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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