My first opportunity for feeling closer to Swamiji came when the Ananda Palo Alto Lay Members group spent a weekend at what was then called the Ananda Seclusion Retreat (now called the Ananda Meditation Retreat). This is the first property Swami Kriyananda purchased and where he first started Ananda in 1968.
I drove up with my friend, Marilyn (now known as Manisha). It was my first time visiting the Seclusion Retreat and I’m pretty sure it was her first time as well.
To a city girl like me, Ananda Village already felt pretty much like traveling to the boonies, and the Seclusion Retreat was even farther into the wilderness. We had gotten a little lost on the way and ended up arriving after dark. As we made our way along the dark paths, I remember being startled by a small herd of deer running right by us. We definitely were outside of civilization as I knew it!
That first night there was some kerfuffle around accommodations. One of our group members was in a wheelchair, but the door of the house to which she had been assigned was too narrow for her chair. Things got switched around in such a way that another woman and I ended up in that house instead.
Now, I heard people calling the house “Swami’s Dome,” but I assumed that was just its name. Similar to being at Ananda Assisi, where they have rooms called “St Francis” and so forth. It wasn’t until the end of the retreat that I discovered I had literally spent the weekend in Swami’s dome, where he had lived for years.
Furthermore, it was usually only available for ministers who wanted to take seclusion. So, it was only due to a completely unusual combination of circumstances that I ended up staying there, sleeping in the loft area where Swamiji slept.
It truly felt like a gift from Divine Mother. 🙏