Letter from Pune Part 2

Dear Friends,

We’re sorry that we haven’t written more updates recently, but we’ve had quite a busy schedule with only intermittent internet access. In any case, we’re in our comfortable flat in Pune now with a few lightly scheduled days at our disposal, so it’s a perfect time to share some news highlights. Picking up where we left off in our last letter of Oct. 7 . . .

On Oct. 8 we returned to Delhi from Pune for many meetings and discussions regarding the direction for the Institute. Although these were productive, the development team of Pia, Dhyana, Jyotish, and I didn’t yet feel we were finding the right string by which to pick it up. Nevertheless, we persisted in our discussions during the twelve days we were in Delhi.

On Saturday, Oct. 20, we flew to Bangalore to start a two-day retreat for devotees there at a beautiful spiritual retreat center that we’ve talked about in previous years: The School of Ancient Wisdom. Haridas and Roma were more than usually joyful, because they had just found a new building for the Ananda Bangalore Center. It’s more than twice as big as the current one, and they’ve already begun moving in.

The Bangalore retreat ended on Sunday afternoon, and we were then joined by Ananda India center leaders and assistants for a two-day gathering. It’s amazing to see the expansion and development that happens here from one year to the next. One very important development is how many of the centers—Noida, Gurgaon, Pune, and Mumbai—are now being led by Indian devotees who came to Ananda after Swamiji began the work here. The other centers—Delhi, Chennai, and Bangalore—all have Indian assistants working alongside of the leaders.

On Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 23, we flew to Chennai with Dharmini and Dharmarajan to begin a week of classes and programs there. These included a public discourse entitled “Kriya Yoga—The Answer to Life’s Problems,” followed by a screening of the film The Answer. About four hundred fifty people attended the event, including two hundred fifty new ones.

From Chennai we flew back to Delhi on Oct. 30, to travel the next day with Pia and Dhyana to Abbott Mount for a five-day working seclusion on the Institute. It was here in the Himalayan foothills that the inspiration and vision for the project came. It felt as though the Masters were guiding our thoughts with breakthrough ideas. We’ll describe the vision in more detail after we return to the U.S.

One of the thrilling outcomes of our discussions is that Pia and Dhyana will come to Ananda Village in mid-January (Pia will stay for one week, and Dhyana for three to four). We’ll continue to develop the project, and will have an all-community meeting live-streamed throughout Ananda to share the vision. We’ll let you know the date as soon as we know exactly when they’ll be arriving.

So now, as we said, we’re in Pune for several weeks with many activities scheduled: a public discourse on Sunday, Nov. 11; a visit to the new monastery on Wednesday the 14th; a Higher Kriya Yoga Initiation in Mumbai on Nov. 18; and finally an Ananda India weekend retreat at a large facility located between Pune and Mumbai. We’ll fly back to Delhi on Nov. 26 for some wrap-up meetings with various people.

Enough for now. We return to America on Dec. 9, so we’ll be seeing many of you for the holidays. Thank you deeply for your loving thoughts and prayers. We’re well aware of how much they sustain us.

With joy in God and Guru,

Jyotish and Devi

View Facebook album of Nayaswami Jyotish and Nayaswami Devi’s tour here.