I completely dropped the ball when it came to taking photos at our Saturday workshop in East LA. Suffice it to say that everything was beautiful and we had a small but enthusiastic group of attendees….singers who also happened to be the choir members, and who spent the second half of the workshop rehearsing songs for Sunday service with us.
Service on Sunday was my first time serving as an “official” Lightbearer; this also went quite well. Then, after a brief rest, Dharana and Pritha drove us to Forest Lawn cemetery, so we could visit Yogananda’s crypt. It was so peaceful and inspiring; I was really glad we made the time to go there.
Finally we arrived back at the ashram, ready to join the residents in some major “relax & have fun” time — namely, pizza and a movie! (I was also finally able to remember to take a few pics.)📷
Hanuman, Lucia, and Pritha blessing the pizzaHanuman describing our pizza choices while Lucia and Dharana look onTony, Lucia, Yogini, and Ramesha: ready for the movie, “Encanto”So relaxed and comfortable! Pritha, Dharana, Tony, Lucia, Yogini, and Ramesha’s kneeHanuman and Aumkara, together with Sri Yukteswar
Ramesha recently shared this video from a few years ago. It’s so beautifully moving that I want to share it here as well.
This is what he writes about it in the video description:
This is a rather particular chant titled “They Have Heard Thy Name.” It was written by Yogananda. It’s a heartfelt prayer asking God to give comfort to those who are suffering.
LYRICS: They have heard Thy name, the blind halt and lame. (2) They have come to Thy door, Lord, they have come to Thy door; Give them an audience, Lord.
They have heard Thy name, the blind halt and lame. (2) Those who are in despair, wipe Thou their tears! (2) They have come to Thy door, Lord, they have come to Thy door; Give them an audience, Lord.
They have heard Thy name, the blind halt and lame. (2) Those who are drowned in sin, to whom will they go? (2) They have no one, Lord, they have no one; Do not turn them away.
Tonight’s celebration of Master’s birthday was perfect.
It was an incredibly beautiful altar; the choir songs and Jitendra’s chanting were filled with devotion.; the meditation was deep; and Jyotish and Devi gave inspiring talks.
“Celebrate the birth of Christ in the cradle of your consciousness during the Christmas season. Let His vast perception in Nature, in space, and in love be felt within your heart, as well as in the hearts of men of all races and religions.” –Excerpt from “To Meditate on Christmas Morn,” from the 1952 Edition of Yogananda’s “Metaphysical Meditations.”
Yogananda started the tradition of the eight-hour Christmas meditation in order to honor “spiritual” Christmas as well as “social” Christmas. As Swami Kriyananda said, it’s a time for inviting the infinite Christ to be born anew in the ‘mangers’ of our hearts.
The idea of meditating for an entire day can feel a little (or a lot!) intimidating, but it’s actually an amazingly beautiful and powerful experience. In fact, some insights came to me this year that I’ve been wanting to find the time to explore further.
First of all, I found myself using a different method of categorizing the “types” of Christmas one finds in our society:
Material Christmas (or “Who’s even thinking about Jesus?!?”) Religious Christmas (or “Jesus is the reason for the season.”) Spiritual Christmas (or “Seeking to experience the inner Christ consciousness, born anew in the manger of our hearts.”)
Next I marveled at how we can all be so incredibly busy in the lead-up to Christmas — events, decorating, planning, buying gifts, etc. — only to arrive at the 23rd, two days before Christmas itself, and drop everything. And I do mean, everything. All of Ananda Village just stops. Literally.
But I’ll confess that on the evening of December 22, it did cross my mind that I could get a whole lot accomplished if I stayed home and worked on the 23rd. I didn’t give in to the temptation, but it was there.
So, I got to thinking about the need, even (or maybe especially?) at Ananda, to balance our Martha and Mary tendencies.
Not that we are necessarily “worried and bothered about so many things”; we truly do find great joy in service. However, during super busy times like the holiday season, we have to remember to stop serving long enough to sit at the feet of the Lord and just BE with God. And that’s what the all-day meditation allows us to do.
Finally, I have to say how moving it was, as the day drew to a close, to reflect that two days before Christmas close to two hundred people dropped everything for eight full hours in order to sit in silence and celebrate the birth of Christ in the cradle of their consciousness.
I was so grateful to be sharing that experience with my spiritual family.
“Silence and seclusion are the secrets of success. In this modern life of activity there is only one way to separate yourself from its ceaseless demands: get away from it once in a while.” — Paramhansa Yogananda
“Always remember that seclusion is the price of greatness. In this tremendously busy life, unless you are by yourself, you can never succeed.” — Paramhansa Yogananda
“Often we continue to suffer without making an effort to change; that is why we don’t find lasting peace and contentment. If we would persevere we would certainly be able to conquer all difficulties. We must make the effort, that we may go from misery to happiness, from despondency to courage.” — Paramhansa Yogananda
Going into seclusion is — for me — about making the effort to change. Not everything and not all at once, but still…one has to try.
While in seclusion I’ll mostly be taking a break from technology, except that I don’t want to break my commitment to writing in my blog every day.
So, what I’ve decided to do is prepare three daily posts ahead of time, with a quote about seclusion and being quiet. That way I can simply publish each draft from my phone. It’s a compromise.
Out of a week full of deeply inspiring and uplifted moments, I believe the ultimate highlight for me was singing “O Master” on Sunday service.
It felt appropriate to skip the usual solo singer and invite everyone (choir and congregation) to sing the melody right from the beginning of the song. Then, as the full arrangement unfolded, the power of the song simply grew and grew.
The words are so heart opening and meaningful, but what really put it over the top for me was singing it together with at least 300 devotees, and feeling the lived reality of the lyrics that speak of “the truth that we’re all one“ (emphasis is mine).
On Sunday I was so caught up with the completion of Spiritual Renewal Week that I didn’t tune into the fact that Guru Purnima — a time to express gratitude towards one’s spiritual teacher (or Guru) — was the very next day. It wasn’t planned that way, but what a perfect divinely inspired time to be singing “O Master”!
