Ashram Newsletter - July 2024

July 1, 2024  |  by Ramloti

Dear Friends,

“Om Apavitrah Pavitro Va Sarvavastham Gato-pi Va Yah Samret Pundarikaksam Sa Bahyabhyantarah Suchi” is a beautiful mantra and the one that we have been taught to begin each sacred fire ceremony as well as my daily puja. One of the meanings of this mantra that resonates with me is: “Om. May we, whether pure or impure, in all situations and circumstances, achieve both inner and outer purity by remembering the divine name of the lotus-eyed all-pervading Divinity/Lord.”

Each day for me is a mixture of what my mind may label as pure-impure, positive-negative, easy-challenging, planned-surprising. However, indeed as the mantra reminds me, if I keep remembering the name of the Divine, all things become peaceful and often full of wonderful gifts.

Just in the last few days we have had a myriad of visitors to the Ashram (not unusual). This is usually a great joy to share the love of Shri Babaji and the Divine Mother with people. My mind can subvert me, however, and convince me that it will take too much “time” and I will not get to my “TO DO” list. When I change that thought and remember that all comes from the Divine and is the Divine, life flows so joyfully.

A couple of days ago, we had a Buddhist woman affiliated with one our neighbor centers, Mangala Shri Bhuti and her niece from Maine for lunch. Also joining us at the Ashram table was a woman undergoing cancer treatment and her husband from New Mexico and a few others. The topic turned to the Buddhist woman’s teacher, Dzigar Kontrol Rinpoche. I shared a story of one of the times he visited the Ashram. It goes as follows.

Dzigar Kontrol Rinpoche’s root teacher was His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche who left his body in 1991. According to their tradition, Dilgo’s reincarnation, Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche, was born in Nepal in 1993. In 2010, Dzigar Kontrol Rinpoche was bringing this young teacher around the United States to various Buddhist Centers. He brought him to Crestone, and they were scheduled to visit some of the Buddhist centers here. Wanting to have his darshan, Jonathan and I went to our neighbor’s, the Crestone Mountain Zen Center. There was a crowd of well over 100 people to meet and greet this young incarnation. When it was time for Jonathan and I to meet him, I handed him a bouquet of flowers from our garden and said we would love him to come visit the Ashram. This was translated to him, and he smiled sweetly. We were also told that his schedule was very tight and already full.

A little while after we returned to our places, someone came up to us and said that the young Rinpoche wanted to come visit the Ashram. We were overjoyed and asked when? “Right Now” was the answer, which was a bit surprising but also seemed fitting. So, the entourage followed us up our driveway and entered our beautiful temple. As he and Dzigar stood in front of the Divine Mother, I handed him puja items as I had observed they did at the Zen Center. He modestly deferred to Dzigar who did a short puja and then they were leaving. As we walked out together, Dzigar, explained to the young Rinpoche about Babaji and mentioned how beautiful He was. As they were about to drive away, they stopped the car where I was standing and with tears running down my cheeks, I asked him to please come back again. He once again, smiled so softly and said he would.

Somehow, I always felt that this was a preparation for when Shri Babaji would return and come to the Ashram.

After this story and a bit more talk of their beautiful retreat center, the topic turned to the 19-year-old niece, who is a “bat enthusiast” visiting from Maine. She shared about the 250,000 bats that live an hour away from the Ashram near the Valley View Hot Springs. She told us about the different kinds of colonies and how enriching going to see these colonies where for her. Her face, which was not so animated or perhaps interested in the early conversation, suddenly glowed as she showed us photos of the largest bat colony in the world she had just visited. This was Bracken Caves in Texas, where there are over 15 million bats. It was touching to step into her “world” for a few minutes.

And then we stepped into the world of the woman who had recently had surgery and radiation and she and her husband’s journey. She had come to the Ashram before and felt the love and healing power here and had returned at this challenging time to receive that love again. As they gratefully left, she said she wanted to come back for a longer time soon.

A little later, a group of Shumei visitors from Japan came for a tour. I had asked Jonathan to lead it as I had “work to do”. A little while later, one of the leaders came down from the temple and asked if I would come up and play some chants on the harmonium for them. Apparently, one of the gentlemen had been here 15 years ago and still remembered our chanting. Happily, I went up and found a drummer in the group and we led a couple of chants. They were all so enthusiastic and appreciative. We then came down to the earth ship for chai, banana bread, and shopping. What I was not expecting, is that one of the young men did simple Tea Ceremonies and he had brought the items needed to do one for us. It was so touching and sweet. Once again, surprises abound at the Ashram and so does our connection with all of our neighboring spiritual centers. Here is the link to the short video of the tea ceremony. https://youtu.be/Bfo52j71CcQ

The next day we had ten ladies from Kansas City come for darshan and fire ceremony. Another family of seven came for the fire as well from Dallas, Texas. The word is out around the country about the Ashram. So, you can see how all of this could be construed as not-planned, lots of work, challenging, and definitely difficult to get my “TO DO” list accomplished, but when the name of the Divine is on my lips and in my heart, it is all truly blissful. It is the karma yoga that Shri Babaji was constantly teaching us. It is interesting that I also just received this link to a beautiful speech of Shri Babaji from the early 1980’s newly translated by Sanjeev Sarna and voiced by Raghuvir Charan Chaudhary. It seems to speak to several of these topics of unity of all people, the importance of service to all, prayer, repetition of God’s name, and karma yoga. Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/100066741236174/videos/785802443688322/

Sending love to all,
Ramloti for the Ashram

Upcoming Events

Friday, July 5 - New Moon Fire Ceremony and Pitru Puja - 10am MT

New moon fire ceremony and pitru puja followed by chanting and lunch.

Saturday, July 13 - Sacred Fire Ceremony in Rockaway Beach, NY - 11am ET

Neal Desai and his family came to Hanuman’s Birthday celebration a year ago and now we are going to visit them in New York. Here is part of his letter. “We are so happy and grateful that they will be coming and to have a Havan in one of our favorite places - Rockaway Beach! The Havan will be on the beach at 11am on July 13th on Beach 125th St. We will meet prior at 10am at my home in Rockaway Beach. Of course all are welcome. We will have food, refreshments, and fun conversations after the Havan. Feel free to text or email me for address and with any questions: 917-624-7878 or nealjdesai@gmail.com. With Love, Neal

Friday, July 21 - Full Moon Fire Ceremony (Guru Purnima) - 10am MT

Full moon fire ceremony followed by chanting and lunch.

Daily Events at the Ashram

We have daily Aarati and Chanting at 7am and 6pm, which last about an hour. We also have a daily Small Fire Ceremony when we do not have the larger one. Please call the Ashram at 719-256-4108 for exact timing for these. The daily fire ceremonies are live-streamed at Haidakhandi Universal Ashram Facebook Page. There will be no live-streaming from the Ashram during July 13 through 24, as I will be traveling for Guru Purnima celebration in Europe (see below). The daily aaratis and fire ceremonies will continue, just call the Ashram for timings.

Annual International Guru Purnima Gathering of Babaji Devotees

This year it is in Switzerland at the Schweibenalp Ashram and Retreat Center. I am grateful that I will be attending the gathering again this year. I am not sure how much live-streaming there will be due to the WiFi availability, but I will video as much as possible and post it as I travel. In case you are in Europe, here is the information, it is truly a special and inspirational time together.

Recent Events

Fire Ceremonies

We had two lovely and inspiring Fire Ceremonies in the Denver area this last month. We are grateful to all of our hosts and hostesses who work so hard to make these events so special.

The first one was on June 8th at the home of Surendra and Seema Deora in Parker, CO. Well over 50 people were in attendance and the kirtan afterwards was inspiring. We even had some much-needed rain showers during the event, but they were well prepared with canopies. Bhole Baba Ki Jai! The following weekend we had a sweet event at Smita and Ramakrishna Thurimilla’s home in Centenniel, CO. The preparation, love, and, attention put into this event was once again very inspiring.

Maha Lakshmi Shop

The Maha Lakshmi Shop is a large support of the Ashram. We appreciate your orders. We have a new inspiring book in the Shop and lovely new malas, here they are with their links:

The Untold Story of Sita: An Empowering Tale For Our Time by Dena Merriam - $21

The Untold Story of Sita gives a different view to the traditional narrative of Sita's life as told in the Ramayana with Sita as she truly is—an incarnation of the great Devi Narayani. Sita comes to Earth to join Sri Ram in setting the foundation for a new civilization at a time when humans are becoming separate from the natural world. She seeks to embed a great love for the forests and rivers, plant and animal life in the hearts and minds of the people, and to share the high spiritual accomplishments of the great women rishis and sages, many of whom you meet along Sita's journey. This is a story of a woman's wisdom, courage and strength, her love for the manifest and unmanifest worlds, and her selfless sacrifices for the welfare of all. Step into Sita’s time and see what life was like during a more spiritually more advanced age, when there was an understanding of Dharma, not just as duty but as an alignment with the higher forces of love that make possible the preservation of our world.
https://mahalakshmishop.wazala.com/products/the-untold-story-of-sita-an-empowering-tale-for-our-time/

Rudraksha Mala from Babaji's Paduka - $45

This Rudraksha Mala is from Babaji's Padukas in Crestone, Colorado. Blessed at Mother's Feet and at a Fire Ceremony, they carry a lot of energy.
https://mahalakshmishop.wazala.com/products/rudraksha-108-beads-mala-from-babaji-s-padukas/

Blue Dumortierite, Golden Blue Tiger Eye, Milky Golden Quartz, w/ Baba's Rudraksha Bead - $251

This 108 hand knotted Mala has a Rudraksha Bead that Babaji actually wore, which are becoming very rare.
https://mahalakshmishop.wazala.com/products/blue-dumortiierite-golden-blue-tiger-eye-milky-golden-quartz-w-baba-s-rudraksha-bead/

The Maha Lakshmi Shop makes up a large part of the Ashram budget, and is open daily from 10am until 4pm. Thank you for your support.

Bhole Baba Ki Jai! Jai Ma!

Other Ways to Support the Ashram

First and foremost is to pray, pray, pray for all the disturbances 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
• Venmo (@babajiashram)
• Donate Page (this page has links to Paypal and GoFundMe)
• Amazon Wishlist

Ashram Wishlist. The Ashram could really use some new chairs for its “Ashram Table”. After many years of use, they are patched in many places and ready to be replaced. We have found some very sturdy ones, which are on our Amazon Wishlist. If you feel moved to support us in this way, it would be great. Thank you for all you do for the Ashram.

Calendar of Events

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

Karma Yoga

Lots of Karma Yoga at the Ashram with all the greenhouse, garden, repairs, Shop orders, stocking the Shop, preparing for ceremonies and clean up. With the large number of visitors, we have a lot of cooking, cleaning, and serving. It is all a blessing and thank you to all who help.

Visitors to the Ashram and Other Events

So many people keep coming to the Ashram and to the Ashram events in other locations. We are so grateful and love to get to know each of you. We are inspired at how many people travel for many hours to reach here and often in time for our morning fire ceremony. Leaving Denver or Colorado Springs or Taos at 5am or 6am is not uncommon. Then there are those who drive for 12 or more hours coming from Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas. Many fly from across the country to find their way here. This is truly Shri Babaji’s and the Divine Mother’s home and often becomes a treasured home for many. We see so many families with grown young adults that began bringing their children when they were babies. We love you all, thank you for your presence. Here are some of our visitors.