Ashram Mission Statement
We aspire to live the Teachings of Haidakhan Baba, to share the Love of Babaji
and the Divine Mother with others, to hold this Ashram as Their Home,
to serve humanity, and to be stewards and caretakers of the land.

November, 2009

Important Notice
The Ashram will be without water from October through November 6 while repairing the water system. People are still welcome to attend aarati and the fire ceremony, come for darshan, or visit the Maha Lakshmi Shop but there will be no bathroom, overnight, or kitchen facilities available. Read below for more information.

Dear Friends of the Ashram

This last month has been a time of many emotions from some of the highest of highs to the most challenging of lows. Very close friends of mine and of the Ashram suffered the loss of their beautiful 15-year-old daughter on October 4. She had been at the Ashram this summer for the Samaj weekend and all that had met her are also grieving the departure of a loving and joyful soul. I spent three days with the family after the death and it was a highly emotional time. The love that was showered on the family by their many, many friends was a beautiful thing to observe and their faith and devotion to Shri Babaji very strong. There is a tribute to Yamini in the newsletter.

We are also still working on the water system, so much of the month has been without water. There have been many decisions to make around this issue and sometimes it seemed overwhelming. We are all busy scraping walls and applying the different coats of QBond, a structural reinforcement and water proofing agent that is approved for drinking water. We are so grateful for the generousity of some friends of the Ashram for the use of their home during this time.

On the other side of the spectrum, we celebrated a magnificent Diwali (Festival of Lights) in mid-October. The fire ceremony, pujas to Ganesh and Maha Lakshmi, the sharing of chants and songs, the visitors that came from around the country, the beautifully lit temple and grounds and all the attendees and volunteers added up to a spectacular and moving day and evening.

But just a few days after Diwali, we suffered another great loss. Kailash, who has helped the Ashram grow in numerous ways since 1987, passed away on October 22. It was personally a very difficult time, as both he and his parents are very close friends. His tribute follows as well.

In November, we will have our Bal Gokulam (children's program) on Saturday, November 14 at 10am. I will be traveling to India and heading for our Ashram in Haidakhan on November 27 for about a week. I will then be in Delhi for a Paduka Puja from December 5-7. This is always a wonderful time to connect with old and new friends and have the darshan of Shri Babaji in Haidakhan and Shri Muniraji in Haldwani. I will also be bringing home many things for the Maha Lakshmi Shop. If you have a special request, this would be the time to let me know. I will share many photos and experiences with you in next month's newsletter.

Our Maha Laksmi Shop is open every day from 9am until 5pm. Morning aarti is at 7am and evening aarati is at 6pm. Lunch is at about 1pm and you are welcome to join us (preferably after our water system is running again.) We will also have our full-moon fire ceremony on Monday, November 2 (it will be a small fire and no meal served due to our water system being down) and our new-moon fire ceremony on Monday, November 16.

If you would like to participate by sponsoring a fire ceremony, we would like to send you a blessed item from the fire ceremony. They are:

$27 sponsorship - Copper, brass, nickel Om Namah Shivaya bracelet
$54 sponsorship - Rose Quartz, Rosewood, Sandalwood, or Tulsi Mala
$108 sponsorship - Rudraksha or Crystal Mala

You can make the donation online 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

Bal Gokulam

Our next children's program, Bal Gokulam, will be on Saturday, November 14 from 10am until noon. This is a wonderful time for children to learn about puja, the stories of the Gods and Goddesses, simple yoga, and chanting. The children and parents always have a very inspiring and fun time.

It is quite obvious that the children have been learning these things when they attend the ceremonies at the Ashram. Here Sage and Shannen help Ramloti with the puja to Maha Lakshmi on Diwali.

If you have questions about the program you can call Cindy at 719-256-5007 or Vesper at 719-256-4569.

Would You Like to Serve?

With the Ashram continuing to grow, it seems to be time to have one or two more full-time residents living here. Jonathan, Premanand, and Ramloti wear several hats here and they are all willing to give one away to the right person or persons. Some of these hats would be maintenance person, pujari, shop manager, administrative assistant, and web master. Before giving the job description of each of the positions, let us first consider the basic qualifications for a long-term resident at the Ashram.

First of all the person needs to have established a relationship with the Ashram. This can be accomplished by a few visits of a week or so. This gives everyone time to consider how living together would be. The qualities that make a good fit is a sincere desire to serve, a generosity of spirit, a sense of humor, a willingness to take on any task at any time that is needed, a willingness to share your feelings and take advise, and a deep faith and commitment to Shri Babaji and His teachings of truth, simplicity, love, and service to all of humankind.

Financial arrangements are as follows: One should expect to make the suggested donation of $324 for the first month at the Ashram. If all goes well, board and room are provided with no donation expected for the next two months. After three months, the new resident is eligible to receive a small monthly stipend along with board and room. The food served at the Ashram is all organic, vegetarian, and a raw diet is also possible if one desires. The accommodations vary with the time of the year from a private room in the beautiful straw-bale adobe dorm to shared space with other residents. A married couple could also be considered.

Everyone at the Ashram does just about everything from cooking, cleaning, weeding, tending the Shop, sweeping and shoveling snow, taking care of visitors, and helping in the temple, however there is also some specialization. Job descriptions are as follows:

Maintenance Person - Handy at repairs of all kind, a general knowledge of solar, plumbing, electricity, and construction.

Pujari - A willingness to rise early and learn to awaken, bathe, dress, and decorate the Divine Mother and other murtis in the temple. Must be very sincere, devoted, and focused on the duty and have a good eye for color and balance.

Shop Manager - Some experience in running a retail store. Duties would include ordering products, pricing, display, organization, and keeping the on-line shop up to date. Basic computer knowledge (preferably Macintosh) would be helpful.

Administrative Assistant - Help with the management of the Ashram. Skills needed would be good telephone presence, organizational and management skills, typing and computer knowledge.

Web Master - Maintain and enhance the Ashram website. Must have solid computer skills (preferably Macintosh), must be careful and methodical and a good speller.

Living at the Ashram is both a great blessing with many joys and also a challenging life of service. As most of you know, the Ashram is located in one of the most beautiful places in the world on 101 acres of pristine land with a creek running through it providing our delicious water supply. If you feel you can be of service to the Ashram, please call or email us for more information at 719-256-4108 or info@BabajiAshram.org.

Water System and Other Repairs

We continue to work on the water system and with the impending winter weather it will be a temporary fix until spring. One of the biggest hold ups is that the 6000 gallon holding tank is made of cement blocks which are totally saturated from leaking water, unbeknownst to us, for many years. We have been scrubbing walls and prepping them for the first steps of repair. We will keep you informed and please keep the project in your prayers.

We have also been busy with other upgrades and repairs. The driveway has received several loads of road base and has been nicely graded. We also extended the road all the way up to the water system making it now possible to get large equipment up there to maintain the water system in the future. All of the windows on the temple have been sanded, primed, caulked, and painted. 20-year-old wooden windows need a lot of care in this sun!

Overseeing this 101 acres of Ashram land and facilities is a continual job and requires funds to keep it in the best repair so that we can accommodate all of you.

We would like to encourage you to make a monthly automatic pledge toward the Ashram maintenance 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 Pay Pal 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.

A Tribute to Yamini Agarwal

by Ramloti

Yamini Agarwal, the lovely daughter of Shashi and Bipin Agrawal passed away on October 4. Many will remember this beautiful 15-year-old from the Samaj weekend. Here she is pictured with the bowl in her hands making chocolate cake with Azelia on the left and Lexi on the right. The cause of death is unknown. The family went to a yoga class in the morning together and had a wonderful morning. She went upstairs to shower and never came down. When they went to check on her, they found her in the bathroom. They called 911 and their neighbor doctor who came within minutes and pronounced her dead. She was very athletic and in superb health, so it is really a mystery. They have one other daughter, Winnie, who is in her last year of college in Philadelphia who flew home immediately and stayed for a week.

The family asked me to come to their home in Denver and I stayed for three days through all of the services. They are such an amazingly loving and generous family and it showed by the hundreds of people that came to support them through this time of grief. The days were filled with visitors, ceremonies, food brought in by friends, copious amounts of tears, and story after story about Yamini and all the hundreds of people she had touched through her love and beautiful spirit.

The funeral was on October 6. After some chanting and traditional pujas done by the pundits, there was some sharing. First Winnie (their 21 year old daughter) spoke about her sister and then Aditi (the 17 year old cousin spoke). Both were tear-filled but so eloquent and touching. I was asked to speak next and shared the reading from Babaji's teaching from Feb. 2, 1983 when He spoke about body's being given by God to perform a duty but that as we come into this material world we fall into me and mine and forget our duty. I shared that Yamini seemed to be very aware of her duty to be a loving bright force in the world that touched the lives of so many people. She was so generous and kind to all, even the poorest people in India where she had spent two weeks this Spring with her mom in the rural, small village where Shashi was raised. I commented that her duty was still being fulfilled by all the people that were now contemplating the fragility of life and remembering to make every moment count since we never know when a loved one will leave this plane of existence.

That evening over a hundred of Yamini's school friends did a candle-light procession to their home. It was so touching to see all of the love they had for her. The next day, the pundit came to the house and performed a homa inside to complete the ceremonies. May Baba and Mother hold them in Their arms. The address of Shashi and Bipin Agarwal is 4 Redhawk Run, Englewood, CO 80113.

A Tribute to Kailash

by Ramloti

It is with great sadness that we share this news with you. Kailash was found dead on the morning of October 22 with his oxygen mask on and he was blue. He has had severe asthma, sleep and health problems for many years. A few years ago this happened but he was able to call 911 in time and ended up in intensive care for the next several weeks.

He was just up at the Ashram Saturday night playing the harmonium at Diwali and he looked great and his bhajans were beautiful. Those that saw him received big hugs of love from him. He was a dear friend to all of us at the Ashram and certainly instrumental in the early building and growth of the Ashram. He was also up here a few weeks ago with his father consulting on the water system which he helped put in. He went on both the West coast and East coast tours with the Bhole Baba Bhajan Band and was very instrumental in its success. He loved those six weeks since he loved playing and singing kirtan. He also designed our website and helped format and send out the newsletter each month so he was a pretty regular visitor here. He was like a little brother to me and a very dear friend whom I miss dearly.

Kailash's cremation was on Sunday, October 25. It was very moving and beautiful. As you can see by the photos, Crestone is fortunate to have an outdoor crematorium that is run by the End of Life project. It is a real service to so many people. After we processed with the body before dawn, I spoke a bit about the physical shell that was Kailash and how his Divine, immortal nature was free now and had merged with Baba and Mother. I then performed an aarati and Gayatri gave chandan to Mother, Baba, Nataraj and Kailash. Carol and Fred (his parents) and his sister, Donna, offered flowers and a flower mala and I waved the lamp. We sang the Mother aarati and then Gayatri, Carol, Fred, Donna, and Dennis lit torches from the aarati lamp and lit the pyre. We stayed in silence for a while and then sang Om Namah Shivaya and gave other tributes to Kailash. This all went on for about three hours and then we went to Kailash's home where there was a huge catered meal for everyone. There was music and lots of visiting.

It was a magnificent morning. I was grateful to be asked to lead the ceremonies. But of course, when it all quiets down is when it is often most difficult for family and close friends so please keep them in your prayers. We will all miss a great friend, a brilliant musician, a great devotee, a computer whiz, and the one who built so many of the Ashram's early buildings. Carol and Fred Huffman's address is P.O. Box 613, El Prado, NM 81524.

The Festival of Lights, Diwali was a very special celebration at the Ashram. We began with the new-moon fire ceremony at 10am during which we did puja to a small Ganesh murti to be installed up at the water system. We then processed up the hill to the water system with Shri Babaji's padukas and Ganesh and installed Him asking for blessings on our project.

We then continued up the hill to the beautiful Spanish Creek where the water in-take is located. Here a lovely murti of Maha Lakshmi presides for the last several years blessing the Ashram land and water.

Each year at Diwali we bring Her down to the creek for a bath and full puja. About forty people helped to bathe Her and dress Her while Shri Babaji's padukas oversaw it all.

The three-foot murti of Maha Lakshmi was then taken back to Her seat on the mountain overlooking the creek. Many of our visitors enjoy having Her darshan and seeing the creek that gives us our water when they come to the Ashram. It is a lovely 15 minute walk in nice weather.

We then all went down the mountain and had lunch out on the lawn. The rest of the day was spent preparing the temple and earthship with candles and lights and the grounds with luninerios. Meanwhile delicious food and treats were being prepared to be served after the evening aarati and chanting.

This evening of light was attended by about 80 people. Some of the folks represented spiritual centers of Crestone and they shared one of their chants or hymns about peace and light. The music was enchanting and lovely. Sharing this evening praying for peace and light on the earth with Sikhs, Shumeis, Native Americans, Sufis, Christians, Subuds, and of course all of the children and local Crestonians is always so magical.

Ambrish Comes to the Ashram for Diwali

With all the blessing from Babaji, this Diwali I got a chance to visit Haidhakhan Universal Ashram (HUA) in Crestone. After celebrating the Diwali over there I am forced to think, ‘is it the best Diwali of my life’ and the answer is ‘yes’. I got the privilege to hold Babaji Charan Padukas (Babaji Sandals) through out the day while doing Lakshmi Puja and Fire Ceremony. I am sure that Ganesh, whom we placed near the water system, will take care of all water problems at the Ashram. I hope the Indian meal that my friend, Sorabh, and I cooked for the evening bhandara was well received by all of the people, and we know for sure whatever goodness the food had was a blessing of Babaji.

We are highly obliged to Ramloti who not only arranged the ride for us from Denver but also took very good care of us like a Mother. After meeting Ramloti I never have felt that this Diwali I am away from my Mother back in India. We are also very thankful to Cindy, Sondra and Carol for giving us the joyful rides.

My association with Babaji from childhood provides me the faith that Babaji is very much present at the Ashram in Crestone and has a special blessing for the people who are living there. I am very much sure that with the devotion that Jonathan, Premanand, and Ramloti have Haidhakhan Universal Ashram in Crestone will attain the same status as Babaji Ashram in Haidhakhan in India. We wish that Babaji mahima will spread in the Ashram as stars in the sky and will lighten reign in this world and all worlds.

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA - Haidhiyakhandi Baba Ki Jai !!! Ambrish Srivastava

New Kitty at the Ashram

We recently acquired a new kitty that is so cute and loving that the children like to come up to the Ashram just to hold it. Above are Sage and Talus, below are Jade, Gokul, and Kailou.

       

College Students & Other Visitors to the Ashram

Since we have been without water for most of the month, we have not been able to accommodate our usual overnight visitors. (We did fill up the water storage tank for Diwali so we could proceed with those festivities.) Even day time visitors were not able to use our kitchen for warming up their lunch and making chai as they normally do. All have been very understanding, however, and they were still able to have darshan of Mother and Baba and attend aarati. Two groups of college students from Western State College in Gunnison and Colorado College in Colorado Springs also came for tours of the Ashram and attended aarati. Our smaller havan (fire ceremony) was also very beautiful and still very powerful.

Calendar for 2009

November 2 - Full-moon fire ceremony at 10am (no meal due to no water).

November 16 - New-moon fire ceremony at 10am followed by a meal.

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.

November 6 - Diwali, Festival of Lights. Fire ceremony at 10am. Chanting at 7pm.