jesus was a true son of God, an avatar.

“The Second Coming of Christ” is what Yogananda called his own mission to the West. He came to show us all how we, too, through meditation, service, devotion can behold the radiant Inner Star that shines at the spiritual eye.

I remember my first Christmas at Ananda in 1970. In fact, it was my first Christmas ever since I was raised in a Jewish family. The Village had only 30 or 40 members at the time. This was before other Ananda communities were formed, so we were a small group celebrating Christmas very simply.

I was living at the Meditation Retreat in a little 10-foot trailer nestled among the trees down a small dirt road. On Christmas Eve we had a concert in the temple at the Retreat, and it started to snow. I stayed after everyone had left to meditate alone before the beautiful altar as the snow was quietly falling all around.

When I finished meditating and was preparing to walk back to my trailer, I realized that the snow was quite deep and that I had no flashlight. So I curled up next to the little propane heater, covered up with someone’s meditation blanket, and slept one of the most peaceful slumbers I’ve ever had.

In the morning when I opened my eyes, I felt spiritually transformed as I beheld a world of sparkling beauty and purity with snow covering the trees and landscape with a blanket of white. People began to gather in the temple for the Christmas morning meditation, but I had already felt the presence of the baby Jesus — so quiet, powerful, and filled with God’s presence.

Now these many years later, Ananda’s celebrations of Christmas happen all over the world, as communities and groups come together for many inspiring activities. But for me, Christmas will always be the awakening to a new world of inspiration and joy that I experienced alone in a small, cold temple in the snowy woods.

So, this Christmas may you be ready to receive from Christ his greatest gift of all — the awareness of his presence residing all around you and in your own heart.

With love in God, Christ, and Guru,
Nayaswamis Devi and Jyotish

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A recent Ananda Village workday

Dear Friends,

We hope that you are well and enjoying the beautiful season of autumn wherever you are. Last week we gave a satsang at Ananda Village about the spiritual practice of seeing everything we do as service. The community members here said they enjoyed and benefited from it, so we’d like to share our thoughts with you as well.

What’s the difference between work and service? Swami Kriyananda said: “We should view whatever gainful employment we seek as a service, never merely as work. The mere thought of hard work, indeed, often drains a person’s energies, whereas joyful, willing service opens inner floodgates to a boundless supply of energy.”

Here are three keys to help you transform your attitude about your work into “joyful, willing service”:

1. Do everything you do with the consciousness of inner peace. If you find yourself getting tense, nervous, or upset at work, take a break, breathe, or meditate for a few minutes — whatever helps you to return to a balance point of inner peace and centeredness. Consciously try to bring peace and calmness into every activity. You’ll find you get a lot more done, too, and at the end of the day, you’ll feel refreshed and uplifted.

2. Be intensely aware of what you are doing, not with strain or tension, but with quiet absorption. Serving with concentration also draws intuitive guidance and creative solutions to deal with the task at hand. A concentrated mind, as opposed to a scattered one, is automatically filled with upliftment and peace.
3. Offer everything you do to God. Whatever your job may be — important or humble — offer it joyfully and freely to God. Remember, all work is His work – we are merely His channels in this world. No work is important or unimportant in God’s eyes, but serving in a spirit of self-offering draws His blessings.

At the conclusion of our community satsang we shared this list: “101 Ways We Serve at Ananda.” We hope that you can find something in this list that you do, too, and join us in your service to God.

In divine friendship,
Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi

101 Ways We Serve at Ananda

1. Raise cows, goats, and chickens
2. Run an online radio station that plays Ananda music 24/7
3. Grow vegetables and fruits
4. Build and maintain water systems
5. Do property management overseeing infrastructure and roads

6. Develop new property
7. Run a talk-of-the month club with Swami Kriyananda’s archived lectures
8. Build and maintain homes
9. Do community planning and master plans
10. Compile phone lists, birthday lists and The Villager weekly newsletter
11. Oversee membership process
12. Teach children and run schools
13. Start colleges and teach classes
14. Run clinics as doctors, nurses, clerical support
15. Raise children and build marriages
16. Train and counsel new members
17. Run markets, stock shelves, cook lunches
18. Run a phone system

19. Operate a blacksmith shop
20. Design beautiful gardens and plant tulips
21. Maintain Crystal Hermitage and keep the systems working
22. Pray for others and run a Healing Prayer Councils
23. Teach people Kriya and support their practice
24. Train choirs and perform music every week of the year
25. Sell gems and make jewelry
26. Design and publish books and market them globally
27. Ship out Ananda books and products
28. Develop websites
29. Make meditation benches and cushions

MeditationBenches.com, a family-owned business at Ananda Village

30. Develop online businesses and boutiques
31. Make sandwiches, hummus, and cookies for market
32. Offer online classes and webinars
33. Commute or telecommute to jobs in tech industry
34. Do art and crafts
35. Publish an online magazine
36. Dry tomatoes
37. Teach yoga and train teachers
38. Work with community finances and pay bills
39. Write pay checks
40. Do financial and investment consulting
41. Put mail in boxes and label packages
42. Raise funds to keep things going
43. Start new foundations to expand Ananda
44. Attract the devas
45. Make altars and sacred spaces beautiful
46. Keep computers and computer systems running
47. Teach a friend to use their iPhone or Kindle
48. Teach people to meditate and train teachers

49. Cook meals for family and friends
50. Take people to hospital and pray during their surgery
51. Run The Expanding Light
52. Organize workdays
53. Maintain The Expanding Light buildings and gardens
54. Write books
55. Create yearly calendars for The Expanding Light’s classes
56. Answer emails
57. Design flyers and brochures
58. Give massages
59. Give haircuts
60. Take photos and make videos
61. Support and visit meditation groups
62. Pick figs for friends
63. Run boutiques and shrines
64. Operate costume shops
65. Care for our parents

66. Do fire-clearing
67. Start new centers and communities
68. Smile at a stranger
69. Help people sell things on eBay
70. Start endowment funds for the future
71. Donate and tithe
72. Direct and perform plays
73. Raise bees and gather honey

74. Join the local fire department
75. Develop a Spanish Ministry and teach Spanish-speaking people in South America and Spain
76. Cook three meals a day 365 days a year at The Expanding Light
77. Bring meals to people who are ill
78. Lead sadhanas
79. Sew curtains
80. Fix cars
81. Use big equipment to keep property open and beautiful
82. Proofread new manuscripts
83. Baby-sit
84. Tell someone, “You can do it!”
85. Send out mailings
86. Teach people how to have radiant health

Nayaswami Maitri, one of the teachers for Radiant Health Training, leading a class

87. Clean houses
88. Do landscaping and create fountains
89. Make someone laugh
90. Teach the AUM technique
91. Stay calm in a crisis
92. Host 4,000 people to see the tulips (and feed them scones)
93. Share Nature with Children
94. Go to book fairs, trade fairs, and new age fairs
95. Teach Karma Yoga to new people
96. Feed the birds
97. Operate databases
98. Share divine friendship

99. Attune with Master
100. Love God
101. Do lots of other things that never make it on to lists

What ways do you serve?

The post 101 Ways We Serve appeared first on Inspirations from Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi.

Dedication Weekend t-shirts

On the back of the t-shirt the letters “J-O-Y” were formed by listing the many projects they’d been working on: “J” was made up of carpet-cleaning, spray-painting, pick-up loading, hammering, wrenching, meditating, lifting; “O” was pressure-washing, drywall-hanging, mudding, divinely loving, scrubbing, laughing; “Y” bell-ringing, irrigating, pie-making, cleaning, raking, composting, energizing, and celebrating.

These words tell the story of the great souls who have been working non-stop over the past four months to prepare Laurelwood for the Dedication Weekend. Let them also tell you about their experience in their own words.

First, here are excerpts from a letter that Daiva and Gangamata Glazzard, the Spiritual Directors of Ananda Portland, wrote for guests:

Welcome to Ananda Center at Laurelwood, Ananda’s international home for Education for Life. Inspired by the timeless vision of life-long learning, Ananda Laurelwood resides on a 50-acre campus in the sylvan valley of Laurelwood, Oregon.

The campus has been dedicated to enlightened education since the early 1900’s (it was a Seven-Day Adventist Academy that housed 500 students and 60 staff), and Ananda Laurelwood, in establishing this home for Education for Life, is furthering the spread of understanding, harmony with life, world-brotherhood, and Self-Realization.

We are blessed by fertile grounds, nourished by fresh rainwater and an artesian spring which provides some of the purest drinking water to be found. The soils are excellent for growing various crops, and the gardeners and orchardists are exploring the principles of permaculture to optimize the use of the lands in harmony with the larger environment. Organic, efficient food production is one of the fertile fields of study on this campus.

The buildings and grounds lend themselves to multiple uses. Residential study programs in Community Development, Health and Healing, Diet and Nutrition, Yoga, Meditation, Education for Life, Music and the Arts, Business Principles, Agriculture and Permaculture will all be available.

But this letter doesn’t begin to convey what went on behind the scenes. During a picnic on Sunday afternoon, we asked various people the question: “How has the Laurelwood Experience changed your life?”

Here are some of the replies:

Timothy, 18 Years Old

Timothy, in the Ananda Laurelwood dorm building

“It’s given me an opportunity and environment to grow dramatically and unlock who I am — to find my divine potential, and to learn simple, practical skills. I love being useful in a work environment and being able to clean things I’ve never cleaned before. Everyday the circumstances escalate appropriately in relation to how I’m growing. It’s Master — he makes sure his work is done in all of us.”

Tracer, 22

“It’s great. It’s like a fairy tale — having family around you 24/7. I didn’t used to have so much fun on weekends just hanging out with my friends. Before you know it here you’re involved in some huge project or in a play. I love it.”

Mary, 14

“You have to get outside of your comfort zone. It’s been fun seeing how people grow and how the landscape and buildings have changed.”

Jess

“It’s the best opportunity for personal growth and development that I can imagine.”

Ram Prasad

Ram Prasad painting with a young friend

“I’ve been living here the past four months, and Ananda Laurelwood is like a delightful kiln. We’re all like clay pots that were really scared to become porcelain, but have always wanted to be. We were missing that aspect of ourselves, and coming here has given us the ability to jump into that fiery, blissful kiln to find a way back to that divine form that is within us all.”

Kara

“I’ve been really frightened and anxious for a lot of my life, and Laurelwood has given me the ability to clear myself out of the way and let God flow through.”

Vajra

“So many people have become instant visionaries. They used to tell me about the things they’ve been planning, but now they say, ‘Since I’ve come to Laurelwood and have seen the huge project that we’ve taken on, I’ve been thinking…’ Then they spin out a whole new vision they have for their future.”

Daiva

“A better question is how has the Laurelwood Experience NOT changed my life. I have watched the transformation of people’s consciousness in weeks, days, and minutes that typically doesn’t happen in decades. People are joyful, alive, self-identity is expanding, and limitations are falling away.

“Why? Because people have consciously chosen an environment where they have to face themselves and overcome inner and outer obstacles. There’s no place to hide or to justify your mistakes. By the grace of God, these teachings, and everything that Ananda is, people get the support to choose the highest within themselves.”

Lewis, 62, On-Site Project Manager

“I’ve been living at Laurelwood since we purchased it, and have been doing whatever was needed, helping out, and keeping things together. I live here 24 hours a day and am enjoying it thoroughly, making sure things are running smoothly. I’ve grown immensely and am enjoying being in the center of the vortex of activities that is going on around me. I’ve found that I don’t need to control everything because a lot of things can take place by themselves — it’s just a matter of allowing that decision to come to fruition. I just love it here.

Young adults at Laurelwood meditating together

“The future for Laurelwood is something that Ananda as a worldwide community needs. It’s filling a void to create a teaching center where we can train people to spread Education for Life and the Communities movement.

“A group of people have come together here to make this a center of loving, expansive energy that will be sending out rays of higher consciousness and light to all points of the world. It’s a perfect addition to bring forth all the visionary things that Ananda has been thinking about for years.”

And people are stepping up to manifest the vision. Usha Dermond, a trainer for Education for Life (EFL) teachers and former principal of the Portland Living Wisdom School, has turned over the reins of the school to her assistant. Moving to Laurelwood, Usha is establishing the headquarters for the first international center for EFL outreach and training.

Nitai Deranja, founder of the first Living Wisdom School and current head of the High School at Ananda Village, will also be moving to Laurelwood in the summer of 2012. Usha and Nitai will form a team that will make an impact on education unlike anything we’ve done before. (If you’d like to learn more, you can watch this 20-minute video of Nitai and Usha giving a talk from the dedication weekend, or attend the Education for Life online teacher training course.)

One of the rooms in Ananda House

We’d also like to mention that across the road from the Laurelwood campus, two long-time Ananda members, Hanuman and Mari Baughman, are starting another new project: Ananda House, a spiritual assisted living facility. This is also a long-time dream of Ananda’s — to provide assisted living for devotees as the need arises so they can spend their later years in an uplifted, loving environment.

Someone asked us during the weekend at Laurelwood what it felt like to watch another Ananda community get started. Without thinking, we replied: “Ever-new déjà-vu.” God’s guidance and sustaining power may be present repeatedly, in fact eternally, but each expression is unique and fresh. We returned home from Laurelwood filled with inspiration and awe in experiencing once again how God, through many hands, can make a miracle.

With love in God,
Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi

Ananda members gathered for the dedication weekend

The post Ananda Laurelwood — Where Every Day is Labor Day! appeared first on Inspirations from Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi.

“When God closes one door, He opens another, but it’s hell in the hallway.” A friend of ours recently shared this amusing saying with us, and it’s something we’ve probably all experienced. The most challenging periods in life are the times of transition before the next door opens.

Right now it seems we’re in a giant “hallway” — a period of global upheaval with an uncertain future economically, politically, environmentally, and even morally. People are desperately seeking a new portal to open onto a brighter future. And open it must: we just need to know where to look.

We want to share with you some wonderful experiences we’ve had in the past several weeks watching people find new “open doors.” The first was “Wanderlust Festival,” a yoga gathering that took place at Squaw Valley, California the weekend of July 29 – 31. Over ten-thousand people came from all over the world to practice yoga asanas, meditation, and enjoy nature in the beautiful surroundings of the Lake Tahoe area.

The Expanding Light was invited by the Wanderlust Festival organizers to host the Meditation Dome and to offer instruction and guided practice there. Nearly one-thousand people came to the dome for presentations and events, filling to overflowing many classes by Ananda teachers.

We observed that the Bhagavad Gita says, “Out of a thousand, one seeks me.” So with a thousand people coming to our Meditation Dome out of the ten-thousand attending the Festival, our percentage was pretty high.

Among our many wonderful teachers speaking to capacity crowds were Dr. Peter Van Houten, on “How to Achieve Your Brain’s Highest Potential,” and Nayaswami Bharat, leading a “Meditation and Nature” walk. Nayaswami Anandi led a workshop called, “Learning to Access Your Superconscious Mind,” which was written up in an inspiring blog post on the Wanderlust Festival website.

Shanie Matthews wrote:

As I walked into The Expanding Light Dome — aptly named with its otherworldly hexagon shape, beautiful pillows, throw rugs, chimes, and serene atmosphere — my attention was drawn to the lovely woman leading the talk, Nayaswami Anandi. She glowed with love from the inside out… an example of the embodiment of serenity… Anandi explained how I have the power to connect with a part of myself that I didn’t even know existed, my superconscious… Thank you to Anandi and Wanderlust for expanding my mind… may this message of the beauty of the connection to our superconscious mind continue throughout the world.

Another door opened last weekend when we traveled to Portland, Oregon, to help prepare for the launch of a new Ananda community there. We’ve recently purchased the Laurelwood Academy, which had been a Seventh Day Adventist college and boarding high school. Renamed “Ananda Center at Laurelwood,” it’s a complete campus on 45 acres of prime land with dormitories (360 rooms), dining facilities for 400, administration buildings, a temple, a 400-seat theater, and much more. It offers a huge step forward for Ananda’s work, giving us a new community with facilities for Education for Life training and outreach, permaculture gardens, and an Assisted Living facility for the elderly.

We served, meditated, chanted, and shared with the wonderful team of Ananda people who are making the huge new project happen. Master said, “Bite off more than you can chew, and then chew it,” and everyone there is chewing hard.

The official opening date is Labor Day weekend, and Ananda members from our worldwide communities will be attending. Someone joyfully suggested their slogan should be, “Everyday is Labor Day at Laurelwood!” We’ll write to you about it after the dedication event takes place.

Finally, next week begins Spiritual Renewal Week at The Expanding Light with big crowds coming for classes, concerts, dramatic performances, Kriya Initiations, and more. Now in its 42nd year, thousands have found this annual event to be a source of inspiration and spiritual renewal.

Some doors are closing: The world news of unstable governments, unending warfare, economic decline, and natural catastrophes offers little hope for a way out of the “hallway.” But the teachings of our Masters, the practice of meditation, and Ananda Communities open doors that increasing numbers of people are recognizing as the best, perhaps only, way forward.

Recently at a talk in Ananda Assisi, Swami Kriyananda said, “Please, help us in this movement. It is the answer that people everywhere are seeking.” We, too, invite you to join us and share the joy of helping others open doors to the future.

With love in God,
Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi

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Dear Friends,

Hello from Ananda Village, where 9,000 brilliantly colored tulips at the Crystal Hermitage gardens are dancing against a backdrop of mists playing on distant hillsides. The Village is increasingly becoming like the radiant astral world, not only because of its loveliness on the physical plane but, more importantly, because of the beauty of a community of high-minded souls.

Swami Kriyananda repeatedly addressed the themes of community and magnetism during his last few weeks in Los Angeles, almost as if he were giving his final advice to the people who live there. Magnetism, he said, is the key to everything.

Electromagnetism, one of the fundamental forces in the universe, levitates trains, smashes atoms and makes our modern world possible, but magnetism surges even more powerfully through consciousness. Our thoughts and feelings, when directed by willpower, create a magnetic aura that attracts all life’s experiences. To attract success, or happiness, or God, increase and direct your will (think enthusiasm), and the law of magnetism will take care of the rest.

In the early days of his mission, Paramhansa Yogananda had only three months to find the funds to buy Mount Washington. One follower, probably thinking he was giving a needed “reality check,” told him it would take 20 years to get that much money.

Master responded, “Twenty years to those who think 20 years. Twenty months to those who think 20 months. And three months to those who think three months!” In three months, literally as the final seconds ticked down, the money arrived, and he had the property.

Focused magnetism generates its own reality, and when a group works together miracles can happen. That is the secret story of Ananda. And that is why both Swami Kriyananda and Paramhansa Yogananda so strongly emphasized spiritual communities as a solution to both individual and global problems. Spiritual communities help direct and magnify positive magnetism. They also form an aura of protection from the hard times that so many saints have been predicting just as an umbrella keeps you dry during a downpour.

We were surprised by the strong sense of loneliness and isolation we saw amongst the crowds in LA. And yet most people felt that it was simply not possible for them to move to a community. If you, too, have been feeling isolated in your search there are some simple but effective things that you can do right where you live.

• We’ve recently developed an Ananda Virtual Community as a way of bringing community to your home. Members from around the world get classes, webinars, group meditations, kirtans and other events. For many, their favorite part is the forums where they get to interact with other spiritual friends. To join, go to Ananda Virtual Community.

• Strengthen your sense of community where you are living now: Attend group meditations and make friends with other devotees.

• Make a serious effort to practice the presence of God. Talk to Him. Share with Him. Make Him your constant companion.

If you’ve been thinking about moving to Ananda, now is the time to do something about it. Swami Kriyananda will be in residence only until the last week of May at which time he heads off for Europe and then in September to India.

We would love to have you come and join us to see our community filled with beautiful tulips and shining souls.

In divine friendship,
Nayaswamis Jyotish & Devi

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This will be the last letter that we write you from Los Angeles for a while, since Swami Kriyananda, his staff, as well as Jyotish and I will be heading back to Ananda Village on March 11. We’ve been here now since August 23 – nearly six and a half months – and it’s been an incredible adventure.

Swamiji had two primary goals in coming to Los Angeles: to bring Master’s love and joy to people, and to develop the two film projects he’s been working on – The Disciple and Yogananda, the Movie.

Swami Kriyananda after a filming session for an upcoming movie

It’s impossible to estimate the sheer number of people whose hearts have been touched through our efforts here: through radio interviews, classes, satsangs, the Oratorio concert, billboards, New Age conferences, book fairs, social gatherings at our ashram, Meditation Groups, online classes, Kriya and Discipleship Initiations, and the pilgrimage to Master’s shrines.

As we look back on all the activities, it’s deeply inspiring for us to think about how much has been done. But more important than the quantity of people is quality. As Master said, “I prefer a soul to a crowd, but I love crowds of souls.” Those people who have deeply connected with Ananda and have committed themselves to this path have been visibly transformed. The magic of Master’s magnetism has changed lives and created a lasting spiritual family.

Cameraman and screenwriter filming Swamiji

The two movie projects are also progressing beautifully. Filming began during the last two weeks of February on The Disciple, a docu-drama based on Swamiji’s life. An international team of Italian and American filmmakers and devotees began filming interviews with Swamiji about his life, his time with Master, and his building Ananda worldwide.

Devi being interviewed for The Disciple

These interviews provide a priceless legacy filled with many stories that most of us haven’t yet heard. Many other people were also interviewed including several who are founding members of Ananda and some who were born and raised in an Ananda community. More interviews will be done in April when the crew comes to Ananda Village to film the community and the 9,000 tulips in full bloom during the “Springtime at Ananda” festival.

A separate film team is working on Yogananda, the Movie a feature film based on our Guru’s life. The director and scriptwriter are fine-tuning the screenplay and hope to show it to Swamiji before he leaves. Once the script is finalized, they’ll start work with a casting agent to find actors for a short “demo” on the film. It’s really thrilling to think of the impact these movies will have.

All of work that’s been started here will continue with the great crew of Ananda LA. Swamiji also plans to return here in June and July for more work on the films.

40 devotees on pilgrimage at Hermitage in Encinitas

Finally, last weekend – February 24-27 – Ananda LA hosted a pilgrimage to Master’s shrines here in Southern California. Despite chilly weather and lots of rain on Friday, 30 devotees visited Forest Lawn Cemetery (where Master’s body is interred), Mt. Washington, and Lake Shrine. On Saturday the weather cleared a bit as 40 of us visited the Hermitage at Encinitas and the beautiful Ananda Encinitas Meditation Center.

For Jyotish and me, it was a very blessed way to say good-bye to Los Angeles for now. As we meditated on the bluff at Encinitas overlooking the Pacific Ocean, one could feel Master’s infinite consciousness as a dramatic play of power and light on the waves stretching to the horizon. It was as though he were saying to us, “My children, seek Me in the vastness of spirit within yourself for I am ever with you.”

We send our love and joy in God to each of you,
Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi

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Jyotish and I are back at Ananda Village from Los Angeles for the Christmas holidays and are drinking in the peace and quiet of the country. We’ve had a wonderful time being in LA for these past four months — reaching and teaching new friends, sharing Master’s love through Swamiji’s Sunday satsangs, and watching the remarkable process of a new community emerging. Now we have a few weeks to absorb the inner blessings of Christmas before returning to Los Angeles to celebrate Master’s birthday on January 5th.

Live creche scene at Ananda Village

I love the Christmas season. There’s a mysterious spiritual quality present that I’m sure we’re all aware of, but that’s hard to define. It starts with humility — in my mind’s eye I see the travel-weary Holy Family making their way to Bethlehem for the census according to Roman decree. Without any sense of importance, Joseph and Mary know that she is about to give birth to a great world savior. Finding no room in the inn, they make their way to a little hut filled with fresh straw and the sweet warmth of farm animals. When her son is born, Mary lays him in the manger, in a feeding trough. The divine Christ lies there in the humblest of circumstances, but the little hut is filled with the presence of angels.

Then there is patience born of love. Holding that tiny baby in her arms, Mary must have known that the life of her son would be filled with great suffering and sacrifice. Still with that perfected love for God and for man, she accepted it all willingly, patiently, knowing that through their offering people’s hearts would never be the same.

The spirit of hope is a part of it. At that dark time in history when people were oppressed by materialistic consciousness and their was faith tested, the Divine Consciousness took birth again to remind us that there is always “a light that shineth in darkness.” The hope that Christ brought — as shown by his own life — is not that all trials would be taken from our path, but that we would always find the strength to deal with them, and in the end to triumph.

And finally there is joy. I believe the angels still celebrate that sacred birth, because they know that his birth is our own birth to a higher life of God-consciousness. The simple joys of giving gifts, of enjoying the company of friends and family, and of feeling a sense of universal brotherhood are acts that sustain and renew us each Christmas.

Who can define Christmas, or would even want to? We can only inwardly prepare ourselves to receive the grace that flows down at this time, and pray that people everywhere will be uplifted to express peace and good will toward all.

Our Guru has written a beautiful Christmas prayer:

O Lord! Make my heart big enough to hold Thee, that it throb with the Christ Consciousness in everything. Then shall I enjoy the festivity of Thy birth in my mind, my soul, and in oneness with every pulsing atom.

With divine love and sincere wishes for a blessed Christmas for you and your loved ones,
Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi, and all your Ananda Family

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