Ashram Newsletter - November-December, 2022

December 13, 2022  |  by Ramloti

Dear Friends,

As we step into the season of many holy occasions, all of us at the Ashram would like to extend our love, prayers, gratitude, and deepest wishes for a blessed Holy Season and New Year. We know that many of you and millions of people around the world, as well as plants and animals, are suffering and have many hardships. Please know that we pray for you and your families daily at our fire ceremonies and keep you in our hearts throughout the day. May Bhole Baba and the Divine Mother take care of us and hold us all in Their arms of love!

In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, Shri Babaji had much to say about the cataclysmic events that were coming. He said that only a fraction of the population in all countries would survive and that the destruction would be brought about by earthquakes, floods, accidents, collisions, and wars. He spoke about this on July 26, 1979 but He did end the speech with the words: “Those who pray to their chosen divinity will not be affected.”

On July 28, 1979 Shri Babaji foretold that: “the revolution (like a scythe) will be total and will be from one end of the world to another.”

But once again, Babaji went on to say: “Prayer will be the only safeguard and savior against destruction. Forget past and future, abolish all other thoughts, but pray with total concentration of mind and soul and have full faith in God. Chant OM NAMAḤ SHIVAYA and you can defy death. Have no thought about your life and death. No evil influence will ever come near you if you pray with purity of heart and mind, and with all faith and concentration.”
Having heard these speeches many times, I have thought about the meaning of prayer and its ability to safeguard us from destruction. Growing up I learned in my catechism class that to “Love” God, you had to “Know” Him. I have felt this to mean: to delight in hearing stories about God, to express gratitude to God often, to talk to God, to become close friends with God, and to constantly remember Her/Him. I certainly believe the prayer I uttered after reading “Autobiography of a Yogi” was answered when I actually got to be with the “Immortal Yogi Christ of India”, as Yogananda called Him, in India in 1981 and 1982.

As I quiet down inside and focus more and more on repetition of Om Namah Shivaya or other mantras, I begin to be aware of the miracles that go on around me, the Divine Presence that is always here. Sometimes I refer to them as “serendipitous” events but when serendipitous becomes very frequent, I know it is not just a: “fortuitous event that has happened by accident” as it is described in the dictionary, it is God’s hand guiding and caring for Her/His children.

I once again reached out to my friend in India and this is what he shared about prayer with me: “The Sanskrit equivalent of prayer is praarthana, petitioning. The Indo-European root of both 'prayer' and 'praarthana' is the same--prek, meaning ask, request. But the Sanskrit word includes the word 'arth,' which means both wealth/grain and meaning. So a prayer is directed towards the attainment of some form of personal gain, either material or spiritual. When the object of the petition is self-knowledge, it is said to be nishkaama, without desiring for any gain, whether good or bad. When the end is a clearly defined personal aim or object, the praarthana becomes sakaama, with desire for a specific object.

“One progresses and graduates from sakaama praarthana to nishkaama praarthana, where there is no longer an ego left to be the one who asks. This is where the practice of praarthana merges into contemplation, meditation, choiceless awareness--to use a term from Krishnamurti. One can ask for oneself, but one can also petition on behalf of and for whole communities and peoples, so the praarthana then becomes more universal, culminating in prayers for all sentient and non-sentient beings. Prayer, praarthana, is in this sense a whole continuum ranging from petitions for personal issues and leads to pure subsistence in non-personal awareness, consciousness, bliss.

“But prayer/praarthana is also the name given to the first and final parts of a formal puja, where the pujari asks the Deity for protection at the start of the puja, and where she asks to be forgiven for any lapses made in the performance of the puja just concluded.

“Finally, prayer is also, at least for me, the implicit and utterly irrevocable trust in the Deity that leads one to the act of worship in the first place. Humbly to stand in that Divine Presence, consciously to show oneself to one's Maker, helplessly to be lost in the supreme majesty and the unutterably magnanimous grace of God's love--that is prayer, surely? Prayer then is praise, awe, the losing of one's identity in the supreme object of one's love. How does the Unbound and the Unknowable reach us? How can a limited, helpless mind ever hope to reach that Endless Shore of Being? These are rhetorical questions, but the true mystery of our existence lies in the fact that it is that Eternal Shore of our being that reaches the frail boat of ourselves, not the other way round. Babaji reaches out to you, you don't know enough to reach out to Him. Prayer is always, even when it asks for worldly objects, a contemplation of just this mystery. Let us lose ourselves in the immortal bounty of the Supreme Lord's redeeming love.”

May we feel the loving embrace of the Divine throughout this Holy Season and through the New Year.

With much love,
Ramloti for the Ashram

To Florida Again!

For the last 15 years we have traveled to warmer climes to celebrate Makar Sankranti in January. This is the auspicious day that Shri Babaji said there are no evil influences on the earth. It is believed in India that the sun begins its upward journey on this day bringing new light and power to our spiritual practices after six months of diminishing energy. In Haidakhan we chant through the night, have a large fire ceremony, and take a special bath in the Gautama Ganga River.

The bath is always cold in Haidakhan (northern India) at this time of year but to celebrate this with a special bath here in Colorado would require a pickaxe to break the ice to even find the water! Wisely, we have found places with warmer water to celebrate Makar Sankranti. It turns out that Florida is pretty lovely in January, so most years we have traveled there.

The last three years, due to the Pandemic, we have not traveled however and so we are so excited to announce that we will begin our journey again.

East Side of Florida

We will first do daily fire ceremonies on the east side of Florida. They will all begin at 11am. The schedule and contacts are:
Saturday, January 7 – Jupiter Farms – Call Sari at Transformational Studies Institute – 561-744-9123
Sunday, January 8 – Delray Beach – Call Sarena at 561-715-7967
Monday, January 9 – North Palm Beach - Call Sari at Transformational Studies Institute for details – 561-744-9123
Tuesday, January 10 – Tequesta – Call Elaine at 561-398-2711

West Coast of Florida

We will then travel to the west coast of Florida to Treasure Island for the following programs:
Saturday, January 14 – 10am - Makar Sankranti Program – Call Sharda at 727-363-0800
Sunday, January 15 – 10am Paduka Puja and Fire Ceremony - Call Sharda at 727-363-0800
Monday, January 16 – 10am Paduka Puja and Fire Ceremony - Call Sharda at 727-363-0800

Upcoming Events

Friday, December 23 – New-Moon Fire Ceremony, 11am MT

If you wish to attend this in person, please call the Ashram at 719-256-4108 to save a spot.

It will be live-streamed at Haidakhandi Universal Ashram Facebook Page and posted on YouTube at the Ramloti Wood Channel later that day.

Friday, January 6 – Full-Moon Fire Ceremony, 11am MT

If you wish to attend this in person, please call the Ashram at 719-256-4108 to save a spot.

Saturday, January 14 – Makar Sankranti, 10am ET

Please join, if possible, the event we have in Florida.

We will live-stream this event at Haidakhandi Universal Ashram Facebook Page and post on YouTube at the Ramloti Wood Channel later that day.

Saturday, January 21 – New-Moon Fire Ceremony, 11am MT

If you wish to attend this in person, please call the Ashram at 719-256-4108 to save a spot.

Holiday Online Auction

The Ashram Holiday Online Auction was a tremendous success and we wish to thank all that helped, donated items, spread the word about the auction, and who placed a bid. These, twice a year events, raise a lot of the funds for the Ashram to keep it in great shape for Shri Babaji, the Divine Mother, and all of our visitors. We switched to a new auction platform this year and seemed to be more user-friendly, allowing more people to join in the fun. We send our love and gratitude to all.

Daily Fire Ceremonies

We do a smaller fire ceremony at the Ashram each morning, there is a larger one for the new and full moons. The start time on these varies, so a call to the Ashram ahead of time is necessary (call 719-256-4108). They will also be live-streamed at the Haidakhandi Universal Ashram Facebook Page (you can be notified each day when it begins if you follow the page). It will also be posted on YouTube at the Ramloti Wood Channel by the evening.

Karma Yoga

A lot karma yoga with all the ceremonies, guests, snow, preparing for the auction, and repairs. As always, there are many generous helpers who grace the Ashram with their attitude to serve. Bhole Baba Ki Jai!

Visitors

So many visitors and they come from all over. We are happy that people find inspiration in this beautiful place of Shri Babaji and the Divine Mother. Many are families, groups from retreats, or just single seekers. Thank you, Jai Ma!

Ways to Support the Ashram

First and foremost is to pray, pray, pray for all the disturbances in the weather, amongst people and life all over the earth. This is a time of great challenge, and Babaji spoke over and over again about the power of prayer, the mantra, havan, puja, and seeing all as children of one Divine Mother Earth.

You may also support financially by going to …

• GoFundMe Campaign
• Donate Page (this page has links to Paypal, Amazon Smile, and GoFundMe)

Calendar of Events

Please go to our Calendar of Events page for all events.

Maha Lakshmi Shop

We are excited to announce that we have many beautiful malas and bracelets that can be great gifts for your family and friends. You can purchase the malas below and other malas at our Maha Lakshmi Online Shop.

A Pink Agate Wrist Bracelet with Shri Babaji Tulsi Bead 6.5". This lovely elastic wrist bracelet is both beautiful and powerful. It not only carries the energy of the Agate bead, but more importantly the energy of Shri Babaji. The Tulsi bead on the bracelet is from a mala that He actually wore and gifted in 1976 to Hiraman. Hiraman felt at that time that Shri Babaji knew every person that would someday receive this bead.
Indonesian Fossil Coral Jasper with a Brass Om Pendant (108 beads mala). It promotes inner peace and quiets disruptive thoughts.
8mm Denim Blue Magnesite and Brass Beads and a Brass Ganesh Pendant. Magnesite helps to make the mind calm and relieves stress.
Bhole Baba Ki Jai! Jai Ma!