Ashram Newsletter - August, 2023

August 9, 2023  |  by Ramloti

Dear Friends,

June has been a spectacular month, overflowing with blessings and Baba’s and Mother’s grace. As I go through the photos to put in the newsletter, I am actually a little overwhelmed by it all and wondering what to say and how to put it together. I think the only way is to go event by event. So here goes. At the beginning of July, I was in Germany at our beautiful Babaji Ashram in the tiny town of Rieferath for the International Guru Purnima Celebration. It is a strong and beautiful Ashram in a magical place. I loved being there with about 200 other devotees, mostly from around Europe. Several people I had not seen since our time together in Haidakhan with Shri Babaji in 1981 and 1982. It was both joyful and also a bit sad to see several of them in their 80’s not able to walk or sit well anymore.

I was royally hosted at my dear friend’s Saradambe’s home. She lived in the US for many years and I often did fire ceremonies at her house there. She now lives in a magical place, right next door to the Ashram in Germany.

I felt honored to be asked to offer the sacred ghee at one of the Guru Purnima Fire Ceremonies and carry Shri Babaji’s Padukas.

A few days later, I was asked to lead the early morning havan in their dhuni, another big blessing.

So it was a very special trip and you can see many more photos below under Germany Guru Purnima Celebration.

Meanwhile, a lovely Guru Purnima Celebration was taking place at this Ashram here in Crestone with Premanand, Jonathan, Jeewat, Raluca, and Darien. The Mother was resplendent dressed in white for Monday and the early morning Paduka Puja was lovely.

The Fire Ceremony that followed was attended by 60 or more people and they fed about 80 or 90 folks that day. It was a beautiful celebration.

Barely back from Germany, we hosted an experiential learning trip for high school students from a couple of the youth groups with the United Church of Christ around Ft. Collins. They attended the fire ceremony, shared breakfast with us, contributed a vast array of karma yoga, and completed with lunch and sharing about their day. It was a rich day and more than likely, we will see some of them again. Here are a few photos and more will be below under Karma Yoga at the Ashram.

Fortunately, just before the beginning of the month, we hired a high school student from our local Charter School 3-days a week to help run the Shop and other jobs. Here you see our Phoebe at work teaching another young woman to tie a sari. She is a great asset to the Ashram team. We continued to have lots of visitors, see photos below, and in the middle of the month we had the New-Moon Fire Ceremony which always begin with a Pitru Pujas for our ancestors. A few days later we had our new neighbor over for a small luncheon with our neighbors from the Zen Center and Chamma Ling. Joshua Levine, who owns Mind, Body, Spirit Fitness Center in San Antonio, Texas, is building a high-altitude nature immersion center to the south of the Ashram. The next day, we put a new roof on our 25-year-old greenhouse. A few days later, Jonathan and I attended an emotional and heartfelt memorial for a dear friend of the Ashram, Lilian. She and her husband Tom were married for 43 years, and we first became friends when they lived across the street from the original Ashram house in 1987. Please keep her and family in your prayers. Then Luna, who was home from college in Oregon came to the Ashram (as she always does when she visits her family) for a fire ceremony. She brought her younger sister, Naiya, who has been coming to the Ashram since before she was born and her partner, Taylor. We are always happily amazed and grateful to see our children grow up into adults. Next came our dear friend, James O’Dea’s 72nd birthday and we prepared a small meal and birthday cake for him. As past head of Amnesty International in Washington DC, Seva Foundations, and Institute for Noetic Sciences, he is such a gift to the world. He has had Parkinson disease now for the last 10 or more years. We are fortunate that he is in our lives and that we get to spend time with him. Prayers for him and his family would be appreciated. And finally, at the end of the month, we had a Young Adult group from our dear neighbor’s larger organization, Shumei International Institute. They came for a tour, chanting, questions and answers, chai, banana bread, and shopping. We are so grateful to be part of this Refuge of World Truths here in Crestone, Colorado. Bhole Baba Ki Jai!
Ramloti for the Ashram

Upcoming Events

August 16, 10am MT – New-Moon Fire Ceremony, Pitru Puja, Chanting, and Lunch

Join us for the New-Moon Fire Ceremony and Pitru Puja at 10am followed by chanting and lunch. This will be live-streamed on the Haidakhandi Universal Ashram Facebook Page and posted later on YouTube at the Ramloti Wood Channel.

August 19, 2:30-4:30pm MT – Kirtan & Concert with Sheela Bringi, Brent Kuecker, and Sacred Sound Lab Singers

An afternoon of kīrtan & sacred music with Indian harpist, vocalist and bamboo flautist Sheela Bringi & devotional singer Brent Kuecker. Joining them will be students from Sheela & Brent’s Yoga of Sound school called the Sacred Sound Lab. Experience lush renditions of Indian devotional ballads (bhajans), traditional call-and-response chanting (kīrtan), and sublime North Indian musical modes (rāga). Your spirit will be uplifted, centered and soothed by the ethereal sounds of the harp and voices… the ecstatic rhythms of the tabla... and the earthen winds of the bansuri and harmonium.

August 30, 10am MT – Full-Moon Fire Ceremony, Chanting, and Lunch

Join us for the Full-Moon Fire Ceremony at 10am followed by chanting and lunch. This will be live-streamed on the Haidakhandi Universal Ashram Facebook Page and posted later on YouTube at the Ramloti Wood Channel.

September 8, 9, 10 - Paduka Puja in Denver Area

Please call the Ashram for locations.

September 9, 9am MT - American Haidakhan Samaj Annual Meeting

Daily Fire Ceremonies

Our Daily Fire Ceremonies continue be open to all and usually begin somewhere between 8:30am and 10am. Please call the Ashram for exact time at 719-256-4108. They are also live-streamed at Haidakhandi Universal Ashram Facebook Page and posted later on YouTube at the Ramloti Wood Channel.

More Photos from the International Guru Purnima Celebration in Germany

As stated above, the celebration was wonderful and so many devotees together at once, makes it very strong. There were many longtime friends and new friends, and the ceremonies and great team spirit was sublime. We also recorded several Satsangs with Devotees, which are available on our YouTube channel.

Karma Yoga at the Ashram

The Ashram gets so much accomplished when karma yogis add their love and support to the Ashram. There is no lack of a variety of jobs to help with. Babaji said, “Work is Worship!” Thank you to all who serve here.

Visitors

A busy month with lots of wonderful visitors, it is our joy and honor to host you here. The following is one of the many notes we receive from visitors:
“Thank you again for the wonderful hospitality you showed to us when we visited the Ashram. Having just arrived back in Colorado after being with my father for his last several weeks in his body, my heart felt raw and I was feeling a sense of being an orphan, not having parents earthside (my mom passed away 4 years ago). From the moment we stepped onto the property at the Ashram, we felt like we were at home. During Darshan, I felt a deep sense of love and of grounding and confirmation of my life's path. Attending the fire ceremony was also a beautifully powerful experience. We can feel the intention and great care that everyone takes to prepare this daily ritual. Being a part of it was amazing! The icing on the cake was having chai after the fire ceremony and getting to meet new friends who have a similar life path and goals and who have spent time in the same places we have. Being able to share space and to receive confirmation from other people that we are doing the right thing is invaluable. We felt so seen and heard by everyone. A huge thank you for the openness and generosity that you showed us. We will be visiting again soon. We are feeling inspired, safe and loved, what more could we ask for?!”
Sincerely,
Emilie Pomerleau and Travis Cleveland

Ways to Support the Ashram

First and foremost is to pray, pray, pray for all the disturbances amongst people and life all over the earth. This is a time of great challenge, and Babaji spoke over and over again about the power of prayer, the mantra, havan, puja, and seeing all as children of one Divine Mother Earth.

You may also support financially by going to …

• GoFundMe Campaign
• Donate Page (this page has links to Paypal and GoFundMe)

Amazon Wishlist

A few of our visitors noticed that we need different items to keep running this beautiful home of Mother and Babaji in the Rockies. They suggested that we setup a public Amazon Wishlist. This will allow people to buy items for the Ashram using their own Amazon accounts. We appreciate this suggestion, and we have setup our public wishlist. The details are below. Items will be added/removed from time to time, so please check periodically to see if there are any items that you would like to purchase. It is also useful to click on Remember after going to the wishlist. This will add our wishlist to Your Friends list and you can check it periodically, without having to find the link every time. Thank you so much for supporting the Ashram.

Please support the Ashram by going to our public Amazon Shopping List and see if there are any items you would like to buy for the Ashram.

• Start by going to https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3O3WGDJOD3WJY
• Click on Remember to add it to Your Friends list
• Add an item you would like to purchase from the HUA Public Shopping List to your Shopping Cart
• During checkout, please make sure to select Haidakhandi Universal Ashram's Gift Registry Address as the shipping address

Calendar of Events

Please go to our Calendar of Events page for all events.

Maha Lakshmi Shop

We are excited to announce the arrival of Babaji Prayer Flags! The collection is 9 feet long with 9 different flags measuring 12 inches each. Here is the link:
https://mahalakshmishop.wazala.com/products/babaji-prayer-flags-9ft-long-each-string-has-nine-12-flags/

Bhole Baba Ki Jai! Jai Ma!