(not necessarily in that order)
We can’t sing together as a choir, so we have to find other ways to maintain our heart connections. Such as meditating together (as a choir) in the Temple of Light, which we finally got to do tonight!
Sure, there were only perhaps 10-15 of us, but it’s a good first step towards keeping our choir magnetism strong and unified as we continue exploring alternative ways of joining our energies together (without song).
We were on for Sunday service music in the Temple of Light today after a long dry spell. If my memory serves, the last time I sang in the Temple was for a wedding at the end of August.
Here’s the thing…if I’m not regularly singing/playing for somebody I can forget just how important it is for me to do so. This morning was a wakeup call/reminder. It was like coming home to the essence of who I am.
Ramesha and I are working on ways to perform more and this definitely adds fuel to the fire of motivation. Because being in a musical flow really is my happy place.
…with this absolutely stunning nighttime photo of the Temple of Light and a vast starry sky.
Thank you, Barbara Bingham, for allowing me to see the world through your eyes. That’s all I have to say.
I wrote my first “Music. Life. Joy” post on Swami’s birthday last year, so today marks the beginning of year #2. I can hardly believe it…but I wrote something every single day!
In other news, we honored Swamiji with a beautiful event in the Temple of Light, led by Jyotish and Devi. Ramesha and I got to sing! And there was an amazing rainbow!
Now I’m going to get comfortable and read through the past year’s posts.
I did it! 😊
This has been both the strangest and the best Easter ever.
I calculated that it was probably the first Easter since 1989 that I didn’t celebrate in church surrounded by spiritual family. Definitely strange…
Thank goodness I made up my mind the night before to get at least a little dressed up; it would have been just too sad to watch the Easter service online while wearing a grungy sweatshirt! I’m glad to say that Ramesha went along with me on this, so we were nicely spruced up for the holiday.
What made it the best Easter ever is the depth and generosity of what was on offer. From Andrea Bocelli singing in the Duomo in Milan to our very own Jyotish and Devi in the Temple of Light — and certainly in a multitude of other places — it felt like everyone was digging deeper than ever before and finding previously untapped reserves of love and joy and power to share with others.
I was moved to tears again and again throughout the day. And I’ll be going to bed feeling more hopeful than I have in weeks.
Shivaratri is an annual event celebrating the Indian deity Shiva, the destroyer of delusion. It also happens that — twenty-two years ago — it was my very first experience at an Ananda center!
I believe Shivaratri is pretty much the most “Indian” event of the year for Ananda. At Ananda Palo Alto two decades ago, there was Indian storytelling; Indian costumes; Indian dance; someone dressed like Shiva and his consort, Parvati; Sanskrit chanting; Indian decorations; and hot chai to keep us awake all night (the traditional celebration lasts from 6pm to 6am). Definitely not the usual entry point for a brand new devotee!
Needless to say, I have fond memories of that first Shivaratri. It was all completely foreign to me — colorful and chaotic and somewhat wild — and I loved it. It was also my first taste of true devotion.
Tonight Shivaratri is being celebrated for the first time in our new Temple of Light at Ananda Village, and I was tempted to see if I could do it again. But I’ve worked so hard on establishing a healthier bedtime routine and didn’t want to risk it. So I’m honoring Shiva by reliving it in my memory instead.
Om Namah Shivaya!
Today was the first ever Christmas concert in the new Temple of Light…and what a concert it was!
Haven’t had a chance to view the video, but it sure felt good…and the feedback has been through the roof!
Sunday service. Concert prep, concert, and concert cleanup. Choir dinner afterwards in Expanding Light dining room. So…how do you follow up all that inspiration in a way that’s relaxing but still uplifted?
You turn on the Christmas tree lights, sit on the couch with your hubby, and watch the original animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas (for probably the 45th time; my favorite Christmas story!). 🙂
Tomorrow at 5:30 pm is the first Christmas concert in our new Temple of Light!
I actually feel kind of nervous. Partly because we now have plenty of seating. That means the public is invited, after years of our audience consisting almost entirely of Ananda Village residents, which is basically just performing for family!
I think there’s also a little internal pressure for many of us, because we so much want our performance to measure up to, and be worthy of, this incredible Temple.
What a lovely challenge to have, actually. 🙂
This was one of those wonderful days that was filled to the brim with inspired activities!
The choir sounded particularly angelic (and progress is also being made on our “look”); Badri gave a lovely Sunday talk; and we had the most uplifted and bliss-filled World Brotherhood Day I’ve ever experienced, followed by the usual extravagantly abundant banquet. Oh, and the Temple decorations were beyond beautiful!
I feel so very, very, VERY blessed to be a part of this community and this world movement!
Getting to “fall back” an hour can be a big help for people like me, for whom “early to bed and early to rise” is an ongoing struggle. Thanks to the time change I made it to the Temple of Light to meditate this morning (true, it was after group sadhana, but it’s a start)!
It’s such a blessing to meditate in the Temple, but — even so — I could tell that feelings of anxiety and restlessness had a grip on me. Sometimes when that happens, doing my specific “practices” can feel like a chore, something to be resisted rather than embraced. So instead of practicing “techniques” I started an inner dialogue: “Be still. Be still. Be still. Breathe. Be still….”
After a while I realized “Be still” was directed to my body and I inwardly added: “Be calm” for my mind. “Be calm. Be calm. Be still. Be calm…” And finally…
RELAX.
That’s for my heart. I remember being in Assisi and hearing Swamiji say to a friend: “Relax in your heart.” It was a new concept to me and I’ve always remembered him saying it. But I haven’t been very consistent about doing it and lately I’ve been feeling an increasing tightness there. So, “Relax in the heart. Relax in the heart. Be still. Be calm. Relax in the heart…”
Afterwards I suddenly recalled a beautiful experience from years and years ago. I was attending a Unity church in San Francisco, and one of the ministers (Troy Wheeler; I still remember his name!) did something different for his sermon. First he asked us to close our eyes and then he shared the following scripture, repeating each phrase several times, with gradually increasing pauses in between.
Be still and know that I am God…
Be still and know that I am…
Be still and know…
Be still…
Be…
I think that might have been one of my first experiences of true stillness; it was truly peaceful and I’ve never forgotten it.
By the way, I did manage to get still and calm and relaxed enough so I could also practice my techniques this morning! 🙂