If you can not view this in your eMail program, please click here.
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.
July, 2008
Dear Friends of the Ashram,
We have such a family in Shri Babaji and the Divine Mother. I am sure I have said this before but I am continually struck with awe when I look around the temple or the havan kund or the kitchen table and see how many different countries are represented. This month alone we have had people here from Guatemala, Mexico, Denmark, Germany, Taiwan, Nepal, Switzerland, Finland, Bhutan, England, as well as South, North, East, and West India (and probably more). Shri Muniraji, who gave the Ashram its name, told me he included the word Universal because people would come here from around the world. He was certainly correct.
We have had a busy month with many visitors, some staying for several days or weeks, each adding their special touch and energy to the Ashram. Our local friends helped with many Ashram repairs on our karma yoga day. We appreciate everyone's support and love so much. Read on for reports and photos.
We hope that we will see you for one or more of the big events coming up in July: Fourth of July (we have an Indian food booth at the fair again); Guru Purnima; Samaj Meeting; Family Week; and the Devi Workshop. You can find more information below.
Evening aarati at the temple is at 7pm and morning aarati is at 7am. There is also a small fire ceremony every day (except new and full moon) at 6:30am when the weather is conducive (not raining or too windy and dry). The Maha Lakshmi Shop is open from 9am-6pm daily and lunch is served around 12:30. We invite you to visit.
The full-moon fire ceremony is on Friday, July 18 (Guru Purnima) and the next new-moon fire ceremony is on Friday, August 1. All fire ceremonies begin at 10:08am and are followed by a meal. If you would like to participate by sponsoring a fire, we would like to send you a blessed item from the ceremony. They 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 online 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
Community Softball Game - July 6
Last month's softball games were so fun and so well attended that we have planned another one. It will be on Sunday, July 6 at 2pm in the Baca Park next to the fire station. This is a great time to come together with many Crestonians and laugh, play and get some exercise.In the past we have had Tibetan lamas, Buddhist monks, Catholic Carmelites and other members of the neighboring spiritual groups join us. Three of the members of the Shumei International Foundation are in this post game photo. Boy could they hit that ball long-distance! The Ashram has plenty of mitts, balls and bats. All skill levels are welcomed, the important prerequisite is a good sense of humor!
Guru Purnima & Samaj Meeting July 18,19,20
What a wonderful long weekend we will have beginning with Guru Purnima (the full-moon on which we honors our teacher) on Friday, July 18. Many devotees are coming from around the country to celebrate with a paduka puja at 9:30am, a large fire ceremony at 10:08am followed some stories of Babaji, chanting, and a huge Indian feast. Nirmal Sharma, the president of the American Haidakhan Samaj, will be traveling here from Massachusetts to conduct the fire ceremony and the annual meeting. This will also overlap with Sondra Ray and her group's yearly visit, the shakti should be very high. On Friday night (Guru Purnima) after aarati, The Bhole Baba Bhajan Band will lead the chants that they will be performing at the Crestone Music Festival. They have been chosen to give the opening Blessing at the Music Festival on August 2 with several of their songs.
On Saturday, July 19 we will have the annual meeting of the American Haidakhan Samaj. This is the national Babaji organization that helps spread Baba's teachings through publications, tours, workshops, and supporting Babaji centers throughout the country. This yearly gathering is an important event at which the programs for the upcoming year are discussed and put into motion. Let your voice and ideas be heard. To make reservations for this very busy weekend, call the Ashram at 719-256-4108. For more information about the Samaj, go to www.BabajiSamaj.org
Devi Workshop - July 21-25
We are very excited about our annual workshop this year on the Devi, the Feminine aspects of the Divine, to be offered from July 21 - 25 from 10am to 1pm. (For those with children five years or older, this will run concurrently with our children's program.) We are so grateful to have Sofia Diaz travel to Crestone to facilitate this event. Sofia leads retreats around the world on yoga, the Divine Feminine, and Sacred Movement, which she has been studying for the last 27 years both in India and in the United States. She will be joined by Ramloti and Annie Pace on the harmonium. Annie is a world reknown Astanga yoga teacher who has studied Indian music and philosophy in India and the US for the last 20 years.
The five-day workshop will begin with the Devi in general and then proceed over the next four days to cover Mother Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, and finally Haidakhandeswari (whom Shri Babaji said is a combination of all three.) The workshop will include history, stories, chants, stotrams, meditations, sacred movements, mudras, symbols, yantras, the Devi Bhagavatam, the Sapta Sati, and ceremony all focused on the Divine Feminine. The suggested donation for the five days is $108 (scholarships are available). Letting us know if you plan to attend is helpful. Don't miss this very special opportunity. The workshop is for men and women.
Annual Family Week - July 21 - July 25
Our Annual Family Week is from July 21-25 and full of lots of fun, lots of children, great food, and community. From 10am until 1pm each day there are on going programs going for the children. This year the groups will be lead by Kelly Hosinger, Lisa Bhodie, Shila, Jai Shankar, and Brugesh. This looks to be a very highly talented, energetic and fun team to work with our children.
The theme is on service and the five mahayagnas (the great duties in the Vedic culture to the Creator, to Nature, to our elders and dependants, to those who dedicate their lives to service, and to the animals.) In addition to exploring these topics, the children will learn chanting, help with karma yoga, learn yoga asanas, visit other spiritual centers, go on hikes, and do art projects. In the afternoon, the adults organize field trips for the children to the Sand Dunes, the hot springs swimming pool, horseback riding, and other activities.
Please call or email the Ashram to make reservations or for more information. Even if you do not plan to stay at the Ashram, if your children are going to participate, please let us know so that we can organize enough staff and supplies for the week. You may call the Ashram at 719-256-4108 or email us at info@BabajiAshram.org. Hope to see many of you.
Bal Gokulam - Saturday, August 9
Out next Bal Gokulam will be on Saturday August 9, from 10am until noon followed by a potluck lunch. Each program focuses on a different aspect of the Divine.
The program includes stories, yoga, chanting, sharing, and puja. The program has become very popular among the community. We have many children and parents that look forward to coming every time and also there are always new participants as well.
Please call Cindy 719-256-5007 or Shila 719-256-4477 for more information or to let them know what potluck dish you want to share.
Kirtan Hall Update
This is a view of the complete temple and kirtan hall from the Havan Kund (sacred fire pit). It stands majestically at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in testimony to the hard work and generosity of so many people. It is beautiful to behold.
We are pleased to let you know that through your donations, matching pledges, monthly tithes, and all of your shop purchases, our kirtan hall loan now has been paid down to $40,600. If you have any ideas on ways to help us pay down the loan sooner or would like to organize a fundraiser, please call the Ashram at 719-256-4108.
We would like 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 ($501, $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. You can also send a check to the Ashram at P.O. Box 9, Crestone, CO 81131 or donate online by clicking here. We want to thank you for all of your continued support in this meaningful project.
Recent Events
Karma Yoga Day
Karma Yoga Day was on Saturday, June 8 from 9am until 1pm followed by lunch. It was a great success. Some of the projects that got completed were a new fence around the recycling area (making it much safer for our children); the door to the west entrance of the earth ship now closes securely (keeping the bears out at night); the path to the west entrance was weeded and regraveled; tenches for drainage were redug (just in time for the summer rains); a new sign was posted at the havan kund; and the Maha Lakshmi shop sign was reset so that it would not tilt in a big windstorm. In addition to that, the children made cookie dough for about 1008 cinnamon cookies (which we froze and are still enjoying) and the grounds got very well-weeded.
It's such a fun and energetic time together and soooo much got accomplished. It is amazing how many hands make light work. We all enjoyed a delicious and well-deserved lunch together on our beautiful lawn after all was complete. Thank you to all who came and helped make the day so joyful and successful.
Bal Gokulam (Children's Program)
We had our children’s program Bal Gokulam on Saturday, June 28. Once again we enjoyed doing yoga, meditation and singing bhajans together. This time we focused on Mother Durga, who protects us.
It was a very large group that attended this last one, seventeen children and almost as many adults. We even had one family show up at the last minute who drove all the way from Denver to participate in the program.
Several of the older children are now taking the lead and helping to teach the newer or younger children. Such things as: blowing the conch shell; passing the aarati lamp, water, and prasad after the puja; giving chandan to the attendees; and leading some of the yoga exercises are some of the responsibilities they happily have taken on. Here Kailou (age 9) gives chandan to four-month old Faith as two-year-old Asher watches.
Arvind Suman and Family Say Good-Bye
One of the sad moments this last month was when we said good-bye to our loyal friend and Board Member, Arvind Suman and his family. They are moving back to Chenai, India but first wanted to come to the Ashram and have darshan of Mother and Baba. This was their second son's, Ritvik, first trip to the Ashram, he is only 4 months old.
Arvind and his wife, Rashmi have been very instrumental in organizing several fund raisers in Denver and have brought so many new families to the Ashram. We will miss them dearly but since they have family in Delhi, we are hopeful that we will see them there once in a while. We also talked about them going on a yatra to Babaji's Ashrams in Haidakhan and Chilianaula on our next trip to India. Many blessings and love on your move and new life in India.
Our Children and Families
With the warmer weather and summer vacation, we have even more families coming to the Ashram. Some are here for only a short time, some spend the day helping with karma yoga.
Some come for special occasions, such as Ashwin's tenth birthday. Here he is blowing out candles on a watermelon for his birthday breakfast.
Whenever grandparents come from India, this is always an occasion to visit the Ashram and of course the birth of a new child. We also have a family from Taiwan living at the Ashram for the next two months helping and enjoying the beauty of this place.
Here we have some children after aarati who were visiting from Denver. Next photo is of our two new residents, Lucia and Ramona with a little friend from India. And the final one is of Angela, Matias, and Rosalis sharing a green smoothie with Daniel, a great karma yogi who was at the Ashram for a couple of weeks this month.
All of our local families continue to come to the Ashram for events and the children are growing. It was great to see four moms pushing their strollers (one not in photo) up the Ashram driveway for the last Bal Gokulam program. The families of Crestone are awesome. Kailou Cleary and family were big parts of the Karma Yoga Day. It was amazing to watch how focused and adept Kailou was at the various projects he and his dad took on.
Calendar for 2008
July 6 - Community Softball Game in Baca Park at 2pm. All are invited.
July 18 - 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 - Annual American Haidkakhan Samaj meeting. To find out more about the Samaj go to their web site at www.BabajiSamaj.org
July 21 - 25 - Annual Family Week at the Ashram with concurrent workshop on the Devi.
August 9 - Bal Gokulam, children's program from 10am until noon, followed by potluck.
September 29 - October 7 - Fall Navratri, nine days to honor the Mother. Daily fire ceremonies, pujas, discourses, and readings.
October 28 - Diwali, the festival of lights. Fire ceremony at 10am. Chanting at 7pm.
Maha Lakshmi Shop Report
Join the band with your very own dollak (drum) and harmonium! They, along with lots of beautiful murtis, devotional items, and books have just landed in Los Angeles from India. If you would like us to reserve you a harmonium, please call us with your request as there are only a few left that have not been spoken for. You can call the shop toll-free at 866-686-4185 to order or for more information. We are open daily from 9am until 6pm. We 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.
|