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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.
March, 2010
Dear Friends of the Ashram
It
has been another full month here at the Ashram, Shri Babaji's Mahasamadhi
was particularly poignant. Many people came for the long weekend as
it was also Maha Shivratri. Lots of wonderful energy.
We continue to be blessed so graciously by Baba and the Divine Mother.
Plenty of karma yogis, plenty of snow (but not too much!), generous
donations, and lots of families and visitors. We are so grateful.
In the spirit of gratitude, we will be celebrating Spring Navratri
this month from Monday, March 15 through Tuesday, March 23. This festival
of the Divine Mother is such a wonderful opportunity to step out of
the busyness of day to day life and focus on Mother and all that She
gives to us. We hope to see you.
We are so excited that we will be building Shri Babaji's kutir (bedroom)
this Spring. If the weather cooperates, we may even be able to begin
this month. We will keep you posted on the progress and the plans for
the inauguration. I had a dream in which Babaji came to me last night.
I feel His presence ever closer and closer. I am so grateful we are
finally building a room for Him.
In truth and love, Ramloti
March Fire Ceremonies and Schedule
Our fire ceremonies in March are on Monday, March 15 (new-moon) continuing
through Tuesday, March 23 (nine days of Spring Navratri) and on Monday,
March 29 (full-moon). The fire ceremonies begin at 10:08am and are followed
by a meal. Our evening aarati is at 6pm and morning aarati is at 7am.
Lunch is served at about 1pm. The Maha Lakshmi Shop is open every day
from 9am until 5pm.
If you would like to participate by sponsoring a fire ceremony, we
would like to send you a blessed item from the fire ceremony. They are:
$27 sponsorship - Copper, brass, nickel Om Namah Shivaya
bracelet
$54 sponsorship - Rose Quartz, Rosewood, Sandalwood, or Tulsi Mala
$108 sponsorship - Rudraksha/Crystal Mala 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 to: P.O. Box 9, Crestone, CO 81131. We are continually
grateful for all of your support.
Spring Navratri
March 15 - 23
The Divine
Mother Festival, Spring Navratri is Monday, March 15 through Tuesday,
March 23. This time, when we take most of nine days to say thank you
and honor the Mother, is filled with special chants, pujas, readings,
fire ceremonies, discourses, feasts, and aarati.
Everything begins at about 6:40am and continues until lunch. There
is then a break for rest and karma yoga to prepare for the next day.
Evening aarati and chanting is at 6pm.
This is truly such a magical time when our reality gets shifted to
the larger picture of the cosmos resulting in a deeper understanding
of who the Divine Mother is and the part She plays in all of creation.
If you are not able to come to the Ashram, please consider reading about
Her, singing to Her, repeating Her mantras, and meditating on Her during
these nine days. You will be joining and feeling the combined energy
of millions of others throughout the world who will be doing the same.
On Sunday, March 21, we will have our Honoring the Children Program
after the fire ceremony. We will meet in the temple at about 11am for
a little chanting, short story about the Divine Mother, and give the
children gifts. If your child is under 10 years-old and would like to
participate, please call the Ashram at 719-256-4108.
If you plan to come to the Ashram to stay overnight, please call for
reservations. The dormitory is already quite full, particularly on the
weekend, so call as soon as possible. The phone number is 719-256-4108
and our email is info@babajiashram.org.
We have so much to be thankful for to the Divine Mother for all that
She gives to us.
Anual Spring On-line Auction
April 11 -25
The Annual Spring on-line auction already has nearly 150
items on it as well as several sponsors. Go to www.biddingforgood.com/babajiashram
if you would like to see what is there. The bidding will begin on Sunday,
April 11 at 10:08am and will continue until Sunday, April 25 at 1:08am.
Until then we invite you to consider what you might be willing to donate
to help support the Ashram. There is a place on the site that you can
upload your donation or you can just email us at ccleary@roperugs.com
or call Cindy at 719-256-5007 with the information. Besides donating
items or services, you also may consider being a Lakshmi, Saraswati,
or Durga Sponsor for the auction. Another big help will be spreading
the word to your friends.
Last year, through everyone's help, we were able to raise $12,000 resulting
in a totally paid off kirtan hall loan. This year the funds raised will
go to maintain and enhance this beautiful home of Shri Babaji and the
Divine Mother. Our goal for 2010 is $15,111.
Some of the items are pictured below including many special items that
were blessed in Haidakhan in bags that are made from Shri Babaji's kurtas
(shirts), a stole made from the same kurta, and an amulet filled with
sacred ash from Shri Babaji's own fire ceremonies. We also have another
week vacation in the fabulous health resort in Thailand, a week in beautiful
Treasure Island, Florida, and a Los Angeles Laker signed basketball
and jersey. Please join in this fun way to support the Ashram. We will
be sending out a special email auction announcement soon. Thank you.
Building a Room for Shri Baba
After
many years, the time is ripe to build a kutir or room for Shri Babaji.
Those that have been to Haidakhan will know this as the place where
we receive chandan in the early morning. While Shri Babaji was still
in physical form, we would go in at about 4am and He would be sitting
on His bed. Each person would kneel down and Babaji, with all the softness
of a mother, would take our heads in His hands and apply the chandan
tenderly to our foreheads. These days, Mansing, who was Babaji's personal
attendant, washes and applies chandan to the padukas each morning in
the room. Following this, he applies it to the foreheads of the devotees.
The first $18,000 of this $25,000 project has been donated in memory
of Yamini Agarwal. A fund was set up at the Ashram by her family at
the time of her passing last October and $3,000 was collected. The Agarwal's
were very grateful for all who contributed and wanted the fund used
for the building of Shri Babaji's room. The family has contributed an
additional $15,000 and so the building will begin as soon as the weather
permits in March or April.
We still have another $7,000 to raise toward this very important heart-center
of the Ashram. It will be where Shri Babaji's padukas will reside each
night and will be available for quiet meditation during the day. The
building will be both passive solar and have solar heat in the floor.
It will be simple, like the one in Haidakhan pictured above, with Shri
Babaji's bed, a small altar, cupboards for his clothes and carpeted
floor for meditation. It is just west of the temple with windows looking
toward the south at the small havan kund and a window looking westward
toward the magnificent sunset.
This feels like a very momentous step for the Ashram and if you feel
in your heart to be one of the fortunate ones to be involved in building
Shri Babaji's room, please donate as you are able. You may go to our
website and donate a certain amount through Pay Pal. Click
Here. You can also send a check to the Ashram at P.O. Box 9, Crestone,
CO 81131 and designate it for the kutir or you can call us with a credit
card number. We want to thank you in advance for you support of this
project of love.
Recent Events
Chanting in Colorado Springs
About
40 people gathered at the new home of Monica and Sumit Celly in early
February to bless the house with chanting and puja. The energy seemed
to resonate off the walls as voices were raised in chants to the various
Gods and Goddesses. It is always a blessing for the Ashram to be part
of these special occasions. It felt so good, the hosts have asked that
we come each year to their home for a program.
The
lovely lunch served after the chanting was enjoyed by all. It even included
a birthday cake, celebrating their uncle's (also the tremendous drummer)
birthday. The Ashram wishes to thank the Cellys for a wonderful program
and pray for Mother and Baba's blessings upon them and their new home.
Maha Shivaratri
Another energetic and powerful night of Shiva was celebrated at the
Ashram. About 50 people participated throughout the night with many
staying until the last puja at 4am. We also had two new harmonium players,
Vesper and Cindy adding to the wonderful chanting throughout the night.
There were also several very inspired and talented drummers that accompanied
the harmonium.
Several of the children were dancing through most of the night until
they fell fast asleep on the temple floor. Two ten-year-old young men,
Kailou and Therran, stayed up all night tending the altar, lighting
incense, and helping with the pujas.
The next morning there were about 35 people, including many children,
who attended the fire ceremony at 10am followed by a feast in honor
of Lord Shiva. As usual, many hands contributed to the preparation,
serving, and clean up, keeping Lord Shiva's home here in the Rockies
a place of community and beauty.
Shri Babaji's Mahasamadhi Commemoration
Valentine's Day is a day of sharing love and indeed Babaji shared His
love in physical form with us for 14 years. By stopping His heart on
Valentine's Day in 1984, He showed us a different form of love helping
us to experience His presence in a deeper way, beyond the physical.
His love was very poignantly felt as we performed the paduka puja to
the sandals that He wore and sang His aarati and other chants. Afterwards,
we sat in the temple together sharing some very deep feelings of love,
loss, and inner healing. It was a very profound time. That afternoon
several of us met together and finalized the plans for Shri Babaji's
kutir. What an auspicious day for the beginning of this project.
Bowling and Birthday
The bowling birthday
party was great and many folks came from out-of-town to try their luck
at the game and give wishes to the birthday girl. The party kept going
into the evening at the Hot Springs for many. Some friends, that were
unable to come to the bowling (due to school and such), joined in at
the Hot Springs. It was really a special day.
Our next bowling outing will be on Tuesday, March 30 from 1pm until
3pm at the SLV Superbowl on 1020 2nd Ave. in Monte Vista. Please join
us and remember, they offer a special deal to the more mature folks
of only $4 for shoes and all the games you can bowl. Call the Ashram
at 719-256-4108 for more information or carpooling.
Bal Gokulam
A large group attended the last Bal Gokulam in February. Nineteen children
and many adults gathered to learn more about Mother Saraswati, practice
some yoga, chant and do puja.
It was also Jade Cleary's eighth birthday, so that added to the festivities.
There was a huge array of food served as well as cake and ice cream
to complete the event.
The Ashram is so grateful to Cindy Cleary and Vesper Gers who run the
program each month. It is so meaningful to the families of the community
and fun to see them all at the Ashram each time. Since there will be
a children's program on the Sunday of Spring Navratri (March 21) there
will be no Bal Gokulam this month. Read about the festivities under
the Spring Navratri article.
Groups at the Ashram
We have many groups come to the Ashram to learn about more about our
life here. We always enjoy interfacing with these different groups of
young folks. Inevitably, we see some of them again, who come on their
own for a deeper experience of Ashram life.
This last month there was a group of Americore volunteers from the
homeless shelter in Alamosa that came for a talk, aarati, a tour, and
breakfast. They were very enthusiastic and had lots of questions.
We also had a group of college students from Adams State College that
Jonathan led on a tour of the grounds and explained the Ashram to them.
All the Ashram Children
A huge part of the Ashram are all the wonderful children that come
here over the years. We love them so and they bring such aliveness and
realness to us all.
Some Ashram children live far away, like Ramloti's grandchildren, nieces
and nephews.
And then there's the Trivedi family, who lived for five months at the
Ashram. At that time Premal and Kedar were in high-school and Brugesh
was only in grammar school. They now live in Southern California and
they are in college and in careers. They will always be Ashram children,
however.
Last Month's Visitors
Despite lots of cold, snowy days this last month, we have had many
visitors to the Ashram. We appreciate them all so much whether they
stay a few hours, a night, a week, or a month. Please come and visit
Mother and Baba's home in the Rockies.
Calendar for 2010
March 15 - 23 - Spring Navratri, the Divine
Mother Festival.
March 29 - Full-moon fire ceremony at 10am
followed by a meal.
July 24 - 25 - Annual American Samaj Weekend
July 25 - Guru Purnima Day
July 26 - 30 - Annual Family Week and Concurrent
Workshop.
October 7 - 15 - Fall Navratri, the Divine
Mother Festival.
November 5 - Diwali, Festival of Lights. Fire
ceremony at 10am. Chanting at 7pm.
Maha Lakshmi Shop Report
Once again, we have received more goods from India for the very full
Maha Lakshmi Shop. Here are a few of the new goodies. A Ganesh deep,
a Lakshmi Ganesh deep, and a Ganesh wall hanging. All are silver plated
and the price is on the items.
We also have this lovely black and white Om elastic bracelet which
sells for only $5.
You can check our website for many of 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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