Retired once to follow spirit path, thinking that retirement would be leisurely. Nope! Discovered that, in living at Ananda Village, there are 3 main activities. Diving deep inward through sadhana, service and satsang.
Sadhana is where we practice Kriya Yoga as a meditation technique on a daily basis. Also included can be anandayoga a form of hatha yoga, along with chanting and energization. Most of us have meditation rooms in our homes or in group homes and meditation areas where we can meditate any time of the day. We also have optional community meditations daily in various community locations and at the Expanding Light retreat center. It is all predicated on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda who came to the US in 1920 to bring back original principles of Christianity. Yoga means Union, in this case union with God. It is a lifelong practice, actually many many lifetimes of practice to achieve an inner experience or realization of God. It brings me inner peace and deeper connection with the Divine.
Service is outward in form. Many of us here at Ananda Village work in church related businesses such as the retreat, publishing house, outreach ministry, but also in the phone company, property services, local market, financial services ,etc. I work in the IT services department which takes care of all the servers, networks, email and computers. Others work in private businesses either located here at village or in town. We also volunteer regular additional time in many ways and on work days throughout the community.
Satsang is spending time in the company of like minded people or devotees who share our ideals and goals. There are many opportunities for this. Whether it is community meetings or celebrating special occasions or holidays feasts, we see each other frequently. Sometimes like rocks meeting in a river, we soften each other’s rough edges.
Living at Ananda Village or one of the other Ananda residential communities is pretty special.
By: bibomedia.com on March 8, 2008
at 2:50 am