Haidakhandi Universal Ashram Newsletter
 
 




Dear Friends,


As I was going through the photos taken this last month, I suddenly realized that there were four fire ceremonies performed in locations that had never had one before.  Two are beautiful new permanent havan kunds where fire ceremonies will be performed on a regular basis.  The other two fire ceremonies were performed in portable copper havan kunds in back yards of devotees.  We will do another inauguration of a new kund in San Jose, CA next weekend.  We will also be doing at least 20 havans, many first time ones, around the country during the tour.  People have also been contacting me from Canada, New York, Washington  and Texas wanting to learn the fire ceremony.  I feel this is significant.  Shri Babaji spoke of the great importance of the fire and said this is where creation began.  He also said that by participating in fire ceremonies people will have good thoughts for one another and that the fire brings balance, peace and harmony to the creation.  Shri Shastriji said that by traveling around India doing fire ceremonies, Shri Babaji had solved India’s food problem and brought greater peace to the land.  In the Srimaddevi Bhagavatam, there are many stories of the forces of dark stealing the sacred mantras so that the fire ceremonies could not be performed.  All havoc ensued until the mantras were recovered, often by the Divine Mother, and the fire ceremonies began again.


On each of the upcoming tour stops, when it is humanly possible (meaning not too long of a drive that day), I have extended the offer to do a small fire ceremony the morning after the presentation.  The response has been overwhelmingly positive.  People understand the great blessing this will be for their homes, families, communities and the world.  We will carry a copper havan kund and most of the supplies with us simplifying it for first timers.  This will also perhaps lay the ground work to come back another time and teach the sacred ceremony so that it is performed on a regular basis in many more parts of the country.


I so deeply remember sitting with Shri Babaji at 4:30 or so in the morning around His small havan kund outside His room under the sacred pepal tree with the Gautama Ganga River flowing below.  I had no idea in 1981 what a havan was intellectually but I understood the profundity of it in my soul as Babaji sat in silence making offerings to the fire.  From time to time He would look up from the fire to the sky, to the mountains, to the river, to the forest, and I knew in those moments that He and these offerings were affecting all of creation.  I am continually grateful to Shri Babaji for giving us this simplified form of havan mantras. Without many years of study the Sanskrit language is challenging to pronounce since it has many sounds in their 56 letter alphabet that we do not have in ours.  Last weekend I was speaking about this with an Indian man who has studied the mantras since childhood when he told me a wonderful thing.  He said that because the Sanskrit language was cognized by seers through the gods, that it is a self correcting language.  He said over time, if we pronounce the mantras to the best of our abilities with love and devotion, the gods will actually help us with the pronunciation.


Even though to our western minds this may sound far fetched, I find that living in this larger realm of the cosmos with its infinite possibilities much more life-supporting and I am seeing more and more the miracles that happen on a daily basis.  This is the reason that I will generally pick up the Chandi Path or the Devi Bhagavatam in lieu of a newspaper.  Babaji told us that like Hanuman, we did not know our own greatness and had to be reminded of it.  When Hanuman was young, he did remember His Divine powers but this was intimidating to the elders around him who could not control him and so they made him forget it all.  I feel like that is what the news that blasts 24/7 in many homes these days is doing to us, helping us forget our divine intelligence and powers so that we can be controlled and manipulated by fear and consumerism.  I pray that this tour that I and others will be embarking upon next month will help people in some small way to remember their continual connection to the Divine and their divinity within. 


Bhole Baba Ki Jai!

Ramloti




Ceremonies and Schedule


The full-moon fire ceremony this month is on Saturday, December 10 and the new-moon fire ceremony is on Saturday, December 24 (Christmas Eve).  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 8am (through the winter months) with a paduka puja in Shri Babaji’s kutir each morning at 7:35am.  Lunch is served at about 12:30pm. 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 or Tulsi Mala

$108 sponsorship - Rudraksha 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 made to HUA to: P.O. Box 9, Crestone, CO 81131.

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




January - February Bhakti Tour Winter 2012

Enlightening our Hearts with Sacred Fire and Divine Mother’s Love


The tour has certainly taken on a life of its own.  People have stepped forward to travel with me and even drive their own vehicles.  Locations around the country are deeply moved to host us and organize programs.  Connecting with devotees that I have not seen for many years is exciting and with so much help and support, organizing over 25 programs has been easy.  In most places we will be doing an evening of kirtan, images and discussion focusing on the Divine Mother and a fire ceremony and chanting the next morning.  There will be two segments:  a shorter West Coast Tour and an East Coast / Southern Tour.  Accompanying me on the west coast will be Panna Singh and joining me on the next one will be Sherry Summers and Brad Smith.
You can find out more about the wonderful tour participants and the tour in general on our new growing page on the Ashram website, Bhakti Tour 2012.  Here is the schedule so far with contacts.  The evening is normally 7-9pm and the morning fire at 9am but check with the contacts for certainty.  If you have friends in the area, please let them know about the gatherings as they are bound to be very high and inspirational.  Together we will be experiencing the sacred fire and the love of the Divine Mother which I feel will guide us through this time of transition.


West Coast Tour

Sunday, January 8 - Sebastopol, CA - 10am Fire ceremony, aarati, chandan, chanting and potluck at James and Betsy Gauer’s home, 3696 Burnside Rd., Sebastopol, CA 95472.  For more information email longchenpa@comcast.net or call 707-824-0342.  Please bring your own blanket and pillow.


Thursday, January 12 - Pasadena, CA - An Evening of Baba Stories, Images, Chanting and Potluck at The Centre, 573 S. Lake Avenue D, Pasadena, CA 91101. Contact Maille at 818-468-7324.


Friday, January 13 - Agora Hills, CA - Late Chanting in preparation for Makar Sankrant 7pm to? At Nirmal and Indira Sharma’s, 29130 Medea Lane, Apt. 1206, Agora Hills, CA 91310.


Saturday, January 14 - Makar Sankrant - Corona, CA - 10am Aarati, fire ceremony, chanting, satsang, bhandara and perhaps a dip in the creek or the ocean  This will be at Randi and Howard Rubin’s at 4492 Signature Drive, Corona, Ca. 92883.  Phone: 951-808-1010


East Coast/Southern Tour

Monday, January 16 - St. Louis, MO. - Fire ceremony at 9am to bless the tour.   Email Sherry at sherryyogabliss@yahoo.com


Monday, January 16 - Carbondale, IL. at one | o | one yoga, 101 S. Graham Ave, Carbondale, IL  62901.  Fire ceremony next morning.  Contact: Kathy Neely 618-457-8186 or email at info@center101yoga.com.


Tuesday, January 17 - Nashville, TN and fire the next morning. Call Julianna at 615-482-3535.


Wednesday, January 18 - Asheville, NC and fire the next morning.  Call Tama at 828-231-0296.


Thursday, January 19 - Yogaville, Buckingham, VA. call or email Sraddha 434-969-3121 ex. 144 or satsangs.celebrations@gmail.com and fire ceremony next morning call Hanuman at 434-969-3121 ex. 106.


Friday, January 20 - Charlottevile, VA at Ashtanga Yoga Charlottesville, 505 Monticello Road, Charlottesville VA 22902 and fire the next morning.  Email Frances at

frances.frishkorn@gmail.com


Saturday, January 21 - Washington DC at Yoga Chai, 1744 Columbia Rd. NW., 2nd Floor

Washington, DC  20009.  For more information and directions go to  www.yogachai.com or call: 207-746-YOGA (9642) or email frances.frishkorn@gmail.com.


Monday, January 23 - Wilmington, NC at 1924 Chestnut St., Wilmington, NC 28405, and fire the next morning.  Call Larry at 910-254-1314.


Tuesday, January 24 - Pittsboro, NC at Avalon, 102 Sibling Ct., Pittsboro, NC and fire the next morning. Call Kelsey at 919-360-7443 or email her at Kelsey.lapoint@gmail.com


Wednesday, January 25 - Columbia, SC at Yoga Masala, 711 Bluff Road, Columbia, SC 29209 and fire the next morning.  For more information email info@hotyogamasala.com.


Thursday, January 26 -  Athens, GA  and fire the next morning.  Call Sura Das at 706-201-1287.


Friday, January 27 - Atlanta, GA at the Karin Kabalah Center, 2531 Briar Cliff Rd. #217 Atlanta, GA. 30329.  Call Alok at 404-320-1038 or email kabalah@mindspring.com.


Saturday, January 28 - Jupiter, FL Call Jim at 561-371-2832


Sunday, January 29 - Del Rey Beach, FL. at Harmony House - Fire Ceremony, aarati, chanting and potluck at 10am.  Call Sal and Sarena at 561-274-0883.


Monday, January 30 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - at Benicio Farina’s home, 1601 NE 40th Ct., Oakland Park, FL 33334.  Call Benicio at 305-710-9040.


Tuesday, January 31 - St. Petersburg, FL  and fire the next morning.  Call Sharda at 727-363-0800.


Thursday, February 2 - New Orleans, LA.  Call Jack at 504-453-9161.


Friday, February 3 - Houston, TX  Call Lalita at 713-465-4178.


Saturday, February 4 - Fire Ceremony in Houston at 9am.  Call Lalita at 713-465-4178.


Sunday, February 5 - Plano, TX 10:30am Puja, Kirtan, presentation and lunch at the home of Bhavani and Tiru Ramasamy’s home, 5929 Wamego Ln., Plano, TX. 75094.  Call Bhavani at 719-464-4363.


Monday, Feb. 6 – Drive home to St. Louis


Tuesday, February 7 - St. Louis, MO.-  Fire Ceremony in Thanksgiving for Tour at 10:08.  Email Sherry at sherryyogabliss@yahoo.com




Hermitage Report and Other Ashram Projects


The hermitage continues to be a great boon and with the colder weather a few added improvements have been made.  The waste pipe on the north side of the building was insulated more securely, the radiant floor heat set to utilize the solar hot water when it is not being used for bathing, plans for some deer-resistant plants are being made for springtime and wild grass seed is planted in the disturbed areas around the construction site to take advantage of the winter moisture and to keep down the sand in the springtime winds.


We are also working on a permanent purification system for all of the Ashram water and upgrading our photoelectric systems in the temple and earthship.  We will report on these in the next newsletter.  Other work includes such ongoing projects as collecting wood for the havan kund and dormitory wood burning stove; monitoring the water system; putting the garden to sleep for the winter; tending the greenhouse; hosting the many guests; running and stocking the Maha Lakshmi Shop and keeping everything clean and beautiful as befits the home of Shri Babaji and the Divine Mother.  As you see, there is rarely a dull moment at the Ashram. 


As a matter of fact, when a 7-year-old karma yogi, Radha,  (in the photo with her family) was helping me one afternoon cleaning the shop, the earthship and the temple, she sweetly asked me, “Do you always have so much karma yoga to do at the Ashram?”  I laughed and said, “Yes, Baba blesses us with so much opportunity.”


Many of these projects will take Ashram funds so 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 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 for your support, love and prayers.




Learning Sankrit Mantras


The family above and their friends chanted beautiful Sanskrit mantras at the Ashram like Sri Suktam, Bhu Suktam & Mahishasura Mardini stotram.  They have a YouTube site where these are uploaded – which one can practice regularly. Also Sony holds weekly classes teaching the mantras. If anyone is interested to learn – they are welcome to contact them at ybijay@yahoo.com.  The reason one may want to learn these and make them part of everyday puja is:  1) these mantras immensely please the Mother & 2) these mantras are from the Vedas which are ancient and ageless. They use them for various purposes but primarily for the Lord’s pleasure.

 

The YouTube site is at: www.youtube.com/bijayyerra.




The Crestone Spiritual Alliance


The Ashram has been a member of the Crestone Spiritual Alliance for the past six years and I serve as vice chair of the organization.  It is a wonderful group with 26 spiritual groups represented.  We come together to take action on causes that may affect us, to discuss timely issues and to dialogue about our beliefs and visions.  Today’s meeting had over 25 people in attendance representing 15 or so of the spiritual groups.  Our Crestone neighbor, James O’Dea, (www.jamesodea.com) a world-known mediator and facilitator who served as director of Amnesty International in Washington DC for many years and is the former president of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, facilitated the meeting.  He led us in a process of evaluating the role of the Spiritual Alliance and future plans for it.  The meeting began with a ten-minute meditation at the Spiritual Life Institute chapel and was a very rewarding time together.  Crestone is such a rich place.



Recent Events



St. Louis Evening and Havan Kund Inauguration


What love and community was felt in St. Louis that weekend with the inauguration of the new havan kund and the Divine Mother evening.  Over 50 people participated in the two events and the bliss and harmony were moving.  Sherry Summers’ home and yoga studio are now graced with this lovely havan kund.  Built with the love, donations and hands of many people, it will now have new-moon fire ceremonies on a regular basis.  The shakti of the weekend was so high that both she and the wonderful drummer, Brad Smith, asked to be part of the East Coast / Southern Tour.  I think we will make a great team!




Fire Ceremony Workshop in Pasadena, CA

Over a dozen people gathered in Pasadena to learn the sacred ritual of a small fire ceremony or havan.  The day began with aarati and was followed by a fire ceremony in a copper havan kund in the lovely yard of Echo.  We then spent the next few hours learning to pronounce the simple mantras for this small fire ceremony under the guidance of Nirmal and Indira Sharma.  The afternoon was dedicated to learning to prepare all of the offerings and the ritual of the ceremony.  It was another wonderfully harmonious and amazing day.  Several of the participants attended the fire ceremony the next day at Chandresh and Jayshree Trivedi’s home which is described in the next article.




Fire Ceremony, Aarati & Lunch in Yorba Linda, CA

It was a blessed day which began with lots of auspicious rain making people wonder if indeed we would be able to have an outdoor fire ceremony in the new havan kund.  Nevertheless, we all gathered and offered puja and aarati to Shri Babaji.  By HIs blessing the rain stopped part way through aarati and the sun came out. 

By the time we were through singing everything was dry enough for a magnificent havan attended by at least 60 people.  The mantras were chanted by Nirmal Sharma and the flames leaped high with the loving offerings of many hands.  We then went back inside and sang the Hanuman Chalisa and other chants and then had a lovely bhandara (feast). 


There were so many devotees gathered (seven of them having met Shri Babaji in physical form), it was decided to begin a LA area Babaji center and have a fire ceremony and aarati each month.  What a blissful affair to come together like this.



 

Fire Ceremony in Encinitas, CA


I was and still am not clear what the significance of 11/11 was but when my sister suggested we do a fire ceremony in Encinitas, CA where I was visiting my family, I thought it was a great idea.  It was also a holiday from school because of Veterens Day so I decided to make it a child-
friendly fire ceremony.  It is hard to express how sweet it was.  Eleven children attended with their parents and several took part in the preparations particularly decorating the havan kund with flowers.  One little girl went to several neighbor’s homes and asked if she could pick a few of their flowers for a special ceremony she was going to attend.  I began by explaining the meaning of the fire ceremony and teaching them the main mantra that I was going to use, Om Namah Shivaya, which many of them had on the t-shirts they were wearing.  I invited everyone to join me when I recited the 108 Om Namah Shivaya mantras followed by the word Swaha.  To hear these children with such reverence and love say Om Namah Shivaya Swaha had me nearly weeping by the end.  Indeed like Christ said, a child is very close to heaven.




Thanksgiving Fire and Weekend


Long weekends are a special time at the Ashram particularly when the weather is as beautiful as it was on Thanksgiving.  Many families from Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs and even Dallas, TX travelled to the Ashram to be in Ma’s presence, experience the fire ceremony and soak in the peace of the place.  One man wrote this:


I am writing to express my gratitude to the Divine mother and all ashram residents. I and my family thoroughly enjoyed our stay. And what a wonderful puja and havan we witnessed. Personally I felt a kind of relaxation that’s so deep with-in, totally worry free, no anxiety for future – just stayed in presence of time and experience the assuring presence of Mother. Everything is all right and taken care by her. We were so thrilled with that special event where we went up the mountain to do puja for Vana Lakshmi. After the puja, the vegetarian feast was awesome.


After the fire cereony on Thanksgiving, we went up to the creek and performed a puja to the Maha Lakshmi stature that resides there blessing our water supply and land.


Having more time at the Ashram, the families got the opportunity to participate in the karma yoga that goes on to maintain the Ashram.
Food preparation, washing dishes, stocking and cleaning the Maha Lakshmi Shop, gathering wood for the havan kund and baking sweets were some of the ways that they were able to join in.  It is especially good to see the children learning the importance of karma yoga at such a young age.  Many families like to bring their children to the Ashram so they can have this experience of selfless service in their lives.




Our Visitors, Children and Families































We feel so blessed by all of our families and other visitors.  Some families have been coming for 18 years and more.  We also have had several student groups in the last several weeks.  They have come from Verde Valley School in Sedona, AZ; Colorado College; Adams State College; Western State College; Crestone Healing Arts Center and Crestone Charter School to learn about our traditions and share in ceremonies and karma yoga.




Calendar for 2011


Saturday, Dec. 10 - Full-moon fire ceremony at 10am followed by a meal.


Saturday, Dec. 24 - New-moon fire ceremony at 10am followed by a meal.


Calendar for 2012


Monday, Feb. 20 - All night chanting for Maha Shivaratri with Lingam Puja (10pm - 4am)


Tuesday, Feb 21 - Maha Shivaratri fire ceremony at 10am followed by a meal


March 22 - March 30 - Spring Navratri - Divine Mother Festival with daily fire ceremonies, pujas, discourses, reading, chanting and other  ceremonies.


July 3 - Guru Purnima


October 15 - 23 - Fall Navratri - Divine Mother Festival with daily fire ceremonies, pujas, discourses, reading, chanting and other  ceremonies.


November 13 - Diwali, Festival of Lights 




Maha Lakshmi Shop Report


We are excited to announce that the new 2012 Babaji Calendars will soon be arriving in the shop.  They will sell for $18 plus shipping.   Here are a few images of the pages, to view the rest go to http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.10150372808035892&type=1


Also check out our t-shirt selection on line.  We now have children’s deity t-shirts for only $12. 


Although you can view most of the our items (not the calendars yet) on line at www.shop.babajiashram.org you may not be able to order them.  If you come up with this problem, just call us (every day from 10am until 5pm Mountain Time) at 719-256-4108 with your order, questions 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.  We accept Visa, Mastercard or Discover.


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


Maha Lakshmi Mata Ki Jai!

 

December, 2011