Picture: Chandra from 2005 (I have used this picture since Chandra had left for a 10 day Gita Class before I got a picture of her on this trip. Here she is in the Bhajan Hall).

I am just now posting this writing and there will be some more following about our time in India. After returning from India I have been busy with service here, as well as adjusting to the new time zone so there has been some delay in getting these to you. In the future I will also plan to continue to use the website for writings under the category Morning Thoughts. Quite often in the early hours of the day Ram will prompt me to write on some topic, these will be made available here. With many blessings, Yogacharya David. P.S. It was Mother Hamilton who bestowed the title of Yogacharya upon me, and it was Swami Satchidananda who called me Yogacharya David. The title Yogacharya, Mother had said, means teacher or master of Yoga (union with God). I use this name in homage to these two great spiritual luminaries in my life.

Our dear friend Chandraji dropped by and during our conversation told us the story of the group here at the Ashram who have been chanting Hari Rama, Hari Krishna for the last seven days. These devotees are from several villages and traveled far to  be here at the Ashram. They are described as simple village people who  trace their practice of chanting back to a wonderful saint, Avadhoot Saraswati. I am always thrilled to come to know about a saint and a lover of God.

“Avadhoot Saraswati, his sannyas name, as a boy had a wonderful voice and some told him he should be a professional singer, but he did not have any interest in things of the world. In his teens he left home and completed the great Char Dham Yatra (The circumambulation of India). Having traveled India he continued on until he found his Guru who initiated him into Hari Rama, Hari Krishna.

“After initiation he continued his wandering life until he came to one ashram whose head swami liked the boy very much, in fact everyone loved him because he smiled so sweetly and was friendly to everyone. Then one day he became completely paralyzed. Everyone at the ashram so lovingly took care of him, but he did not even have the power of speech.

“Finally one saint was consulted and he said, “Every day you must chant the Hanuman Chalisa, even though you can’t speak it, chant it in your mind.” So his fellow ashramites picked him up, it took many of them because he was over six feet tall, and took him up to a bathing tank and threw him in! Then they laid him out on the sand. He would then chant the Hanuman Chalisa in his mind 108 times. After that they would feed him lunch.

“They repeated this for 40 or 45 days and one day he was able to speak! Gradually he became normal as they continued this treatment. The ashram head swami told the recovered boy that he should get others interested in chanting. So, he travelled all over India and with his beautiful voice he attracted large followings; they would chant Hari Rama, Hari Krishna. [It was Pabhupada who brought the chant to America that changed it to Hari Krishna Hari Rama due to his special devotion to Krishna. But since Rama was a much earlier incarnation of Vishnu his name traditionally comes first.]

“This group at Anandashram is connected with Avadhoot Saraswati. There used to be so many of them, but he is no more in the body. They are chanting for 24 hours of the day for 7 days. They divide into groups so there are at least 5 chanting at any one time. We go in and sit and listen. I was there until about 11:30 last night, some stay there all night.”

With the conclusion of Chandra’s story I am struck at how Anandashram is really a remarkable environment, where the chanting of God’s Name goes on daily from early morning to late night, and sometimes 24/7. But, in addition to this devotion to Ram Nam they invite in other groups not related to their lineage and allow them to follow their own program.

When  Nam (the name of God) is chanted with sincerity and full consciousness a tremendous spiritual power is built. That power then goes out as a blessing to the world; so that what is done locally is felt globally. Any name of God is good, what is essential is the full faith and devotion of the chanter. Some of these names of God have been chanted for centuries, some for millennia.

May the name of God ring out now and always, purifying hearts and minds everywhere and leading all to the full realization of God. This was the mission of Avadhoot Saraswati, Swami Ramdas, Mother Hamilton and so many of the great ones.

“When are you coming again?” it was the question asked enumerable times. What to say? “When Papa prompts us to come.” We are departing earlier than planned due to Christine leaving the body and my inner prompting that it was time to return.

It is difficult to describe the outpouring of love and kindness we received from so many at the Ashram. When speaking to Swami Muktananda on the eve. of our departure I said, “Swamiji, it is remarkable the examples we see here of those who personify the motto of the Ashram, ‘Universal love and service.” With Swami Chandrananda sitting nearby I continued, “It is not only the Swamis, but the inmates as well, and more than that the paid workers, such as Omana, who cleans our rooms, and Kalavathya, who has brought our meals to us. We have found Papa and Mataji’s ideal realized at Anandashram today.”

As I am saying this I unexpectedly have a loving emotion well up inside which forces me to pause, as tears stand at the edge of my eyes. What is the thought behind this emotion? It is being on the receiving end of so much love, it is seeing the ideal of Papa and Mataji expressed in so many who live here, and it also has some mysterious origins that are unnamable.

This world has gone in some wrong directions, and it suffers as a result. Too many live in a world of me and mine only. There are some that are driven by greed and desire nature to the exclusion of all else, and some get caught up in a world of addictions and destructive behavior that is the opposite of a life of selfless service.

Here at Anandashram we see those who live for the realization of God and selfless service as a constant theme. Those of us who visit the Ashram come for some period of sadhana in which all of our needs, and more, are provided for. But for the inmates of the Ashram it is not an occasional time of being in service, nor do they receive all the comforts that we do with very little demand as to what to do with our time while here; rather this is their full-time life. When there is a dedicated core number of souls in this world emulating this universal love and service, by even at a fraction of what is done by these dear souls, then this world will be changed in radical and beautiful ways.

As we prepare to leave we are flooded with offerings of food. In addition to all the individuals dropping by fruit, halva, and banana chips, Swamiji gives us Prasad to take back to America. I am prepared for the load, but not such a load! He gives a backpack that is so heavy I can barely lift it! And then books from the Ashram! He showers us with such grace. As we are packing our bags we get knock after knock on the door that keeps us very busy with the loving attention of Ashramites. Time and again, “Here, just a little something I wanted to bring by.” What can be done? A graceful thank you, with a look at the growing pile of loving gifts.

Swami Chandranandaji brings by gifts as well. “Since you were not able to go Sadhana Kendra Ashram in the north as you had planned, I have brought some things they gave to me when I was last there.” She presented to me a beautiful wool shawl and some material for Carla to have made up, some travel treats of nuts and raisins as well; so sweet and thoughtful.

Swamiji has also given us many sets of clothes. He has given me a few dhotis and a cloth to wear over my shoulder.  When Sri Krishna saw this he said, “You are a Shastri! (someone who is a master of the Shastras). By classic Indian standards there is no way that I could called a master of the shastras, not even a beginner of a knower of Sanskrit; the school children here who learn Vedic chanting know far more than I on this subject.

However, we have been assured by all the great spiritual masters that realizing God is not a matter of book learning or knowing a certain language. The main thing is to keep one’s mind upon the Divine. Through constant God-remembrance the mind is purified and is lifted into the divine realms. There are many who may know many scriptural passages by heart and spent long hours study, yet they do not know God.

In this sense you can say I know the essential nature of the scriptures, because I have lived them and I have come to know God. In knowing God I know the Source of the Vedas, the Bible, the essence of all religions. If this sound like vain boasting it is not meant to be. It is simply the truth, and is the truth for anyone who has come to know God through and through.

Our goodbyes are coming to a close. The car is packed with luggage, Onni, our driver has driven to the Panchavatti where Swami Muktanandaji has asked us to come. We walk the distance from our room accompanied by a dozen plus devotees keeping pace with us. When we arrive at the Panchavatti Swami M., Swami Chidananda and another dozen or more are waiting to see us off.

What heartfelt bliss is felt as we are leaving. An earlier conversation with Leslie, who lives in India full time now, had him remembering when Swami Satchidananda, Swami Muktananda and others were on the porch to see us off  at 2:00 a.m., so that we could catch our train. With what love and tenderness Swamiji had met us. In those early morning hours Mansi and Lakshmi had come to our room with so much food for our train trip we could have fed many families! It was wonderful to remember that earlier time, even as new memories are being made today.

Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram we repeat again and again, pronaming out the window and then the back window as our car pulls down the drive to take us to new destinations. No matter where we go or how far we go, all we have to do is to think of Anandashram and the peace, joy and love of God and His devotees will forever ring in our hearts with deepest gratitude. Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram! Victory to God, Victory to the Light and may universal love and service forever reign in the world as its motto and practice.