New
Year, 2008
Dear
Friends at Home and Abroad:
"No
matter what our religious belief is, we must question
within ourselves whether we follow the letter, the form,
the exterior, or whether we really penetrate and touch
the heart of the message. The chief message of Jesus
was: 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind. This is
the first and great commandment. And the second is like
unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' Do
we not find all the scriptures teach the same thing?
Does not Sri Krishna thus appeal to His disciples: 'Fill
thy heart with Me, be thou devoted to Me, do thou worship
Me and bow down to Me. Thus thou shalt attain unto Me.
The one who works for Me, has Me for the highest goal,
is devoted to Me, is free from attachment and bears
enmity towards no creature, enters into Me?' Love God
with your whole heart and soul: this is the basis of
all religion."
---
Swami Paramananda, 1915
We
are blessed to have the Shrine at the center of our lives
and to have our year strung upon the beautiful holy days
honoring Lord Buddha, Lord Jesus, Sri Ramakrishna, the
Holy Mother, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Paramananda and
Mataji Gayatri Devi. We are blessed to be called by the
bell to worship and to meditate together three times a
day which gives meaning to our daily tasks. We are blessed
to share warm hospitality and inspiration with all those
who come to Sunday services, Thursday evening classes
and sojourn with us on retreat.
During
our visit to Ananda Ashrama early in the year, we enjoyed
an inspiring visit with David Hirschberg who enthralled
us with his remembrances of being with Swamiji as a boy.
In June at Vedanta Center, Ohki Simine Forest, a shaman
initiated in the Mohawk, Mongolian and Mayan traditions,
spoke on the return of Native spirituality. Her foundation,
Red Winds Council, does important work among the impoverished
Mayans in Chiapas, Mexico. In August, we enjoyed a visit
from Swami Yuktatmananda, head of the Vedanta Society
of South Florida.
In
February, "A Journey," Ruth Knowlton's
memoir of her years as Mataji Gayatri Devi's secretary
in California was published. In July, Vedanta Centre purchased
6.2 acres of the only remaining open space land buffering
the ashrama from commercial and residential development.
At Ananda Ashrama, we completed the restoration of the
Mother's House and the Temple Hill structures. The two
ashramas in Kolkata, India, founded in Swami Paramananda's
name in 1931, continue to do great work in caring for
women and children.
The
monastic and consecrated communities join me in wishing
you a most blessed Christmas and a New Year filled with
peace.
Rev. Mother Sudha Puri
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