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Spiritual Centers in Crestone work to protect our land, water, and air.

From time to time we have written about the Crestone Spiritual Alliance and how it was formed partly to come together in a united voice to protect this pristine and beautiful place which has become home to over 20 spiritual centers. One of the latest concerns of people of this area (spiritual groups included) is the potential turning of Baca Wildlife Refuge and wetlands into an industrial zone for the production of natural gas. This would not only severely compromise the health of the wildlife and residents of this area, but also could contaminate the water source for this valley for generations to come.

We rarely share petitions with our readership but this one is very positively framed with a unique idea to deal with a serious concern. If you would like to read it to form your own opinion on whether or not to support it, please go to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/McEwenMineralRights/

Thank you for your time in this matter.

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Fire Ceremony in the Bay Area, July 16

Dear Friends,
We are so happy to announce the visit of Nirmal Sharma and Ramloti who will perform a YAGNA on Sunday, September 16th at 10:08am, location 4669 Elmwood Rd, El Sobrante, Ca 94803. Following the Yagna, there will be Aarati, Kirtan, and a Potluck Brunch. Please be so kind to RSVP @ 510 758 7725.

Nirmalji is our modern Indian/American vedantic priest, originally from Benares/India, who has been living and working in the US for more than 30 years. He is a very close and dedicated devotee of Shri Babaji and Shri Muniraji and he is the president of the American Haidakhan Samaj. 

Ramloti has been leading the Babaji Ashram in Crestone, Colorado for many years, which blossomed under her guidance into a very beautiful, well known and sacred spiritual center. Both, Ramloti and Nirmal are very experienced Fire Yogis, spent time with Babaji in Haidakhan, and are powerful instruments of HIS LIGHT, LOVE and SERVICE for humanity.

This YAGNA is dedicated to Lord GANESHA, whose birthday falls on this weekend. Lord Ganesha is an embodiment of wisdom and bliss. He is the presiding Deity of the Muladhara Chakra, the psychic centre in the body in which the Kundalini Shakti resides. He is the Divine manifestation who removes all obstacles on the path of the spiritual aspirant, and bestows upon him/her spiritual as well as worldly success.

Every YAGNA or Havan is a small miracle in itself. Countless spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, and environmental benefits come from participation in and performing of these ancient sacred rituals. In a wonderful 31 page long article "The Integrated Science of Yagna" Dr. Rajani R. Joshi from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay, describes scientific studies about Yagnas and the astonishing outcomes of those studies. Those results clearly support the claims made about the role of Yagnas in control of air pollution, and in the creation of mental, emotional and physical health. Here is an excerpt:

"...The patterns of chanting of Mantras are so designed that they latently contain the essence of the music or the quite essential sound of the torrent of life sustaining energies emanating from the cosmic energy centre of the corresponding Mantras..... Uttering of these Mantras produces vibrations which are soothing to human mind, all plant and animal life. These vibrations also help in spreading specific energy waves in the surrounding atmosphere as the oblations are offered..."

In this spirit please join us in our journey towards healing of ourselves and the world one step or YAGNA at a time.

With Love and in gratitude, Saradambe and Dharma Devi

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The Ashram Board of Directors

We are deeply grateful to all of the folks that serve the Ashram through sitting on our Board of Directors. Each summer we have our yearly elections and we would like to let you know who is serving this year. They are: Deborah Michalak, chair; Ramloti, president; Premanand, vice-president; Jonathan Yates, vice-president; Annelou Perrenoud, secretary; Cindy Cleary, treasurer; Dan Sundaresen; Danush Dopierala; Arvind Suman; and Shastri Jayanty. We also have three liaisons from the American Haidakhan Samaj who sit on our Board. They are: Nirmal Sharma; Peggy Thompson; and Richard Cahall. A few of our Board members are new this year and we would like to introduce them over the next few months.

This month please meet Shastri Jayanty. Born in Andhra Pradesh, India, Shastri came to the United States in 1998 and worked at Purdue University and then at Michigan State University. Last year he moved to the San Luis Valley to work on potato post-harvest physiology research with the Colorado State Extension and is a faculty member at Colorado State University. He is married to Bhargavi and has a three and a half year-old son, Chinmay.

When he first moved here, while he was exploring the valley, he stumbled upon the Ashram. Ever since then, he has felt connected to the Ashram. He feels that sitting on the Board is an opportunity to contribute in his own way. He feels it is a spiritual experience and service to God. A hearty welcome to Shastri!

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Visiting the Ashram

by Frances Frischkorn

Visiting the ashram is always a healing and revitalizing experience for me.  When I am here I feel renewed and nurtured by Mother’s love.  Sitting in our magnificent kirtan hall resonating with the devotion of voices singing bhajans, truly lifts my spirit and reawakens me to the divinity present everywhere and always. 

The mindfulness of practicing karma yoga is so clarifying.  When I am working at the ashram, whether it is baking bread, pricing items in the shop, hanging laundry or picking flowers, I feel as though I am receiving so much more than what I am giving.  I love preparing and sharing meals with the residents and others who come to visit. 

Being here for this full-moon fire ceremony was such a joy and a blessing.  It was so wonderful for me to help prepare for the ceremony by stringing Babaji’s marigold mala, painting the havan kund, and baking cakes and bread for bhandara. Being involved so intimately with all of the preparations made our joyful community event all the more meaningful to me. 

Yesterday Ramloti and I hiked up Spanish Creek together to a pristine and lovely waterfall high up the trail. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world among these powerful mountains!  The opportunity to escape from my busy college life and come down to Crestone is always such a blessing.  Jai Ma!

It is not uncommon for us to receive correspondence from people wishing to visit Shri Babaji's Ashram in Haidakhan, India. We have a couple of excellent web sites to help you with this travel if you are interested or if you just want to read more about it. One is www.babajicalling.com and the other is www.hairakhan.in The web site of the American Haidakhan Samaj, www.BabajiSamaj.org has a listing of Babaji's Ashrams around the world as well as much more information about the work of the Samaj and about Shri Babaji.

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Recent Events

Many Centers Join Us for Fire Ceremonies

Shri Babaji teaches that all religions lead to God. Crestone is the home of twenty-two different spiritual lineages and traditions. A mutual respect and honor for all the traditions and rituals is deeply felt here. As Ashram members, we attend different functions and ceremonies of the different centers throughout the year. We often have many of the representatives from the different groups at our ceremonies, particularly the fire ceremony.

The first photo is from the full-moon fire ceremony this month. In it we have Hanne Strong (who was instrumental in bringing many of the spiritual lineages to Crestone) and other members of the Manitou Foundation. We have members of Savitri House and Shumei International Foundation. We even had Linda Joseph, one of the Saguache County Commissioners, at the fire.

The second photo is from the new-moon fire ceremony this month. We not only had Tibetan Buddhist Lamas, from the Vajra Vidya Retreat Center and members of the Yeshe Karlo Buddhist Center from Bhutan but also a yoga teacher and students from around the country and a teacher of Kriya Yoga from Denver.

We are very much aware of the potency of spiritual practice when many of us come together. Each of the last fire ceremonies had between sixty and seventy participants. We also come to know each other better and understand the different traditions and rituals of the world.

Families at the Ashram

Once again, it has been a month of many families visiting the Ashram. We had Marcella, Sandra, Hadi and families from Houston. On one of the nights of their seven day visit we were joined by Shashi and Bipin and family from Denver. It was fun to watch the teenagers share music and get to know one another and their traditions.

Another family that is growing is Amil and Sarah Wood's. Married at the Ashram several years ago, they have just added a new baby boy to their family named Benjamin. Here big brother Gavin is holding his two-day-old new brother. Grandma Ramloti (called Gramloti) will spend some of September helping with the new baby at their home in San Diego.

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Maha Lakshmi Shop Report

A team of hardy karma yogis unpacked the 27 huge crates of murtis, drums, harmoniums, brass puja items, and books. The photo shows the last of the survivors after most of the work was done. Here they are loading the blue pickup truck with the last of the empty crates. The Shop is exceedingly full and ready for your order.

We are restocked with The Teachings of Babaji ($12), Message from the Himalayas ($12), and Babaji the Unfathomable (($9.50). We also received a new edition of The Srimad Devi Bhagavatam translated by Rai Bahadur Srischandra. It comes in two volumes and sells for $63.

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!