One of our friends is in the process of moving — with his wife and two small children — away from Ananda Village to live near our community outside Seattle.
As a parting gift, he shared the following story (originally written a couple of years ago). I’m sharing it here on my blog because he so beautifully and eloquently captured the essence of living at Ananda Village.
(I’ve replaced the names with initials, since I’m not sure if everyone is comfortable being named in a public blog. 😄)
Downtown Ananda Village is the social center of a small spiritual community, nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Surrounded by hills, from any direction in the Village one literally drives down into it to arrive at one of the destinations there such as those perennial places of pilgrimage, the mailroom and the market.
In a storm last weekend, a tree fell — and as I drove into the downtown area, what do I see but a bright yellow tractor against the deep green and brown of the tallest tree I’ve ever seen downed. Someone I know must be driving the tractor, the Village being what it is, but I can’t quite see who they are. The sky is beautiful and sunny, and I almost stop to take a picture. On my left are the pickleball players — celebrating a new pastime at the Village, and I pass them on my way in.
In the mailroom, I hear someone talking outside with N–. Who is it? I don’t recognize their voice. They are going on, kind of ranting, and N– is listening and just giving them energy. It’s the postal worker, I see as I come out. She asks about his hours and he shares how he used to work for money and now it doesn’t seem so important. “Of course!” she says, affirming this expansive understanding he’s developing. It’s God’s kindness that she shares, by listening, and you can tell that she cares. And I think of it all as I walk away.
In the market, I see S–, joyfully willing to help me find the pumpkin pie spice on my shopping list. It’s the same with P– — and they are laughing; I can’t remember why, but the feeling of it stays with me. The person checking out the groceries, a math teacher, adds up the totals in his head. To have such joy in the midst of service; to be consciously engaged in what one does, even in the checkout line. I think of it all, and carry it with me.
Back in the car, I start driving home. I pass R– on my right, a person who, more than anyone I’ve ever known, is always ready to share a smile and a laugh. There’s a utility worker nearby and I watch as he changes direction, making a detour to talk to the visitor. The way he does this makes me wonder: perhaps the only reason is just to share joy, because this person is here and because joy wants to be shared. That idea fits with what I know of R–. And I think of this.
As I reach the tree, it all comes together. I see that P–, a long-time meditator, is the driver of the tractor, and one of the monks is helping him; I see a neighbor walking with her friend, just reaching them, where they talk together. I see that everyone is here for joy, everyone is sharing joy — and more than that, everyone is joy.
Joy is the air we breathe and the river in which we swim. It’s taking the perfect drive through downtown Ananda Village, with the walkers laughing with P– on the tractor, the pickleball players, the visitors — and I think of S– and P–, N– — and I think of my guru, choreographing this moment.
I have nothing I can add to it; I cannot capture it with a photo, or deepen it with a conversation, so I simply drive through it, this ideal everyday expression of a spiritual community — simple living and high thinking, for God in ourselves and in each other.
Go with love, Nabha and family. 💖