August, 2007
Dear Friends of the Ashram,
 We have had magnificent fire ceremonies this last month culminating in a spectacular Guru Purnima celebration which was attended by devotees from all around the country.
We also had our Ashram Board meeting while our out-of-state Board members were visiting. It is always enriching to hear their views on the Ashram and its activities. One topic discussed was the fire ceremony and how to make it possible for people to share in the healing energy even at a distance. Read more about this below.
We also had a great fund-raiser in Denver last weekend. It was so successful that we have planned another one for Saturday night, Sept. 22. Read below for dates in other areas as well. And it is not too soon to begin planning for the Divine Mother Festival, Fall Navratri. The dates this year are Wednesday, Oct. 10 through Thursday, Oct. 18.
July has been a fun and busy month with an Ashram rafting trip, Family week, Samaj meeting, and Guru Purnima. Photos and stories follow.
Our evening aarati is at 7pm and morning aarati is at 7am. Our next new-moon fire ceremony is on Sunday, August 12, and the full-moon fire ceremony is on Tuesday, August 28. The fire ceremonies begin at 10:08am and are followed by a meal. If you would like to sponsor a fire ceremony ($27, $54, or $108 read next article for more information) or bhandara (feast) ($108) you may make the donation on line by just clicking here or call 719-256-4108 or e-mail the Ashram at info@BabajiAshram.org or send us a check at P.O. Box 9, Crestone, CO 81131. We are continually grateful for all of your support.
In truth and love, Ramloti
Sharing the Sacred Fire Ceremonies
The fire ceremony on Guru Purnima Day was attended by over 100 people. It is definitely a very strong ceremony and many shared that they had deep and powerful experiences. Several people have expressed a desire to be able to more fully share in the energy of the fire ceremonies that we have at the Ashram even though they live far away. We have decided to make a broader scale of sponsorship for the fire ceremonies and put a mala or Om Namah Shivaya bracelet on Babaji's sandals at the fire and then send it to the sponsor after the fire so they can keep that energy near their body. We will also send some vibhuti (sacred ash) from the fire.
$27 sponsorship - copper, brass, nickel Om Namah Shivaya bracelet
$54 sponsorship - Sandalwood Mala
$108 sponsorship - Rudraksha or Crystal-Rudraksha Mala
Upcoming Chanting Nights
 Ramloti will be leading some evenings of kirtan and bhajans in various parts of the country. It is a great opportunity to come together. Call the following people for more information and if you have friends in one of these areas, spread the word.
Chanting Night in Nashville, TN August 19 - 7:30pm - 9pm
Contact Juliana at 615-356-8179 for location and information.
 Fire Ceremony, Aarati, bhajans, Ganesh Chaturthi, and Potluck in Berkeley, CA. Ramloti will be joined by Nirmal Sharma from Shrewsbury, MA, Sunday morning, Sept 17.
Call Saradambe at 510-758-7725 for location and more information.
Ganesh Chaturthi, Bhajan Night & Dinner in Denver, Sept. 22 - 6:30pm - 9pm
At Windsong Condominiums Club House (East), 7474 E. Arkansas Ave, Denver 80231.
Call Hari Morisetti for more information at 303-522-2633.
Chanting Night in Dallas, TX - Sunday, Oct. 28
For location and information call Romesh at 214-547-9133.
Chanting Night in Houston, TX - Monday, Oct. 29
For location and information call Sandra Kachmarik at(713) 628-7413 or Tina at (713) 454-4563.
 Fall Navratri
Thurs., Oct. 11 - Fri. Oct. 19
Fall Navratri, nine days in honor of the Divine Mother, is always one of the fullest and most attended festivities at the Ashram. Our Mother, Vishveshwari, is always giving to us, Her children. This is the time we set aside in our sometimes too busy lives to say thank you and remember Mother with daily fire ceremonies, pujas, readings, discourses, chanting, and aaratis. It is also a beautiful time of year in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, so we hope that you will consider joining us in person for all or some of the time. The dormitory fills up quickly during this time, particularly on the weekend, so make your reservations soon. You may call us at 719-256-4108 or e-mail us at info@BabajiAshram.org.
If you can not join us in person, you may want to consider setting aside a time at home each day to honor the Divine Mother. You may also sponsor one of the sacred fires or feasts. Read the article on Sharing the Sacred Fire Ceremony above for more details.
Kirtan Hall Update
Family week, the Annual Samaj meeting, and Guru Purnima were all occasions when we once again appreciated the spaciousness of our new kirtan hall. With the help of our recent fund-raiser in Denver and all of your shop purchases, we have paid down our kirtan hall loan to $59,500.
 Many special thanks go to Arvind and Rashmi Suman for organizing the hugely successful Denver fund-raiser and all of the people that helped make it such a wonderful evening. We also wish to thank Masalaa Restaurant for donating the delicious food. Over 85 people attended and there would have been more except we had no more space in the room. We have organized another fund-raiser with bhajans, celebration of Ganesh's birthday, and dinner in Denver on Saturday, September 22. Read above for more details.
We continue to look for ways to help pay this loan off more quickly, if you have any ideas, please call the Ashram at 719-256-4108. We want to thank you for all of your continued support in this meaningful project. If you are able to contribute to help us pay the loan off, you can send a check to the Ashram at P.O. Box 9, Crestone, CO 81131 or donate online by clicking here.
Recent Events
As I mentioned in the last newsletter, the beautiful temple built by Shashi Agarwal and her family had the the prana pratistha ceremony (enlivening ceremony) for all of the murtis and a large feast for fifteen hundred people on June 18th. The name that Shri Muniraji gave to the new temple is Shri Shri 1008 Haidakhandi Shiv-Shakti Dham. It has a large marble murti of Haidakhan Baba, Ganesh, Hanuman, Parvati, Durga, Kartekeya, a huge Shiva Lingam and Nandi. The Nandi and Shiva Lingam took 12 to 15 strong men to carry it into the temple!. Mayapati Shastriji conducted the ceremonies and many family members, villagers, family friends, and some Babaji devotees were in attendance.
The new temple is located in the village of Damodarpur, UP. It is about a half an hour from Etawah. The family extends an invitation to all who travel to India to have the darshan of this special place that was built by the instructions of Shri Babaji in a series of dreams to Shashi. Anybody wanting to visit can contact Pramod Gupta at: 91-9411992457 and he will be happy to arrange the trip for you. Bhole Baba Ki Jai!
Ashram Rafting Trip
Our Ashram Board member, Cindy Cleary and her husband, Thomas are experienced river guides. They also have two boats and all the gear. What a perfect way for the Board, staff, and families to have some fun time together and a bit of an adventure in a beautiful setting. We are so grateful to them for providing us with this opportunity.
 
Sondra Ray's Group Visits Ashram
Sondra Ray, author, lecturer, and long-time devotee of Babaji often brings her groups to the Ashram. During their three day visit, we had heart-felt aaratis, chanting, fun, and lots of great karma yoga. This photos shows some of the kitchen helpers and temple cleaners in the group. We appreciate their help, and every one's help who comes here, so very much.
Annual Family Week July 23 - July 27
What a wonderful week this year's family week was with the theme of Peacemakers. The harmony, learning, energy, and fun was strong. Here is a series of photos from the week.
 
Children sharing the peace song they learned after aarati for their parents. Most enjoyed dressing in saris and suits for aarati.
 
Cooperative games and activities in nature added to the theme of peacemakers. 
The children also helped with karma yoga. Here they are picking currants for dessert and gathering and arranging flowers for the dormitory and earthship.
 
Hiking day is always adventure-full. The weather was perfect as nearly 30 of us headed up the mountain. After a few hours, it felt refreshing to play and swim in the very cold Spanish Creek.
Exploring the Bhagavad Gita Workshop
 The workshop ran concurrently with the children's activities during Family Week. About a dozen attended the workshop and the reports were that it was very insightful and inspiring. It had a good combination of reading, chanting, discussion and meditation on the holy text, which led many to new ideas and inspiration. Thank you to Melinda for traveling from Missouri to provide this for us.
Annual American Samaj Meeting Weekend
July 28 - 29
 A large group of folks arrived from all parts of America for the Annual Samaj meeting under the leadership of our president, Nirmal Sharma. Many new ideas were talked about for spreading the message of Shri Babaji. To find out more about the meeting or for more information about the work of the American Haidakhan Samaj please go to their web site at BabajiSamaj.org.
Guru Purnima Day - July 29
What a special time to be together this Guru Purnima Day, the full-moon when you honor your Guru or Teacher. Since it fell on a weekend at the end of the month this year, we were able to incorporate this beloved celebration in our Annual Samaj meeting weekend. We had attendees from California, Washington, New Mexico, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oregon, India, Nepal, and Denmark.
Everyone pitched in with the mala making, cooking, and serving. 
The Paduka Puja, Fire Ceremony and Bhandara were attended by over 100 people.
 
Every one, particularly the children, enjoyed sitting on the beautiful lawn at lunch time.
Families at the Ashram
 So many families come to the Ashram and we appreciate their presence deeply.
Lok Nath from Tacoma, WA. and his sister, Nicky and their families were here over Family Week and the Samaj weekend. They had a memorial for Lok and Nicky's mother, Dorothy, who passed away at 97 years of age.
 Cindy and Thomas Cleary with their children, Jade and Kailou had their murti of Maha Lakshmi blessed at the Guru Purnima fire ceremony. Living in Crestone they are regular participants in many of the Ashram activities and a huge support.
  Jai Shree and Chandresh Trivedi with their daughter, Premal and son, Brugesh were here for Guru Purnima weekend from Anaheim, CA. They are also constant supporters of the Ashram. Brugesh was served as a counselor for this year's Family Week. Having spent their first 5 months in America at the Ashram when they moved from India seven years ago, they are definitely a family to us.
 
Here some local families: Andrea and Somnath, Angela and Matias, and Claire and Sage enjoy an afternoon at the Ashram. Since this photo was on a weekday, all the husbands were at work but they are also involved and great helpers at the Ashram. Finally both Jen and Angela will be having babies next month as the Ashram family grows. Please keep them in your prayers
Calendar for 2007 -2008
August 19 - Chanting Night in Nashville, TN with Ramloti from 7:30pm - 9pm. Call Juliana at 615-356-8179 for more information and location.
September 16 - Fire Ceremony, Aarati, and Bhajans in Berkeley CA. with Nirmal Sharma and Ramloti. Phone 510-758-7725 for location and information.
September 22 - Bhajan Night, Ganesh Chaturthi, & Dinner in Denver with Ramloti from 6:30pm - 9pm, at Windsong Condominiums Club House (East), 7474 E. Arkansas Ave, Denver 80231. Call Hari Morisetti for more information at 303-522-2633.
October 11 - 19 - Fall Navratri, nine days honoring the Divine Mother. Daily fire ceremonies, pujas, discourses, and readings.
October 28 - Chanting Night in Dallas, TX with Ramloti. Call Romesh at 214-547-9133 for location and more information.
October 29 - Chanting Night in Houston, TX with Ramloti. Call Sandra Kachmarik at (713) 628-7413 or Tina at (713) 454-4563 for location and more information.
November 9 - Diwali, Festival of Lights. Fire ceremony at 10am. Chanting in candle-lit temple at 7pm followed by a light meal.
February 14, 2008 - Shri Babaji's Mahasamadhi. Paduka Puja at 5:30pm followed by aarati.
March 6, 2008 - Maha Shivaratri with all-night chanting and fire ceremony March 7 at 10am.
April 5 - April 13, 2008 - Spring Navratri, nine days to honor the Mother. Daily fire ceremonies, pujas, discourses, and readings.
July 18, 2008 - Guru Purnima Day, the day you honor your guru. Paduka Puja at 9:30am, Fire ceremony at 10am followed by an Indian feast.
September 29 - October 7, 2008 - Fall Navratri, nine days to honor the Mother. Daily fire ceremonies, pujas, discourses, and readings.
October 28, 2008 - Diwali, the festival of lights. Fire ceremony at 10am. Chanting at 7pm.
Maha Lakshmi Shop Report
  We recently received some lovely decorated resin deity statues. The one below of Radha and Krishna is 10 inches high and sells for $72. The striking one of Ganesh is 15.5 inches high and sells for $108. We also received a Radha Krishna fountain and many others.
The new shipment from India is also in, all 27 huge crates of it! The shipment has many beautiful brass murtis in several different finishes ranging in size from 3 feet tall to 1 inch. It also has books, harmoniums, drums, puja items, and cymbals. The Shop is certainly full.
You can call the shop toll-free at 866-686-4185 to order or for more information. We are open daily from 9am until 5pm. We do take Mastercard, Discover, and Visa. To view items in the Maha Lakshmi Shop, please refer to our newly updated web site at BabajiAshram.org.
You may order on line through paypal or e-mail us at shop@babajiashram.org, or of course, place the order over the phone. We love to talk with you.
We thank you for all of your shop purchases as the revenue from the shop is a huge support for the Ashram.
Bhole Baba Ki Jai!
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