The Next Chapter: East West

Well. This is the closest I’ve come in 9 years to going an entire year without blogging, and it didn’t seem like I ought to let that happen, so here we are.

One of the main reasons for this silence is that I have vastly less (can you do that?) free time to write these days, due to the fact that I have a new job. And despite what I said back when I started my last tutoring job, this one is full-time. “What could induce you to do such a thing?” I hear you cry. Well, I’m glad you asked.

East West Bookshop in Mountain View is owned by Ananda, so over the last few years I’ve gotten to know a number of the folks who work there. Tushti and Surendra have been the managers for the past 9 years, and earlier this year asked me if I’d like to take over for them when they move to Oregon in January.  After a bit of time spent wrapping my head around the idea of doing a very different job than I ever expected to, I decided it would be a fun new adventure. I’m joined in this by my new co-manager Nooshin, and the transition is going quite well. And we even have our photos in the new edition of the East West Magazine, so it must be official!

I feel immensely fortunate to be given this opportunity. I’ve spent a lot of the last few years of my “temporary retirement” doing increasing amounts of volunteer service for Ananda, and loving it. But there’s been a little part of me worrying in the background about the possibility of having to go elsewhere eventually, and work for a cause I believe in less, just to make money. So this job feels as much like a gift to me as a service to God, gurus, and all spiritual seekers of the Bay Area.

In other, less dramatic news, I got a hold of Pa’s ukulele recently, and have been having a surprisingly good time with it. It’s strangely addictive, actually. This is one of those cases where I can get a sense of what Yogananda meant when he said that “thoughts are universally, not individually, rooted.” The current ukulele fad that’s going on these days feels very much like a thing that I hopped onto for a ride. I’m enjoying it, but it doesn’t entirely feel like it came from my own head.

P.S. Okay, technically I have been blogging more than once a year, since I post to the Ananda Family News blog fairly often. But the word “blogging” for me will always default to my own little corner of the internet here on WhistleDance.

Christmas Card 2010

Cheryl and I sent out Christmas cards this year, but due to the sheer, overwhelming number of wonderful people we know, we inevitably missed some of you. But never fear! Now you can print out your own card at home! It's even customizable — just check the boxes that best suit your desired holiday experience and voilá! Enjoy!

L.A. Pilgrimage

Mom and I spent three days of the long Thanksgiving weekend on a trip to Los Angeles, to see all the SRF-related sights, and to visit the new Ananda ashram house for one of Swami Kriyananda's talks. I had never seen Lake Shrine, Mt Washington, etc., and Mom hadn't been there since the 80's, so it was a fun new adventure for both of us. I put a few photos up here.

I loved finally getting to see all the places I'd read about in the AY, many of which seem as though they've simply dropped in today from 6o years ago. Hollywood Temple, for instance, is completely surrounded by giant Kaiser buildings, which makes the already small church look even more miniature. But SRF has a knack for creating beautiful places,  thanks in equal part, I expect, to our guru's vibrations and their gorgeous landscaping. You can still meditate on the temple grounds, blissfully unaware of the surrounding skyscrapers.

We also went to Forest Lawn, where Yogananda's body is in the mausoleum. Not much to see there, of course, but kind of incredible to think that the only thing actually separating us from him is a few inches of marble. Similarly, I enjoyed getting to meditate in the Temple of Leaves, and do the energization exercises on the Mt Washington tennis court, knowing that he had done those same things on those same spots. We even got to stand in the very room where a young Donald Walters was accepted by Yogananda as a disciple. The spiritual aura of these places is palpable.

The Ananda visit wrapped up our trip, and it was fun to show up as a surprise to our friends there. The quartet of singers we've got down there is sounding amazing. (Ananda music is always good, but that morning it was write-home-about-it good.) Swamiji gave a great talk, and even stayed around for a blessing line for a while afterward. I took the opportunity, appropriately for the Thanksgiving weekend, to quickly just thank him for everything he's done and created that has had such a profound effect on my life.

On a related-but-unrelated note, I've just heard that Daya Mata, president of SRF, passed away last night. Aum and blessings to her soul....

What I've Been Up To

The short answer, obviously, is "not blogging." Not that there hasn't been anything to share, I just haven't been as much in the mood to spend time writing about it all these days.

So here's the Cliff's Notes version of it. In the last 5 months, I have....

• written an article for Ananda's Clarity Magazine.
• been to Yosemite with Cheryl for our anniversary. (Hmm, photo-posting is another thing I haven't kept up with. Oh, alright, here's one.)
• sung in a concert.
• meditated a lot, and done some yoga on and off.
• attended Spiritual Renewal Week at Ananda Village.
• done a lot of volunteer work for Ananda (creating and managing a blog and a Facebook page, working on a database migration project, helping post class recordings on the internet, and miscellaneous other things).
• gotten a job. 

I'll go ahead say a bit more about that last item, since it's the biggest single change in my overall situation. But no, I haven't gone back to a typical 9-to-5. I enjoy the lifestyle I've created over the last couple years since Google, and so I prefer to keep a flexible schedule, with time for serving in ways that are important to me, whether or not they pay. But to keep some of the financial energy flowing, I'm now working for Revolution Prep as a teacher and private tutor. I'm doing SAT prep right now, and maybe more stuff later on. I enjoy getting a chance to do more teaching, so as part-time jobs go, this is a good one.

[P.S. I guess, since I have a new employer, it's time to add my disclaimer back in: I speak only for myself.]

Me and the Impending Doom

This weekend, I got to be part of a small reader's theater production at the Ananda Easter brunch and festivities. We did an adaptation (by Dambara) of P.G. Wodehouse's story "Jeeves and the Impending Doom," which was a great deal of fun. I played the part of Bertie Wooster, and was joined by Nirmoha (Jeeves), Mom (Aunt Agatha), Tim (Bingo Little), Nishkama (Mr. Filmer), and Cheryl (swan). And, as luck would have it, we were video taped! So if you like this kind of stuff, have a look, and enjoy!


Wodehouse Play 4/4/2010 from Ananda Palo Alto on Vimeo.