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Pilgrimage
to Calcutta and Serampore
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"In
the Footsteps of Autobiography of a Yogi"
Ananda India Leads a Group Pilgrimage to Calcutta
March 5-8, 2007
Join us in this
opportunity to travel together, and to share a life-transforming
experience.
The heart of
Autobiography of a Yogi is the city of Calcutta. Immeasurable blessings
emanate from the places where Paramhansa Yogananda and Swami Sri
Yukteswar lived and meditated. That power is as alive today as always.
Being able to go as a group to meditate in these holy spots reinforces
the blessing and gives us access to places otherwise not available.
Ananda has been
leading pilgrimages to Calcutta regularly for over twenty years,
and we share a deep friendship with Yogananda's family and other
custodians of these holy shrines.
Our pilgrimage
will be centered on two houses, close to each other. One isYogananda's
boyhood home at 4, Garpar Road, where he spent his early years of
spiritual seeking. The family of Yogananda's brother, Sananda, continues
to inhabit the home, which they will open to us as a shrine. In
Yogananda's attic meditation room he "found God" and had
visions of Divine Mother and Lord Krishna. We will be able to meditate
on this very spot.
Yogananda's
father and Sri Yukteswar were brother disciples, and Sri Yukteswar
regularly came to this house to meditate with the family. Before
Yogananda's departure for the United States, Babaji came to bless
him at the doorway to his bedroom, which is now reserved for silent
meditation.
During Yogananda's
1935-36 stay in Calcutta, he lived at the home of his close friend,
Tulsi Bose. Tulsi's daughter and her family, all Kriyabans, still
live in this house, and conserve the beds used by Yogananda and
Sri Yukteswar, and many treasured relics also of Lahiri Mahasaya
and other saints who have blessed this house. This home was also
blessed by many saints, including Sri Yukteswar, Anandamayi Ma,
Swami Vivekenanda, and others.
Very often Yogananda
went to visit his guru in nearby Serampore. We will visit Sri Yukteswar's
Serampore ashram and meditate at the banyan tree at Rai Ghat, where
Babaji and his disciples appeared to bless Sri Yukteswar when he
finished writing The Holy Science. In Serampore we will meet other
members of Yogananda's and Sri Yukteswar's families, and meditate
at the ashram of Sri Yukteswar's disciple, Motilal Thakur.
We will also
visit the Kali Temple at Dakshineswar, sanctified by the presence
of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa for much of his life, and by Yogananda,
as recounted in Autobiography of a Yogi.
We will meditate
together each morning, as well as at each place of pilgrimage. There
will be social times, like at meals and travelling, but the flavour
of the pilgrimage will be inward-one of communion and meditation.
Dates
This pilgrimage is scheduled to fit comfortably between two retreats
in Gurgaon with Swami Kriyananda: the Mahasamadhi Retreat, March
2-4, and the Kriyaban Retreat, March 8-11. We will depart for Calcutta
from Gurgaon on Monday morning, March 5, and return on Thursday
morning, March 8.
Guides, Accomodations,
Meals, and Transportation
Keshava and Daya Taylor from Ananda India, and Krishna Das and Mantradevi
LoCicero from Ananda Village, will lead the pilgrimage, assisted
by guides from Discover Tours, our Indian tour operator who has
helped us for many years in Calcutta. Transportation from Delhi
to Calcutta and return will be by plane. Transportation within Calcutta
will be by air-conditioned bus. In Calcutta we plan to stay at the
4-star Golden Park Hotel. Breakfast, lunch and dinner most days
are included.
Program Fees
and Registration
Final costs are still being negotiated and computed. We expect
the fee, double occupancy as explained below, will be in the range
of US $750-950, and we expect to have that final price and payment
schedule before the end of August, 2006.
The program
fee includes bus transfer from Gurgaon to and from Delhi airport,
Delhi-Calcutta-Delhi flight, all bus transportation in Calcutta
area, lodging in Calcutta for three nights, 3 meals most days, and
hotel tips. Not included in the program fee are one dinner; beverages;
donations at ashrams and Yogananda's shrines; personal trips in
taxi or rickshaw; personal expenses such as laundry, telephone,
internet; tips for Indian guides and bus driver.
Fees are given
for double occupancy, with single rooms available for an additional
fee. If you wish double occupancy accommodation, and you do not
know another pilgrim with whom you wish to room, you will be assigned
a roommate if there is another single pilgrim of the same sex who
wants to share a room. However, we cannot guarantee finding a suitable
roommate for you. If a roommate cannot be found, you will need to
pay for single occupancy.
If you are interested
in this pilgrimage, please email keshava@anandaindia.org and we
will send you an application and the final details as soon as they
are ready.
Proposed
Schedule
Monday, March
5
Bus transfer from Gurgaon to Delhi airport, flight departure 9:20am
Arrival Calcutta 11:30am
Bus directly to homes of Yogananda and Tulsi Bose
Visit to two homes includes lunch, meeting families, meditating,
and satsang
Dinner at hotel
Satsang
Tuesday,
March 6
Breakfast at hotel
Bus to Serampore
(Sri Yukteswar's hermitage, Rai Ghat, lunch with Yogananda's family,
Motilal Thakur ashram)
Return to hotel for free evening
Dinner on your own
Wednesday,
March 7
Meditation and breakfast at hotel
Visit house of Bhaduri Mahasaya, the levitating saint
Visit to homes of Yogananda and Tulsi Bose, including lunch
Dakshineswar in afternoon
Dinner at hotel
Satsang
Thursday,
March 8
Breakfast at hotel
Flight to Delhi departs 9:00am
Arrival in Delhi 11:00am
Bus transfer to Gurgaon
If you would
like to register independently for either retreat, ask questions,
or learn more about the programs and lodging, email keshava@anandaindia.org.
•
Learn
more about the Mahasamadhi Celebration
•
Learn more about the International
Kriyaban Retreat
•
Learn more about
the Guided Pilgrimage to both events plus Calcutta |
