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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, 2009
Dear Friends of the Ashram
I took this photo of Shri Babaji just about this time of year 28 years ago in Haidakhan. It was growing dark and we were still out working pouring the roof on what was to be the infirmary, office, and sleeping halls. Baba was sitting on the already set portion of the roof overseeing every detail. Although sometimes He hollered at the workers and was very strict about our discipline, there was always deep unconditional love exuding from His eyes.
Lately at the Ashram we have had larger then usual numbers of young folks show up, many of whom have nothing except what is on their backs. Several, after their worlds have been falling apart, just began walking from California, New Mexico, Tennessee, Denver.... All are looking for meaning in their lives and often their stories are full of difficult home situations and sadness. These are the times I remember that Shri Babaji seemed sometimes exteriorly very rough on us but would always be there with His unconditional love to catch us in His Motherly arms just as were falling. I feel so grateful that so many people come here and experience His and Mother's incredible love.
July is a very full month and begins as we celebrate Guru Purnima on Tuesday, July 7. We have more softball games Sunday, July 12 and 19. We then host the Annual American Haidakhan Samaj weekend on July 18 and 19. This is followed by our annual Family Week running from July 20 24. The concurrent workshop, “The Dance of Love Between Us and That” focusing on the aspects of Radha and Krishna, will be a time to experience our ecstatic love for the Divine through chanting, stories, discussion, and sacred movement.
Evening aarati at the temple is at 6pm and morning aarati is at 7am. Lunch is served around 12:30 and we love you to visit. The next full-moon fire ceremony is on Tuesday, July 7 (Guru Purnima) and the new-moon fire ceremony is on Tuesday, July 21. 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 - Rose Quartz, Rosewood, Sandalwood, or Tulsi Mala
$108 sponsorship - Rudraksha or Crystal 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
Guru Purnima Day - Tuesday, July 7
On Tuesday, July 7, the full-moon of July, we celebrate Guru Purnima, the day you honor your teacher of guru. At the Ashram we celebrate this day with a Paduka Puja at 9:30am followed by a fire ceremony at 10am and a meal afterwards.
Each year there is also an international gathering of Babaji devotees, generally at one of the European Ashrams. This year it will be a several day gathering (July 2 - 7) celebration at the Schweibenalp Ashram in Switzerland. This beautiful Ashram is located in the Alps overlooking the Lake of Brienz. It will be a magnificent place to come together and celebrate our mutual love for Shri Babaji. For more information about either event you can call the Ashram at 719-256-4108.
Softball Games - Sunday, July 12 & 19
Our first game of the season was good fun and we even played some great softball. We have scheduled a couple more games on Sunday, July 12 and July, 19 beginning at 2pm at the Baca park next to the fire station. This is a very fun time and we invite you to join us. It is not unusual to have several representatives from the different spiritual communities as well as many families at the game. All skill levels are welcome.
The Ashram has plenty of balls, mitts, and bats for everyone. We will also bring a big watermelon to eat at the end of the game. Please join us. For more information call 719-256-4108.
Annual American Samaj Meeting
July 18 & 19
The American Haidakhan Samaj, is the organization of devotees in America that helps spread Babaji's love and teachings. The Ashram will be hosting the annual gathering on the weekend of Saturday, July 18 (with meeting beginning at 9am) and Sunday, July 19.
It is a great time to come together with other devotees with lots of chanting, ceremonies, meals, and time to share our stories and ideas. We are always quite full for this wonderful weekend so call or email the Ashram to make reservations at 719-256-4108 or info@babajiashram.org.
Annual Family Week - July 20 - 24
Sponsored by the Samaj & the Ashram
This year our annual Family Week will begin directly after the Samaj weekend and run from Monday, July 20 through Friday, July 24. This is such a special week for all of our families. Besides an opportunity to chant and sing aarati, there are programs for the children in the morning. Last year one of the days our theme was honoring elders. The photo shows some of the girls giving massages and manicures to elders of Crestone. It was a very touching morning.
This year the theme for the week will be "Love Expressed Through Service." There will be several karma yoga opportunities for the children. The older group will go to the neighboring Zen Center one day to learn about Zen meditation and to do some service there. There will also be art projects, yoga, chanting, and stories.
Afternoons are free for the families to take off for field trips to some of our wonderful attractions such as the hot springs swimming pool, horseback riding, and hiking in the woods. The last day we normally end with a hike, swim, and lunch at the Great Sand Dunes National Park.
The dorm is already totally booked but there is some camping space available. Some of the children's groups are also already full. If you wish to attend, please be in touch soon and we can see what can be worked out. There is no charge for the Kid's Camp. Call us at the Ashram at 719-256-4108 or email us at info@Babajiashram.org soon for more information or to make reservations to stay at the Ashram.
The Dance of Love Between Us and That Workshop - July 20 -24
During Family Week we are very excited that we will have a very special concurrent workshop for adults and the older teens. It will be conducted by international teacher, Sofia Diaz who leads programs around the world and has studied Indian philosophy, yoga, and sacred dance for twenty-seven years. She will be joined by Ramloti from the Ashram. This year's title will be The Dance of Love Between Us and That. Focusing on the intertwining of the male and female energies in this tradition, we will particularly look at Radha and Krishna through story, chants, and movement. Radha and Krishna symbolize the ecstatic love between the Divine and Devotee and we will look at what dampens our expression of this ecstacy in our lives. What an opportunity to be in this sacred space together!
The workshop runs daily from 10am until 1pm. There are children programs running at the same time for most ages of children to free up parents so that they may participate. The suggested donation for the workshop is $54 for teens (14 and above), $108 for Samaj members, and $135 for non-Samaj members with some scholarships available. Call or email the Ashram soon to make reservations at 719-256-4108 or info@babajiashram.org.
Kirtan Hall Update
With the warm summer months we have more and more visitors and the kirtan hall is often very full. We hear so many comments about how beautiful and energetically pleasing it is. Thank you for all of your support. Whether you buy an item from the shop, leave a donation in the temple, or make a donation long distance, every bit helps. We are happy to announce that the loan is now down to $5,714. Thank you to all who help support the Ashram in any way.
We would like to encourage you to make a monthly automatic pledge to continue paying 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. We want to thank you for all of your continued support in this meaningful project.
Recent Events
Our Water System
We are so blessed at the Ashram to have the beautiful and pristine Spanish Creek flowing through it. This water which comes from melting snows and springs high up in the 14,000 foot mountains behind us provides us with all the water for the Ashram. Above the Ashram, there are places where it comes down in small waterfalls as shown here, which also gives us magnificent hiking opportunities.
In 1992, after hauling water to the Ashram for six years, we were able to make use of our junior water right on Spanish Creek by building a gravity-feed water system from the creek to the buildings of the Ashram. This consists of a water intake bed, measuring wares, a large sand filter, a 5,000 gallon holding tank, and overflow and shut-off valves. This system has worked very well over the years and we are very grateful to have this wonderful tasting water which we purify with a UV filter for drinking purposes.
On Diwali of 2005, we decided to place a three-foot statue of Maha Lakshmi above the intake pool to bless and watch over the water, the system, and all the thousands of folks that drink the Ashram water. This photo shows Premanand and friends of the Ashram carrying Maha Lakshmi to the water system. The next photo shows Her installed, where She has remained. Yearly, we go up and give Her a bath in the river and adorn Here in new clothes and jewels. Many of us go up there more often to give Her a flower or to say a prayer.
Our water system does take maintenance and Premanand is the primary person who takes care of it and keeps it flowing well. At the beginning of summer, he saw that the huge holding tank needed a major repair. Working on that project, Premanand realized that we also needed to repair a main valve. Once that was replaced, we had more water pressure then we have had for years. The upside was better showers, the downside was that one of the hydrants in the garden sprung a leak, so that had to be replaced as well. All in all, it was a pretty long week, mostly without running water. After over 15 years of usage, it is not surprising that we need to do some major maintenance on the system. It all seems to be running fine now and we at the Ashram have a new appreciation of the convenience of running water!
Bal Gokulam
We enjoyed a beautiful Bal Gokulam program together again on Saturday the 13th of June. There were altogether 28 children and parents. We again had many new people joining us to do yoga, listen to a story and do a puja for Hanuman and enjoy a delicious potluck lunch together.
Here is a story Teanna, mother of Soraya, 6 years and Elijah 15 months shared :One day my daughter Soraya was having a challenging day and got upset with me and walked away angrily. Instead of going to her room she for some reason went into my room were there is a altar. When I went to check on her I saw that she was doing a puja to Ganesha, she used a washcloth and my perfume oils and she offered a lollipop to Ganesha as prasad. She chanted Shanti Om and her energy was very calm and clear.
I am amazed of how drawn my child is to the pujas and the effect they have on her. When this happened we had only been to Bal Gokulam once. Now it is a big part of our lives and we plan to attend every time.
Full-Moon Fire Ceremony
Whenever our new or full moon fire ceremonies occur on a weekend, we always have a large crowd. This was certainly the case for our June ceremony! Over 100 people participated and enjoyed the lovely bhandara afterwards. The dormitory was packed. Thank goodness many of our visitors were excellent cooks. We were in the kitchen by 5:30am preparing dhal, subjee, raita, curry, salad, chapattis, and desert. It was delicious! The fire ceremony and chanting that followed were inspiring and blissful.
Third Anniversary at Etawah Babaji Temple
On June 18 over 1,000 people gathered in the little village of Damodarpur, in Etawah, India for the third anniversary of the opening of the Shiv Shakti Dham Temple. It was built because of dreams that Shashi Agarwal (who sits on this Ashram Board of Directors) had of Shri Babaji directing her to do this and constructed by the hard work or her brother and family. Now this once very forgotten place has received tremendous life and teachings through the establishment of this temple through chanting, pujas, fire ceremonies, and programs teaching yoga, philosophy, and health care. We are so grateful to be associated with and support this fine endeavor.
June Visitors
Many people who come to the Ashram are celebrating a special occasion. It may be the one-year-old birthday of their child, an anniversary, or the occasion of parents or relatives visiting from India, Nepal or other parts of thee country. Some arrange to have a chuni or other special gift for Mother on such an occasion as shown in the first photo. All are seeking the blessings of Mother and Shri Babaji.
Some like, Sanjay from Nepal, met Shri Babaji in his childhood and once he moved to America, always wanted to come to His Ashram here in Crestone. He was so happy to see this beautiful place and meet Jonathan, Ramloti, and Premanand. He was eager to send this photo to his parents in Nepal.
Isaac has just joined us from Tacoma, WA. for six weeks. His father, Lok Nath, spent many years with Shri Babaji at His Ashram in Haidakhan in the early 80's. Lok has been bringing his children to the Ashram in Crestone for the last ten years for family week. This year Isaac, who is now 17, decided to spend a longer time here doing karma yoga and experiencing life at an ashram and in Crestone. He is already a huge help.
Families and Children
In Crestone the Ashram is known for being a very child and family-friendly place. Children are tomorrow's future and so their early experiences shape their concept of the world. The children and families that come to the Ashram bring so much joy and love with them. We are so grateful for their presence.
Calendar for 2009
July 7 - Guru Purnima Day with Paduka Puja at 9:30am, fire ceremony at 10:08am, followed by feast.
July 18 - 19 - Annual American Haidakhan Samaj meeting at the Ashram.
July 20 - 24 - Annual Family Week at the Ashram.
July 20 - 24 - The Dance Love Between the Divine and That Workshop at the Ashram with Sofia Diaz and Ramloti.
July 21 - New-moon fire ceremony at 10am followed by a meal.
September 18 - 26 Fall Navratri, the Divine Mother Festival.
October 17 - Diwali, Festival of Lights. Fire ceremony at 10am. Chanting at 7pm.
Maha Lakshmi Shop Report
We would like to announce that we are now offering free shipping on our website shop (with only a $5 handling fee) for all items of one pound or less. This includes all CD's, books, small murtis, bracelets, most cloth items, and photos. We hope this will make it easier for you to order. We will also extend this offer if you call us.
Here are some updated photos of some of the beautiful cloth items we have in stock. Om scarves or stoles that are a soft rayon/cotton blend and are only $10. A lovely array of colors in our silk altar clothes with thick gold embroidered borders for only $25.
Small altar clothes with Babaji's signature (Om Namah Shivaya) for $10. Large size woolen shawls that can be worn on either side for $35. Finally we have a good stock of men's cotton kurtas in many colors and sizes, small through xxlarge for $25.
You can check our website for all the new items at BabajiAshram.org and order on line through pay pal or e-mail us at shop@babajiashram.org.
You can also always call us on our toll-free number at 866-686-4185 to order or for more information. 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. We are open daily from 9am until 5pm. We take Mastercard, Discover, and Visa.
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