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At the end of this joyful weekend, I began thinking of other months of August in my life. I then realized this was one of the months that I spent with Shri Babaji and my children in Haidakhan in 1981 and 1982. I then remembered the depth of eternity that I would experience in His eyes. Such soulful looks He would give that would entrance me. This photo is from August 1982 at Babaji's ashram in Haidakhan. How grateful I am for His everlasting love and presence in my life.
It is astounding to think of all the ways that we are blessed on a moment to moment basis by the Divine Mother. This is one of the reasons that so many millions of people around the world set aside nine days each fall (Fall Navratri) to honor Her and thank Her for Her love, mercy, and generosity. This year the festival begins on Friday, September 18 and ends on Saturday, September 26. The daily schedule is as follows:| 6:40am - | Chanting of the Devi Stotram and Chandan |
| 7:00am - | Aarati |
| 8:00am - | Devi Puja |
| 8:30am - | Reading of the Haidakhandeswari Sapta Sati |
| 10:00am - | Fire Ceremony |
| 11:00am - | Discourse on the Sri Mad Devi Bhagavatam |
| 12:noon - | Lunch |
| 6:00pm - | Aarati and Chanting |
It is a full and wonderful nine days. We hope you can join us for any or all of the festivities. If you are unable to be here in person, you may want to consider setting aside some time each day to honor the Divine Mother in your home. You are also welcomed to sponsor one of the fire ceremonies or feast. See above for details.
On the last day, Saturday, September 26, we have a special ceremony after the fire when we honor the children with small gifts and sweets. If your child is under 10-years-old and would like to be included, please let us know a719-256-4108 or email us at info@babajiashram.org so that we have adequate amount of gifts. The dorm is quite full on the weekends already but you may call and we could see what we can work out. Vishveshwari Mata Ki Jai! Haidakhandeswari Mata Ki Jai!
Diwali, Saturday, October 17
The Festival of Lights, Diwali is always a very special celebration at the Ashram. We begin with the new-moon fire ceremony at 10am followed by a meal. The rest of the day is spent preparing the temple and earthship with candles and lights and the grounds with luninerios. Meanwhile delicious food and treats are being prepared to be served after the evening aarati and chanting.
This evening of light is attended by many of the spiritual centers and they often share one of their chants or hymns about peace and light. Aarati is at 6pm, sharing of songs of peace and light is at 7pm, and then a light dinner and dessert in the earthship at 8pm. It is such a wonderful day to be together, please join us.
Kirtan Hall Update
We decided to pay down the rest of the kirtan hall loan on the auspicious day of Ganesh's Birthday. We are so excited! We once again would like to thank everyone that made this possible. What a magnificent space we have created for Shri Babaji and the Divine Mother.
The festival of Ganesh's birthday is a very good day for new beginnings so we have now begun to plan for the next step in the development and growth of the Ashram. As the Board of Directors discusses this, we will keep you informed. We would like to encourage you to make a monthly automatic pledge toward our next building project. Either call the Ashram at 719-256-4108 with your credit card number and ask us to charge a set amount every month ($501, $108, $54, $27, $10.08....) or go to our website and ask PayPal to deduct a certain amount from your account each month, Click Here. You can also send a check to the Ashram at P.O. Box 9, Crestone, CO 81131. We want to thank you for all of your continued support.
New Items on the Website
We are constantly updating our website with new events, new products, new sections, and devotee's stories. (If you have not sent yours, think about doing so since they are very inspiring to others.) Recently we have added a section on family issues, since the householder way of life is so prevalent in Baba's tradition.
It seems that this way of life sometimes has its challenges. Many questions are posed and answered in this section. It is not uncommon to find some of the ideas helpful even if you do not have children, as we are all one big family at work, in our community, and in life. To view this new section click here.
Recent Events
Isaac Heads Home to Tacoma
Hello, my name is Isaac, I’m 17, and as many of you already know, I spent a huge chunk of my summer here at the Ashram. My father, Lok Nath, once said that spending time with Babaji in Haidakhan is one of the most difficult things you will ever do but if you approach it with an open heart it will be a very rewarding experience (or something like that). Now I’m sure HUA in Crestone is a walk in the park compared to the way Baba ran His ashram, but my summer in Colorado has certainly been a trying experience. Between the millions of mosquitoes, the hot sun, the long days and early mornings, the almost too quiet atmosphere, and everything else that goes with the territory, I nearly went out of my mind; nearly. In spite of this, or maybe because of this, I learned quite a bit about myself. Through karma yoga I’ve had countless “ah-ha” moments about world events and my own beliefs. With one year left in high school, I can almost consider the trip college prep; I have a taste of what living on your own is like and picked up skills that should look good in my portfolio. I can now call myself a professional karma yogi, harmonium player, green smoothie maker, power napper, and according to Ramloti, an awesome future husband (she plans to write a letter of recommendation to my future wife).
For anyone my age planning to or thinking about coming to the ashram, I’ve created somewhat of a list for you to consider.
1. Start Small: Come a week or two to get an idea of you’re getting into. I have done family week for eight or so years so I had an inkling as to what my summer would be like. If you can do the first two weeks, you can do eight weeks; if the first two weeks are rough, the rest of the summer will only be rougher. Don’t feel that you HAVE to do it. You should want to do it. Otherwise you’re doing yourself and the Ashram a disservice.
2. Involve Yourself: One of the biggest things I regret before arriving was that I had very little involvement in the planning of my trip. My dad arranged almost everything and sent me off thinking I was staying for six weeks. One afternoon I was scanning my flight schedule and was surprised to learn that I would be staying for closer to eight weeks. I was pretty unhappy about this to say the least but it all could have been avoided had I been more involved (this isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy the experience).
3. Open Up To People: Really take the time to have meaningful discussions and relationships with all who come through. Don’t think you have to be a silent pilgrim the whole summer. The Ashram is usually very quiet so the few times that you can have a lively conversation with people, don’t shy away. I found that the relationships I had with others made the trip much more enjoyable.
4. Several things I would suggest is bring lots of reading material and a reliable calling/email/texting/whatever else plan.
To wrap up I would just like to thank everyone who made this possible: Firstly, my dad for having the idea for me to come and putting it all together; Curt and Lynn at the store for allowing me to work there; Deborah and Vesper for making a vegetarian diet so delicious and being such awesome people; and lastly Ramloti, Jonathan, and Prem for showing me the ropes and putting up with me this summer. I apologize if I forgot anyone. OM NAMAH SHIVAY!
Bal Gokulam
Our children's program, Bal Gokulam, was a bit smaller in August, probably because many folks were out of town or at other events. We will not have a program in September because of Fall Navratri and the Honoring the Children's program on the last day of Navratri (Saturday, September 26). We will have our next program on Saturday morning, October 10 from 10am until noon followed by a potluck lunch.
We want to take this opportunity to thank Shila for volunteering her time for the last few years to co-facilitate Bal Gokulam. Shila will be working outside of Crestone and will no longer be available to serve in this way. Her presence will be missed as she has always had such a special way with the children. We wish her success in her new venture. We are grateful that Board member, Vesper Gers, is willing to begin helping Cindy Cleary with the program each month.
If you have questions about the program you can call Cindy at 719-256-5007 or Vesper at 719-256-4569.
Softball Games
T
wo softball games in August, what fun and as Isaac commented, with the mosquitos gone for the year, the games were definitely more enjoyable. We had great turn outs with full teams on both sides and even some pretty good players who could hit the ball beyond the field into the creek. Still the best part was the laughter and fun and seeing new and old friends.
There are no games scheduled for the busy month of September. If the weather holds, possibly one more game in October, but either way, it has been a fun season in this beautiful place we all call home!
Elders Visit the Ashram
What a special weekend when AJ and Sabina Pradhan brought ten elders to the Ashram, ages between 60 and 90 years-old. With them they brought so much love and devotion and gifts for the temple that you could barely step inside. They were also great karma yogis helping with cleaning and cooking. It was such a loving time.
Ganesh's Birthday
During the weekend that the elders were visiting, it was Ganesh's birthday. In the morning after aarati, we did a lovely puja outside to the Ganesh murti that is at the entrance to the temple. He looked very pleased with all the love from the elders as well as some of the local children that showed up for aarati that morning.
That evening, we still had the very tall Ganesh who is outside of Mother's chambers to bath, dress, and adorn. Fortunately, tall Prakash from Santa Fe showed up and performed the puja. Now this Ganesh is looking very content too!
Children Prepare for School at the Ashram
What a great idea these two mothers had. Their three 3-year-olds were headed for preschool at the local public school. They have to be ready each morning by 7:15am. They decided to help the children get prepared for the early morning routine by having them come to aarati at 7am the three mornings before school began. The children and parents loved it and by school day they were dressed and ready on time. It was quite a feat for three-year-olds and what a nice blessing to begin their school careers with Mother's and Baba's blessings.
August Visitors
Once again we had many visitors this last month. It seemed that everyone wanted to come to the Ashram before school started. We even had one group of high school students from Las Vegas, NV. and Isaac led them on a tour. Some of the visitors helped with the karma yoga including picking buckets of currants that were prolific this summer
Families and Children
What a treasure our families are. Here Ramloti is pictured with her son, Amil and his three sons, Gavin, three-day old Dylan, and Benjamin. Sorry, mom (Sarah) was taking the photo.
Meanwhile, plenty of kids at the Ashram.
On the new-moon fire ceremony day, Jade and Surya made all the petals for the offerings and for decorating the fire pit. They then decorated the havan and completed by offering the fruit with their friend Rosalis at the fire. These children are all such great karma yogis.
Kids from three different families visiting from Fort Collins, Denver, and Colorado Spring teamed up to lead the currant picking in the garden. We are still enjoying currant bread, apple currant crisps, and currant anything because they did such a great job at picking plenty. Many of the things accomplished at the Ashram are because of our generous visitors.
We also love it when our families come at least a couple times a year so we can see all the children growing up. Bhole Baba Ki Jai!
Calendar for 2009
September 4 - Full-moon fire ceremony at 10am followed by a meal.
September 18 - 26 Fall Navratri, the Divine Mother Festival. See schedule above.
October 17 - Diwali, Festival of Lights. Fire ceremony at 10am. Chanting at 7pm.
Calendar for 2010
February 13 - Maha Shivaratri - all night chanting to Lord Shiva.
March 15 - 23 - Spring Navratri, the Divine Mother Festival.
July 24 - 25 - Annual American Samaj Weekend
July 25 - Guru Purnima Day
July 26 - 30 - Annual Family Week and Concurrent Workshop.
October 7 - 15 - Fall Navratri, the Divine Mother Festival.
October 17 - Diwali, Festival of Lights. Fire ceremony at 10am. Chanting at 7pm.
Maha Lakshmi Shop Report
The Maha Laksmi Shop is happy to announce that we will now be carrying the greeting cards by local artist, Rita Berault. A long time devotee of Babaji and a loyal supporter of the Ashram, we are happy to display some of her beautiful art. These are just six of the 12 cards we will be carrying and giclée prints of these images are also available directly through Rita. The note cards sale for $3.00 and each one is handmade. All of these and more new can be viewed on our website.
We also want to let you know that we have a very special video, Sanatan Dharma, Pilgrimage to the Source of Eternal Wisdom on sale for $15. Marked down from $35, this is a great bargain. This documentary, a filmed letter from within the Haidakhan Ashram in the foothills of the Himalayas, is an intimate report of the bliss found by many Europeans who have made their personal pilgrimage back to the Source in Haidakhan. Filmed by Dutch filmmaker, Henk Pocin, it is truly a must see.
You can check our website for all the new items at BabajiAshram.org and order on line through pay pal or e-mail us at shop@babajiashram.org.You can also always call us on our toll-free number at 866-686-4185 to order or for more information. 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. We are open daily from 9am until 5pm. We take Mastercard, Discover, and Visa.