Chant vigil blessings

What I particularly love about the AUM Guru Chant Vigil is the way it both unites and expands our Ananda family all around the world, while sharing blessings with the world at the same time.

Devotees participated from literally around the globe — Serbia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, and multiple locations in India and the USA.

Making things extra fun this year was the fact that a number Ananda members were visiting other communities when the time came to film the AUM Guru video.

So in one video there are Village residents chanting with the group from Ananda Chandigarh, while the Ananda Los Angeles group is supplemented by members of the Chandi Ashram house at Ananda Village who were in LA to visit Yogananda’s shrines.

Finally, I want to share my favorite comment that appeared in the Live Chat during the broadcast. A member of the Ananda Virtual Community wrote it. Basically she described the AUM Guru Chant Vigil as: Ananda Sangha’s version of It’s a Small World after all” — and I think she’s absolutely right.

Each year when we do this, the world feels just a little bit smaller.

It’s 2024!

Blessings galore for a new year filled to overflowing with love, light, laughter, abundance, health, friendship, and JOY!

Christmas blessings

My well of creativity is pretty much depleted after all the holiday events, but I hope you are blessed with the light and love that are the essence of Christmas.

A week of contrasts

It’s been a week of high peaks and low valleys. Big challenges and bigger blessings. Joyous fun and deep discouragement.

I’m grateful for all of it…and also grateful the week is over.

Blessings for the new year

Free illustrations of New year's day

It’s taken me until today to finally feel the reality of starting a new year.

2022 was definitely another doozy of a year and we’re quite content to release it, with deep gratitude for its blessings, lessons, and tremendous spiritual growth.

Now it’s time to look ahead to 2023, which I pray will be filled with boundless love, infinite joy, vibrant health, and abundant prosperity for us all!

The power of seclusion

Free photos of Christmas

Seclusion has worked its magic on me once again.

Even though it wasn’t a totally strict seclusion, there was enough of a shift from my normal activity flow to allow me to open up and receive the blessings.

And blessings there were! One of the biggest is that I’m actually looking forward to tomorrow’s eight-hour Christmas meditation — for the first time in a while.

Hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving!

I’ve been on a roll with rearranging things in our apartment, which means going through boxes and papers and discarding a lot of unnecessary clutter.

I did finish in time to attend our first real Thanksgiving dinner since 2019(!), but I’m going to have to do post-Thanksgiving calls and cards.

However, while working, I was reflecting on all that I have to be grateful for…and it’s an extremely long list.

I give thanks to the Giver behind each gift, and to the one Giver behind all that I receive. My gratitude rises with devotion’s incense to the throne of Omnipresence.
— Swami Kriyananda

Feeling the blessings

Tonight was the conclusion of our second annual “AUM Guru Chant Vigil” and I’m feeling particularly grateful for it.

Why?

Well, Ramesha and I were already tuned in when the vigil started (immediately after the event celebrating Swami Kriyananda’s 74th discipleship anniversary), and I listened to “Aum Guru” from then until bedtime.

Upon waking, the first thing I became aware of was “Aum Guru”.

We turned back on the vigil as we got ready in the morning and continued listening to it throughout our eight hours in the AIM clinic (more hydration!).

In fact, whenever I started feeling a little fed up with lying on the hospital bed connected to tubes for hour after hour, I would tune back into the chanting and think of Master and Swamiji and the many, many blessings in my life and I wouldn’t feel fed up anymore.

So, I feel like this chant vigil really did help me during an important moment in time. And I hope it did the same for many others as well.

Joyful, swirling thoughts

Processing today is going to take some time.

From start to finish it was full, joyful, inspiring, challenging, successful, and deeply satisfying.

I look forward to having time to reflect on the many blessings of this day.