Yesterday’s concert was quite the success. We had a good turnout; our performance was received with great enthusiasm; and we almost sold out of the CDs we brought.
But more importantly, many people shared how they felt uplifted by the vibration and consciousness of the music and our singing, and how important it is that we offer this uplifted consciousness in today’s world.
For us, THIS is the only success that really matters. Well, that and the tremendous joy of sharing our wonderful music with an audience of receptive souls.
These days have been full to overflowing with teaching, sharing, singing, connecting, driving, laughing, meditating, and more.
Ramesha and I had been feeling sorry not to be able to sing “Little Kathy” for Sunday service at the Village, but we were extremely well compensated by singing it with the singers from Ananda LA. We rocked it!
Plus the Ananda Village group rocked it as well. All is truly well in my world. 😊
Our workshops last night and this afternoon had some pretty lofty titles: Friday’s was “Music to Awaken Superconsciousness,” while today’s was “Music for Deepening Your Attunement.”
Not surprisingly, in each instance the essence of what came through was joy, harmony, and divine friendship.
We’ve had so much fun sharing and interacting with all the great souls both at Ananda South Bay and Ananda East Los Angeles that I’m once again feeling pretty pooped — and tomorrow morning we give Sunday service!
So, the full report just might have to wait until we get home.
The idea for a chant vigil first came up in 2021. Still in the midst of the pandemic, we at Ananda were seeking ways to maintain and strengthen our sense of unity.
There were also wildfires nearby and traumatic things happening throughout the world, prompting a renewed commitment to focus on prayer while staying centered in awareness of God as our true reality.
Now here we are in 2024 and it’s our 4th annual 24-hour AUM (Om) Guru Chant Vigil!
It thrills me to know we’re spreading uplifted vibrations of light, love, and joy throughout the world (Lord knows this world needs it!). 🙏
One of our friends is in the process of moving — with his wife and two small children — away from Ananda Village to live near our community outside Seattle.
As a parting gift, he shared the following story (originally written a couple of years ago). I’m sharing it here on my blog because he so beautifully and eloquently captured the essence of living at Ananda Village.
(I’ve replaced the names with initials, since I’m not sure if everyone is comfortable being named in a public blog. 😄)
Downtown Ananda Village is the social center of a small spiritual community, nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Surrounded by hills, from any direction in the Village one literally drives down into it to arrive at one of the destinations there such as those perennial places of pilgrimage, the mailroom and the market.
In a storm last weekend, a tree fell — and as I drove into the downtown area, what do I see but a bright yellow tractor against the deep green and brown of the tallest tree I’ve ever seen downed. Someone I know must be driving the tractor, the Village being what it is, but I can’t quite see who they are. The sky is beautiful and sunny, and I almost stop to take a picture. On my left are the pickleball players — celebrating a new pastime at the Village, and I pass them on my way in.
In the mailroom, I hear someone talking outside with N–. Who is it? I don’t recognize their voice. They are going on, kind of ranting, and N– is listening and just giving them energy. It’s the postal worker, I see as I come out. She asks about his hours and he shares how he used to work for money and now it doesn’t seem so important. “Of course!” she says, affirming this expansive understanding he’s developing. It’s God’s kindness that she shares, by listening, and you can tell that she cares. And I think of it all as I walk away.
In the market, I see S–, joyfully willing to help me find the pumpkin pie spice on my shopping list. It’s the same with P– — and they are laughing; I can’t remember why, but the feeling of it stays with me. The person checking out the groceries, a math teacher, adds up the totals in his head. To have such joy in the midst of service; to be consciously engaged in what one does, even in the checkout line. I think of it all, and carry it with me.
Back in the car, I start driving home. I pass R– on my right, a person who, more than anyone I’ve ever known, is always ready to share a smile and a laugh. There’s a utility worker nearby and I watch as he changes direction, making a detour to talk to the visitor. The way he does this makes me wonder: perhaps the only reason is just to share joy, because this person is here and because joy wants to be shared. That idea fits with what I know of R–. And I think of this.
As I reach the tree, it all comes together. I see that P–, a long-time meditator, is the driver of the tractor, and one of the monks is helping him; I see a neighbor walking with her friend, just reaching them, where they talk together. I see that everyone is here for joy, everyone is sharing joy — and more than that, everyone is joy.
Joy is the air we breathe and the river in which we swim. It’s taking the perfect drive through downtown Ananda Village, with the walkers laughing with P– on the tractor, the pickleball players, the visitors — and I think of S– and P–, N– — and I think of my guru, choreographing this moment.
I have nothing I can add to it; I cannot capture it with a photo, or deepen it with a conversation, so I simply drive through it, this ideal everyday expression of a spiritual community — simple living and high thinking, for God in ourselves and in each other.
My town errands took all afternoon and into the evening, so I arrived back at the Village just in time for the beginning of tonight’s Spiritual Renewal Week kirtan.
Ramesha organized it this year, so I really wanted to attend. However, I couldn’t stay for more than two chants (also because I had perishable groceries in the car).
But I’m really glad I made the effort. Largely because it was nice to simply sit in the audience and feel the joy and devotion without being in charge of any of it.
The kirtan is almost always Monday night, with the concert following on Tuesday. So, I’m usually up to my eyeballs in preparations and find it hard to make the time to go. But I’m going to try and change that next year.
Devotional kirtan and chanting to God truly is a wonderful thing.
What a weekend it was! So I’m taking it easy this evening and simply sharing Barbara Bingham’s photo of Uma and Janaka, yesterday’s radiant bride and groom.
We hadn’t watched “Harold and Maude” in at least fifteen years. Ramesha had seen it only once before, while I’ve watched it probably twenty times since my late teens.
I can still remember hearing about it for the very first time. A friend in our high school church group had seen it and loved it, so he tried to describe it it to me. I was completely baffled and couldn’t imagine why he thought I would enjoy a movie that had to do with suicide!
Of course, I saw it a couple of years later and to this day it remains one of my all-time favorite movies. Largely for its humor, quirkiness, and uplifting Cat Stevens music, but even more for the joy that is Ruth Gordon and for its message that life is meant to be lived.
L-R: Chika, Shamini, Nayantara, Bharat, and Shivendra
For years now, Ramesha and I have wanted to travel to India to work with Ananda singers there, but issue after issue and obstacle after obstacle have repeatedly gotten in the way.
We do our best to connect when people come to visit Ananda Village, or via Zoom when in-person isn’t a possibility, but still it’s been a little frustrating.
However, in this moment I’m feeling completely heartened, encouraged, and inspired by the way this group of singers from Ananda India are taking ownership of the music and forging ahead with presenting it with enthusiasm, deep attunement, and JOY!
I found Bharat’s introductory remarks to be especially impressive.
It feels like a breakthrough moment for the music in India and for our worldwide music ministry.
