Tag: blessing

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Bye for now

It felt a little crazy but this morning — in the midst of packing; dropping off recycling and garbage; and learning we had to get the car smog checked today — we actually took a few minutes to visit Crystal Hermitage Gardens and witness the beauty of the tulips before heading off to Europe for four weeks.

The truth is, I was feeling a little crazy, but as I stepped into the lower gardens and literally drank in the view you see in the above photo, with its incredible beauty and palpable peace, I was able to stop. To be still. And to simply appreciate the blessing that Crystal Hermitage Gardens is to each of us and to the world.

To be honest, it made it that much harder to leave. But we’ll be back soon.

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Another beautiful Oratorio

A successful evening and another beautiful Oratorio under our proverbial belt.

Kudos to director, choir, soloists, instrumentalists, audio-video-lighting teams, refreshments crew, and all the other helpers.

And — though we’re completely at home in the Temple of Light by now (after all, it’s been close to five years!) — I have to stop for a moment of gratitude for Panduranga, the wonderful architect who designed the Temple. On nights like tonight the blessing of getting to perform regularly in this amazing building hits me all over again.

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Serving the light

For years Ramesha and I have done our best to be channels of light in a world that needs all the light it can get.

And now it’s official, because today we received the great blessing of being ordained as Ananda Lightbearers. ✨

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A final blessing on my WOTY

I shared the blog post about “My word of the year” with the artist friend who led the class, and she once again demonstrated for me how much more “seeing” an artist does compared to aurally-oriented people like me.

Sarah read the blog post, saw the photo of my randomly placed and freshly painted letters, and this is what she commented:

“It was wonderful to witness your process in creating your board, Bhagavati. Looking at the last photo, I see that RECLAIM spells MIRACLE too!”

Of course, I had looked at that photo a dozen times and not once did the word “miracle” jump out at me!

Bottom line is that I obviously have a 2-for-1, double-whammy of a word thing going on for 2024. I’m not sure whether it’s that I reclaim my miracle, or the miracle is that I reclaim myself. Either way, it’s most definitely an additional blessing.

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Redwoods therapy

Our first full day of vacation started off with some challenges from fellow Airbnb guests. We were eventually able to move to a different suite of rooms but it ate up pretty much our whole morning.

But then we had a delicious lunch, followed by a visit to the Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve, which was just what the doctor ordered!

It’s been way too long since I was in the sacred presence of redwood trees. What a blessing.

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Happy Valentine’s Day

I can hardly believe it, but today was the eighteenth Valentine’s Day I’ve shared with Ramesha.

For our first Valentine’s Day in 2004 we had dinner at a pizzeria in Ciriè, Italy (outside Torino), where my singing group was staying for a few days.

We had gotten engaged exactly one week earlier, on February 7. Ramesha was planning to ask me on Valentine’s but couldn’t wait. 😊

And here we are, almost twenty years later. What a blessing. 💗

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Blessed by “Channels”

Lately, “Channels” has become sort of my theme song.

There was a special workday this morning at “Gurushanti”, a large home right next to Ananda Village that was recently purchased by Ananda devotees.

Because this property had been neglected for a number of years, the plan was to end the morning with a blessing by Jyotish and Devi, followed by chanting and a processional to invoke the presence of the gurus.

Well, during the opening prayer, Jyotish also made reference to the trees and the nature spirits, which — of course — had me thinking about “Channels”!

So, when the blessings and processional were finished, I tentatively asked whether they thought it would be appropriate to sing “Channels” and they enthusiastically responded, YES!

And so it happened that we spontaneously performed “Channels” — outdoors, in the sunshine, before a stunning view of forests and mountains, with a river far below in the canyon, birds singing, and flowers blooming. Even the stars were present, though we couldn’t see them.

What a thrill it was. And what a blessing. A completely unexpected moment of serendipity and Guru’s grace.