The Way of Ananda Sanghis
Join our Mailing List
Become a Member
Sangha Newsletter
Ananda Worldwide
Sangha
Newsletters
The Ananda Sangha News
Ananda Sangha of Portland
September 306 Dwapara (2006)
PDF (hi-res) 1.44M, |
PDF
(low-res) 680K (PDFs include photo galleries)
PDF
September Calendar,
58K
In This Newsletter
Articles & Letters
Lead Article: Satsang and Community
Balancing the Inner and the Outer LifeThe Paths of Yoga (by Swami Kriyananda)
News, Events and Schedules
Dear
Friends,
Greetings.
Waking this morning (slightly after the alarm was supposed to have done the job, but fortunately still before time to lead the 3- hour morning meditation) I could feel the afterglow from the Guru Night celebration from last evening.
Over 50 folks gathered in devotion last evening at the Ananda Community to draw on the presence of the line of spiritual masters that brought Ananda and the teachings of Self-realization to our world. An altar was established for each of the five masters, and time was spent at each altar, chanting, meditating, listening to stories of their lives, feeling for the special dispensation that comes uniquely through each one. Their presence was palpable, the joy was vibrant, and the 3 hours passed far too quickly. The entire community was bathed in a peace that was at once soothing and vibrantly alive.
After the meditation this morning, a friend came to the house to learn a new chant. As we sipped coffee, and worked on the music, through the open windows came the sounds of gentle laughter, the chatter of friends and the noises of folks working together to clean up after the previous evening. A group of 9 ducks had joined the party and were being fed (and sprinkled) by a couple of the children. This quality of friendship, shared joy, kindness, cooperation, and delight in life is rare in this world, yet so natural and easy. It is a reflection of being in tune with the Divine, the reason that Yogananda was so strong in his encouragement for truth-seekers to live together in community.
As I write these words, a woman who was at the event last night stopped into the Mandir to arrange the flowers for tomorrow’s service. “Last evening was heavenly,” were her words.
Why was the alarm clock mentioned? Because each of us has to face the choice, each day, each moment, what we are going believe, what we are going to give energy to.
This morning, I was torn between the desire (legitimate, I assure you) for sleep and the yearning to increase my experience of His presence. Going to the temple, I knew that it was going to be difficult to get above the subconscious desire for sleep. The fact is that much of the meditation was overshadowed by the fatigue. However, there were moments of superconscious contact that were worth any effort. And the simple effort of trying also brings blessings beyond measure. Were it not for the group meditation, I am sure that I would have yielded to the fatigue and missed those precious moments.
We have within us a heaven waiting to be awakened, and the teachings that make it possible, along with the blessings and guidance of five great masters. Lest we become preoccupied with lesser things, let us keep our minds and hearts focused on growing in Spirit, that all our lives become “heavenly.”
In divine friendship,
daiva & ganga mata
PS All gratitude to the great souls who “made it happen” last night-Michelle Ritchie who coordinated everything, the setup and cleanup crews, the decorators, the musicians, speakers, photographers, attendees, (and everyone else)!
Balancing the Inner and the Outer Life
After a brief and glorious summer, Autumn is arriving, bringing shorter days, cooler days, and a growing sense of inwardness. The natural rhythms of life, when we cooperate with them, nudge us in the direction of increasing awareness and Spiritual growth.
In the Sangha office this year, we decided to create a deliberately relaxed period of classes and activities for the Summer months. It was a fabulous decision. We have had week after week of sunshine, friendship, adventure. With the changing season, however, we find that thoughts turn towards a quest for deeper understanding, a richer relationship with the inner world. Thus, we have developed a schedule full of opportunities to increase understanding, and perpetuate the adventure of Self-realization.
In terms of courses, we have our flagship course The Art and Science of Raja Yoga beginning. Having just become certified as an associate branch of the Ananda Yoga School at Ananda Village, we are starting our first Ananda Yoga Teacher Training program. We have a full schedule of Meditation for Starters and Developing and Inner Life meditation classes.
Every few years I feel inspired to tell Stories from the Mahabharata, a personal favorite and the source of the Bhagavad Gita. This begins next Thursday.
In addition we have visiting ministers for classes and satsang, we have music concerts, Sunday Services, daily meditations, community meals, family lives, ongoing employment, and ___________, you fill in the blank.
To make the most of these opportunities, pace yourself. Prioritize enough spiritual activity that you feel refreshed and inspired. Make those activities into satsang by sharing them with friends. Realize that at the end of the day, it is not how much you have done but how much your joy level has increased that will make the difference. Let’s have a great season.
-
Membership—For those of you who are members of the Ananda Portland Sangha (Gold, Blue, or White) we have created a special graphic icon next to the description of classes that will indicate that your membership benefits apply. Look for the special star µ symbol throughout the newsletter! Want to become a member? Talk with Daiva or Ganga Mata Glazzard.
-
Women’s
Retreat—The spring women’s retreat (held in Manzanita) that was snowed out
has been rescheduled for the weekend of September 29-October 1. There is still
a few spaces left, so if you would like to attend please talk with Ganga Mata.
Cost is $225-250 depending upon accommodations. -
Baby Shower & Blessing—Satyaki
& Iswari are expecting their first little bundle of joy (a boy!) in October.
We invite everyone to join us (women, men & children) on Sunday evening
September 10th at 6:30pm in the Ananda Community Room to bless Satyaki &
Iswari on their new journey as parents! Bring a potluck dessert dish to share
with everyone. If you would like to help with preparations, please talk with
Ganga Mata. For gift information, speak to Nicole Miller. Also, please note: If you would like to attend the regularly
scheduled community dinner at 5:30pm please call Ganga Mata at the mandir to
RSVP. -
Summer Family Activities! Join us at the Ananda Community for joyful family-friendly evenings of satsang and friendship. We’ll start with a vegetarian potluck at 5pm then enjoy an activity together like family movies, storytelling, kirtans and more! Join us on Saturday Evenings August 5, 12, 19, & 26.
-
Guitarists
& Harmonium Players: would you enjoy learning to play the songs for the
Festival of Light on Sundays? It’s a wonderful way to become part of the
Sunday Service team! If so, talk with Satyaki
(satyaki@anandaportland.org). -
Master’s Café is open—After a month of quiet and cleaning, the kitchen/dining room at the Community is up an running. Call Hollis at 503-997-4316 to sign up for a cooking slot.
-
Music, Music, Music—Swami Kriyananda used to say “If you want to get to know me, play my music.” Kirtans, Chanting, Choir, Concerts, sing your heart out. We have 2 special concerts this month—The Choir Concert-How to be Happy All the Time, and renowned flautist Sharon “Bhagavati” Brooks and her husband Ramesha from Ananda Assisi will be performing. See the calendar for details...Also—
-
Harmoniums for Sale! We are preselling harmoniums for an order this fall. See Daiva to reserve yours.
-
Ananda Seattle’s Mandir is Nearing Completion—As
of yesterday, the Seattle Mandir was receiving its final coat of stucco and
the blue roof tiles have arrived and are ready to be installed. Let’s keep
them in our prayers as they wrap up this maha (enormous) project… -
Sacramento Altar “Altered” -- Jim Magee and Daiva left last Wednesday to
join Vidura, JT Heater and a group of Sacramento builders to construct a new
altar at the Sacramento Mandir. At the end of 4 days, it was definitely giving
off a new vibration. (See the PDF version of this newsletter for pictures--links
at the top of this page.)
-
Join
Crystal Clarity’s Each One—Reach One Campaign!
The Each One - Reach One Campaign is, in some ways, like the Random Acts of Kindness and Pay It Forward movements that swept the nation a few years ago. These movements inspired people to reach out beyond their immediate family and friends, often to people that they didn't even know and maybe wouldn't ever know, and give them an unexpected gift. Our Each One - Reach One campaign offers, in the form of The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita, a tool to help bring uplifted consciousness, deep inner peace and bliss.Do you know someone who would benefit from uplifted consciousness, deep inner peace and bliss? Then join our Each One - Reach One Campaign. When you purchase a copy of The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita at the regular cover price, we will provide you with additional copies at half price! Purchase additional copies to give away to family, friends, co-workers, local libraries, and others you would like to reach out to and help us uplift the world one person at a time.
from Meditation for Starters by Swami
Kriyananda
(this information is so pertinent we decided to use it again from last
month)
Question: I find that in the welter of activity I become almost afraid of peace. Is there anything I can do to overcome this fear?
Answer: This is one of the classic obstacles on the spiritual path: False notion, in the present case fearing the very thing you may desperately need and want.
The fear you mention is quite simply the consequence of physical and mental tension. If you fight that tension, you’ll only become more tense. Concentrate first, therefore, on relaxation—physical, first, then mental. Later on, I’ll go more deeply into the subject of relaxation and how it can be achieved.
Question: You mentioned “rest points.” Are there such points also in the way the body functions, comparable to those in objective Nature?
Answer: There are, of course, for we are inextricably a part of Nature. That is why we resonate with outer events in Nature. Between every breath, for instance, and the next there is a rest point. A rest point occurs between the exhalation and the inhalation, and again between the inhalation and the exhalation. You will find it a good practice to watch the breath during meditation. Concentrate especially on those pauses between the breaths. Enjoy them.
Be aware also of the pauses at other rest points in your life: at the end of a sequence of thoughts or of feelings; at the moment of a shift in your activities; at the moment of waking or of going to sleep. Learn to live more at these pauses. Don’t drown your awareness in a vortex of constant activity.
A good technique for changing directions in your life that you don’t like—a bad mood, for example, or a fit of jealousy, anger, or despair—is deliberately to create a pause, both physically and mentally—then use that pause to affirm the change you want. Here’s how to do it:
Inhale, and tense the body; throw the breath out, and relax. Then hold the breath out for as long as you find it comfortable to do so, Keep the mind free from all thoughts for the time being. When you need to inhale again, inhale with the breath the thought of an opposite energy to the one you want to change. At the same time, fill your mind with happy and constructive thoughts: kindness and acceptance toward all, if your problem is jealousy; calm non-attachment and good humor, if it is anger; courage, if it is despair. And so on.
* * * * *
The daily practice of meditation is the foundation of all that we do at Ananda. Each month, we offer both introductory (one-night) and comprehensive (four week) classes. Look for Meditation for Starters, (one night) in September, 7:30-9pm $40 (includes materials) or Developing and Inner Life: Learn to Meditate, (four weeks), beginning September 5, 7-9pm, $150 (includes materials). µ
from The Art & Science of Raja Yoga by Swami Kriyananda
Yoga,
literally, means “union.” This union can be understood on different levels:
philosophically, as that of the relative, limited self with the absolute Self;
religiously, as that of the individual soul with the Infinite Spirit;
psychologically, as the integration of the personality—a state wherein a person
no longer lives at cross-purposes with himself; emotionally, as the stilling of
the waves of likes and dislikes, permitting one to remain in all circumstances
complete in himself.
It is this last level that serves as the classical definition of yoga by the ancient sage Patanjali. Patanjali’s profound Yoga Sutras, or aphorisms, have been looked upon for millennia as yoga’s definitive scripture. He wrote: “Yogas chitta vritti nirodh”—”Yoga is the neutralization of the waves of feeling.” Chitta (feeling) has been variously translated as “mind-stuff,” “consciousness,” “subconsciousness,” “the lower mind.” In a series of classes on Patanjali’s Yoga Aphorisms many years ago, Paramhansa Yogananda pointed out that those waves in the mind which produce delusion and bondage are primarily the likes and dislikes, the biased feelings of the heart. Vritti (vortices) literally means, “whirlpools”—the whirling eddies that interfere with life’s smoothly flowing stream, sucking into a purely private orbit whatever one likes, making one so preoccupied with egoistic selections and rejections that he is no longer consciously a part of the stream. Thoughts pass through the minds even of enlightened sages whenever they wish them to, though they subside easily because of the sages’ nonattachment to them. Other functions of the mind, too, such as memory, idea-association, and analysis, the sage can perform far better than the average person. It is not as if he ceased completely to function as a human being after achieving enlightenment. What cease for him are the waves, or eddies, of selfish likes and dislikes of attachment. Entering thereby into the sacred lifestream of Pranava, or AUM, he merges consciously into the silent, infinite ocean of Spirit.
Yoga is the neutralization of ego-directed feelings, because once these become stilled, the yogi realizes that he is, and that he has always been, one with the Infinite—that his awareness of this reality was limited only by his infatuation with limitation.
The different paths of yoga, then, must be understood in the light of how they help to bring about this neutralization of the waves of feeling.
The Art & Science of Raja Yoga Intensive: A Course in Self-Realization
Twice a year we offer a 14 class in-depth course in The Art & Science of Raja Yoga—A Course in Self-Realization. This class is a combination of study and personal application. Through the practice of meditation, yoga postures, pranayam and the eight-fold path as described by Patanjali you will explore the Art & Science of “Knowing God”. The class is an important component of preparing for Kriya Yoga initiation.
Tuesdays
Sept 12—Nov 21 (plus 3 Saturdays), $575 (materials extra)
Taught by Daiva & Ganga Mata
µ Ananda Portland membership benefits apply to this class or event
The Great Tale of India, one of India’s two epic stories is the source of the Bhagavad Gita. This allegory covers the time of Krishna and the battle between cousins to rule the kingdom. Occurring at the change from descending Dwapara Yuga to descending Kali Yuga, it parallels some of today’s events (as we transition from ascending Kali to Dwapara Yuga). The storytelling is adventurous, lively, and draws out the spiritual understanding woven into the saga. This is a perfect prelude to the course “Essence of the Bhagavad Gita,” which will be held on Thursdays in October. Suitable for the whole family.
Thursdays September 7-28, 7-9 pm at the Mandir, $50, Under 13 $10 µ told by Daiva Glazzard
Global
Breakdown or a New Age? Planetary Yuga Cycles
Join Byasa Steinmetz, engineer and scientist, for a look at the Planetary Yuga Cycles of Sri Yukteswar. With a fabulous multimedia presentation Byasa will share with us the keys to understanding our past, explore the changes and conflicts we see in the world around us and look into what the future may hold.
September 16, 9:30-1:30pm, $50 (includes lunch)
µ Taught by Byasa Steinmetz
Dave and Maria Warner will share satsang with us and talk about the Path of Kriya Yoga. They have many years living these teachings at Ananda Village and are delightful speakers. Dave is the head of the Ananda Kriya Yoga ministry worldwide. Come tune into a deeper understanding of this set of practices. “...consider Kriya the most effective device of salvation through self-effort ever to be evolved in man’s search for the Infinite.” Autobiograpy of a Yogi
Friday, September 8, 7-9pm, Donation
µ
Bent (Pranaba) & Parvati Hansen Return to Portland
Spiritual directors of Ananda Portland from 1996-2004 these beloved friends return to spend some time with us. Satsang will be Friday evening 7-9 pm, then Saturday 10-12 am, they will talk with us regarding the power and magnetism of spiritualizing giving. Parvati is head of the Janaka Foundation, so anyone interested in “planned giving” may wish to stay after the class.
Friday, September 22, 7-9pm, Donation; Saturday, September 23, 10am-12pm µ
“My Master [Sri Yukteswar] once asked me, ‘Do you love people?’ I answered, ‘No, I love only God.’
“‘That isn’t enough,’ he replied.
“Later he asked me again, ‘Do you love people?’
“I smiled blissfully this time, and said, ‘Don’t ask me.’ He could see that my love, now, was too broad to be spoken about. This time, therefore, he only smiled.”
From Conversations with Yogananda
Weekly Postures Schedule at the Mandir
|
Monday |
10:00-11:15am |
|
|
Tuesday |
5:45-7:00pm |
|
|
Thursday |
5:45-7:00pm |
$10 per class or $36 for 4 classes. µ
Watch for Prenatal Yoga coming soon!
1 John Gorman
3 Nicole Miller
5 Sandy Pagano
Bob Ausbeck8 Darlene Potter
9 Ean McClane
14 Satyaki Brockschmidt
17 Christiana Pierce
19 Jasmina Balogh
21 Barbara Grafton
23 Kira Burge (c)
26 Mary Lu Taylor
27 Anita Vinson
Daniel Knox (c)
Blessings to all these great souls! If you’re missing from our list, please let us know.
Sept 5
Class: Developing an Inner Life--The Foundation of Daily Meditation begins, 4 Tuesdays, $150, 7-9pm. µ
Sept 5
Ananda Yoga Teacher Training Begins, 7:30-9:30pm (see above)
Sept 7
Class: The Mahabharata, 4 Thursdays of class and storytelling, $50. µ
Sept 8
Event: Satsang with Dave & Maria Warner--The Path of Kriya Yoga, donation, 7-9pm
Sept 12
Class: The Art and Science of Raja Yoga begins (see above) µ
Sept 15
Event: Fundraising Concert with Bhagavati (Sharon) Brooks and Ramesha (Fabio) Nani from Ananda Italy, $5 plus donation, 7-9pm
Sept 16
Class: Yuga Cycles with Byasa, 9:30am-1:30pm (see above) µ
Sept 22
Event: Satsang with Pranabha and Parvati Hansen, donation, 7-9pm
Sept 23
Class: The Spirituality of Giving with Parvati Hansen, $25, 10am-noon. µ
Sept 23
Event: How to Be Happy All the Time--An Ananda Choir Concert, donation, 7:30-9pm.
Sept 29
Meditation commemorating Lahiri Mahasaya's Birthday, donation, 7-9pm
Sept 29
Weekend women's retreat begins (details above)
Oct 5
Class: The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita, 4 Thursdays, $50, 7-9pm. µ
Oct 6
Event: Satsang with Ananta & Maria McSweeney, donation, 7-9pm
Oct 10
Class: Developing an Inner Life--The Foundation of Daily Meditation begins, 4 Tuesdays, $150, 7-9pm. µ
Oct 23
Evening Living Wisdom School 10th Anniversary Celebration
Oct 28
Retreat: A Meditation Retreat Workshop--Deepening Your Meditation, $65
Nov 7
Class: Developing an Inner Life--The Foundation of Daily Meditation begins, 4 Tuesdays, $150, 7-9pm. µ
Nov 23
Thanksgiving Vegetarian Potluck at Ananda Community, 1:30pm
Dec 16
5-Hour Christmas Meditation, 8am-1pm
Dec 16
Christmas Gala Evening, 7-9pm
Dec 23
All-Day Christmas Meditation, 8am-4pm
Dec 24
Christmas Eve Service, 10pm
Dec 25
Christmas Morning Meditation, 8-10am
Dec 23
Christmas Vegetarian Potluck at Ananda Community, 12:30pm
Watch for details on these events in upcoming newsletters.
Sign up for Weekly Inspiration from Ananda Portland emails--send us your email address to weekly@anandaportland.org.
Home | Site Index | Contact Us | Donate
©2006 Ananda Sangha of Portland