The Newsletter of Alandi Ashram and Alandi Ayurvedic Gurukula

Recommendations

Info

Agni The Newsletter of Alandi Ashram and Alandi Ayurvedic Gurukula 4 Thank you to our donors, Alice Robinett, Bea Enright, Debbie Feyh, and Glen Mowery, and to Tamara Matthews for donating her time for our communication workshop. Thank you to all who have donated for Karunamayi’s visit. Donors (as of May 1st) Alakananda, Sadananda, Dawn Mahowald, Leslie Kalechman, Eli Shapiro, David and Liz Ford, David and Liz Moloney, K.C. and Usha Gupta, Prema and Vivekanandan, Linda Cowan, Haily Oomen, Northern Lights Bookstore, Morris Cohen, Rosemary Brown, Ann Rae Pons, Alfred Terrell. Thank you to all who donated gifts or services for our silent auction and to those who bought these lovely items and services. We raised over $1500! Thank you to Habiba Kabir and Alakananda for donating their flower essence business, Earth Keeper Essences. This donation reflects years of patient work and research and is a great enrichment for Alandi. A huge and loving thanks to all of the people who helped make graduation fabulous! Alakananda, Sadananda, Seva Singh, Ali Tameem, Dawn and Tom Mahowald, Sushil Singh, Mimi Bergen, Meirav Lesham, Royal Peacock Restaurant, and The Taj Restaurant. Karunamayi, Life Divine Rachel Corday All my life I have been trying to find the Divine Presence. I went from the Congregational and Episcopal church, to the born again churches. I went to the church of alcohol, marijuana, LSD, and mescaline and the church of social and political protest. I went to the church of nihilism and existential void, the church of sex, bars and rock and roll. When Maharishi came to visit America in the midsixties I learned Transcendental Meditation. I read the Upanishads, Bagavad Gita, Tao Te Ching, the Greek myths, and the Bible. I read J.D. Salinger, Ayn Rand, Dostoevsky, and William James. I chanted, “Nam Yo Ho Ren Ge Kyo” and “Om”; I studied world religions and 18th century philosophy: the Age of Enlightenment and left-brained glory. Neither I nor the Divine was anywhere to be found. My life was a daily experience of extremes, and through the frantic intensity of this entanglement with Maya, and the suffering that my longing forced me through, I awakened one day as I sat on the floor of the Berkeley library reading Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. In this lonely spot, Grace came to visit me. I was awake, my heart rested and I was no longer in between things but among everything. But while I knew the Divine and could see that nothing was not Divine, I desired communion with another being like myself, another form of Divine art similar to mine. I wanted to experience heart-life and come up against direct power. I wanted Shakti. Two years ago I met Alakananda Devi. I could see she had traveled many roads and had welcomed all they brought her. I could see she the light of awakening in her eyes and in her form as she walked. I was blessed and gifted by her healing power. One day I had the occasion to go into Alakananda’s home and Sadananda was there. I looked around and on the walls there were many, many pictures of beloved ones, people who brought light and healing to the world. In one glance I saw Karunamayi, and I went to her. I said to Sadananda, “Look! Here she is. This is the one I want to see.” Sadananda smiled and said, “She’s coming. She’s coming to Boulder.” Two months later I sat before Karunamayi herself, Amma. The Divine Mother had come, and in her Presence my heart was filled with joy and sorrow, and delight and sadness, and all the longing and all the love I had ever felt. It was a power greater than any I had ever known. Here, in and through Amma, I could see and feel all that was in the world. And it was love, all love, infinine love. Amma is the power of love and the gentleness of love. She is the compassion of love and the humility that love teaches. And the love that Amma is, is the love that I am, and the love that you are, and the love that is the heart of all things that are. In this experience that I had been searching for throughout my life, in this union of love with the Beloved, the door opened, and I entered the heart of home.
Agni The Newsletter of Alandi Ashram and Alandi Ayurvedic Gurukula 5 Amma is home, for Amma is the heart of us all. It cannot be but so. We cannot be and will never be outside the love of Amma. My heart is grateful and free, and as Amma has given to me, I would say to each of you, “When you seek, the love of Amma will come. Amma will come because she has come already. She is the love of you, the ever-abundant, eternally-giving, fountain of life of you. She is the call of you, calling you home. Boulder Lags in Giving Alakananda Devi According to survey data collected by The Community Foundation, “The level of giving is lower in Boulder County than in comparable communities across the nation”. Specifically, Boulder falls far behind Denver. Only 84% of Boulder residents give, compared to 90% of Denver residents. And the amounts given by people in Boulder tend to be smaller than those given by Denverites, despite the fact that the average after-tax income is $6,000 a year more in Boulder than in Denver. In other words, Boulder, a prosperous community, is giving below its capacity. Why should we give, and to whom According to the teachings of all wisdom traditions, giving is not optional, it is a duty. One who does not give is a barbarian, even if she or he lives in a large home on Mapleton Hill. Bhagavad Gita explains that gift-giving falls into three categories. When a gift is given to an unworthy person, such a gift reflects tamas, the mode of ignorance. Even a gift to a good cause expresses tamas if it is given in a contemptuous or disrespectful manner. Sant Jnaneshvar, in his commentary on Gita, warns his listeners not to try to get away with a gift of “a trifling sum”. If the cause is worth giving to, stretch yourself and give a larger gift, an amount that means something to you. A gift given with hope of return reflects rajas, or the mode of passion. Not only should we not hope for return from the recipient of the gift, we should also avoid the temptation to win fame or respect with philanthropy. For our gift to reflect sattva, the mode of goodness, we must give to a worthy cause, without the hope of return and with the understanding that we are simply doing our duty. Giving is not a random act, not just something we do with our spare change. Rather, we should set aside a designated percentage of our income and allocate these funds to our “giving portfolio”. The giving portfolio is a type of investment. We invest in quality of life, for our local community and for the world. The Vedas emphasize two types of causes as paramount, those that relieve poverty and those that preserve sacred outlook. When assembling your giving portfolio, first include an agency such as the homeless shelter that relieves poverty at the local level (for more ideas, look up www.cultureofgiving.org). Next, select some organizations that relieve poverty in less wealthy countries. One suggestion for 2001: relief for the aftermath of the Gujarat earthquake. Also include in your portfolio some non-profits that address deeper causes of poverty and suffering such as the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center. Perhaps you feel that global warming could be an underlying cause for drought and famine in places such as Afganistan. In that case, relieving poverty requires you to support some environmental organizations. Protecting animals and trees also ranks high in the order of worthy causes. Finally, remember that the most sattvic gifts of all are those given to organizations which promote sacred outlook. Non-profits such as Alandi serve to nurture your spirit, awaken your heart and spread more love in the world. If you yourself have received spiritual upliftment, remember that helping to provide this upliftment for others is an important investment in the future and a significant aspect of your giving portfolio. We at Alandi believe that today's pressing challenges such as poverty, famine, war and environmental degradation can only be met by the awakening of love, oneness, simplicity and connectedness with in the human heart. This is our mission and thus we address poverty and suffering at its root cause. By now, you may be feeling like the President of the United States, as you allocate a budget to relieve poverty, protect the environment and preserve sacred outlook. And it’s true. Millions of citizens, investing responsibly in the community and the world, have untold power. Now that you have covered the primary aspects of giving, remember the other non-profits that enhance your quality of life.
Page 1 and 2: Summer 2001 issue Agni The Newslett
Page 3: Agni The Newsletter of Alandi Ashra
Page 7 and 8: Agni The Newsletter of Alandi Ashra
Page 9 and 10: Alandi Ayurvedic Gurukula Certifica

The Newsletter of Alandi Ashram and Alandi Ayurvedic Gurukula

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?