The shrine room here, where Swami Ambikananda left his body 16 years ago, still carries such a powerful vibration. You could feel it strongly at the monthly retreat hosted by Satchitananda last Saturday. And Glen Lodge is a treasure trove of ashram material – there are DVDs of 20 years’ worth of kirtans plus hundreds of books annotated by Swamiji, notes, pamphlets, relics, images etc. Continue reading
Ever since its foundation in February 1969, devotees of the Universal Independent Ashram have commemorated with particularly joyful kirtans the birthday of our Guru Dev Sri Ramakrishna. This one, given by Mahayogini at her house on February 16, was no exception. Continue reading
To celebrate Swamiji’s anniversary, devotees gathered at the house of Mahayogini and Rohan on November 3rd for kirtan singing, reading, chanting, socializing, drinking tea and eating prasad. On this occasion, reversing the usual order, Yogini had prepared a sumptuous prasad before the kirtan itself rather than afterwards. Then the devotees listened to and participated in numerous songs and chants, some led by Tryambaka (who introduced a new bhajan from Ammachi, having just received her darshan at Alexandra Palace), others by Gayatri, Yogini and Sanjana. Beautiful music was also provided by Hari Om, Sri Lakshmi and many others. Altogether a memorable kirtan. Continue reading