Our home at Ananda Village lies next to the beautiful gardens of Crystal Hermitage. Lovely all year round, the gardens reach their full glory during April when thousands of tulips burst forth in bloom. The story behind the gardens is worth telling.
Nearly thirty years ago, when the grounds around the Hermitage were hardly more than dry clay and weeds, Swami Kriyananda said to our head gardeners, Jivada and Netri Mair, “Someday there will be world-class gardens here.” He also predicted, “Someday busloads of people will be coming.” We could only scratch our heads in bewilderment at his words, but over time they’ve proved true.
Working with dedication over the years, Jivada, Netri, and many community volunteers reshaped the clay slopes into terraced flowerbeds. Irrigation systems were installed, truckloads of topsoil brought in, flowering trees and vines planted, and a variety of flowers were changed seasonally. Gardens, like our spiritual lives, take time and effort before they can express their full beauty.
Seven years ago we decided to open the gardens to the public for one weekend in April. About three hundred and fifty visitors came to see the seven thousand beautiful blooms. As word got out about the gardens, more people started to come, and more tulips were planted. Guests began visiting from all over Northern California, with one man even driving up from Los Angeles every year.
This April during “Springtime at Ananda” nearly six thousand people came to see the thirteen thousand tulips blooming during the three weeks that the gardens were open. (To see videos and photos of the gardens, go to crystalhermitage.org.) Almost all Ananda Village residents volunteered with guiding tours, serving refreshments, and directing parking.
A few years ago at the end of April, we called Swamiji in Italy to tell him of the great success of that year’s tulip festival. “It’s amazing,” we told him. “Even after thousands of people have passed through the gardens, the grounds are as beautiful and fresh as ever.”
His reply was wonderful: “It’s not surprising at all. Of course the gardens would look beautiful—they’ve been appreciated by all the people who came to see them.”
Swamiji’s words reminded me of a statement by the great botanist, George Washington Carver: “Everything in nature will speak to you if you love it enough.”
And what do the flowers of Crystal Hermitage say to their admirers? They speak of a beauty and love that is beyond this world, of a peace and harmony that is an intrinsic part of our soul.
Visitors say things like, “This is the spiritual highlight of my year,” “It’s like seeing heaven on earth,” or “Now for the first time I understand what Ananda and communities are all about.” This year Crystal Hermitage boutique even sold out of books on meditation.
People come to see beautiful gardens, but their lives are uplifted and changed on an inner level. When we stop to listen, God can speak to us through His flowers and remind us of the beauty of our true home in Him.
With love in God,
Nayaswami Devi
14 Comments
Thankyou
Thank you! Very beautiful… Blessings of deep love to all!
Thank you Nayaswami Devi for the Article and the videos/ photos. The Nature talks to us :) Love !!!
Your wonderful words are uplifting. Surely the gardens must be much more so. Thank you.
We are hoping to create a school play on the life of George Washington Carver for next year!
Dear Jotish and Devi, that’s is an incredible synchronicity! receinving this newsletter just the day I have found out that you have bought my ebook : Green Therapy: the healing secrets of Nature.
Thank you, you have given extrastrenght to my mission! Master is quoted in different part of the book but He is behind the scene of everything (as we all know…). Thank you so much!
Hope to see you soon
Scilla ( Italy)
Jyotish and Devi,
Working as a massage therapist in Nevada County for the past 19 years, it often comes up in conversation with my clients that I lived at Ananda for many years. Not knowing much, if anything about the community, I have sent many curious clients up to the Village to experience Ananda firsthand. The annual tulip tour provides an opportunity for them to experience Ananda in a very comfortable way. Many now have a much different and positive attitude about the community, the people and our path, seeing it through the beauty of the gardens and meeting community members at the Hermitage.
Thank you to the members of Ananda Village, for sharing the beauty of our path in this way!
Terri Cooper Myers
Nevada City
Dear Terri,
Thanks again for your letter. It was lovely seeing you at Sunday Service — I hope you’ll keep coming.
With love,
The gardens are truly astral. I couldn’t help wondering, while visiting in April, how the recovered crystal is doing? I know I’d met that crystal years ago when it was in the hermitage chapel. I would enjoy meeting that crystal again. Those who know me and are reading this will smile. Crystal memories:)
Dear Peggy,
This returned crystal continues to grow more clear and is safely housed in the dome of Crystal Hermitage. Thanks for asking.
With joy,
Tears of Joy and truth came to me as I read your article Deviji. What Swamiji said about the gardens looking so beautiful because they had been so appreciated, helped me to reflect that this is the exact thing that happens to all who come here to Ananda, and all who live here.
Swamiji taught us what Master taught him and that was deep sensitivity for all of life. We, too are like those tulips: souls come and visit us and take with them hope and renewed strength. And not only do we not loose any of what we have to offered, we are made more beautiful because of giving the scent of Divine Friendship!
Thank you dearest one!
Love,
Brindey
Thank you Devi!
Thank you great souls for guidance, leadership, discipleship, love and service. When I first saw Crystal Hermitage, almost 30 years ago, my deep feeling then was that I had entered the Astral World, a Divine paradise. I felt it even more deeply today as we celebrated the Moksha Mandir dedication. In Divine Friendship, steve
Lovely story, my favourite touch of light so far :-)