All day long I’ve been feeling like someone unplugged me at the source, making it hard to get much of anything done.
Well, tomorrow is another day.
That limp noodle feeling
I 🖤 collaboration!
We’re planning a global concert to celebrate the May 19th birthday of Swami Kriyananda (composer of Ananda’s music) and it’s thrilling to see increased collaboration happening.
At our meeting this afternoon we had representatives from the following teams: Ananda Music; Online With Ananda; Virtual Community; Communications; Development; Audio/Visual; and the Expanding Light Ashram.
Every person involved has experience singing in Ananda choirs and deep attunement with Swamiji and the music. What a wonderful feeling to see all the various ideas and areas of expertise come together into one harmonious and joyful whole.
Super grateful!
The first order of business
Being back in “Challenge Mode” means once again tracking my bedtimes, hours of sleep, daily walks, etc.
Which means I need to cut this short in order to be finished with my dinner a full two hours before I go to bed (early, I hope).
You know, I really LOVE my daily tracker!
Time to get back in the saddle
Metaphorically speaking, of course!
I’ve had a very interesting two weeks “off” in-between my first and (upcoming) second RPP Challenges. It’s almost like I had to revisit how I “used to be” in order to remember why I don’t want to “live there” anymore!
A part of me wishes I could have just stayed completely on course, and maybe that will come after a few more challenges. But for now, I’m grateful for the psychological “break” because it’s left me feeling really ready to get going again!
Songbooks here, songbooks there…
I see songbooks everywhere!
Yep, this has been the main focus of my day. So great to see them getting snapped up like this!
Ananda Songbook: gamechanger for Ananda Music
So much has been happening lately in our Ananda Music world! The latest, and one of the most exciting, is our new Ananda Songbook!
All 190 of Swami Kriyananda’s vocal melodies, in a sort of combination hymnal/jazz fake book — meaning it’s just the melodies and guitar chords, conveniently spiral-bound, but with table of contents; index of first lines and titles; and songs listed by categories.
I explain everything I love about it in this short video.
Easter love, hope & possibilities
As a child I loved Easter even more than Christmas. There wasn’t all the fuss about gifts; I liked jelly beans more than chocolate; and we got new Easter clothes to wear to church.
Now I understand that what I really love is the resurgence of hope, of infinite possibilities, of love triumphant which the combination of Easter and springtime awakens in my heart year after year, without fail.
Happy Easter. 🙏
Springtime at downtown Ananda
The other day I rushed down to Master’s Market to grab some milk before they closed. Then I stopped at the mailroom to pick up mail and packages. Just the regular routines of a typical day.
Except that as I got in my car to drive home, I glanced out the window and was reminded — yet again! — of how blessed I am to live in spiritual community, in this small bit of heaven on earth.
The essence of Good Friday
For me, this song — “You Remain Our Friend” — from the Oratorio captures the essence of Good Friday and the promise of the great ones: that they will always and ever love us, no matter what.
LYRICS
Solo:
When we need You, You descend,
Seeking grieving hearts to mend.
By hate unaffected,
You remain our Friend.
On a cross rejected,
Doomed to meet a shameful end,
Still, with love perfected,
You remain our Friend.
Choir:
Long we feared to face Your love,
Lest our emptiness it prove.
Now at last our hearts we give You,
Who remain our Friend.
More Oratorio inspiration
Tuesday I shared about singing all the Oratorio choir songs during our Easter Zoom Sing-Along, which was both great fun and deeply inspiring.
Now — finally! — I’ve got all the links and can share about two more opportunities to experience the Oratorio during this Holy season. The first option can viewed starting tomorrow night (Good Friday), while the other offering can be yours to enjoy whenever you like!
Christ Lives! An Illustrated Oratorio
with photography and music by Swami Kriyananda
Good Friday, April 2 at 7:00pm (online)
https://www.ananda.org/video/christ-lives-an-illustrated-oratorio/
(It will also premiere directly on YouTube and Facebook.)
This version of Christ Lives! includes footage from a 2008 performance of the Oratorio in Palo Alto, California, together with a slideshow of photographs by Swami Kriyananda.
Swami describes how the music came to him as he meditated at sacred sites while on pilgrimage in the Holy Land in 1983. While there, he experienced the deep inspiration of Christ as a living presence and wrote each piece from that uplifted state of awareness.
The photographs were taken by Swami during that same pilgrimage.
And for an extra special treat..!
Christ Lives! A Pilgrimage to the Holy Land
(archival recording from 1984)
An Oratorio composed, arranged, and narrated by Swami Kriyananda
Original 1984 Edition (archival) – Remastered
MP3 Download ~ $16.95
CLICK HERE for more information or to purchase