(not necessarily in that order)
It’s extremely rare for us to be away from our spiritual home at Christmas.
First of all, because it’s such a powerfully meaningful time that we love being a part of.
But also because — duh! — it’s probably the busiest time of the year for church music directors!
At any rate, I felt inspired to take a few photos of the beautiful Christmas altar, holding this sacred place and our beloved spiritual family in our hearts as we travel.
We had finished lunch at The Expanding Light Retreat and were headed back to the Temple of Light parking lot when this magnificent tree stopped me in my tracks. It was just too beautiful to pass by.
Isn’t autumn wonderful?!?
We usually have Rajarshi Day — our all-community workday — in early May, around the May 5th birthday of Rajarshi Janakananda (Yogananda’s most advanced disciple). But because Springtime at Ananda has become so big, and takes so much time and energy from the whole community, Rajarshi Day got shifted to June.
Although we had a beautiful, mild summer day for it, it was still quite a day for me.
My morning was spent outside of the Temple of Light, where I removed wire cages from around young trees (so that another team member could weed whack around the base of each tree); raked up the weeds; spread mulch; then replaced the wire cage.
My raking buddy, Brian, and I worked on approximately ten trees, all of them in the sun. I definitely expended more physical energy than I have in years — maybe decades. Fun, but exhausting.
Then, after meditation and lunch on the Market lawn with our entire spiritual family, I headed home to rest and shower before Ramesha and I got on a Zoom call with Ananda Australia. We were the guest speakers for their Sunday morning satsang.
As usual, all the tiredness went away as soon as we were connecting with the group and talking about Ananda Music.
Now, however, I’m ready to drop. 🥱
What a joy to be back in the Temple of Light and attending Sunday service for the first time since April 14 (and what a relief to make it the whole time without a coughing fit)!
It was also a joy to eat lunch in the company of dear friends afterwards.
Our beautiful temple, filled with fellow devotees. Uplifting music; deep silence during the meditation; and an inspiring talk by Ananta.
I felt nourished and replenished by all of it.
A successful evening and another beautiful Oratorio under our proverbial belt.
Kudos to director, choir, soloists, instrumentalists, audio-video-lighting teams, refreshments crew, and all the other helpers.
And — though we’re completely at home in the Temple of Light by now (after all, it’s been close to five years!) — I have to stop for a moment of gratitude for Panduranga, the wonderful architect who designed the Temple. On nights like tonight the blessing of getting to perform regularly in this amazing building hits me all over again.
If you’re ready for a blast of Christmas joy, please consider joining us for our annual Christmas Concert, THIS Saturday, December 16 at 5:30pm (PST) in the Temple of Light at Ananda Village. Â
This year’s concert feels special on several levels. To start with, it’s the first time since 2019 that the full Ananda Village Choir gets to sing on the Christmas Concert.
Secondly, early this year we made the decision to experiment with having a smaller ensemble of dedicated singers who were able and willing to put in the time and effort to take their singing to another level. I believe that outpouring of additional energy is going to bear beautiful fruit in this concert.
Finally, it feels special…just because! I can’t even explain the feeling; maybe the stars are somehow aligned. Who knows? It just feels really, really good.
We start early (5:30pm PST) in order to make the concert accessible to families with small children; that’s also the reason the program only lasts about an hour.
And if you live too far away to join us in person, watch the concert LIVE using this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDCI8OPwO0g (or you can just click on the video above).
I hope you can join us in celebrating the love of Christ and the joy of this Holy Season.
Last night I finally had a chance to share something that’s been simmering in the back of my mind for quite a while.
Namely, to help our choir members understand that it’s not enough to just hit “the note” — because there are as many gradations of “the note” as there are shades of blue.
Blue came to mind the first time I thought of this, because there’s so much blue in the Temple of Light.
When I brought it up during rehearsal last night, I started by asking the other two nayaswami’s in the room to join me up front. Of course, all our shirts were blue, but they weren’t exactly the same blue. Then I called up another singer, who had on a greyish-blue T-shirt. Someone in the choir pointed out a person wearing blue jeans. And then we noted the blue carpet, the blue chairs, and the blue of the spiritual eye.
I think everyone got the point that when creating music together, there is one correct “shade” of note with which we all must align if we want our harmonies to be truly, gloriously beautiful.
There was lots of joy in the Temple of Light this morning as we sang “There’s Joy in the Heavens.”
I was particularly gratified to hear (and feel) how “tight” the ensemble is sounding. My favorite thing is being able to completely relax and simply enjoy singing with the group…and that most definitely happened today.
This is the sight that stopped me in my tracks as I left the Temple after choir rehearsal tonight. Can you see the first star?
These long summer evenings really are magical, reminding me of the impulse from my long ago childhood days.
Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight;
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight. ✨
I’m feeling so grateful for tonight’s Kriya ceremony.
The Temple of Light was close to full; the inspiration level was through the roof; and the loving devotion in the room was palpable.
What a blessing.