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.
December, 2007
Dear Friends of the Ashram,
With December comes a time of holidays and the completion of another year. It is a time of remembering our loved ones and the Divine. We at the Ashram have so much to be grateful for and so many people that are like family to us. I am sure, if the weather is condusive, we will see many of you over these special days. For those that we do not see, perhaps we will meet up at one of our many stops on the upcoming tours.
In keeping with Shri Babaji's instructions to go on tour and spread His simple teachings of truth, simplicity, love and service to humanity: we are planning both an east coast and west coast tour. These will be sponsored by the American Haidakhan Samaj and the Ashram. Read below for the latest information.
We had a very successful first children's program, Bal Gokulam and will have another on January 12. Photos and details follow. We also had a spectacular Diwali celebation at the beginning of November. Photos and story below
Our evening aarati has shifted to 6pm and will remain so through the winter months. Morning aarati will continue to be at 7am. This month our full-moon fire ceremony is on Sunday, December 23. All fire ceremonies begin at 10:08am and are followed by a meal. In order for more people to be involved long-distance in the fire ceremonies, we have expanded our sponsorship range. We will also take a mala or bracelet to the fire with Shri Babaji's padukas to send to you so that you can wear the blessings from the fire. The categories are:
$27 sponsorship - copper, brass, nickel Om Namah Shivaya bracelet
$54 sponsorship - Sandalwood Mala
$108 sponsorship - Rudraksha or Crystal-Rudraksha Mala
You can make the donation on line 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
Children's Program - Bal Gokulam - by Shila
Next one will be on Saturday, January 12, 2008
On Saturday, November 17th, we held our first Bal Gokulam at the Ashram. Bal means Child and Gokulam is the place where Lord Krishna spent his childhood days. In Gokulam, Krishna blossomed in talent, mischief, strength and also divinity. People then realized that he was not just an ordinary boy, but an incarnation of God. Thus Bal Gokulam is a special place for children to learn together, discover their potential and really shine.
Fifteen children attended our first gathering. The youngest was Talus who is 2 and a half months old. Talus has already been to many fire ceremonies and aaratis. One of the oldest was Kailou who is 8 years old. Kailou visited India and Haidakhan last year. He met Shri Muniraji who gave him the Krishna name of Kawal.
We have so many blessed and beautiful children in our community so it is always a very precious time when we get together. We practiced yoga and meditation then Cindy told a story about Hanuman that the children enjoyed very much. We did a little puja to a Hanuman murti, sang bhajans and shared the things we are grateful for in life. Afterward, we enjoyed a potluck lunch together.
For the parents of the bigger children this can be an opportunity to spend time in the temple and to help prepare the potluck lunch. We ask that the parents remain present at the Ashram during this program. This will be a monthly event, but since December is a busy time for families we will have the next one on Saturday, January 12th from 10am until noon followed by a potluck lunch. The format will be very much the same each month so that the children will become familiar with yoga, meditation, bhajans and performing puja. We will share a new story about one of the deities every month.
If you have any questions, please contact Cindy at 719-256-5007 or Shila at 719-256-4477.
Upcoming Western Tour
We have had such a great response from the East coast proposed tour, that we decided to go to the Southwest as well. This tour is sponsored by the American Haidakhan Samaj as well as the Ashram. The members of this group so far are: Jason Almendarez on percussion; Amulya Dawn on percussion and vocals; Kailash on harmonium, dolak, and vocals; and Ramloti on percussion, harmonium, and vocals.
We are excited to announce that we will also be joined by Emam and Yashoda on much of the tour. Emam is a professional tabla player and Yashoda plays the harmonium and has a heavenly voice. Both come with bountiful Babaji energy. Here are the tentative dates and locations for this tour. Call the Ashram for more information or the contact numbers below.
January 16 - Santa Fe, NM. Call Tracy at 505-310-1092 for location and time. January 17 - Espinola, NM. at Northern New Mexico College. January 18 - Sedona, AZ.
January 19 - Phoenix, AZ. Call Kamal at 480-225-8251 for location and time. January 21- Los Angeles, CA. January 22 - Los Angeles, CA. call Even Jones at 323-461-6774 for location and time. January 24 - Berkeley, CA. at Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave - Berkeley January 25 - San Rafael, CA. at Open Secret, 923 "C" St. January 26 - El Sobrante, CA. Fire Ceremony and aarati at Saradambe's - 510-220-2748.- January 27 - Reno, CA. call Jonas at 775-303-5699 for location and time. January 29 - Denver, CO.
Upcoming Eastern Tour
The dates and places for the upcoming Eastern tour sponsored by the American Haidakhan Samaj and the Ashram are coming together. The members of the touring group are: Frances Frischkorn on percussion and vocals from Colorado College; Jason Almendarez on percussion from Houston, TX; Ramloti on harmonium from the Ashram; and Prakash on percussion from Santa Fe, NM. We will be doing a high-energy tour of kirtan, dancing, and Babaji slides called Alive with the Divine. Here are the dates, locations, and contacts so far. Call us at 719-256-4108 for more information.
February 14 - Columbia, MO. Call Melinda Staley for time and location at 573-499-0070.
February 15 - St. Louis, MO. at Yoga South. Call Brad at 314-322-3129 for more info. February 16 - Louiseville, KY.
February 17 - Atlanta, GA. Call the Karin Kabbalah Center at 404-320-1038 for time & directions. February 19 - Gainesville, FL.
February 20 - St. Petersburg, FL. Call Jeffrey and Sharda at 727-363-0800 February 22 - Boca Raton, FL. at Yoga South. Call Sula at 561-573-7416 for time & directions. February 23 - Jupiter, FL. at Transformational Studies Inst. Call 561-744-9123 for time & directions.
February 25 - Buckingham, Virginia at Yogaville. Call Deepika at 434-969-5650 February 26 - Washington DC.
February 27 - New Jersey
February 28 - New York
February 29 - Shrewsbury, MA. Call Nirmal or Indira at 508-754-1247 for time & directions.
March 1 - Shrewsbury, MA. Fire Ceremony at 10am at Nirmal and Indira Sharma's.
March 2 - Cleaveland, Ohio, Call Kali Devi at 216-295-1129 for location & time. March 2 - Chicago area, IL.
March 3 - Fairfield, Iowa
March 4 - Nebraska March 5 - Colorado Springs, CO. at Colorado College. Call Frances at 434-466-6936 for info.
Kirtan Hall Update
On Diwali, the kirtan hall was very full as we all shared our chants of peace and light. Thank you to all who have made this special space possible.
We are pleased to let you know that through your generosity, matching pledges, monthly tithes, and all of your shop purchases, we have paid down our kirtan hall loan to $46,827.
We would like to continue to encourage you to make a monthly automatic pledge to pay down the kirtan hall loan. Either call the Ashram at 719-256-4108 with your credit card number and ask us to charge a set amount every month ($108, $54, $27, $10.08....) or go to our website and ask PayPal to deduct a certain amount from your account each month, Click Here.
We continue to look for other ways to help pay this loan off more quickly, if you have any ideas, please call the Ashram at 719-256-4108. We want to thank you for all of your continued support in this meaningful project. If you are able to contribute to help us pay the loan off, you can send a check to the Ashram at P.O. Box 9, Crestone, CO 81131 or donate online by clicking here.
Recent Events
Diwali, Festival of Lights
What a special event, Diwali, the festival of lights was at the Ashram this year. Over 125 people took part in this magical evening. We had the Catholic Carmelites, the Shumeis, the Tibetan Buddhists, Native American Indians, the Sikhs, the devotees of Sai Ma, the Sufis, our children from the community, and many other groups share their songs and chants of peace and light.
The Divine Mother, the temple, earthship, and Ashram grounds were aglow in candles and lights. After we shared this powerful time of raising our voices in prayer and song together in the temple, we all enjoyed supper and delicious desserts together in the earthship. It is such a treasured time to be together and realize that although our paths may be different, that we all have so much in common.
We are so grateful to our students from Valley Verde School in Sedona, Arizona for helping tirelessly setting up the candles, luminarios, and making food for the event. Our other karma yogis that came to help and clean up were also a great blessing making this event possible and joyous.
Meet Our Board Member
This month we would like to highlight the Secretary of our Board of Directors, Annelou Perrenoud, who is also a great karma yogi at the Ashram.
I discovered the Divine Mother Temple as a tourist in 1990 and was immediately drawn to it, even though I had not heard of Babaji before and had not experienced any ceremonies. The prospect of an Ashram developing around the Temple fascinated me as well. Over the next few years I returned many times, just to sit in the Temple. When Muniraj came in 1997 I attended some of those events.
In 2001 I was asked to serve on the Board of Directors, an honor which I eagerly accepted. I have always been interested in the consensus-building process of such boards, and since I had some experience as a secretary, I volunteered to take on that task. The configuration of the Board keeps changing, and with each new person the energy and dynamics also change, but I really appreciate the harmonious spirit present at the meetings. We may have titles, but it is clear that Babaji is always in charge. Right now I am excited that we have such good representation from the Indian community, as they are an important part of our constituency.
In 2002, when it was time for me to retire, I moved to Crestone to be closer to the ashram and to, hopefully, be of some service. Health problems have forced me to pace myself more carefully than I had anticipated, but I still do karma yoga for a few hours five days a week, and I continue to experience great joy in doing so. One of my duties is to keep the Temple and Kirtan Hall clean, which is quite an honor since it allows me to spend time in the Presence of the Mother and Babaji. This is truly a sacred place and it is rewarding to see our visitors respond to that welcoming and healing energy.
HUA: My Home In The Mountains
by Jason Almendarez
For some reason after being asked to write, “Why I like coming to the Ashram”, my mind just came to a halt. I felt as if I needed to take a step back and figure out why I actually love this place so much. The Ashram just represents something real and concrete that has been in my life from the time of my teenage years. Now here I am at the age of 22 in my life and I am finding the nessesary time to put forth toward my spiritual education.
I have been blessed with the presence of Shri Babaji at variouse times in my life, good and bad times, that made my connections with Baba, my friends and family so much stornger than what they were in the past. Although I was never blessed to meet Him when He was in a physical enbodiment, I have felt His presence in my life: that sort of guiding hand, or that slap on my forehead when I know I am doing something wrong. I have always (well after my early teens) felt this deep gratitude and reverence for my Divine father.
After knowing about Babaji for some time, I was suprised to hear from a friend that Babaji has an Ashram in the Mountains of Colorado!! I was thrilled to hear this news, the mountains just always seemed to attract my heart. The odd thing is that once we heard about the Ashram our trip did not happen immediatley, it took four years before my friends and I were able to all come. As you can immagine I had built up a lot of things to be thankful for to my Divine Father and it was just a MUST to come and pay my respects.
So there we were heading up to Crestone from Houston TX. singing Baba’s chants as we made our 20 hour drive to go see Babaji’s Ashram. The week my friends and I spent at the ashram was wonderful and the ararti and chanting were just so addictive, as if they just drew me in. I absolutly loved it! So I was suprised when Ramloti asked me to stay a few weeks longer to help with kids week. I felt as if Baba, Himself, was asking me and decided to do it!
I just love to be here at the Ashram and elevate myself fom the sort of daily grind that attacks you in the big city. I like to recharge when I get out here, and by that I mean gain my sense of self back along with selfless service and humblness. The vibrations here can be experienced by all who come, and the energy is truely infectious. I see many people come to the Ashram who are all welcomed with a feeling of a second home, if you will. When we all join in for chanting most can go all night long. So many people with their own unique backrounds of how they got to know Babaji and why they like the Ashram are just living proof that Baba taught something True and Simple for all to grasp and taught it with Love. This infinite love that pours endlessly through His being and that we radiate to each other in our daily lives. We have all unified in Him and take from His teachings individually. So when asked, “Why I like coming to the Ashram”, I just simply answer “Because I enjoy life and would love to continue enjoying it”.
Families at the Ashram
As usual, our families have continued to visit, even through the colder weather. Some came from Denver, some came from Fort Collins, and some even came all the way from Texas. Our local children are always a big treat at our ceremonies.
Calendar for 2007 -2008
January 12, 2008 - Children's Program, Bal Gokulam from 10am - noon followed by potluck lunch.
January 16 - 29, 2008 - Southwest Kirtan Tour. See newsletter for dates and locations.
February 14, 2008 - Shri Babaji's Mahasamadhi. Paduka Puja at 5:30pm followed by aarati.
Februarey 14 - March 5, 2008 - East Coast Tour. See newlsetter for dates and locations.
March 6, 2008 - Maha Shivaratri with all-night chanting and fire ceremony March 7 at 10am.
April 5 - April 13, 2008 - Spring Navratri, nine days to honor the Mother. Daily fire ceremonies, pujas, discourses, and readings.
July 18, 2008 - Guru Purnima Day, the day you honor your guru. Paduka Puja at 9:30am, Fire ceremony at 10am followed by an Indian feast.
July 19 and 20, 2008 - Annual American Haidkakhan Samaj meeting. To find out more about the Samaj go to their web site at www.BabajiSamaj.org
July 21 - 25, 2008 - Annual Family Week at the Ashram
September 29 - October 7, 2008 - Fall Navratri, nine days to honor the Mother. Daily fire ceremonies, pujas, discourses, and readings.
October 28, 2008 - Diwali, the festival of lights. Fire ceremony at 10am. Chanting at 7pm.
Maha Lakshmi Shop Report
Here are some of our newer items for the Shop, just in time for the holidays. They are: Om shoulder purses in black, maroon, or purple for $14; cotton embroidered blouses in many colors and sizes for $15; Om t-shirts in olive green, light blue, maroon, black, and purple for $10.08; wrist malas (crystal, rosewood, rudraksha, pearl, sandalwood) for $9; incense burners for $5; small Ganesh statues for $5 and $8; and tulsi wood or rosewood neclaces for $5. Don't forget all of our beautiful murtis, such as this 9 inch Tara for $63.
We are happy to ship an item for you directly to your loved one with a card acknowledging the gift. You may also wish to consider sponsoring a fire ceremony in their name and we can send the mala or bracelet from Babaji's padukas to them.
You can call the shop toll-free at 866-686-4185 to order or for more information. We are open daily from 9am until 5pm. We do take Mastercard, Discover, and Visa. To view items in the Maha Lakshmi Shop, please refer to our newly updated web site at BabajiAshram.org.
You may order on line through paypal or e-mail us at shop@babajiashram.org, or of course, place the order over the phone. We love to talk with you.
We thank you for all of your shop purchases as the revenue from the shop is a huge support for the Ashram.
Bhole Baba Ki Jai!
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