Dear Friend, At a recent gathering in Hansa Temple at Ananda Village, we listened to Somnath and Sarita Ghosh, Yogananda’s grand-nephew and his wife, as they spoke of Master’s (Yogananda’s) boyhood in the Ghosh ancestral home at 4 Gurpar Road (watch a video of the gathering). Sarita, as a young bride, would seek out her father-in-law, Hare Krishna Ghosh, to … Read More
Dear friend, Just at daybreak, April 20, 2015, Swamiji’s casket was carried by devotees to its final resting place beneath the newly completed Moksha Mandir. That same morning, while in seclusion at Ananda’s Meditation Retreat, I awoke from a dream of our choir singing, with so much power and joy, “Christ Is Risen,” from Swami’s Oratorio, Christ Lives. Words and … Read More
Dear Friend, What opens the channel through which God’s grace flows into the human heart is, above all, an attitude of giving to the universe, to something larger than one’s little self, to the mystery from which comes all true inspiration. The channel grows more and more open. The giver increasingly finds his fulfillment in the giving, in using what … Read More
Dear Friend, When we look reverently, into the inner heart of the natural world, we see God’s hand stretching out to us, giving to us, nourishing, inspiring, sustaining, calling us to our true Home in His joy. Divine Mother teaches us the art of giving and receiving, of joyful self-offering and grateful receiving, through Her many guises everywhere in Mother … Read More
As a small child in the 1940s, I was each year taken by my mother to buy a birthday gift for my father. She would help me make a selection, hand me a dollar to give to the cashier, later wrap the present, and, during the actual presentation, would exclaim, “look, Wally, what little Jimmy has for you!” I was … Read More
A few weeks ago we gathered at an Ananda Village home to offer our blessings to a statue of Divine Mother in Her form as Durga. Durga is a beneficent aspect – she protects her devotees from the misery caused by such dark emotions as selfishness, jealously, prejudice, hatred; she embodies purity and wisdom, and acts to preserve righteousness and … Read More
This past August, during Spiritual Renewal Week, we were treated to a dramatization of Swami Kriyananda’s beautiful story/allegory “The Singer and the Nightingale.” The play was a delight, profoundly funny and, in its serious purpose, just as profoundly moving. We rejoiced with the Singer when at last his voice soared free. I think we were equally touched by the light … Read More
Dear Great Souls, “That which you offer to God, that which you give to God is blessed. It’s not charity, for you’re giving to your own Self. What you offer to God is blessed a million fold!” (Swami Kriyananda) July 29,2014 we celebrated the one-year anniversary of Ananda Meditation Retreat’s new incarnation – its return, after many wonderful years as … Read More
One of the joys of living in spiritual community is seeing souls blossoming into understanding life’s true purpose – epiphanies along the way to self-realization. Parents and school teachers especially must see many such awakenings in the young ones they care for and guide – moments of profoundly spiritual awareness shining through what Master, speaking of his own birth family, … Read More
The Ananda Living Wisdom School holds an awards ceremony at the end of each school year. The teachers recognize their students for qualities developed and expressed during that year – qualities such as kindness, generosity, servicefulness. As I listened, inwardly I felt how pleased Master must be, and Swamiji, at such a fulfillment of their vision of an education that … Read More
