Haidakhandi Universal Ashram Newsletter
 
 




Dear Friends,


I was confined to my bed this last week and only just got permission from my doctor to get on the computer a little to write this newsletter today.  For this reason, it is seven days late and a little short.  Last Tuesday, I had what appears to have been an appendicitis.  I thought I just had a very bad stomach flu.  However, on Wednesday when it became a very intense sharp pain in my lower right abdomen with no other flu symptoms than nausea I began to question my evaluation.


Nevertheless I continued working since I had a long awaited appointment to lay out the book about Old Haidakhan Babaji written by Shastriji’s brother, Giridhari Lal Mishra.  Thursday morning when I finally called our wonderful Anthroposophical Crestone MD, it seemed pretty clear that appendicitis was the prognosis.  However, since the pain and nausea were beginning to diminish slightly and I could keep down some simple food and had no fever, he was willing to support me with some homeopathic remedies, liquid fasting and phone consultations in healing it myself without surgery.  This sounded great to me but the cost was complete bed rest until my stomach felt better.


So off to bed I went with castor oil compresses, arnica and other remedies; sipping on hot miso soup and boy did I sleep day and night at first.  The irony of the situation is that with Spring Navratri only a few days away, we still had many of Mother’s saris to stitch, all of them to iron, the kumari gifts to assemble, the temple, assans, dorm and Baba’s kutir to prepare as well as all the other preparations.  Then of course there is also the big annual online auction beginning in a few days with necessary emails to go out about that and lots of new items to be posted on it.  And least of all was this newsletter which normally goes out on the first of the month and a board meeting as well.


So what a perfect leela for me, miss get-it-done that I am!  I just had to surrender to the situation, ask for lots of help and let the rest be.  And once again our beloved Mother and Baba literally sent karma yogis and volunteers out of the walls to help and everything looks better than ever!  I am so grateful to everyone who helped out so much. Then people began emailing us to sponsor fire ceremonies for Navratri without even being reminded with a newsletter and Friday a couple came to the temple for a few minutes and left a very large donation for the hermitage fund. 


But even more than that, I got to hear a couple of deeply touching healing miracles of Baba and the power of Om Namah Shivaya, which greatly enhanced my healing experience.  I believe that my, now much smaller, appendix received more Om Namah Shivayas then many in the whole world, perhaps.   Meanwhile, when I could no longer sleep, I began to read the wonderful new book that just arrived from India for the Shop, Samsmaram.  This is an inspiring collection of devotees’ experiences with Shri Babaji, Shri Muniraji and Shri Shastriji, most along the same theme of trust and the fact that the Divine is in control of it all.


The bottom line is that, once again, I am humbled by the graciousness of Baba and Mother and how They and They alone are totally in charge around here.  They call the shots perfectly and all I have to remember is to get out of the way and do what I can do to help.  There is a wonderful story in the book that I just laid out about Old Haidakhan Baba.  There were often big bhandaras (feasts) around Him at which thousands would be served.  When people came to Him to ask what they should do, He just smiled and replied, “Oh, just do as you like.”  And of course everything went perfectly.  Oh I have so much to learn. 


My love to all of you and prayers for a blessed Navratri and that Baba and Mother’s grace fill all on this earth.


Bhole Baba Ki Jai!

Ramloti





This Month’s Fire Ceremonies and Schedule


With Spring Navratri on day five today (Maha Lakshmi), we hope you can join us physically or mentally in a fire ceremony which will continue everyday through Monday, April 11.  The full-moon fire this month will be on Sunday, April 17 and this is also Hanuman’s birthday.  The fire ceremonies begin at 10:08 am and are followed by a meal.  Our evening aarati is at 6pm and morning aarati is at 7am with a paduka puja in Shri Babaji’s kutir each morning at 6:40am.  Lunch is served
at about 1pm. The Maha Lakshmi Shop is open every day from 10am until 5pm.


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, Garnet or Tulsi Mala

$108 sponsorship - Rudraksha Mala or Crystal Mala or Copper, silver, brass bracelet


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 to: P.O. Box 9, Crestone, CO 81131.

We are continually grateful for all of your support of the Ashram.




Spring Navratri -  Day Five and will continue to Monday, April 11


Spring Navratri is here and so much to be grateful for.  Do what you can to show it by attending functions here or at other Ashrams and centers or in your own home.  Light an incense, bring a flower, repeat Her name and sing Her praises.  The first three days were in honor of Mother Durga, these next three, Maha Lakshmi and the final three days Mother Saraswati.  She is our Mother and although we do not always remember all of Her magnificence and lessons, She still loves us unconditionally.  What more in this world could we ask for?  Here are photos of Ma from the first four days.



Please join us for the last of these divine days that are full of chanting, aarati, fire ceremony, readings, discourses and karma yoga.  You may call us at 719-256-4108 or email us at info@babajiashram.org.


Haidakandweswari Mata Ki Jai!




Annual On-Line Auction - An Exercise in Love

Saturday, April 8 Through Sunday, April 17



The Annual Online Auction will begin tomorrow, Friday, April 8, in honor of our Divine Mother Lakshmi (Her third day of Navratri) at 1:08pm Mountain Time.  We have been so generously gifted with over 200 items and 13 sponsors, it is bound to be a great success.


Many of the items donated have certainly been an exercise in love.  Take for instance the set of
pillow cases made from the Divine Mother’s nightgown.  Initially, the fabric was donated to the Divine Mother by the Wood family in San Diego, CA.  It was then lovingly made into Ma’s nightgown by Annelou Perrenoud before she moved away from Crestone to Portland, OR. due to health reasons.


Now our wonderful 80 year-old Ram Sakhi has stitched them by hand during this Navratri festival with so many mantras and great love.  One can only imagine that the fortunate winners of these pillow cases will feel all that love as they sleep on this soft flannel tinged with the sweet rose scent of Ma.



The auction is also graced with three exquisite silk double-sided altar clothes or table runners made by Darlene Streit of Santa Fe.  Darlene has made all of the lovely drapes for the temple and Babaji’s kutir as well as the pillows, bed covers and assans  for both Baba and Muniraji.  Using these same regal fabrics, she has used three different combinations to create these 18” by 60” reversible clothes.  Once again, the love and Baba’s energy certainly will fill the lucky winners’ altar space and home.


Next we have some yummy eye pillo
ws (they are filled with dahl donated to the Ashram) and a back or neck pillow made from Ma’s nightgown and Baba’s kurta by Amy.  Amy was just traveling through Crestone and came by chance to a fire ceremony and ended up staying a week at the Ashram.  She lovingly sewed many of Ma’s saris and then created these wonderful auction items once again carrying so much of Baba and Ma’s love. 


We could go on and on but I will end with these scarves and altar
clothes made by Shashi of Denver from the sari given to Ramloti by Babaji in 1981 (gold and black silk brocade) and from a luscious deep pink silk sari worn by the Divine Mother.  She said just sewing on this fabric had her in a blissful state much of the time and she did her mantra constantly as she sewed them all. 


So these are just a few of the stories behind the 200 auction items that have been donated with so much love.  All of the money raised from the auction will go to fund the hermitage project, the first one is already under construction so that Ramloti will have a quiet space by summer after 20 years of sharing space in the dormitory with thousands of visitors.  Please bid generously and tell all your family and friends about it.  There are so many great items from the devotional to the fun and magnificent.  The bidding will only be for 10 days and will end on Sunday, April 17 at 8:01PM Mountain Time (Hanuman’s birthday).  Go to http://www.babajiashram.cmarket.com to see it all.  Thank you to all for your support!




The Hermitages for Jonathan, Ramloti and Premanand


I
t has begun!  After the fire ceremony on Sunday, the first day of Navratri, we took Babaji’s photo and padukas to the hermitage site and broke ground and then cracked a coconut amidst prayers on the building site.  We were grateful that Simon Bialobroda, the Vastu architect from Boulder who so generously drew up the hermitage plans, traveled to the Ashram for the event along with man
y others who added their prayers.

On Monday, the crew began the preparation for the foundation cement pour and Tuesday the cement truck arrived for the pour.  Yesterday the plumbing was installed.  According to the contractor, Paul, it is all going extremely well!


The 300 square foot straw bale hermitage will have adobe floors, photovoltaic electricity, solar hot water for bathing and radiant floor heat, solar exposure and a back up wood burning stove.  All of this is estimated to come to around $60,000.  We have $31,000 in hand and in pledges with confident hopes of close to another $15,000 more in fundrasiers (one of them is the online auction).  This still leaves us nearly $15,000 needed to complete the project which is scheduled to be finished by the end of May.


We ask each of you to look into your hearts and see what this Ashram means to you and to please donate as you are able. You may go to our website and donate through PayPal (you can even set up a monthly tithe). You can also send a check made out to HUA and designated for the hermitages at P.O. Box 9, Crestone, CO 81131 or you can call us at 719-256-4108 with a credit card number. We want to thank you in advance for your support, love and prayers.  Together, with Baba’s grace, we can make this happen! 




Mark your Calendar!


Fundraiser in Denver - Sunday, May 15

Annual Samaj Weekend - July 23-24

Family Week and Workshop with Sofia Diaz - July 26 - 29


Space is definitely at a premium during Family Week, so reserve as soon as possible by calling 719-256-4108 or emailing us at info@ info@babajiashram.org




Recent Events


Mahashivaratri


Shivaratri was a blissful and very high energy event with over 100 folks (from the very young to the old) participating throughout the auspicious night and at least 70 more at the fire ceremony and bhandara the next morning.  The music, dancing, children, devotion, pujas, prayers and energy were sublime!











Birthdays Galore!


So many great people were born this last month.  We celebrated Premanand’s, Jonathan’s,  Darrell”s and Claire’s birthdays here at the Ashram and here are photos.  We love birthday parties!




Our Friends, Groups, Children and Families


So many visitors, so many growing families and children and so many friends.  Life at the Ashram is very blessed.  It is a place were people can find nourishment, peace and tranquility.  Shri Babaji told us to build large Ashrams that would be like islands in the sea of materialism where folks would learn to love and work together.  This has truly been created here in Crestone.  We are fortunate to be part of it all.



























Calendar for 2011



April 3 - 11 - Spring Navratri, the Divine Mother Festival.


July 14 - Guru Purnima Day


July 23 - 24 - Annual American Samaj Weekend.


July 26 - 29 - Annual Family Week and Concurrent Workshop with Sofia Diaz.


September 27 - October 5 - Fall Navratri, the Divine Mother Festival.


October 26 - Diwali, Festival of Lights. Fire ceremony at 10am. Chanting at 7pm.




Maha Lakshmi Shop Report


T
he Shop is happy to announce the arrival of a wonderful new book about Shri Babaji, Shri Muniraji and Shri Shastriji.  Many accounts from devotees and speeches and stories from Muniraj and Shastriji make this an inspiring book to keep next to your bed and open at any place for the right message of the moment.  This treasure of 558 pages has stories never before published and sells for $20 in the Shop.


That is the good news.  The more challenging news is that our Shop Zencart is having difficulties and although you can view most of our items on line, many may not be able to order them.  As we work on this (any ideas, give us a call at 719-256-4108) you may just call us (every day from 10am until 5pm Mountain Time) with your order and a credit card number like in the olden days.  It is really nice to connect in this way,  we love to talk to you.  Thank you for your support!



You may view and perhaps purchase most of our other items at www.shop.babajiashram.org/  You may also call us at 719-256-4108 with questions or to place an order.  We love to talk with you.  We accept visa, mastercard or discover.  The Maha Lakshmi Shop is open everyday from 10am until 5pm.


The Shop is a major support of the Ashram, so we deeply appreciate your patronage.


Maha Lakshmi Mata Ki Jai!

 

April, 2011