A friend captured this moment at the beginning of Tuesday’s Inner Renewal Week class and I absolutely love it.
I’m so grateful for Ramesha, and for the blessing of sharing my spiritual path and music dharma with him.
Grateful for Ramesha
My current favorite people
Jyotish and Devi have been on fire in their classes this Inner Renewal Week.
They express so much wisdom, love, and joy in their every word and action, it’s a thrill to be in the room with them.
And most wondrous of all, is being able to call such great souls our friends.
Good-bye for now
Inner Renewal Week is over.
I said good-bye to musically-involved friends from Dallas (TX), Tucson (AZ), Scotts Valley (CA), Tahoe (CA), and Portland (OR).
Tomorrow I begin following up: sending music to those who requested it; pursuing ways of offering online support to fledgling choirs; and sorting through the possibilities of traveling to meditation groups and teaching centers.
What joy to feel stronger connections forming as a result of spending this week of inspiration together!
Getting still
Today’s Inner Renewal Week class was on “The Inward Path to Self-Realization: the Meditative Arts & Discipleship” and we were guided to start out with the perfect song: In the Temple of Isis. Jyotish even referred to the lyrics in connection with the need for stillness in order to meditate.
Isis is the Mother aspect of God in the ancient Egyptian religion; Swami Kriyananda wrote the song after meditating at the Temple of Isis, in Aswan. Below are the lyrics and also a recording of this inspiring song.
Still your mind if you want to pray.
Send all cares faraway.
Sing, then: Love’s ever near:
Isis comes, await the day.
Isis comes: await the day!
Mother comes: await the day!Still your heart if you want to pray.
Send all cares faraway.
Sing, then: Love’s ever near:
Isis comes, await the day.
Isis comes: await the day!
Mother comes: await the day!Still your soul if you want to pray.
by Swami Kriyananda
Isis comes, await the day.
Isis comes: await the day!
Mother comes: await the day!
Saturation point
We’re at the midpoint of Inner Renewal Week and I’m already feeling “full up”!
Filled to the brim morning after morning with wisdom and inspiration from Jyotish and Devi. Filled with soul joy from so much singing. Filled with gratitude for opportunities to connect with dear friends — old and new!
So tonight is the moment to take a breather. Aaahhhh… 😎
The social path
The topic for today’s Inner Renewal Week class was “The Social Path to Self-Realization: World Brotherhood Colonies”, which ended up being the theme for my entire day!
First of all, I happened upon this recent photo of Ananda Assisi community members and was struck by how deeply connected I still feel to these souls even though it’s been over fifteen years since I lived there. Time and distance don’t matter; they’re family!
Then we ate lunch with Deodan, who just arrived from Assisi last night and will be here for two months learning about managing a community. Our lunch table included devotees from Italy (Deodan), Switzerland (Ramesha ), and Sweden (Anna), showing yet another beautiful aspect of Ananda — people from different countries, cultures, backgrounds, and lifestyles coming together to live, work, and serve in a harmonious unity.
To cap it all off, we led a sing-along tonight in the Temple of Light. Village residents, visitors from other communities, and Expanding Light guests joined together in blissing out to Swamiji’s music; personally, I felt totally uplifted! And I found myself reflecting yet again on how important Swamiji considered music to be in building strong communities. He addresses it in this quote (one of my favorites, no surprise!):
“I can best express through music the feeling of holy upliftment that possessed me. Therefore I tell people, “If you want to know me, listen to my music.” It is through this that people have come to understand what Ananda is truly all about. Without its influence, Ananda would not be what it is today. Books and lectures are only the outer form of the teachings. Music is its coursing blood.“
(from A Place Called Ananda, Chapter 13)
A Century of Spiritual Awakening
Inner Renewal Week is underway here at Ananda Village, focused on the centennial of Paramhansa Yogananda’s arrival in the West.
As usual Jyotish and Devi got the week underway with deeply inspiring talks that brought home to me just how much courage and commitment Yogananda needed to have in order to make the transition to life in America (not that I’ll ever really understand, of course!).
But boy oh boy am I glad he did!