(not necessarily in that order)
Today’s photo is of Ramesha and his brother, Fulvio, whose birthday was today.
For the first time in seventeen years we’re actually in Switzerland and able to celebrate Fulvio’s birthday in person. We all went out to dinner as a family, eating great food and having a whole lot of fun.
In fact, I haven’t laughed so much in a long time.
Hard to believe it’s been seven years since Swami Kriyananda left his body. On the one hand, I still miss him terribly; on the other hand, I feel him with me as much (sometimes even more) than ever!
Swami’s song Brothers (or Fratelli, in Italian) is one that really captures his essence as a citizen of the universe — at home everywhere and a friend to everyone! Swamiji truly “lived in many countries and mixed with many men,” touching thousands of lives along the way.
I’m so grateful he touched mine.
Tonight’s session with the Living Discipleship participants was “beyond imagination of expectancy”!
They’re all so experienced and so committed, with most of them already serving as powerful leaders in their home communities. The majority already sing in (or direct!) Ananda choirs, and the ones who don’t (yet) are open and eager to sing with the group.
For a variety of reasons we went up with only a very loose idea of how the evening would unfold. So how did it unfold?
We sang a lot and laughed almost more than we sang! We had given them a handout titled “Music as a Spiritual Tool” and the group ended up spontaneously experiencing how humorous music raises energy in the spine and lifts us high above life’s challenges, where we’re able to see things from a positive perspective.
But the absolute high point of the evening for me came towards the end, after we sang Brothers. According to our outline the next song would have been Many Hands Make a Miracle. But we felt guided to sing O Master instead. Words are inadequate to describe the feeling as we sang the words: “…into the light, the inner sun, into the truth that we’re all one.” The sense of unity, of oneness, was palpable.
That was the end of the session, but no one wanted to be the first to break the circle. Finally, someone suggested we end by standing up to sing Thy Light Within Us Shining. So we did…it was wonderful…and we all stood there not wanting to break the circle!
Then someone suggested we really end with Peace and–my oh my!–the bliss level just went through the roof! I’ve had a lot of powerful experiences with Ananda Music in twenty years, but this was right up there in the top five. Unbelievable.