The 50th anniversary concert–the first full concert in the new Temple of Light, happening the evening of Thursday, July 4–is shaping up to be a doozy!
There will be a small but highly accomplished orchestra, accompanying a 120-voice choir! We’ve got sixteen choir members coming from Ananda Assisi; thirteen singers are joining us from various Ananda centers in India; and one singer is coming from Isreal. This is in addition to the singers and musicians from every Ananda community and a number of meditation groups throughout the USA.
The program will consist of some of Swamiji’s most beloved songs and instrumental pieces–including a portion of Life Is a Quest for Joy; a selection from the Secrets of Love CD, and a beautifully choreographed dance to Invocation to the Woodland Devas.
It promises to be an unforgettable experience; if you can’t be with us in person, be sure and check out the live broadcast (click here for more info).
This morning I participated in a special, all-community work day at Crystal Hermitage. Lots and lots was accomplished, but now all that fresh air and joyous activity is conspiring with a long week of late hours on the computer and making it impossible for me to keep my eyes open long enough to write much of anything.
As one of Swamiji’s songs says: “Sleep is calling…”
Sharing yesterday’s story has me thinking a lot more about my Italy touring experience. That brief period of my life was filled to overflowing with blessings but also fraught with intense spiritual growth. I hope to distill some of that experience into future blog posts, but for now I’ll just share a photo. Can you believe how young we all were?!?
The Ananda Singers in 2002 (from left to right) Bottom: yours truly; Karen Gamow; Cristina Bechis Middle: Frank Monahan; Mantrini Klippstein; David Gamow Top: Lewis Howard; Bhaktan Klippstein
A wonderful memory popped into my mind out of the blue today; a real “highlight” kind of experience that I was happy to revisit…
For a couple of years back in 2002-2004, I had the great blessing of touring with an Ananda singing group in Italy. There’s a lot that could be said about the overall experience, but for now I’ll stick to this one particular performance.
We did quite a few school concerts, having a lot of fun sharing Swami Kriyananda’s children’s songs, many of which had been translated into Italian. On this particular day we were in the Italian city of Lucca, performing for an elementary school.
In addition to children’s songs, we also shared one of Ananda’s most popular and accessible chants: Gioia, Gioia, Gioia, Sempre nuova Gioia. Joy, joy, joy, joy, Ever-new joy, joy.
And–oh, how those children took to it! The energy grew bigger and bigger, the students clapping along with the chant with great enthusiasm and exuberance.
But at a certain point I had the subtle but clear intuition that the energy was on the verge of veering out of control; that if we tried to just stop, the children would be left agitated and restless–the last thing one wants when dealing with an auditorium full of elementary school students!
Following unexpected–but ultimately very helpful–inner guidance, I raised my arms above my head and started swaying back and forth to the chant. After a few moments the school children and their teachers followed suit. We were still having fun, but the noise level immediately dropped a few decibels and the energy started to refocus.
After some time, we dropped our arms and continued swaying back and forth in time with the chant. Chanting more softly, we gradually moved less and less until we weren’t moving at all. And, incredibly, the entire auditorium of young children went right along with us.
There was definitely a dynamic and powerful presence that filled the space as we finally brought the chant to a close. Looking back, I think we spontaneously harnessed the energy and helped everyone bring it back inside.
What a uniquely powerful, flow with the present moment, never to be repeated experience, for which I am sooooo grateful.
Tonight my mind is blank, maybe because I was on the computer literally all day long. Whatever the cause, instead of writing I’ll share some beautiful music from Swami Kriyananda’s exquisite album, Secrets of Love.
The piece is titled Love Is the Voice of Stillness and I especially appreciate the way Swamiji conveys the very essence of stillness. As I listen I find myself imagining that this could be what suspended animation would feel like.
Have you also had the experience of feeling like someone just turned up the speed dial of your life? As if you were a 33 rpm record (remember those?!?) but someone switched the setting to 45 rpm?
Well, that’s how today felt to me, which I guess is why–while meditating at the end of the day–the image of Lucille Ball and the candy conveyor belt just popped into my mind. I’ll include a clip of it below, in case you’ve never seen it.
After laughing through a couple of viewings of the video I feel much better about just taking things day by day and doing my best to keep up. Ha ha ha!
While writing yesterday’s blog I was mostly focused on everything that was on my plate, or the music ministry’s plate, for the 50th.
Tonight we had an all-community satsang about the 50th, our last chance to all gather in one place, hear the latest updates, and understand more fully the scope of the endeavor. The amount and range of details required to pull this off is astonishing!
But here’s the thing: yesterday I was mostly feeling overwhelmed while tonight when I left the gathering I was filled with joy and enthusiasm. Even after hearing about all the work that still needs doing to be ready in time.
I think the difference is that my focus shifted from my little reality to the reality of being part of a spiritual community that gets things DONE with love, energy, grace, and a whole lot of joy!
In short, we’re living the truth that “many hands make a miracle”!
Ever since last fall we’ve been doing our best to gear up for The 50th (aka Ananda’s 50th anniversary and Temple dedication event)!
In early spring the pace picked up and the planning process intensified. It’s been Topic #1 in the music ministry office for months.
All along we’ve known it was going to be “Big”, but sometimes you can’t conceive of just how BIG an event like this could be! I guess that’s why, with less than a month to go, I’m feeling like we’ve barely scratched the surface of what we need to do to get ready.
My top priority for the next twenty-eight days? Remembering to breathe.
I love this quote by Shel Silverstein; it’s been on my mind lately…
“Listen to the Mustn’ts, child, listen to the Don’ts. Listen to the Shouldn’ts, the Impossibles, the Won’ts. Listen to the Never Haves, then listen close to me. Anything can happen, child, Anything can be.”
And while researching to make sure I had it right, I found another one of his poems that’s new to me, yet really resonates…
“Underneath my outside face There’s a face that none can see. A little less smiley, A little less sure, But a whole lot more like me.”
I guess the trick is to grow more comfortable with sharing that “underneath” face; I’m pretty sure we’ve all got one. 🙂
The main thing on my mind right now is sleep…and the fact that lately I haven’t been getting enough it (a side effect of writing daily blog posts, as I tend to write at night, then stay awake into the wee hours)!
So here’s a beautiful melody of Swami Kriyananda’s titled Temple of Sleep. It’s from his Egyptian song series, which was inspired by a pilgrimage to that country.
This song is a great example of Swamiji’s ability–his gift really–for infusing a song with consciousness. When we were recording this CD I had to concentrate reallyhard not to drift off into sleep consciousness!
More recently I’ve used this song when I was feeling anxious and having a hard time settling enough to go to sleep. It definitely worked.
