Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Namaskar.
We trust that all is well by His Grace.
It has been a few months since we last wrote.
We have been much engaged in work at the master unit.
Here are some of the updates:
May Retreat
The retreat in May was wonderful.
The Creek Restoration concert went beautifully.
Our meditation hall was packed with people.
Several artists performed in the concert: Jayantii, Dada Nabhaniilananda, Giita, Satyavanii and Angelika - a musician who is well known locally and internationally. The vibration and flow from the concert was so beautiful that no one wanted to leave when the concert was over. We continued with more songs and Katha Kiirtan after the local audience left. Every heart was filled with bliss.
LFT Training
LFT training was held at Ananda Dhiira from July 22 to Aug 21.
Three sisters took the training: Cetana, Nandinii and Tara.
During the training period, some margiis from Sacramento came on Sundays for Akhanada Kiirtan. It was very inspiring for all.
We made a field trip to the Plant Material Center at Lockeford (south of Sacramento ), which is associated with the Natural Resource Conservation Service.
Paul Lake , a senior staff member at NRCS, offered to help us germinate more native grasses from seed to replace grass at Ananda Dhiira that died this summer.
A team consisting of the LFT trainees and didi, Paul Lake and one more volunteer from NRCS planted 77 trays of five varieties of native grass seeds in three hours. Each tray has 200 plugs. If all the seeds do well, we'll have 15,400 native grasses to be planted in October when the raining season begins. Everyone learned a lot and enjoyed this experience.
Another field trip for the trainees brought us to the Vacaville State Prison to visit the margii brothers there and to the Bay Area to attend the pracar workshop facilitated by Dada Nabhaniilananda.
We arrived at the prison around 11am on Friday (Aug 15th). Dada Nabhaniilananda joined us there. As usual, there was a long procedure to go through, which required a lot of patience. We finally got into the visiting hall after 3pm . We did dharma cakra with Vishvanath, Kishalay and Dharmendra in the visiting hall with the presence of many other prisoners and their families/friends. The kiirtan vibrated the whole visiting hall. Although the time was short and the environment was noisy, all of us had a very powerful meditation. After DC, we talked and enjoyed whatever sentient food we could purchase from the vending machines. It was a very touching and inspiring experience for all. Afterwards, we realized that our visit coincided with the weekend of Shravanii Purnima - Baba's first initiation – when Baba transformed the life of a robber into a saint. It was an unplanned, divine coincidence that we visited those brothers on this very special occasion.
The LFT trainees greatly appreciated the trip to the prison and to the Bay Area, where they met many margiis, young and old. Nandinii, who is new to Ananda Marga, was especially inspired by the warm family feeling among the margiis. Many thanks to Viinapanii and Kiranamayii’s family, who accommodated the LFT troops and hosted Shravanii Purnima Dharmacakra at their home.
Creek Restoration
We continue our diligent efforts on the creek restoration project. According to a local biologist, the drought and heat this summer was the worst experienced for the past 30 years. For example, the level of dryness in May was equal to what is usually experienced in July.
With the help of a local friend, Didi Shveta did a wonderful job installing a basic irrigation system to water all the native trees and shrubs and some of the grasses. Before the irrigation system was set up, we carried buckets and buckets of water manually from the creek, walking up and down to help the native plants survive the harsh drought.
In addition to caring for the new plants, weeding out invasive weeds has been an on going effort. We need a great deal of help to cover all the expenditure involved. We will also need help very soon to look for another grant to continue this project. Let us know if you know someone who can help.
Building Maintenance:
Before the May retreat, we managed to repair the bathroom in the barn and one of the bathrooms in the upper house. We haven't paid off the debt for these repair jobs yet and there is one more bathroom to be done.
Most of the repair work is on hold due to lack of funds.
The deck and the grape trellis outside the main kitchen need to be replaced very soon because of safety concerns.
The upper house has not been painted since we got this place, and the paint is peeling off.
Many people have advised us to paint it soon.
Upcoming Events
Baba's Mahaprayana Retreat - October 24th to 26th, 2008
Spirituality and Psychotherapy - November 8th to 9th, 2008
A workshop with Steve Vinay Gunther, the director of the Gestalt Institute in Australia , to explore spiritual and therapeutic approaches for personal development and clinical practice.
Flyers with details for both events will be posted soon.
There will be a karma yoga party to plant native plants when the raining season begins. Dates are to be selected according to the weather. Let us know if you would like to help with planting.
We look forward to seeing everyone soon.
Sisterly in Him,
Didi Ananda Lalita
Didi Shveta
